Latest / The Philosophy Insights Collection / 39 - The Republic - Plato

Transcript

39 - The Republic - Plato · The Philosophy Insights Collection

0:00
Book ten, Part four. And now you must allow me to repeat of
0:05
the just the blessings which you were attributing to the fortunate unjust. I shall
0:10
say of them what you were saying of the others, that as they grow
0:13
older, they become rulers in their own city, if they care to be,
0:17
they marry whom they like, and give in marriage to whom they will.
0:20
All that you said of the others, I now say of these,
0:23
And on the other hand, of the unjust, I say that the greater
0:26
number, even though they escape in their youth, are found out at last,
0:30
and look foolish at the end of their course. And when they come
0:33
to be old and miserable, are flouted alike by stranger and citizen. They
0:37
are beaten. And then come those things unfit for ears, polite, as
0:41
you truly term them. They will be racked and have their eyes burnt out,
0:45
as you were saying. And you may suppose that I have repeated the
0:48
remainder of your tale of horrors. But will you let me assume without reciting
0:53
them, that these things are true? Certainly he said what you say is
0:57
true. These, then, are the prizes and reuins, words and gifts
1:00
which are bestowed upon the just by gods and men in this present life,
1:03
in addition to the other good things which Justice of herself provides. Yes,
1:08
he said, and they are fair and lasting. And yet I said,
1:12
all these are as nothing, either in number or greatness, in comparison with
1:17
those other recompenses which await both just and unjust after death. And you ought
1:22
to hear them. And then both just and unjust will have received from us
1:26
a full payment of the debt which the argument owes to them. Speak,
1:29
he said, there are few things which I would more gladly hear. Well,
1:33
I said, I will tell you a tale, not one of the
1:37
tales which Odysseus tells to the hero Alcinous. Yet this too is a tale
1:41
of a hero er, the son of Armenius, a pamphilion by birth.
1:45
He was slain in battle, and ten days afterwards, when the bodies of
1:49
the dead were taken up, already in a state of corruption, his body
1:53
was found unaffected by decay and carried away home to be buried. And on
1:57
the twelfth day, as he was lying on the funeral pile, he returned
2:00
to life and told them what he had seen in the other world. He
2:04
said, that when his soul left the body, he went on a journey
2:07
with a great company, and that they came to a mysterious place at which
2:10
there were two openings in the earth. They were near together, and over
2:15
against them were two other openings in the heaven above in the intermediate space,
2:19
there were judges seated who commanded the just, after they had given judgment on
2:23
them, and had bound their sentences in front of them, to ascend by
2:27
the heavenly way on the right hand, and in like manner, the unjust
2:30
were bidden by them to descend by the lower way on the left hand.
2:35
These also bore the symbols of their deeds, but fastened on their backs.
2:38
He drew near, and they told him that he was to be the messenger
2:43
who would carry the report of the other world to men. And they bade
2:46
him hear and see all that was to be heard and seen in that place.
2:49
Then he beheld and saw on one side the souls departing at either opening
2:53
of heaven and earth, when sentence had been given on them, and at
2:57
the two other openings other souls. Some ascended out of the earth dusty and
3:00
worn with travel, some descending out of heaven clean and bright, and arriving
3:06
ever and anon, they seemed to have come from a long journey, And
3:08
they went forth with gladness into the meadow, where they encamped as at a
3:13
festival. And those who knew one another embraced and conversed, the souls which
3:16
came from earth, curiously inquiring about the things above, and the souls which
3:22
came from heaven about the things beneath. And they told one another of what
3:25
had happened by the way, those from below weeping and sorrowing at the remembrance
3:30
of the things which they had endured and seen in their journey beneath the earth.
3:34
Now the journey lasted a thousand years, while those from above were describing
3:38
heavenly delights and visions of inconceivable beauty. The story Glaucon would take too long
3:45
to tell, but the sum was this. He said that for every wrong
3:49
which they had done to any one, they suffered tenfold, or once in
3:53
a hundred years, such being reckoned to be the length of man's life,
3:57
and the penalty being thus paid ten times in a thousand years. If,
4:01
for example, there were any who had been the cause of many deaths,
4:05
or had betrayed or enslaved cities or armies, or been guilty of any other
4:09
evil behavior. For each and all of their offenses, they received punishment ten
4:14
times over, and the rewards of beneficence and justice and holiness were in the
4:17
same proportion. I need hardly repeat what he said concerning young children dying almost
4:24
as soon as they were born, of piety and impiety to gods and parents,
4:28
and of murderers. There were retributions other and greater far which he described.
