The Philosopher, the Dog and the Wedding - Barbara Stok

The Philosopher, the Dog and the Wedding
by Barbara Stok

Ancient Greece, 4th century BC. Hipparchia is being groomed for a very different life: she's about to be married off to a wealthy young man from Athens, a match that promises comfort, status, and an easy life. But once she arrives in the city, everything changes. Hipparchia becomes drawn to Crates, a Cynic philosopher who owns nothing, lives on the streets, and cares nothing for what others think of him.

His radical ideas force her to ask a question that will upend her whole future: why choose a life of luxury if it means giving up your freedom? Defying her family and the conventions of her time, Hipparchia turns her back on the marriage she was promised and chooses Crates instead — embracing a life of philosophy, simplicity, and independence.

In her signature warm, accessible style, acclaimed cartoonist Barbara Stok brings to life the little-known true story of Hipparchia of Maroneia, one of history's first female philosophers. Drawing subtle parallels to the present day, Stok uses Hipparchia's fight against the constraints placed on women, slaves, and even animals to hold up a mirror to our own world. The result is a graphic novel that is as thought-provoking as it is charming — a bestseller in the Netherlands within a month of publication, and now available internationally.

Barbara Stok (b. 1970, Groningen) is one of the Netherlands' most celebrated cartoonists, known for blending sharp storytelling with a warm, accessible drawing style. After years of autobiographical comics, she turned to graphic biography with acclaimed books on Vincent van Gogh (Vincent) and, later, the philosopher Hipparchia in The Philosopher, the Dog and the Wedding. Her work has been translated into more than twenty languages and has earned her numerous awards.