Pharmakon: Plato, Drug Culture, and Identity in Ancient Athens

Pharmakon traces the emergence of an ethical discourse in ancient Greece, one centered on states of psychological ecstasy. In the dialogues of Plato, philosophy is itself characterized as a pharmakon, one superior to a large number of rival occupations, each of which laid claim to their powers being derived from, connected with, or likened to, a pharmakon. Accessible yet erudite, Pharmakon is one of the most comprehensive examinations of the place of intoxicants in ancient thought yet written.