4:32
He mentioned that he was present when one of the spirits asked another,
4:36
where is Ardius the Great? Now? This Ardius lived a thousand years before
4:41
the time of er. He had been the tyrant of some city of Pamphylia,
4:45
and had murdered his aged father and his elder brother, and was said
4:47
to have committed many other abominable crimes. The answer of the other spirit was,
4:53
he comes not hither, and will never come. And this said he
4:58
was one of the dreadful sights which we are cells witnessed. We were at
5:00
the mouth of the cavern, and, having completed all our experiences, were
5:04
about to reascend, when of a sudden Ardias appeared and several others, most
5:09
of whom were tyrants. And there were also, besides the tyrants, private
5:13
individuals who had been great criminals. They were just as they fancied about to
5:17
return into the upper world. But the mouth, instead of admitting them,
5:20
gave a roar whenever any of these incurable sinners, or someone who had not
5:25
been sufficiently punished, tried to ascend. And then wild men of fiery aspect,
5:30
who were standing by and heard the sound, seized and carried them off.
5:33
And Ardius and the others they bound head and foot and hand, and
5:38
threw them down, and flayed them with scourges, and dragged them along the
5:41
road at the side, carding them on thorns like wool, and declaring to
5:45
the passers by what were their crimes, and that they were being taken away
5:47
to be cast into hell. And of all the many terrors which they had
5:51
endured, he said, there were none like the terror which each of them
5:55
felt at that moment lest they should hear the voice. And when there was
5:59
silences, one by one they ascended with exceeding joy. These said er were
6:04
the penalties and retributions, and there were blessings as great. Now. When
6:10
the spirits which were in the meadow had tarried seven days. On the eighth
6:14
they were obliged to proceed on their journey, And on the fourth day after
6:17
he said that they came to a place where they could see from above a
6:20
line of light, straight as a column, extending right through the whole heaven
6:25
and through the earth, in color resembling the rainbow, only brighter and purer.
6:30
Another day's journey brought them to the place, and there, in the
6:32
midst of the light, they saw the ends of the chains of Heaven let
6:35
down from above. For this light is the belt of Heaven, and holds
6:40
together the circle of the universe, like the undergirders of a trirem. From
6:44
these ends as extended the spindle of necessity on which all the revolutions turn.
6:49
The shaft and hook of this spindle are made of steel, and the whorl
6:54
is made partly of steel, and also partly of other materials. Now the
6:58
whorl is in form like the whars used on Earth, and the description of
7:01
it implied that there is one large hollow whorl which is quite scooped out,
7:05
and into this is fitted another lesser one, and another, and another,
7:10
and four others, making eight in all, like vessels, which fit into
7:14
one another. The whorls show their edges on the upper side and on the
7:17
lower side, altogether form one continuous whorl. This is pierced by the spindle,
7:23
which is driven home through the center of the eighth. The first and
7:26
outermost whorl has the rim broadest, and the seven inner whorls are narrower.
7:30
In the following proportions, the sixth is next to the first in size,
7:34
the fourth next to the sixth, then comes the eighth, The seventh is
7:39
fifth, the fifth is sixth, the third is seventh, last, and
7:42
eighth comes the second. The largest, or fixed stars is spangled, and
7:46
the seventh our sun is brightest, the eighth or moon, colored by the
7:51
reflected light of the seventh. The second and fifth Saturn and Mercury are in
7:56
color like one another and yellower than the preceding. The third Venus has the
8:01
whitest light, The fourth Mars is reddish, the sixth Jupiter is in whiteness
8:07
second. Now the whole spindle has the same motion, but as the whole
8:11
revolves in one direction, the seven inner circles move slowly in the other,
8:16
and of these the swiftest is the eighth next in swiftness are the seventh,
8:20
sixth, and fifth, which move together. Third in swiftness appeared to move
8:24
according to the law of this reversed motion, the fourth, the third appeared
8:28
fourth, and the second fifth. The spindle turns on the knees of Necessity,
8:33
and on the upper surface of each circle is a siren who goes round
8:37
with them, hymning a single tone or note. The eight together form one
8:41
harmony, and round about at equal intervals. There is another band, three
8:45
in number, each sitting upon her throne. These are the fates, daughters
8:48
of Necessity, who are clothed in white robes and have chaplets upon their heads.
