Week 3 Flashcards
Mycenaean and Minoan Greece
-As early as 1600 BC, groups of Indo-European speaking people began to migrate to the Greek peninsula
~These people brought their language and traditions, and they began to develop fortresses and cities in the region
*Historians and archaeologists know this Indo-European language-speaking society as the Mycenaean civilization
**They were not the first people to create a civilization society in the region
-When the Mycenaean moved into the Greek peninsula, they encountered a settled civilization on the island of Crete, Minoan society
Minoan Crete (2000-1400 BC)
-Writing
-Palace Complexes
~Minos and the Minotaur
~Frescos
-The Minoans thrived for nearly two thousand years, reaching their peak from perhaps 2000-1400 BC, but quite a bit is unknown about them
~The Minoan had three different written languages, a form of hieroglyphics, Linear A, and Linear B
*Of these three only Linear B has been deciphered, and most Linear B documents are found in Greece rather than Crete itself
-A large number of palace complexes have been excavated on Crete, perhaps most importantly the palace complex at Knossos
~These palaces were enormous, with a massive number of interconnected rooms and a sprawling layout
~The labyrinthine nature of the palaces at Knossos is what led the late nineteenth-century archaeologist’ Sir Arthur Evans, to suggest this was the historical basis for legends of King Minos and Minotaur that he kept in the center of the labyrinth
*That type of connection between ancient civilizations and Greek myths was quite common in 19th-century archaeology, but the actual historical evidence for a connection between these palaces complexes and those legends is extremely unclear
-Despite the fact that they are referred to as palaces, the exact purpose of these complexes is unknown
~They probably served as residences for political and religious elites, but also may have served to collect and distribute grain
-The Minoans decorated the complexes with elaborate frescos
~Arthur Evans and other archaeologists tended to destroy a good deal in their effort to excavate sites and their reconstructions of buildings tended to be based on their understandings of Greek myths
*Regardless, bull leaping is indicated in a number of mediums (frescos, seal rings, and statues), suggesting that it was an important part of Minoan society
Minoan Crete, Continued
-Religion?
~Snake Goddess/ Priestess?
-Destruction
-Trade
-Despite all the unknowns, two things are quite clear
~In 1628 BC, the Minoan civilization was traumatized by a volcanic eruption on the nearby island of Thera, which was one of the largest in the ancient world
*It is unclear if the eruption directly damaged the Minoans vis ash or a tsunami, but within fifty years of the eruption their palaces complexes show signs of upheaval and destruction, although from what is unclear
**They slowly recovered over centuries, the Minoans never reached the same heights as they did prior to the eruption, and their society collapsed by the 1400s BC
-In addition, the Minoans traded across the Mediterranean
~While they did not export raw materials in large quantities they do seem to have trade art objects and artists with Egypt and Cannan
*Artistic styles indicated that Minoan art and artists circulated across the region, particularly in Egypt and mainland Greece
Mycenaean Civilization (1600-1100 BC)
-Fortifications
-Writing
-Myth
-As the Mycenaeans established their civilization on mainland Greece, they appeared to have borrowed a great deal from the Minoans
-As the Mycenaeans migrated into Greece around 1600 BC, they began building enormous fortifications across the region to control the countryside
~These fortifications were built from dry-stone walls meaning that no mortar was used and they were built on such a large scale that in the Middle Ages people believed that the complexes had been built by a cyclops
-Archaeologists know more about the Mycenaeans since their leaders were buried in elaborate graves that preserved weapons, jewelry, and other objects
~These individuals were buried with Minoan rings and objects, which suggests that they were fairly high valued trades items and signified an elite social status
The weapons as well as the fortifications, suggest a more warlike society than the Minoans, which was supported by letters and materials from surrounding empires
**The Hittites, for example, were an Indo-European speaking people who established an empire in Anatolia, modern Turkey
**Surviving accounts from them show the Hittite monarch complaining about piracy and raids from the Mycenaens and demanding that the Mycenaean kings control their subjects
-The Mycenaeans used Linear B as their main writing system, which they borrowed from the Minoans
~Scholars have deciphered it and it is an early form of Greek
*It would be helpful if these recorded provided concrete history of the Mycenaean law or something along those lines, but they are primarily records of grain collected and stored
**There are mentions of gods such as Zeus, Hera, and others, which does suggest that the Greek pantheon was beginning to develop during this time
-It is important to note that much like the early excavations of the Minoans, early archaeologists who excuvated the remains of the Mycenaean civilizations such as the Greman archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann who discovered the ruins of Troy, tended to connect this civilization to classical myths and stories as much as possible.
