The Land of Perfect Justice #392
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Solon
16 min read
The story's protagonist Solon is a real historical figure - one of the Seven Sages of Greece who reformed Athenian law and laid groundwork for democracy. Understanding his actual reforms and philosophy enriches the fictional narrative.
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Seven Sages of Greece
12 min read
The story mentions Solon as 'one of the seven wise men of ancient times.' This group of legendary philosophers and statesmen shaped Greek thought on wisdom, law, and ethics.
Dear friends of Daily Philosophy,
Today I’m very happy to bring you another philosophical short story! We did not have many of those in recent months, but I always enjoy a break from the seriousness of academic thought and an excursion into a playful (or terrible) different world. This time, Alex Goldberg takes us to ancient Greece and Solon’s expedition on the search for perfect justice.
I have been recording live lectures on ancient Greek philosophy since October or so, and today was another one of these live sessions. They are totally free to join, and if you always wanted to get an overview of ancient Greek philosophy, with the ability to ask questions and engage with me and the other participants, these live lectures are not bad. You can find the whole series right here:
https://www.youtube.com/@dailyphilosophy/streams
These live sessions are taking place every Tuesday morning, at 8:00 HKT, which is midnight of Monday to Tuesday in UTC. You’ll have to look up what this is in your time zone. Google is good at calculating that, so just ask “what is midnight UTC in (my timezone)?” I’m sorry if this time is inconvenient for you, but us being located all over the globe, it will necessarily be a crazy hour for some and tolerable for others.
And now let’s get to today’s story! We are in Athens, and law-giver Solon, one of the seven wise men of ancient times, is speaking to the citizens.
The Land of Perfect Justice
By Alex Goldberg
Solon stood before the people of Athens, their murmurs rising and falling like the waves crashing against the harbor behind him. When he spoke, his voice carried conviction enough to command them all.
“Fellow Athenians! I am tasked to give just laws to this polity, but I do not know the meaning of that word. Send forth the wisest among you, that I may task him to go out in search of it.”
His speech lingered; the ebb and flow of the Aegean Sea filling the space again. Murmurs resumed, first quiet, rising like boiling water until spilling over again to silence. A man stepped forward, his dark beard matching the color of his piercing eyes. A faint film of dirt played over his chiton. With reserved steps and head bowed, he peered up at Solon.
“What is your name?” Solon asked.
“Antipatros,” said
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