How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks

by Adam Nicolson

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 and bestselling 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 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.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, History, Greece, Ancient History, Audiobook, Classics

369 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 8, 2023

About the author

Adam Nicolson writes a celebrated column for The Sunday Telegraph. His books include Sissinghurst, God’s Secretaries, When God Spoke English, Wetland, Life in the Somerset Levels, Perch Hill, Restoration, and the acclaimed Gentry. He is winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and the British Topography Prize and lives on a farm in Sussex.

Reviews

[Andrew H · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts off well then wanders more than Odysseus. Nicolson's book is weighted down by academic verbiage.

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 4 out of 5]

How To Be tells the immersive and accessible story of Western thought, its origins and its evolution from early Greece; it is an exploration of the sea-and-city world in which, in the Western tradition, the great and everlasting questions of existence were first explored. Prize-winning history writer Nicolson is a staunch believer in the need to return to the days of pre-Socratic Ancient Greece in order to understand the significant impact the country and culture had when it came to cultivating so many unique minds. I must say, as a philosophy enthusiast it's a joy to have the early-Greek thinkers set against the political and geographical context of the times illustrating what the cultural zeitgeist around them was like at the time to produce such schools of thought. The idea for the book began after visiting Samos, a Greek island in the eastern Aegean, with his wife and having a copy of Kirk & Raven's The Presocratic Thinkers to hand. It outlined the first emergence 2,500 years ago of the instinct that understanding was not simply to be learned from priests or elders, or experts, or by imagining a congeries of terrifying metaphysical monsters, but could be gathered by each of us applying the worrying and thinking mind to the conundrums of life.

How To Be both asks and offers answers to the question as to why an eruption of new thinking happened in this place and at that time, and what Nicolson has written is soaked in the double belief: firstly that places give access to minds, however distant and strange, that philosophy has a geography and that to be in the places these thinkers knew, visit their cities, sail their seas and find their landscapes not overwhelmed by the millennia that have passed is to know something about them that cannot be found otherwise; and second that, despite that locatedness, and despite their age, the frame of mind of these first thinkers remains astonishingly and surprisingly illuminating today. These first Greek thinkers, teaching and writing between about 650 and 450 BC, found their lives on the boundary between the perception of a universal harmony and the daily encounter with the world as it is, in all its difficulty and multiplicity. They did not provide a set of rationalist solutions nor religious doctrines, but again and again explored the borderland between those ways of seeing, holding their position in the shadowy ground between the poetic and the analytic, the physical and metaphysical.

The narrative visits several important spots, including Miletus - the birthplace of the first theorists of the physical world; Ephesus - the home of Heraclitus, the first person to consider the interrelatedness of things; the twin cities of Notion and Colophon - the country of Xenophanes, the first philosopher of civility; and Lesbos - the island of Sappho and Alcaeus, the greatest early lyric poets. These are philosophers known to have established freethinking and regarded as being instrumental in the rise of such thinking. Throughout Nicolson illustrates the book with photographs, art and maps relevant to the text which bring the time and places vividly to life, and the detail, depth and accuracy speak to his extensive research on the period in question. Written in a flowing and eminently readable style, we are taken on a beguiling and informative journey that looks back at the very foundations of Western philosophy in the context in which it was birthed; despite having read many similar tombs this is the only one that has approached the topic in this manner and from such an original angle. Full of wit, warmth and wisdom, this is a worthwhile addition to the library of anyone looking to contextualise early thinking, those at the forefront of Ancient Greek philosophy and their respective ideas.

[Hanna Gil · Rating 5 out of 5]

The question "how to be" is perhaps the most essential question humans have been trying to answer since our conscious existence on Earth began. Adam Nicolson's book with the same title takes us into the world of ancient Greeks and shines a new light on the famous philosophers, thinkers, and ordinary citizens of those distant lands.