~Schliemann, for example. discovered a series of graves in which he hound objects such as a fabulous gold burial mask, because of his desire to connect these graves to Greek myths, he argued that this was the Mask of Agamemnon, the lendary kings who helped lead the Greek forces during the Trojan War, described in the Iliad
International Bronze Age (1600-1100 BC)
-Bronze
-Trade
-Collapse
~Greek Dark Age
-Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations prospered during what is known as the International Bronze Age, which lasted from around 1600-1100 BC
-Bronze had been discovered before 3000 BC when metallurgies realized that a blend of copper and tin resulted in the production of a new metal, bronze, that was harder and more durable than either copper or tin alone
~However, copper and tin deposits were not found in close proximity to one another in Mesopotamia or really around the Mediterranean
*In order to produce bronze, trade was a necessity
-The International Bronze Age is the period when this trade reached its peak
~Civilizations and empires in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Cannan, Anatolia, and Greece engaged in intensive trade and international cooperation in order to facilitate the movement of metal (usually in the form of refined metallic ingots like copper ingots that were found on Crete) as well as other trade goods
During the International Bronze Age that we see the first known international peace treaty between Egyptians and the Hittites
**This trade allowed both the Minoans and the Mycenaean to prosper and flourish
**But the Minoans society fell apart around 1400 for unknown reasons
-The Minoan collapse was quickly followed by the Mycenaean, along with most of the other civilizations associated with the International Bronze Age, around 1100 BC
~Again, on one knows for sure why the International Bronze Age collapsed
Many sources of the period talk about the migration of new people into the eastern Mediterranean, but there is little historical evidence on who those people might have been
**After the collapse of the Mycenaean, Greek culture entered what is known as the Dark Age
**When writing, commerce, urban life, and trade declined
Polis/Poleis (City-states)
-Acropolis
-Isolation
-Independence
-Exceptionalism
-During the Dark Age that the key institution of Classical Greek civilization began to develop, the polis (city-states)
-Poleis developed around fortifiable sites know as acropolises
~The most famous of these is in Acropolis of Athens, but all Greek poleis would have had similar natural fortifications where individuals could flee in times of need
These poleis are known as city-states in an effort to encapsulate both the urban element but also their role as independent states with their own forms of government
**As cities, these poleis started as fairly small agricultural settlements, and they slowly developed a small urban center as trade and commerce began to expand in the 700s BC
**As states, the polis very quickly developed a sense of their own independence due to the geography of Greece
-Greece is a fairly mountainous area
~While there is easy access to the ocean, overland routes could be dangerous and difficult
~Farmable plains where poleis we’re established tended to be quite small, and they could only suppose rather small populations
Because of isolation, each polis developed independently, and they were reluctant to give up that independence as they grew and as trade began to connect them to both the rest of Greece and the rest of the world
**While the Greeks saw themselves as connected and untied via language, culture, religion, in opposition to be barbarians who lived in the outside world, the citizens of each polis tended to see themselves as unique and superior to all the other Greek poleis
**If you were an Athenian, you knew that your society, culture, and system of government was intrinsically better than everyone’s else’s
***If you were a Spartan, a Thebean, or a Corinthian, you knew that your polis was better and superior to everyone else’s
*This convention meant that the history of Classical Greece can really be seen as a series of conflicts in which, as soon as one polis became too powerful, other poleis banded together to tear them down
**Athens was torn down by Sparta, Sparta was torn down by Thebes, and Thebes and Sparta eventually destroyed one another
The Odyssey
-Homer?
-Mycenaean History and Legends?
