Stoic Courage
True Stories of Ancient Philosophers Who Faced Exile, Power and Death
Grace OwanePart of Book One Ancient Minds, Real Lives
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Socrates drank the poison. Seneca opened his veins. Epictetus was a slave before he taught anyone how to be free. What did they know that we don't? You have seen their words on posters, mugs and social feeds. What you have not seen is what those words cost. Stoic Courage goes back to the real people behind the quotations: ten true stories of ancient philosophers who faced exile, power and death, told as narrative nonfiction, with the ancient sources left in. What does it cost to say what you really think? To refuse a pardon, walk out of a room, or lose a post, a home or a country? Ten thinkers paid that price: a trial in Athens, a last night in Utica, a Senate under Nero, a lecture hall in Nicopolis, a cell in Pavia. Each chapter has four parts: - The Story: a true scene, told as narrative. - What Actually Happened: what the ancient sources say, what has been added since, and where the evidence runs out. - And Today?: a bridge to pressure at work, at home and online. - A Closing Reflection: a few questions to take away from the story. Inside: Socrates, Cato the Younger, Cicero, Seneca, Thrasea Paetus, Musonius Rufus, Epictetus, Helvidius Priscus, Hypatia and Boethius. Every story also comes with a timeline and a map, a short note on the sources with myth and evidence kept apart, a passage in the thinker's own words from a public-domain translation, further reading and questions for reading groups. This book is for you if you are curious about stoicism and ancient philosophy but find the classics hard to start, or if you want something deeper and more human than a list of quotations. A good gift for readers who like history and philosophy. It is a book of history and reflection, not a treatment: it makes no medical or financial promises. For readers who want more than a quotation and less than a textbook.