This book was a pleasure to read, mainly because of the author's beautiful language, supported by extensive research, and excellent knowledge of the subjects. It can be devoured on many levels. The philosophical ideas are not scholarly exercises in disputing the meaning of life but are clearly explained in an easy-to-understand way, with numerous rather brilliant examples. Many times I caught myself thinking, "Oh, I didn't know that!" and was delighted to learn, for instance, that Pythagoras was not the author of the well-known mathematical theorem; moreover, that he never wrote a word but was a highly inspirational figure, with many followers. Another discovery was reading about Sybarites, whose love of pleasures transferred into our adjective "sybaritic," and learning that "they banned noisy occupations such as blacksmithing, carpentry and chicken keeping from within the limits of the city." Putting my noise-canceling headphones on as the construction work on a nearby building resumed on Monday, I couldn't resist thinking what a great idea it was.

I became immersed in learning details about Sappho, whose poetry I've been adoring, and who is described as a beautiful, sensitive woman with incomparable artistry of words (examples of her poems are included, with explanation). I enjoyed reading about Homer, Odysseus, and Zeno; as a matter of fact, I enjoyed reading about all the philosophers. And the details! Describing tiny coins, or beautiful vases, supported by illustrations, conveys the everyday day life of the ancient Greeks. But it's not just the artifacts that teach us about their owners. Adam Nicolson talks about social relations, at some point emphasizing slavery and explaining its impact.

"How to Be" is one of those books I want to return to repeatedly because I feel that reading about the world of the ancient Greeks and discovering their ideas connect us with the history of Western culture and helps us understand our world. We can learn from those people who lived many centuries ago and yet who seem to be not so "ancient" after all.

[Silas Frandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some said it couldn’t be done, many doubted, yet here I am. Victorious. At 1:20 AM, having just finished How To Be. It may have taken four months, but I have prevailed.

I liked this book, my progress was delayed due to other reading and school, but I really did enjoy it. I didn’t know what to expect coming into it, because there are a lot of ways to write about philosophy, but this was one of the most history heavy philosophy books I’ve ever read, it did not surprise me at all to learn the author had a history background. Luckily, history is awesome so I liked it a lot. My favorite section was the one titled “Does love rule the universe”.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspired many deep dives, very much enjoyed

[Wael Jaber · Rating 5 out of 5]

The description of this book as an attempt at describing the evolution of western thinking and civilization does disservice to the accuracy of the historic events and turmoil described clearly in this fantastic book. In fact, this is a book about the evolution of the Greek centric, thinking, and philosophy in the eastern Mediterranean, and not in the western world, as we know right now centered around Europe. The Greek way of thinking, did not evolve an isolation or an island. The author succeeded in showing that an open trade and migration across the nations from Italy, all the way to Persia during that period influenced and fertilized the mines of inhabitants and thought leaders in various cities along the shores of the eastern Mediterranean. The Greeks borrowed and fine tuned many current of thoughts that were brought to their shore by the Phoenicians, the Egyptians, the Lydians, the Assyrians, the Persians, and the Indians. They were essentially east, facing to trade with, learn from, and teach various civilizations that washed off their shore. You will find here that most of the philosophy lessons learned by the Greeks were not in what we know today, as Greece in its modern borders, but rather came from smaller city states in modern Turkey, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon and places in Italy, as well as islands all over the Mediterranean.

This is an eastern Mediterranean story about eastern Mediterranean cultures and has nothing to do with what a modern reader will considered Western civilization centered in Western Europe.

It is important to recenter the story and not deny the east Mediterranean their central and the evolution of philosophy, government, political theory, and finally how to live.

