I used a vast number of different versions of Plato when I was writing this. Alison Sinclair brought me the Loeb 2013 (Emlyn-Jones and Preddy) facing page edition of the Republic, which is a thorough piece of work. Having it at hand saved me hours of effort. She also discovered the existence of Ellen Francis Mason, nineteenth-century translator of Plato, whose life is like a type-example of how difficult it was for women to lead a life of the mind. If you haven’t read Plato and you now feel the urge, I suggest beginning with the Apology and the Symposium, rather than diving straight into the Republic. There are decent English translations of pretty much all of Plato and Xenophon free on Project Gutenberg.
Love and Excellence
Plato uses the Greek word “arete” which has in the past often been translated as “virtue” but for which I am following modern usage in translating as “excellence.” It doesn’t really translate well into our worldview—the idea of arete is also discussed here in terms of becoming your best self.
The one term I have used in Greek throughout this novel is “agape” which of course doesn’t exactly mean love. Plato’s shades of meaning of this term are discussed in detail by the characters, and the word is kept in the original in order to retain one term and not a whole paragraph every time it’s mentioned. Greek culture valorized one kind of love, our own valorizes a very different model. Human nature is always the problem when it comes to living with ideals.
Historical Figures
The masters come from times throughout history, and some of them are historical figures, while others are invented, or amalgams of various people. I expect to put more identifications of minor characters and links to information about all of their lives on my website at www.jowaltonbooks.com.
Adeimantus: Benjamin Jowett, Victorian scholar and translator of Plato, 1817–1893. Aristomache: Ellen Francis Mason, American scholar and translator of Plato, 1846–1888. Atticus: Titus Pomponius Atticus, Roman man of letters, 112–32 BCE. Ficino: Marsilio Ficino, Renaissance philosopher and translator of Plato, 1433–1499. Ikaros: Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Renaissance philosopher and synthesist, 1462–1494. Krito: Crito, fourth century BCE, friend of Socrates. Lukretia: Lucrezia Borgia, Renaissance statesman and scholar, 1480–1519. Manlius: Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, Late Antique statesman and philosopher, 480–524. Plotinus: Neoplatonist philosopher, 204–270. Sokrates: Socrates, Athenian philosopher and gadfly, 469–399 BCE. Tullius: Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman and philosopher 106–49 BCE.
Maia is made up. She was inspired by contemplating Ethel May in Charlotte M. Yonge’s The Daisy Chain. Kreusa and Axiothea are also made up. Klio and Lysias, who come from our future, are obviously invented.
Apollo and Athene come straight out of Homer.
Pronunciation
I am always happy for people to pronounce names however they want, but some people always want to know how you “really” say them. With Classical Greek names there are standard ways. Often they’re easy once you know where the syllable breaks are. The most important thing to know is that a terminal “e” is never silent but always pronounced “ee” or “ay.” Laodike is Lay-od-ik-ee. Simmea is Sim-ay-ah. (Sim like the computer game, ay like “hay,” and “ah” like “Ah, why do people worry about how to pronounce things?”) Pytheas is Pie-thi-us, with a theta as in “thin.”
English has issues with “C.” I’ve tried to avoid them by transliterating the Greek kappa as K, hence Sokrates. The only place you’re going to find a C in a name is with Ficino, where it is pronounced as an Italian “ch,” like finch. Ch is always hard, as in Bach or loch.
BOOKS BY JO WALTON
The King’s Peace
The King’s Name
The Prize in the Game
Tooth and Claw
Farthing
Ha’penny
Half a Crown
Lifelode
Among Others
What Makes This Book So Great
My Real Children
The Just City
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JO WALTON won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012 for her novel Among Others. Before that, she won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and her novel Tooth and Claw won the World Fantasy Award in 2004. The novels of her Small Change sequence—Farthing, Ha’penny, and Half a Crown—have won widespread acclaim. A native of Wales, Walton lives in Montreal.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE JUST CITY
Copyright © 2014 by Jo Walton
All rights reserved.
Cover photograph by Richard Nowitz / Getty Images
Edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden
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The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-7653-3266-0 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-0082-3 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466800823
First Edition: January 2015