The Philosopher, the Dog and the Wedding
by Barbara Stok
Self Made Hero £16.99
 

AS our world increasingly appears to be dominated by the image at the expense of the word, the market for graphic novels grows exponentially. There have been some, notably Martin Rowson’s treatment of Tristram Shandy and Gulliver’s Travels, that have become works of art in their own right, but the question remains whether the majority are any more than comic books with elevated titles. 

Stories and storytelling being fundamental to human communication, it is surely irrelevant how narratives, fictional or factual, are told. The key issues are who are they designed to engage with and whether form and content marry. 

If the inquisitive reader has to check on Wikipedia what this intriguingly entitled book is about, as I did, then he or she (especially she) will certainly be encouraged to enjoy Barbara Stok’s delightfully colourful graphic biography of one of a surprising number of ancient Greek women philosophers whose works, unsurprisingly, have not survived.

Hipparchia, living in Thrace around 300 BC, is a lively teenage girl much more interested in the library scrolls and the philosophical discussions of her father’s friends than the female domesticity she is expected to live.  When an arranged marriage takes her to Athens, she discovers the most important of the Cynic philosophers and, necessarily disguised as a man, she holds her own among his wayside discussion groups.

Convinced by his lifestyle and rejection of material values she leaves her husband and marries him, living and teaching on the streets.

Prize-winning Dutch cartoonist Barbara Stok takes what is a fairly dry tale and invests it with everyday humour and vitality. Her detailed illustrations have no captions, only bubbles of dialogue.  

Her Hipparchia, looking like Popeye’s girlfriend Olive Oyl, is a very modern, independent girl. When Crates responds to her proposal of marriage by stripping off, revealing he owns nothing, she follows suit.

For all its fun element, it is not surprising to learn that Barbara Stok’s work is the result of five years’ research. Her dedication to ideas of freedom shines through the deceptive simplicity of her drawings.

And where does the Dog come in? In a recent interview, Stok claims that, like the Cynics, she believes that dogs are better at understanding the art of living than their human companions. And so Hipparchia is accompanied throughout the book by her dog, a quizzical companion. 

The final two-page spread takes us from ancient Greece to our own cramped world of traffic congestion, shopping hysteria, advertising, etc. But the dog persists!