-Values
~Xenia (hospitality)
~Eusebeia (awe and reverence)
~The human Struggle
-To explore early development of Greeks, The Odyssey, one of the great monuments of Ancient Greek literature
~The Odyssey, tells us the story of Odysseus’ journey home from the Trojan War (the ten year long conflict to recover Helen, the wife of the Greek king Menelaus, who was kidnapped by, or fell in love with the Trojan prince Paris)
The Odyssey is told in a somewhat fragmented style
First introduced to Odysseus’ wife and son as they wait at home for him while suitors take advantage of them
*His son is sent on a journey by the goddess Athena to find out what happened to his father, but it is not until the middle of the work that Odysseus appears and begins to tell the tale of his adventure
**He returns home in disguise, where, with a little divine help and working with his son, he slaughters theen attempting to marry his wife, and it all ends with a happy ending
A brief synopsis, it is a story that has become so familiar to us today, and such a part of our common culture that even if you have never read The Odyssey, you are undoubtedly familiar with the characters, monsters, and gods who appear in the story
**Safe to assume that everyone know what a cyclops is, even if they do not know the name of the cyclops who appears in The Odyssey
-Historians and literary scholars do not know when The Odyssey was composed
~Tradition has it that the blind Greek poet Homer composed the work along with it’s companion part, the Iliad
*Homer may or may not be a myth
-According to archaeologists and literary scholars, these works probably developed as oral histories of the Mycenaean period that were told and retold over centuries
~The stories of warriors, battles, and adventure that appear here may reflect legendary deeds of Mycenaean warriors that were combined with myths and legends
$These stories gradually developed into the epics that we know today, and eventually, perhaps in the 600s or 500s BC, they were written down in the basic form we know today
-Greece social values and virtues from the work
~Virtue of xenia
*The necessity or providing hospitality to strangers and guests
~How the Greeks saw non-Greeks as being barbarians and uncivilized
~The necessity of revering and being in awe of the gods
*Virtue of eusebeia
**All provides an important window onto the Greeks value
-Think about the story of Gilgamesh, the focus is very much on the divine, on the next world, and on the pain and distress that accompanied worldly existence
~However, in The Odyssey, we see the opposite of this in many ways
*Odysseus is defined by his journey to return home to his wife and son
**Near the end of his adventure, he winds up on the island of Calypso a goddess, where he is offered immortality if he will abandon the normal, human world and stay with Calypso
***Instead of accepting this offer of a blissful, peaceful, eternal existence, he seeks to return to the world of pain and suffering, arguing that it is the struggle which makes him human and results in the meaning of life
**Even though he is destined to age and die, he would rather struggle and strive with his family, earn a name and reputation for himself, than accept Calypso’s offer
**That focus on, and respect for, human effort and activities, is something that sets The Odyssey apart from other literature of the ancient world, and it helps define later Greek culture that focused on humans and human logic as being central to understanding the world rather than focusing on the divine
Polis Government
-Trade and Economic Expansion
-Military Revolution
~Hoplites
~Phalanx
~The Demos
-Tyrants
-In the 700s BC, Greece began to emerge out of the Dark Age as trade with the rest of the Mediterranean began to increase
~Contact with the Canaanites, or as the Greeks knew them, the Phoenicians, meant that the Greeks regained access to the natural resources, particularly grain and metallic ores, of the larger Mediterranean
*Through Canaanites, the Greeks adopted the alphabet, modifying it for their own purposes
*Renewed trade and access to more resources led to economic expansion and urban growth
~Unexpected outcomes of these changes was a military revolution
In Mycenaean period and in the early poleis militaries we’re dominated by the elites who rode into battle on hours back and could afford the weapons and armor necessary to fight
**However, as the cities grew and wealth expanded more and more men were able to afford the weapons and armor necessary to fight
**These individuals began to form a new class of soldiers, what are known as hoplites, who marched into battle as a phalanx
-A phalanx is a densely packed formation of hoplites that marched in densely packed rows in order to form a shield wall that protect each other
~In order to fight effective, these hoplites needed to train and drill on a regular basis
They began to see themselves as deserving a voice in government and the running of their polis; after all, they were the ones fighting and dying for the city
**As a result they began to see themselves as the demos or the citizens
**This development resulted in political turmoil as the citizens began to demand rights and elites attempted to retain control
~Across Greece, poleis solved this problem in a variety of ways
In some places, tyrants seized power
**In classical Greece tyrants we’re individuals who seized power by playing to the desires of the demos
**They developed policies the last were popular with the demos to ensure that the people supported their rule
**Offering loans to those in need and embarking projects that would encourage trade and urban growth
~Other states created military dictatorships, oligarchies (The rule by a small number of individuals), democracies, and monarchies
Athens
-Social Chaos
~Solon (640-558 BC)
-Democracy (400s BC)
~The Assembly
~Magistrates
~The Courts