[Stephen the Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adam Nicolson has written a fascinating book that explores the meaning of To Be Human within the context of Ancient Greece and an emerging world of philosophy that is questioning life in relation to ancient gods and curious creatures and to where man is independently abandoning the dictated ideology and beginning to self reflect on his purpose.
Each chapter is explored through a key question: Does love rule the universe? How can I be true to myself?... culminating in The invention of Understanding and raises broader questions that can also help us to consider what we can learn and recognise in 2023 from these ancestors and their legacy .Familiar names such as Homer, Odysseus, Pythagoras are explored and their impact on the evolution of philosophical thinking.
Nicolson's prose captures the locations, periods and events in meticulous detail transporting us to another time- obviously assisted by his love of sailing and navigating the seas ,the sense of travelling the trade routes and observing the landscape and architecture is palpable.
Each chapter is meticulously researched and the abundance of cultural references and knowledge truly highlights the wisdom and knowledge of the Greek. The maps and photographs of artefacts deepen the readers connection to each essay/chapter and understanding of the period . Adam Nicolson has produced an impressively knowledgable and accessible read to explore Ancient Greece and help us dig deeper into a time of philosophical development that is still has its impact on us today.

Thank you to Net Galley for this advance copy

[Pranjal Awasthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adam Nicolson hits and misses in this book on the Pre-Socratic Philosophers. While the setting is very cinematic in certain parts and does indeed set up an amazing narrative structure to understanding what transpired in the Mediterranean world after the fall of the original empires, the book takes a lot of tangents towards understanding the geography polity and trade structures of the cities where pre-socratic philosophers first started preaching, and loses the track of describing the core tenets of that philosophers ideas.

In certain cases Adam, strikes a better balance, for instance, in the chapter on Pythagoras, Adams is able to master fully describe the background of the city and how external factors played an important role in shaping the philosophy of the Pythagorean cult as well as describe the central tenets of Pythagoras' philosophy. However in chapters on Anaximander or Heraclitus, for instance, Adam is unable to retain the reader as he takes us through discursive descriptions of the city, the markets, the Kings and Boots lesser emphasis on the protagonist of the chapter i.e. The Philosopher and his philosophies.

Overall this is a good book to understand what was transpiring in the Mediterranean, before the socratic philosophers came into the picture. It is also a good book to explore the origins of Western philosophy though the prose, I feel, could have been crisper and more to the point.

[HooksandBooksUK · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I have been reading a lot of Greek mythological retellings and have recently visited museums and archeological sites in Cyprus which has fuelled my interest on this topic.

In this book Nicolson takes an in depth look at both the physical and metaphysical lives of the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean. It examines how the development of harbour cities from 1200BC cultivated numerous great minds; it provides insight with facts and archeological discoveries whilst also exploring larger philosophical concerns from key thinkers of the era that are still relevant today.

Overall I enjoyed this book, the text flows well without being too dense. I found it really helpful to contextualise the fiction I have been reading recently with this book. It contains lots of accompanying images, maps and quotes that really enhance the reader’s understanding of the history, philosophy and geography discussed. Having never formally studied classics and only read philosophy at A-level I found this book to be an accessible way to further my understanding.

Thank you to NetGalley, 4th Estate and William Collins and to Adam Nicolson for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Andrea Wenger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book transports the reader to the birth of philosophy 2,500 years ago in the Mediterranean's bustling harbor cities. Shaking off the mental domination of priests and god-kings, innovative minds dared to liberate themselves. Thinkers like Homer, Sappho, and Pythagoras offered new insights on the physical world, morality, and the process of human inquiry.

This book offers a sweeping view of the birth of Western philosophy. For me, it was too much. I never got a good sense of what the book was about. It's a ton of information. It's good information, and it's interesting. It just didn't feel coherent to me. It didn't seem to be telling a story. Maybe it wasn't supposed to, but the human mind responds better to stories than to disarticulated facts.

