“When the suitors could not corrupt Penelope,” the philosopher Bion once said, “they seduced her handmaidens.  So it is with philosophy.  When unworthy men cannot attain to the Queen, they settle for other disciplines.”  He probably had in mind, as “handmaidens,” the study of rhetoric, geometry, astronomy, poetry, perhaps even dance, finance, generalship, music, ……

Aristippus was a philosopher who could make any outfit look cool.  His secret was that he simultaneously enjoyed the simple pleasure of looking stylish, but felt no attachment to his appearance.  (So he claimed) He was a well known and sought after teacher in ancient Athens, and fetched a high price. One day a father…

Aristippus, a man who had studied with Socrates, was known for being able to wear any outfit with dignity. Whether it was a threadbare cloak, or a fine robe from Miletus (a noted fashion center), he leaned into it, and somehow managed to make it look cool. Part of his secret was his nonchalance. But…

The Athenian general Nikias famously said “It is not walls that make a city but men.”  Similarly, Spartans took the greatest pride not in the buildings or temples of their city (there wasn’t much to look at), nor even in their laws and festivals, but in the character of their citizens.  But even so, some…

Artaxerxes, the king of Persia, was in town.  Omisus, a local landowner, saw a chance to make an impression.  He presented the king with an enormous pomegranate.  “If this fruit pleases the king, his servant will present him with an entire field’s worth of such pomegranates.” The king marveled.  “By Mithras! This man would speedily…