The examination of Athenian democracy by these two Greek philosophers, Papayiannou and Castoriadis (now attributed as 'autonomy' to the latter), was the most significant intellectual and political work of the 20th century.

The theme of the intertwining of tragedy and democracy is rather one and the same in the work of these two Greeks. This perhaps marked the end of 'European Hellenism', with key milestones after the Renaissance being Nietzsche and Heidegger, while at the same time it also signaled the beginning of 'Greek Hellenism' in Europe, embodied in the figures of these two philosophers.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]