The Honey and the Hemlock

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In its enslavement and occasional genocide of captured cities, ancient Athens ``matched any of the barbarisms of twentieth-century totalitarian states,'' writes Sagan. Athens, cradle of the concept and practice of citizenship, was a mature democracy flawed by cruel, imperial domination of neighbors, by its legions of slaves, by its exclusion of women from cultural and political life. To explain this paradox, Sagan ( Freud, Women and Morality ), in a profound psychohistory, diagnoses Athens as a society with paranoid tendencies, one that sought control over a feared, untrustworthy universe through domination and projection. Further, he draws parallels between Athens, unable to free itself from self-destructiveness, and the self-annihilating potential of modern America. Sagan humanizes the classical world even as he reveals its horrors. This landmark study is one of the few key guides to retrieving what is viable in our Greco-Roman heritage. History Book Club alternate. (Oct.)

Library Journal

Sagan, a radical democrat, postulates a Freudian interpretation of history. Unfortunately, however, his polemics do not always fully appreciate other political forms. His definition of democracy, for example, should be refined by the realization that rule by the people means rule by the citizens and that, before the 20th century, women were citizens (although without the vote), actuely aware of vast differences between themselves and women slaves. We are not, Sagan argues, in the sixth stage of the moral transformation of democracy, achieved by civil rights. His optimistic judgment about the triumph of political wisdom is surprising in view of his pessimistic theme that paranoia controls civil life. A provocative survey for the wary.-- Robert J. Lenardon, Siena Coll., Loudonville, N.Y.