This anthology argues that ideas of friendship and its significance for the political in the ancient world is of relevance for contemporary thinking on the relationship between politics and friendship. It suggests a potential return to Ancient Greece, the birthplace of democracy, and more specifically the political thinking of Plato and Aristotle. This volume covers two quite opposite views on friendship and politics. Seen from one perspective friendship may pose a danger towards the political entity. Alternatively, it can be said to provide a necessary foundation for the political. While most treatments of the ancients on friendship are centered on the study of Aristotle, this volume offers a number of works on Plato. 
 
The contributions herein investigate the various ways these views are expressed within the thinking of Plato and Aristotle and their impact on contemporary discussions of the political. This book appeals to all students and scholars of Ancient Philosophy, particularly those interested in the political and social world of the ancient Greeks.

Kristin Sampson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Bergen. Her work centers on Plato and his intellectual predecessors, and her publications include work on Plato as a political philosopher, such as “The Art of Politics as Weaving in Plato’s Statesman” (2020) and on temporality and musicality as philosophical notions for the ancient philosophers.
 
Oda E. W. Tvedt is Associate Professor of Philosophy, at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She was awarded her PhD. in 2022 for the monography:
 
Plato’s Republic on Democracy: Freedom, Fear and Tyrants Everywhere. She has previously co-edited a volume on Plato: Plato’s Apology, Defending a Philosophical Life, (2018) and published several chapters and articles on Plato. Her research is centered on ancient political thinking.