A bold and captivating new novel of what it means to be a woman in ancient Greece, from the celebrated, award-winning author of The Golden Mean.
Aristotle has never been able to resist a keen mind in another, even in his own daughter, Pythias - a young girl who should be content with the kitchen, the loom and a future of childbearing. But she is really smart, able to best his own students in debate; is she a freak or a harbinger of what women can really achieve? Whichever is the case, hers is a privileged position, a woman who moves in a man's world, protected by the reputation of her philosopher father. Yet her entire life is set to change when Aristotle falls from grace...
Driven from Athens, the old philosopher soon dies. Without the loving guidance of her father, the orphaned sixteen-year-old Pythias quickly discovers that the world is a place not of logic after all, but one of superstition, and that a girl can be preyed upon by gods and goddesses as much as by grown men and women. To safely journey to a place in which she can reach her true potential, Aristotle's daughter will need every ounce of wit she possesses; and she must also learn, quickly, to nurture her capacity to love.