-Social tensions started to develop in the 600s BC
~By the early 500s BC, the city was growing increasingly wealthy, but the wealth was dominated by the elites while the vast majority of the population was rural farmers
*In order to survive, the poor were increasingly forced to take out loans from those elites, but when they were unable to pay them back, people were forced into debt slavery
This caused an increase in social tensions, and by the early 500s BC, the cities was on the verge of civil war
When the nobleman Solon was elected the chief magistrate in 594 BC, he took a variety of steps to remedy the situation
****He ended debt slavery, expanded the number of people who could be elected to city offices, and in order to help elevate the positions of the rural farmers, he encouraged them to enter more prosperous urban trades
**These laws were inscribed in public places so that all people could see and understand these reforms
**The reform alleviated the situation, but still failed to create a stable state as, for most of the 500s BC, the tyrant Peisistrators dominated Athens
**The reforms, particularly the attempt to open participation in the state to the lower classes, helped create the foundation of the later democratic system
-Athenian democracy really reached it’s pinnacle in the 400s bC
~At this time, three main institutions ran the city
The Assembly
**Which was the main legislative body of the city
*The Magistrates
**Who ran the city on a day-to-day basis
*The Court
**Which tried crimes
*The Assembly was the main body that made laws and the majority of the decisions for the city
**When it next, it was open to any male citizen of the city
**Citizens had to have parents who were born in the city, they needed to be trained for military service, or they needed a special grant of citizenship from the Assembly
****Women whose parents were born in the city were considered citizens, but they were not allowed to participate
**Exactly how many attendees is unclear
While attendees were paid in order to ensure that they could leave their regular duties behind for a few days, many would have been away serving in the Athenian navy or unable to attend due to their farming duties in rural areas of the city
**Regardless, the Assembly at least 6000 citizens to attend in order to pass laws, is perhaps that many would have showed up on a regular basis
**In addition to attend, male citizens could address the assembly with a proposal
**If they did so, they would have stood on the podium and have addressed the Assembly who stood in front of the speaker
**There were very few limits on the power of the Assembly; they could go to war, enact laws, expel citizens, or give foreigners citizenship
-The Magistrates we’re individuals who served a variety of institutions of the city
~Some of the more elevated position
Example
**The Generals who served as the heads of the state, were chosen by elections, while other positions were chosen by lot
**There were able to control the agenda for the assembly, helping to guide the legislation that was presented before it
**Final body was the courts; here citizens would assemble to sit on juries that would judge the guilt or innocence of their fellow citizens
A Few Comments
-Population and Participation
~Slaves
~Foreigners
~Women
-The Delian League
-In the 400s BC somewhere around 250-300,000 people lived in Athens
~A large number, perhaps as many as a third, were slaves, and thus had no political rights
The large number of slaves enabled male citizens to leave their daily duties to serve on juries and attend the Assembly
A similar number were probably foreigners living in the city, but they were not considered citizens and had no political right
*Of the remaining, a number were children and a bit less than half were women
**Means that perhaps 10% of the total population were involved in the assembly, and even fewer than that were actually able to attend the Assembly on a regular basis
-The great monuments and institutions of Athens were financed through the taxation, and occasionally the exploitation of the surrounding polies
~The aftermath of the Persian War, in which the Persian Empire attempted to conquer the Greek poleis on two separate occasions, in 477 BC the Athenians created a mutual defense organization known as the Delian League in order to defend the Greeks from the Persian Empire
*The Athenians provided a navy and some military force, and in return, the other partners of the League provided money to help with the upkeep of those forces
This organization led to the Greek pushing Persians out of the poleis along the Aegean sea, but one the Persians we’re no longer a threat, the Athenians started to put the money they collected to other purposes
***The treasury of the Delian League became a piggy bank for the Athenian state, which put it to use beatifying the city and funding the democracy
**When poleis attempted to leave the League, the Athenians enforced their authority through military forces
**The success of the Athenian democracy can be attributed to their exploitation of cities across the region
Sparta
-Expansion in the 700s BC
-Helots
-Control via warfare
-Art production
-The Spartans developed a very different system
-In the 700s BC they conquered the neighboring city states of Messenia and turned the population into slaves known as Helots
~Already renowned as warriors, the Spartans dedicated themselves to becoming the finest warriors they could in order to control this population of slaves, who vastly outnumbered the Spartans
*They were able to do this, because Helots did the majority of the agriculture work, which freed the Spartans to spend all of their time training
-The entirety of Spartan society was dedicated to warfare and preventing a revolt by the Helots