8:54
Lacsis and Clotho and Atropos, who accompany with their voices the harmony of
8:58
the sirens lock Us singing of the past, Clotho of the present, Octropos
9:03
of the future Clotho, from time to time, assisting with the torch of
9:07
her right hand the revolution of the outer circle of the whorl or spindle,
9:11
and Atropos with her left hand, touching and guiding the inner ones in lachesis,
9:16
laying hold of either in turn, first with one hand and then with
9:20
the other. When er and the spirits arrived. Their duty was to go
9:24
at once to Lachesis. But first of all there came a prophet who arranged
9:26
them in order. Then he took from the knees of Ilachesis lots and samples
9:31
of lives, and, having mounted a high pulpit, spoke as follows here
9:35
the word of Lachesis, the daughter of Necessity. Mortal souls, behold a
9:39
new cycle of life and mortality. Your genius will not be allotted to you,
9:45
but you will choose your genius. And let him who draws the first
9:48
lot have the first choice, and the life which she chooses shall be his
9:50
destiny. Virtue is free, and as a man honors or dishonors her,
9:56
he will have more or less of her. The responsibility is with the chooser.
10:01
God is justified. When the interpreter had thus spoken, he scattered lots
10:05
indifferently among them all, and each of them took up the lot which fell
10:09
near him. All but er himself he was not allowed. And each,
10:13
as he took his lot, perceived the number which he had obtained. Then
10:16
the interpreter placed on the ground before them the samples of lives, And there
10:20
were many more lives than the souls present, and they were of all sorts.
10:24
There were lives of every animal and of man, in every condition,
10:28
and there were tyrannies among them, some lasting out the tyrant's life, others
10:33
which broke off in the middle and came to an end in poverty and exile
10:37
and beggary. And there were lives of famous men, some who were famous
10:41
for their form and beauty, as well as for their strength and success in
10:43
games, or again for their birth and the qualities of their ancestors, and
10:48
some who were the reverse of famous for the opposite qualities, and of women.
10:54
Likewise, there was not, however, any definite character in them,
10:56
because the soul, when choosing a new life, must of necessity become different.
11:01
But there was every other quality, and they all mingled with one another,
11:05
and also with elements of wealth and poverty, and disease and health.
11:09
And there were mean states also. And here, my dear Glaucan, is
11:13
the supreme peril of our human state, and therefore the utmost care should be
11:18
taken. Let each one of us leave every other kind of knowledge and seek
11:22
and follow one thing only, if peradventure he may be able to learn,
11:26
and may find some other one who will make him able to learn and discern
11:28
between good and evil, and so to choose always and everywhere the better life.
11:33
As he has opportunity, he should consider the bearing of all these things
11:37
which have been mentioned severally and collectively upon virtue. He should know what the
11:43
effect of beauty is when combined with poverty or wealth in a particular soul.
11:46
And what are the good and evil consequences of noble and humble birth, or
11:50
private and public station, of strength and weakness, of cleverness and dullness,
11:56
and of all the natural and acquired gifts of the soul, and the oppera
12:00
of them when conjoined. He will then look at the nature of the soul,
12:03
and from the consideration of all these qualities, he will be able to
12:07
determine which is the better and which is the worse. And so he will
12:11
choose, giving the name of evil to the life which will make his soul
12:13
more unjust, and good to the life which will make his soul more just.
12:18
All else he will disregard, For we have seen and know that this
12:22
is the best choice, both in life and after death. A man must
12:26
take with him into the world below an adamantine faith in truth and right,
12:31
that there too, he may be undazzled by the desire of wealth or the
12:33
other allurements of evil. Lest coming upon tyrannies and similar villainies, he do
12:39
irremediable wrongs to others and suffer yet worse himself. But let him know how
12:45
to choose the mean and avoid the extremes on either side as far as possible,
12:50
not only in this life, but in all that which is to come.
12:52
For this is the way of happiness. And according to the report of
12:56
the messenger from the other world, this was what the prophet said at the
12:58
time. Even for the last comer, if he chooses wisely and will live
13:03
diligently, there is appointed a happy and not undesirable existence. Let not him
13:09
who chooses first be careless, and let not the last despair. And when
13:16
he had spoken, he who had the first choice came forward and in a
13:18
moment chose the greatest tyranny. His mind having been darkened by folly and sensuality.
