ISBN: 9780008490782 Title: How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks Author: NICOLSON ADAM
A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
What is the nature of things? Must I think my own way through the world? What is justice? How can I be me? How should we treat each other?
Before the Greeks, the idea of the world was dominated by god-kings and their priests, in a life ruled by imagined metaphysical monsters. 2,500 years ago, in a succession of small eastern Mediterranean harbour-cities, that way of thinking began to change. Men (and some women) decided to cast off mental subservience and apply their own worrying and thinking minds to the conundrums of life.
These great innovators shaped the beginnings of philosophy. Through the questioning voyager Odysseus, Homer explored how we might navigate our way through the world. Heraclitus in Ephesus was the first to consider the interrelatedness of things. Xenophanes of Colophon was the first champion of civility. In Lesbos, the Aegean island of Sappho and Alcaeus, the early lyric poets asked themselves 'How can I be true to myself?' In Samos, Pythagoras imagined an everlasting soul and took his ideas to Italy where they flowered again in surprising and radical forms.
Prize-winning writer Adam Nicolson travels through this transforming world and asks what light these ancient thinkers can throw on our deepest preconceptions. Sparkling with maps, photographs and artwork, How to Be is a journey into the origins of Western thought.
Hugely formative ideas emerged in these harbour-cities: fluidity of mind, the search for coherence, a need for the just city, a recognition of the mutability of things, a belief in the reality of the ideal -- all became the Greeks' legacy to the world.
Born out of a rough, dynamic--and often cruel-- moment in human history, it was the dawn of enquiry, where these fundamental questions about self, city and cosmos, asked for the first time, became, as they remain, the unlikely bedrock of understanding.
var et_link_options_data = [{"class":"et_pb_text_6_tb_footer","url":"mailto:wellington@unitybooks.co.nz","target":"_self"},{"class":"et_pb_text_8_tb_footer","url":"http:\/\/unitybooks.nz\/contact-us\/faqs\/","target":"_blank"},{"class":"et_pb_text_9_tb_footer","url":"https:\/\/unitybookswellington.co.nz\/pridelands-help-100\/","target":"_self"}];
(function () {
var c = document.body.className;
c = c.replace(/woocommerce-no-js/, 'woocommerce-js');
document.body.className = c;
})();
var wc_add_to_cart_params = {"ajax_url":"\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","wc_ajax_url":"\/?wc-ajax=%%endpoint%%","i18n_view_cart":"View cart","cart_url":"https:\/\/unitybookswellington.co.nz\/cart\/","is_cart":"","cart_redirect_after_add":"no"};
var wc_single_product_params = {"i18n_required_rating_text":"Please select a rating","review_rating_required":"yes","flexslider":{"rtl":false,"animation":"slide","smoothHeight":true,"directionNav":false,"controlNav":"thumbnails","slideshow":false,"animationSpeed":500,"animationLoop":false,"allowOneSlide":false},"zoom_enabled":"1","zoom_options":[],"photoswipe_enabled":"1","photoswipe_options":{"shareEl":false,"closeOnScroll":false,"history":false,"hideAnimationDuration":0,"showAnimationDuration":0},"flexslider_enabled":"1"};
var wc_cart_fragments_params = {"ajax_url":"\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","wc_ajax_url":"\/?wc-ajax=%%endpoint%%","cart_hash_key":"wc_cart_hash_86b04cb5b7a8f29bfd59e2b4109ac23d","fragment_name":"wc_fragments_86b04cb5b7a8f29bfd59e2b4109ac23d","request_timeout":"5000"};
var awdr_params = {"ajaxurl":"https:\/\/unitybookswellington.co.nz\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","nonce":"21671d3a44","enable_update_price_with_qty":"show_when_matched","refresh_order_review":"0","custom_target_simple_product":"","custom_target_variable_product":"","js_init_trigger":"","awdr_opacity_to_bulk_table":"","awdr_dynamic_bulk_table_status":"0","awdr_dynamic_bulk_table_off":"on","custom_simple_product_id_selector":"","custom_variable_product_id_selector":""};
var wc_stripe_payment_request_params = {"ajax_url":"\/?wc-ajax=%%endpoint%%","stripe":{"key":"pk_live_51JTzUBIB197v8sCoScgBC3vpAdEkYdSgNMcc1cQFhjzks9y9r7Ujmc1sTjL5pdmjxN1PYhqh16ESNPUgS03jCm3L00E1YtMlaQ","allow_prepaid_card":"yes","locale":"en","is_link_enabled":false,"is_payment_request_enabled":true},"nonce":{"payment":"c0383fa256","shipping":"dcf51f1bd3","update_shipping":"df2a705590","checkout":"42a818eb48","add_to_cart":"fa90151073","get_selected_product_data":"043827ed13","log_errors":"7752ac145c","clear_cart":"84006138aa"},"i18n":{"no_prepaid_card":"Sorry, we're not accepting prepaid cards at this time.","unknown_shipping":"Unknown shipping option \"[option]\"."},"checkout":{"url":"https:\/\/unitybookswellington.co.nz\/checkout\/","currency_code":"nzd","country_code":"NZ","needs_shipping":"no","needs_payer_phone":true},"button":{"type":"buy","theme":"dark","height":"40","locale":"en","branded_type":"long","css_selector":"","label":"","is_custom":false,"is_branded":false},"login_confirmation":"","is_product_page":"1","product":{"shippingOptions":{"id":"pending","label":"Pending","detail":"","amount":0},"displayItems":[{"label":"How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks","amount":5000},{"label":"Shipping","amount":0,"pending":true}],"total":{"label":" (via WooCommerce)","amount":5000},"requestShipping":true,"currency":"nzd","country_code":"NZ"}};