~Spartan boys were trained from a young age to serve the state as warriors, living their lives as barracks, and terrorizing Helots by killing off those who could potentially serve as leaders or who would bred larger and stronger Helots
*As a result of their total focus on maintaining control via warfare, the Spartans did not build great architectural monuments or engage in a great deal of philosophical speculation
**However, the city was known for the prediction of art, particularly pottery and bronze pieces, and poetry that was renewed throughout Greece
The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC)
-In the late 400s BC, conflict between the Athenians and Spartans over preeminence in Greece resulted in a serious of wars known as the Peloponnesian War
~While the Athenians dominated the sea with their navy, the Spartans dominated the land
However, a navy was not enough to destroy the Spartans, and the Spartan army always had to return home after a short period to ensure that the Helots did not rebel in their absence
**While both sides scored victories, this led to a stalemate that lasted until 415 when the Athenians launched a major invasion of Sicily, which failed dramatically
**The loss weakened the Athenians, and while they continued to fight , the Spartans managed to gain Persian support and funding
**This allowed them to build a navy and destroy the Athenian fleet
-In 404 BC, the Athenians surrendered, and the democratic government was overwhelmed and briefly replaced by an oligarchy known as “The Thirty Tyrants” that controlled the city through violence and brutality for a year before they too were overwhelmed and the democracy reestablished
Philosophy
-Questions
~Human Reason and Logic
-Pre-Socratics
~Sophists
~Relativism
-Developed in Greece during the 500s BCas individuals started to look past themselves and towards the world in which they lived
~They looked at the wife variety of governments that governed the poleis and started to wonder which form of government was the best, what role a government should have in society, and if governments and laws were something that were divinely ordained by the gods, or if they were the creation of human beings
These people asked if laws were entirely relative, or if there was a universal morale core that underlay all the laws and human beings
**In order to find answers, they did not rely upon gods or other supernatural explanations
**Instead they attempted to use human reason and logical thinking to understand the nature of the world
-The Greeks we’re certainly not the first people to ask such questions not the first to attempt to understand the logically
~However, at least in the Mediterranean, these Greek thinkers were the first to have their ideas recorded and refined in ways that helped to form the core of Western philosophy even up to the modern day
-The earliest of these individuals were people know as the Pre-Socratics
~They are known as the Pre-Socratics because the defining figure of Greek philosophy is Socrates
The Pre-Socratics, are philosophers who lived before Socrates
**The most famous of these individuals were known as Sophists
**They engaged in philosophical speculation, they were primarily educators who, for a few, would teach individuals
** Men, on whatever topics they wanted to know
***Given than men were increasingly engaged in public life and the governance of their poleis, being able to form arguments and speak effectively was a skill that was in high demand
-Sophists would teach individuals rhetoric, the art of creating an argument, but most importantly, they argued that an individual should be able to argue any side of an argument since truth was relative
~Instead of suggesting that there were absolute, objective truth that could be applied to all humans, they argued for a form of relativism
*Humans were the ultimate standard for all things, and thus everyone’s individual understanding about the nature of just for truth were valid, even if they differed in substantial ways
-According to some accounts, Sophists such as Protagoras went so far as to doubt the existence of the gods and any sort of divine truth or order
~It is unclear if the Sophists actually took that strongly of a relativistic position or if they were being set up as straw man who Plato and others could knock down
Socrates
-Life
~Conversation
*Critical Thinking
~Trial
*Student
*The Apology of Socrates
-The most famous figure of Greek philosophy is undoubtedly Socrates
-Scorates was an Athenian citizens who was born sometime around 470 BC
~He served in the Athenian military and fought in the battles of the Peloponnesian War
~He studied with Sophists and other learned teachers, but he quickly became disillusioned with their relativistic ideas and began to believe that they, and other Athenians, has not thought deeply enough about their beliefs
*He began to search for wisdom and knowledge through engaging in conversations and questioning of people who claimed to possess knowledge
-When he encouraged people who claimed to know what justice was, he tried to ask them about their beliefs
-When he encountered priests who claimed to know what true piety was, he engaged them in conversations about why they believed those things
~Over the course of the questioning, Socrates pushed people and pointed out the inconsistencies in their argument until it was revealed that they did not truly possess wisdom
-Socrates himself never seems to have claimed to know exactly what true justice or true piety was, and he did not attempt to provide solid answers
~Through his questioning, he attempted to get the Athenians to critically think about their understanding of the world
*Rather than living in mindless ignorance, he argued that it was necessary to examine one’s life and beliefs with a critical eye
*It was only through self-examination that people could become wiser and begin to gain a deeper understanding of themselves and the world
