Solon the Thinker

Political Thought in Archaic Athens

By: John David Lewis

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Paperback | 2 January 2008 | Edition Number 1

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192 Pages

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23.3 x 15.5 x 1.6

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In Solon the Thinker, John Lewis presents the hypothesis that Solon saw Athens as a self-governing, self-supporting system akin to the early Greek conceptions of the cosmos. Solon's polis functions not through divine intervention but by its own internal energy, which is founded on the intellectual health of its people, depends upon their acceptance of justice and moderation as orderly norms of life, and leads to the rejection of tyranny and slavery in favour of freedom. But Solon's naturalistic views are limited; in his own life each person is subject to the arbitrary foibles of moira, the inscrutable fate that governs human life, and that brings us to an unknowable but inevitable death. Solon represents both the new rational, scientific spirit that was sweeping the Aegean - and a return to the fatalism that permeated Greek intellectual life.

This first paperback edition contains a new appendix of translations of the fragments of Solon by the author.

Industry Reviews

John Lewis s Solon the Thinker contains a careful reading of the poetic fragments of Solon not as poetry, but as political thought. Lewis s interpretation of these poems provides one with a greater understanding and appreciation of the political views of Solon ... and his place in the history of ideas. Anyone interested in early Greek discussions of the polis, justice, tyranny, slavery, and freedom should find this book worthwhile reading.

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