Also, I think the book title confused me. The purpose of the book isn't to offer life lessons from the early Greeks. It's a history of Western philosophy. In other words, it's a history book, not a philosophy book.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Henriette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vivid journey to the roots of Western thinking
This book takes the reader on an epic journey through the origins of Western thinking. It was a delightful discovery while browsing the offerings of netgalley and I just loved all those little gems of insight Nicolson accumulated and put into a vision which painted a very vivid picture of the origins of the way Western thinking emerged.
Nicolson who obviously sailed and surveyed the Mediterrenean seas and the adjacent landscape for many years, introduces the emergence of Greek thinking as a result of their connection with the sea and the establishment of trade and trade routes along the sea: the mindset of merchants, settled in harbours (Nicolson coins it the harbour mind), sailing their ships to accumulate money and knowledge is the driving force behind a new way of thinking.
I loved how Nicolson lets us visit those early harbours - literally walking us through to the acropolis overlooking the sea - how he introduces the early writers, poets and shows us how their writing is connected to the world of seafaring merchants, e.g. that the Odyssee (and not the Iliad) is the complementing poem to this new, enterprising world. He skillfully brings to life this ancient world and shows the „Sitz im Leben“ of the first thinkers about the universe.
I can only rave how Nicolson opens up a whole new view of the Greek exploration by pointing out how early navigation worked. And the discovery and description of the ancient krater (a large pot) with stellar constellations had me equally in awe as the author who revealed its existence. We look with Nicolson at the guiding star of The Great Bear, we walk up with him from the harbour to the acropolis of Old Smyrna, descent under an old church crypt into the pottery lane of ancient times … and from this visceral experiences Nicholson lets us take flight to connect with those early explorers, the mapmakers of times long ago to understand the very makings of Western thinking and its uniqueness.
Kudos from this nerd who loves antiquity to this masterful book which was an absolute delight to read and savour.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. The review is left voluntarily.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

As beautifully written as I would expect from Adam Nicolson, full of wonderfully evocative descriptions of the Mediterranean (oh, how I long to be back there!) and accessible explanations of sometimes complex ideas. I like the way this book was structured, where every chapter built off the previous ones. I also loved the overarching idea, that these early philosophers were influenced by the "harbour mind" and the interconnected world of trade they lived in. My only complaint was that some of the chapters, especially the early ones, seemed to be more focused on providing context for the philosophers and explaining aspects of ancient life (such as the symposium) than really digging into the ideas of the philosophers. They were still interesting, just not quite what I expected to read about. That said, still highly recommended. You can't go wrong with Adam Nicolson, I think.

[Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extremely well-written and well-researched description of the ancient Greeks as seen through the lense of philosophy.

It's very descriptive and full of details make me want to go to Greece. One of the great things about this book is the historical progression through the decades before Christianity. In an indirect way one of the effects for me has been to reinforce the fallacy of the Christian myths. The ancient Greeks were just so much more interesting, open and thoughtful than the Christians have been for centuries. That said there were dark sides as well to the Grecian way of life, such as slavery and Nicolson does not shy away from including those.

Now I want to read his other books!!

[Joseph Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an odd book. There are passages of description of ancient sites, what they looked like, how the citizens lived in the Aegean, the Ionian Sea pre 300BC. Interspersed are the lives of philosophers, and occasionally the philosophy. I must admit I'm turning against philosophy lately, it just seems so up its own ass. So these passages, even from the ancient philosophers, seem too much like a chore; are pretty boring and honestly who cares? It's all meaningless drivel.

But most of the book is about the lives lived. How peoples moved around, what they were like. This is interesting. This is a slow book. Enjoy living with the ancients for a while, just skim the philosophy.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting exploration of the earliest Greek philosophers who have shaped much of our modern thought, Nicolson uses geography as well as history and literature to bring the ideas of early philosophers to light, arguing that they share a sort of harbor mind (linking land and sea). Starting with Homer's Odyssey and moving on through Empedocles, he shows how Greek thinkers asked questions as they tried to make sense of the nature of the world and human life within it. I particularly liked his introductory and concluding chapter as well as his analysis of the Odyssey worldview and the empathetic sophistication of Empedocles' worldview.

