A review by chrudos
The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens, and the Search for the Good Life, by Bettany Hughes

2.0

I was really looking forward to this book and initially it met my expectations, but after a while I spotted some historical inaccuracies which made me wonder how pervasive it is in the book. Later on it became obvious that the author had an agenda, she wanted to prove how visionary Socrates was and therefore she made him as appealing to today's tastes as possible. Quite a substantial part of the book was trying to argue that Socrates was a feminist and that this was one of the reasons why he was eventually so hated. Even if it was true that he treated women with more respect, I do not think it was very important aspect of who he was (unless you have an agenda like the author of the book). Granted, it shows what were his priorities and that he was open-minded. But it was not a political gesture. Overall, all that the author describes about Socrates ends up as a cultural event. That makes it probably very digestible for the target audience, but it also makes it very empty. Finally, the whole parallel between Socrates' life and the life of Athenian democracy was very repetitive and tiring. 2 stars.