Papers > English > Seneca v s PlatoLetters From Stoic and The trial and death of Socrates
|
Featured Papers from Direct Essays
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is a preview of a paper to view the full text you need to signup and login.
|
Seneca v s PlatoLetters From Stoic and The trial and death of Socrates
|
|
|
...
In Plato’s Republic, Socrates makes a bold and convincing case for state-sanctioned censorship of literature. ... It would be useful, then, to apply Socrates’ tests for appropriate literature to two plays that were produced at the time and place in which he actually lived: Sophocles’ Oedipus the King and Euripides’ The Medea. ...
To begin, let’s outline some of the major points of this section of the Republic, II. ... Socrates then complains that great poets of the past, such as Homer, have always misrepresented the gods. Such misrepresentations are not only untrue, but are also damaging to children, who “cannot distinguish the allegorical sense from the literal” (Cornford, 70). ... Next Socrates shows how the poets have misrepresented the gods by giving us a sketch of the divine nature. ... Socrates closes by making a couple of other rules: that to instill bravery, Guardians should not be told stories in which heroes lament the loss of the dead, or in which the afterlife is full of dark terrors. ... Finally, Socrates gives an argument for state-controlled deception. ...
One does not need to look at Oedipus the King very hard to see that Socrates would not have approved of it as proper entertainment for his budding young Guardians. ... Elsewhere in the Republic, Socrates condemns disrespect to one’s elders as a very serious offense. Socrates would have also been offended by Oedipus’s lack of emotional stamina in the face of crises, with outbursts such as
Darkness! ... (1313-1317)
Socrates would also question Oedipus’ relationship with the Gods. ... These depictions of the gods being in any way responsible for the ills of mortals are against Socrates’ doctrine, since perfect divine beings can only be responsible for what is good.
|
|
|
To link to this page, copy the following code to your site:
|
|
Paper Information
|
|
|
Title: Seneca v s PlatoLetters From Stoic and The trial and death of Socrates
Words: 1422
Rating: None
Pages: 5.7
submitted by: marygrace
If you think this paper shouldn't be here then
|
|
|
|
|
Signup & Login
|
|
|
If you don't currently have a login then Signup here
|
|
|
|
|
Pre-Written Papers
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Custom Papers
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