[John-Manuel Andriote · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book at the airport in Athens while visiting Greece in October 2023. I was particularly interested in the author’s focus on the Greek islands that gave rise to what he calls the “harbor mindset” because of the way the islands from ancient times were where people mixed and mingled. Nicholson shows how ideas evolved and were articulated for the first time in recorded human history by various ancient Greek philosophers, dramatists, and poets—and how those ideas still influence us to this day.

[Ryan Munroe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This a very interesting and comprehensive overview of intellectual history. Personally, I had a hard time staying focused and comprehending what I was reading. I constantly needed to look up the definition of words as I was reading, which made this reading experience a bit cumbersome. That being said, I have no doubt that people who have a lot of background knowledge on Greek history will enjoy this book. This simply wasn't a good starting point for me.

[Mark Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Greek Island (Patmos) beach read.
Its close to forty years since I tackled the big questions of metaphysics when as an idealistic young student i took philosophy and political philosophy in my first year of university. So wasted on the young ... anyway, an enjoyable back story to the development of those ideas in the context of time and place. And given I've spent the past three weeks visiting some of these places, all is now clear. A good primer for those who want to go deeper.

[Andreas Farmakis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is both beautiful and intriguing, drawing on ancient philosophy, the natural world, and human history to explore what it means to live well.

It made me think in ways I never had before, not only about our society and the forces that shape it, but also about who I am as a human being.

Nicolson’s writing is reflective and profound, leaving ideas that linger long after the final page. A truly remarkable book

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a lot of books about Ancient Greece but there's so few about Ancient Greek culture and this one was a treat.
Well researched, well written and informative. There's a lot of food for thought and there's the story of how the Western culture came into being.
A highly recommended read
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is really about two different things. On the one and better hand, it is a good introduction to pre-Socratic Greek philosophy. On the other side it is a travel log of all the sites the author saw cruising the Mediterranean. Some of that is helpful; in understanding the ancient writers but some of it came off to me like listening to someone else's vacation stories.

[Geoff Garnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone with no classical education at school or college I enjoyed this book and learned a lot about the development of early Greek thought in the context of its historical setting. The origin of some ideas was intriguing and some of the history fascinating. I did struggle with some sections when tired and am still getting confused by the names.

[Rasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Save yourself some time. Even though the premise of this book sounds sort of interesting (or at least educational), it tends to drone on and it was only my stubbornness that saw me get through it. However, the first and last chapters are not so bad and informative. All in all, this one is those pursuing classical studies and philosophy only.

[Nicholas Kalogeresis · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting introduction to the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers but the book’s starting theme of the rising influence of sea-based commerce on the spread of thought in the Greek world gets lost. The concluding chapter is too short and hardly wraps up the various threads of the book on how the early Greek thinkers provide us life lessons. Can be verbose at times.

[Duncan Swann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to Greek thought and an interesting thesis as to how harbour cities may have influenced the evolution of these philosophies. The chapter on Heraclitus was particularly interesting, but I also very much enjoyed the first chapter about The Odyssey.

[Karen Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did think that this might have been very dry and overly academic but how wrong I was . This is a fascinating look into the psyche and day to day life of the ancient greek life. I could not put it down.

[Joanne Gass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a lovely way to learn about early Greek philosophy. Nicholson declares that the early philosophers were liminal folks, inhabiting the coastlines of ancient Greece and its colonies. Just a lovely read.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

From this book I learned about the earliest Greek philosophers, the most interesting being Heraclitus who believed that life is in a constant state of tension between two opposed dynamics - hate and love, anger and peace, etc. One can't exist without experiencing the opposite.

[George Crofts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book because Adam Nicholson takes us to the contemporary sites or some of the earliest Greek cities and makes them seem real. He covers the early philosophers in the period 800 - 600 BC. What they thought and how they influenced later philosophers.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Title and description felt misleading. Lots of good history and philosophy but not useful for common knowledge or everyday life.

For the audiobook - the reading voice perfectly hit “bedtime drone relaxation tape” which can be both good and not so good for some people.