**However, having someone question your fundamental view of the university without providing any answers is really fucking annoying
*All of this questioning became problematic in the late 400s BC
-The Thirty Tyrants period proved problematic to Socrates for a few reasons
~Socrates was seen as being quite critical of traditional Athenian society and government
How much of this criticism was part of his attempts to get people to critically think about traditions and how much was an actual critique is unclear
**However, in a period in which the Athenian government was unsettled, any critique of tradition was seen as problematic
**One of Socrates’ students, Alcibiades, had betrayed Athens during the Peloponnesian War and was seen as a traitor, and another student, Critical, had been one of the tyrant who had violently ruled the city
**While Socrates pointed out that he had opposed their actions, and that he had been in danger of being put to death during the rule of the Tyrants, he was seen as being complicit to their traitorous activity
-In 399, he was put on trial, and charged with misleading the youth of the city and denying the existence of the gods
-Socrates’ speech defending his actions is contained in The Apology of Socrates
~This was not written by Socrates himself; it was written by Plato, one of his students, some years after Socrates’death
In the speech, Socrates does not show remorse for his teachings or attempt to placate the jury assembled to judge him
**Instead, he defiantly defense his methods and actions
**From the speech, you should be able to discern how he went about the city questioning people as well as the general outline of his beliefs
-Today it is often seen as a symbol of Socrates’ brilliance and intellectual courage, it was not exactly a crowd-pleaser
~As a result of his defiance, the jury convicted him, and when he again refused to apologize or plead for clemency, it sentenced him to death
*He consumed hemlock and died
Plato
-The Forms
~The Physical World
~Souls
~The Allegory of the Cave
~Divine Craftsman
-Plato came from a prominent Athenian family, and he studied with Socrates
~After Socrates’ suicide, he founded his own school, and he began to develop his own ideas through the composition of dialogues, which were conversations that featured Socrates and various other students
*In the beginning, Plato seems to have primarily echoed Socrates and continued his philosophical ideas
However, as he continued to develop his ideas, he started to focus more and more on trying to understand the fundamental nature of reality
-He postulated that the physical world was an arena of chaos and turmoil
~Here nothing is perfect, nothing exists in it’s ideal shape or form
Yet we still recognize that physical things and ideas are connected even if they sound and look extremely different
-According to Plato, we recognize this because being or above the physical world is the ideal world of the Forms where the ideal, perfect form of all physical and intellectual things exists
~All physical things are simply plae and indistinct shadows of those perfect Forms
Thus there is a perfect ideal form of a chir, dog, justice, truth that exists in the world of the Forms
-We can indistinctly perceive that idealized world because we possess souls
~Our souls originally resided in the world of the Forms l, but when they were born into our current bodies, they forgot the majority of the true knowledge that they knew before and it is only through education that we can relearn the knowledge that we already possess
-As Plato articulated these ideas, he wondered what this means for society and it’s organization, and his answer was provided in The Republic, the work that he is probably best known for today
~This is an extended dialogue between Socrates and various students
*Over the course of the work, Socrates discussed the nature of justice, reality, and government
**Here Plato argues that all governments will eventually be corrupted, and as a result, society will decay
**Instead of traditional forms of government Plato proposed a new form of government in which society is ruled by a philosopher king
****In this ideal society, philosophers would be the ones to regulate and organize society
**People would be organized based on their occupation, men and women would be equal and educated in the same way, there would be no property or traditional families, breeding would be controlled by the state, and the rulers would have checks on their authority to ensure that they ruled for the benefit of society as a whole
**The work is a thought experiment that enabled him to examine the world and articulate his ideas about the nature of reality as well as his critiques of the Athenian government and society
-The section of The Republic, the Allegory of the Cave, is one of the most famous and most widely read sections of the work
~It explains Plato’s theory of the Forms, his concerns about the Athenian Democracy and his justification for putting philosophers in charge of society, via an extended allegory
He imagines a group of individuals chained in a cave who can only see shadows on a wall, because they have been there their whole lives, this is the only reality that they know , and so they think the shadows are objects themselves
**However, there is one person who gets taken out of the chains and brought out into the sunlight and he perceives the true nature of reality and recognizes that previously they had just been viewing shadows
**However, when they go back down, their ideas are treated with derision and scorn by the people who have not seen the sun and the truth of their existence
**He proposed the existence of the divine figure who had created the universe
***This figure had created the world based off the forms, but it an imperfect recreation
-Plato’s divine figure had done the best that it could, to the point where we can recognize the forms in the physical world around us