What to Buy the Philhellene in your Life?

Words of Wisdom from Ancient Greece

Words of Wisdom from Ancient Greece gathers the best of a thousand years of philosophy, history and literature, in a compilation of writing spanning from 800 BC to 200 AD. With selections from the five major schools of Greek thought—the Platonists, the Aristotelians, the Stoics, the Epicureans, and the Skeptics—this survey of ancient wisdom offers guidance for a life well lived from luminaries of Greece’s legendary past.

Translated by Alexander Zaphiriou, 

Illustrations by Panagiotis Stavropoulos

BILINGUAL EDITION.

€12.00

 

Myths Behind Words

Like the constellations in the sky, words such as ‘aphrodisiac’, ‘hubris’, ‘museum’, ‘galaxy’ and ‘mentor’ each contain within them a story, if only you knew to look closely. This collection retells the myths behind common words and expressions in English, bringing to life the heroes, monsters and gods whose deeds and battles have left a hidden mark on our language.

Compiling more than seventy-five myths, the stories in this book feature well-known figures such as Zeus, Athena, Apollo, Hercules, Achilles, the Amazons, Medusa and the Minotaur. The entries are supplemented with original illustration reproductions of scenes from ancient pottery, and include translations from Ancient Greek epics such as the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Argonautica and Theogony.

Compiled by Alexander Zaphiriou
Illustrations by Panagiotis Stavropoulos.

€12.00

On Happiness by Aristotle 

Happiness is not a comfortable state of well-being, but an energetic and carefully considered endeavour to lead a rich and meaningful life.

Few books are so suited to stimulating critical thought about the good life as Aristotle ’ s Nicomachean Ethics. What makes the Ethics so appealing is that Aristotle always remains realistic, in spite of his high ideals, and is constantly testing his views against those of others. In Book X of the Ethics, included in this volume, the great philosopher discusses what happiness [eudaimonia] is and how to achieve it.

Translated by H. Rackham,

With an Introduction by Piet Gerbrandy.

BILINGUAL EDITION

€12.80

Manual on the Art of Living by Epictetus 

‘Of all existing things, some are in our power, and others are not in our power.’ So begins the Enchiridion or Manual on the Art of Living of Epictetus, a collection of precepts that together provide a powerful philosophy for daily life. With practical grace and wisdom, Epictetus addresses living with integrity, self-management, and personal freedom.

The Manual is considered to be the pinnacle of Stoic philosophy, a school of Greek thought originating in the early third century BC, that holds that destructive emotions are the result of errors in judgement and taught an active relationship between individual will and cosmic determinism.

Translated by P.E. Matheson
With an Introduction by Tristan K. Husby

BILINGUAL EDITION

€12.00

The Golden Verses by Pythagoras 

Pythagoras wrote nothing down during the course of his life, not even the theorem attributed to him. And yet his knowledge and wisdom changed the world, and have survived through the ages to benefit us today. The essence of Pythagoras’ teachings is contained in the Golden Verses, seventy-one verses as guidelines on how to live. Functioning as admonitions, they link the human with the divine element and determine the point at which both elements converge to reveal how we might ourselves attain this supreme virtue in our everyday lives.

Rendered into English by David Connolly
With an Introducrion by Theodora Pasachidou

BILINGUAL EDITION

€12.00

 

 

In Pursuit of Pleasure by Epicurus 

Greek philosopher Epicurus defined philosophy as ‘ a daily business of speech and thought to secure happiness ’ . He believed happiness to be the goal of human life and thought it could be achieved by pursuing pleasure. However, the Epicurean philosophy was then and still is now often erroneously interpreted as promoting hedonism. Rather, Epicurus considered pleasure to be connected to virtue not excess or sensual self-indulgence.

This volume contains Cyril Bailey’s masterly, classic translations of the most important surviving writing of Epicurus—the Letter to Menoeceus, the Principal Doctrines and the Vatican Sayings—and offers the contemporary reader a comprehensive overview of Epicurean ethics, his philosophy on what matters in life and how we should live.

Translated by Cyril Bailey

BILINGUAL EDITION

€12.00

The Apology of Socrates by Plato 

Socrates, a pivotal figure in the history of Western philosophy, was the first to introduce inductive reasoning, to form universal concepts, to require precise definitions, and to study the principles of ethics.
In the spring of 399 BCE, when Socrates was seventy years old, he was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens.
His defence speech, as reproduced in Plato ’s most celebrated work, The Apology, stands throughout the ages as a beacon of moral
integrity, democracy and justice.

Translated by Harold North Fowler

BILINGUAL EDITION

€12.80

Aphorisms 

Hippocrates, often referred to as the ‘Father of Western Medicine’, is credited with being the first healer to separate the discipline of medicine from religion, arguing that disease was not a punishment inflicted by the gods, but rather the product of environmental factors, diet, and lifestyle.

Aphorisms, the best known work in the whole Hippocratic Corpus, is a series of propositions concerning the symptoms and diagnosis of disease and medicine, and the art of healing. It is believed Hippocrates composed it in his old age as a summary of his vast experience.

Translated by W.H.S. Jones

BILINGUAL EDITION

€12.00

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