1 h 43 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if absolute power leaves you unable to trust a friend or enjoy an ordinary pleasure?
In Xenophon's short dialogue Hiero, the poet Simonides visits Hiero, ruler of Syracuse in Sicily. He asks which life brings more happiness: that of a private citizen or that of a tyrant. Hiero knows both. His answer opens a bleak view of power from the ruler's side.
For Hiero, fear reaches into ordinary comforts, friendship, and honor. Simonides presses him: why do so many people want power if it brings such misery? Their conversation explores the gap between being feared and being loved, then turns toward practical ways a ruler might use power to earn goodwill.
What you’ll discover
- Pleasure under pressure See why Hiero finds less joy in the comforts others expect a ruler to enjoy.
- Friendship without trust Consider the ruler's need for friends when fear makes trust so difficult.
- The limits of honor Ask what praise is worth when the people offering it fear your power.
- A poet pushes back Follow Simonides as he challenges Hiero's account of power and its burdens.
- Power turned toward goodwill Explore practical proposals for ruling well rather than relying on fear.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers curious about power, leadership and what makes a life happy, and anyone who wants an early work of political thought in a short form. It may disappoint those hoping for a story, since it is a talk between two men.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The tyrant enjoys the senses less
- Fear poisons every ordinary comfort
- A tyrant cannot trust friends or citizens
- Honor won by fear is worth little
- Rule well and you will be loved
- What the dialogue meant and how it lasted
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Language: English
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
The tyrant enjoys the senses less
Simonides opens gently. He says that Hiero must know both ways of living, so he can say honestly how they differ in joy and pain. Hiero agrees that he knows both, and he answers that the ruler has the worse of it. Then he goes through the senses one by one.
Take sights and sounds, he says. A private man can travel to festivals, watch games and see the wonders of other cities. A tyrant seldom goes abroad, because he is not safe among crowds he cannot control. Praise is the sweetest sound, yet the tyrant hears little honest praise, and he hears plenty of criticism whispered in secret. What reaches his ears is flattery, and he knows it.
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The author
Xenophon
430 BC–353 BC · Ancient Greek historian and philosopher
Greek philosopher, historian, and soldier.
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What is Hiero by Xenophon about?
It is a dialogue in which the poet Simonides asks the tyrant Hiero of Syracuse whether a ruler or a private citizen is happier. Hiero describes the fears of tyranny, and Simonides then advises how a ruler can win his people's goodwill.
Who are Hiero and Simonides?
Hiero was a ruler of Syracuse in Sicily in the fifth century BC. Simonides of Ceos was a famous Greek poet who is said to have lived at his court. Xenophon uses them as speakers.
Is Hiero a true conversation?
Both men were real, but the conversation is Xenophon's own invention, written in the fourth century BC. He uses the two figures to present his ideas about power, fear and good government.
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