Facing Down the Furies

“Edith Hall combines personal memoir with her own intimate understanding and painstakingly researched use of ancient Greek tragedy to address the subject of suicide. This important book aims to help readers who may find themselves in a similar position of suffering.”—Paul Cartledge, University of Cambridge

“The best book on suicide I have read. Edith Hall intertwines family history, autobiography, and philosophy, with close readings of ancient Greek authors in this moving exploration of those who decide they can’t go on and the effects their actions have on family, friends, and descendants.”—Nigel Warburton, author of A Little History of Philosophy

"Edith Hall is a clear-eyed classicist in the real world, confronting family furies of depression and suicide alongside sensitive and revelatory readings of the Greek plays: the result is ultimately a humane and affirming vision of life.”—A.E. Stallings, author of This Afterlife, Like, and Olives

“Original, witty and profound: Edith Hall leavens her magisterial scholarship with a personal story that is searingly honest and inspiringly redemptive. She makes the Ancient Greeks relevant and feeling.”—Margaret Reynolds, author of The Wild Track and editor of The Sappho Companion

“A song of sorrow, tenderness, and heartbreak, the most powerful thing I have read in an age. I stayed up all night to finish it.”—Marina Carr, award-winning playwright