var DIVI = {"item_count":"%d Item","items_count":"%d Items"};
var et_builder_utils_params = {"condition":{"diviTheme":true,"extraTheme":false},"scrollLocations":["app","top"],"builderScrollLocations":{"desktop":"app","tablet":"app","phone":"app"},"onloadScrollLocation":"app","builderType":"fe"};
var et_frontend_scripts = {"builderCssContainerPrefix":"#et-boc","builderCssLayoutPrefix":"#et-boc .et-l"};
var et_pb_custom = {"ajaxurl":"https:\/\/unitybookswellington.co.nz\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","images_uri":"https:\/\/unitybookswellington.co.nz\/wp-content\/themes\/Divi\/images","builder_images_uri":"https:\/\/unitybookswellington.co.nz\/wp-content\/themes\/Divi\/includes\/builder\/images","et_frontend_nonce":"573be22c51","subscription_failed":"Please, check the fields below to make sure you entered the correct information.","et_ab_log_nonce":"0eac64de2d","fill_message":"Please, fill in the following fields:","contact_error_message":"Please, fix the following errors:","invalid":"Invalid email","captcha":"Captcha","prev":"Prev","previous":"Previous","next":"Next","wrong_captcha":"You entered the wrong number in captcha.","wrong_checkbox":"Checkbox","ignore_waypoints":"no","is_divi_theme_used":"1","widget_search_selector":".widget_search","ab_tests":[],"is_ab_testing_active":"","page_id":"800834","unique_test_id":"","ab_bounce_rate":"5","is_cache_plugin_active":"yes","is_shortcode_tracking":"","tinymce_uri":""};
var et_pb_box_shadow_elements = [];
var wc_stripe_params = {"title":"Credit Card (Stripe)","key":"pk_live_51JTzUBIB197v8sCoScgBC3vpAdEkYdSgNMcc1cQFhjzks9y9r7Ujmc1sTjL5pdmjxN1PYhqh16ESNPUgS03jCm3L00E1YtMlaQ","i18n_terms":"Please accept the terms and conditions first","i18n_required_fields":"Please fill in required checkout fields first","updateFailedOrderNonce":"8743b02f2a","updatePaymentIntentNonce":"9f502a5b0c","orderId":"0","checkout_url":"\/?wc-ajax=checkout","stripe_locale":"en","no_prepaid_card_msg":"Sorry, we're not accepting prepaid cards at this time. Your credit card has not been charged. Please try with alternative payment method.","no_sepa_owner_msg":"Please enter your IBAN account name.","no_sepa_iban_msg":"Please enter your IBAN account number.","payment_intent_error":"We couldn't initiate the payment. Please try again.","sepa_mandate_notification":"email","allow_prepaid_card":"yes","inline_cc_form":"no","is_checkout":"no","return_url":"https:\/\/unitybookswellington.co.nz\/checkout\/order-received\/?utm_nooverride=1","ajaxurl":"\/?wc-ajax=%%endpoint%%","stripe_nonce":"f5254aaefb","statement_descriptor":"","elements_options":[],"sepa_elements_options":{"supportedCountries":["SEPA"],"placeholderCountry":"NZ","style":{"base":{"fontSize":"15px"}}},"invalid_owner_name":"Billing First Name and Last Name are required.","is_change_payment_page":"no","is_add_payment_page":"no","is_pay_for_order_page":"no","elements_styling":"","elements_classes":"","add_card_nonce":"0046c07020","create_payment_intent_nonce":"f5f747b882","cpf_cnpj_required_msg":"CPF\/CNPJ is a required field","invalid_number":"The card number is not a valid credit card number.","invalid_expiry_month":"The card's expiration month is invalid.","invalid_expiry_year":"The card's expiration year is invalid.","invalid_cvc":"The card's security code is invalid.","incorrect_number":"The card number is incorrect.","incomplete_number":"The card number is incomplete.","incomplete_cvc":"The card's security code is incomplete.","incomplete_expiry":"The card's expiration date is incomplete.","expired_card":"The card has expired.","incorrect_cvc":"The card's security code is incorrect.","incorrect_zip":"The card's zip \/ postal code failed validation.","postal_code_invalid":"Invalid zip code, please correct and try again","invalid_expiry_year_past":"The card's expiration year is in the past","card_declined":"The card was declined.","missing":"There is no card on a customer that is being charged.","processing_error":"An error occurred while processing the card.","invalid_sofort_country":"The billing country is not accepted by Sofort. Please try another country.","email_invalid":"Invalid email address, please correct and try again.","invalid_request_error":"Unable to process this payment, please try again or use alternative method.","amount_too_large":"The order total is too high for this payment method","amount_too_small":"The order total is too low for this payment method","country_code_invalid":"Invalid country code, please try again with a valid country code","tax_id_invalid":"Invalid Tax Id, please try again with a valid tax id"};