The Last of the Wine

[kasche]

"[...] I did not fight, Anytos, to be crowned where I have not run; but for a City where I can know who my equals are, and my betters, to do them honor; where no one will force a lie on me because it is expedient, or some other man's will."

The word seemed, as I spoke, to be my own thoughts that I owned to no one, only to some memory in my soul; but when I looked beyond the Stadium, to where they were kindling the lights on the High City in the falling dark, I saw the lamps of Samos shine through a doorway, and the wine-cup standing on the table of scoured wood. Then the pain of loss leaped out on me, like a knife in the night when one has been on one's guard all day. The world grew hollow, a place of shadows, yet none would hold out the cup of Lethe to let me drink.

This time the quote is quite lengthy... and maybe too close to the end, I'm sorry for that. At first I was thinking of writing all the piece down to "Sleep quietly, Lysis, all is well.", then I thought that this could be enough. And really... like probably many others, I recognized Lysis' words (his speech did stand out, after all), but seeing Alexias realize it... gah.
And this is the fourth (or fifth) book that made me cry.