13:24
He had not thought out the whole matter before he chose, and did
13:28
not at first sight perceive that he was fated, among other evils, to
13:31
devour his own children. But when he had time to reflect and saw what
13:35
was in the lot, he began to beat his breast and lament over his
13:39
choice forgetting the proclamation of the prophet, for instead of throwing the blame of
13:43
his misfortune on himself, he accused chance and the gods and everything rather than
13:48
himself. Now, he was one of those who came from heaven, and
13:52
in a former life had dwelt in a well ordered state, but his virtue
13:56
was a matter of habit only, and he had no philosophy. And it
14:00
was true of others who were similarly overtaken, that the great number of them
14:03
came from heaven, and therefore they had never been schooled by trial, whereas
14:07
the pilgrims who came from earth, having themselves suffered and seen others suffer,
14:11
were not in a hurry to choose, And owing to this inexperience of theirs,
14:15
and also because the lot was a chance, many of the souls exchanged
14:18
a good destiny for an evil, or an evil for a good. For
14:22
if a man had, always, on his arrival in this world, dedicated
14:26
himself from the first to sound philosophy, and had been moderately fortunate in the
14:31
number of the lot, he might, as the messenger reported, be happy
14:33
here, and also his journey to another life and return to this, instead
14:39
of being rough and underground, would be smooth and heavenly. Most curious,
14:43
he said, was the spectacle sad and laughable and strange, for the choice
14:48
of the souls was in most cases based on their experience of a previous life.
14:52
There he saw the soul which had once been Orpheus, choosing the life
14:56
of a swan out of enmity to the race of women, hating to be
14:58
born a woman because they had been his murderers. He beheld also the soul
15:03
of Thomarus, choosing the life of a nightingale. Birds. On the other
15:07
hand, like the swan and other musicians, wanting to be men. The
15:11
soul which obtained the twentieth lot chose the life of a lion, and this
15:15
was the soul of Ajax, the son of Telaban, who would not be
15:18
a man, remembering the injustice which was done him in the judgment about the
15:22
arms. The next was Agamemnon, who took the life of an eagle,
15:26
because, like Ajax, he hated human nature by reason of his sufferings.
15:31
About the middle came the lot of Atalanta, she, seeing the great fame
15:33
of an athlete, was unable to resist the temptation, and after her there
15:39
followed the soul of Epeus, the son of Panopeus, passing into the nature
15:43
of a woman cunning in the arts, and far away among the last who
15:46
chose, the soul of the jester Thersides was putting on the form of a
15:48
monkey. There came also the soul of Odysseus, having yet to make a
15:54
choice, and his lot happened to be the last of them all. Now
15:58
the recollection of former toils had disenchanted him of ambition, and he went about
16:02
for a considerable time in search of the life of a private man who had
16:06
no cares. He had some difficulty in finding this which was lying about and
16:10
had been neglected by everybody else. And when he saw it, he said
16:14
that he would have done the same had his lot been first instead of last,
16:18
and that he was delighted to have it. And not only did men
16:22
pass into animals, but I must also mention that there were animals, tame
16:26
and wild, who changed into one another and into corresponding human natures, the
16:30
good into the gentle, and the evil into the savage, in all sorts
16:33
of combinations, all the souls had now chosen their lives, and they went
16:38
in the order of their choice to Lachesis, who sent with them the genius,
16:41
whom they had severally chosen to be the guardian of their lives and the
16:45
fulfiller of the choice. This genius led the souls first to Clotho and drew
16:51
them within the revolution of the spindle impelled by her hand, thus ratifying the
16:56
destiny of each, And then, when they were fastened to this carried to
17:00
Otropos, who spun the threads and made them irreversible. Whence, without turning
17:03
round, they passed beneath the throne of Necessity. And when they had all
17:07
passed, they marched on in a scorching heat to the plain of Forgetfulness,
17:11
which was a barren waste, destitute of trees and verdure. And then towards
17:15
evening they encamped by the River of Unmindfulness, whose water no vessel can hold.
17:22
Of this they were all obliged to drink a certain quantity, and those
17:25
who were not saved by wisdom drank more than was necessary, and each one,
17:29
as he drank, forgot all things. Now, after they had gone
17:33
to rest, about the middle of the night, there was a thunder storm
17:34
and earthquake, and then in an instant they were driven upwards in all manner
17:40
of ways to their birth, like stars shooting. He himself was hindered from
17:44
drinking the water. But in what manner or by what means he returned to
17:48
the body, he could not say. Only in the morning, awaking suddenly
17:52
he found himself lying on the pyre. And thus, Glaucon the tail has
17:56
been saved and has not perished save us if we are obedient to the words
18:02
spoken, and we shall pass safely over the river of forgetfulness, and our
18:06
soul will not be defiled. Wherefore, my counsel is that we hold fast
18:10
ever to the heavenly way and follow after justice and virtue, always considering that
18:15
the soul is immortal and able to endure every sort of good and every sort
18:19
of evil. Thus shall we ever live dear to one another, end to
18:22
the gods, both while remaining here, and when, like conquerors in the
18:26
games who go round to gather gifts, we receive our reward, and it
18:30
shall be well with us, both in this life and in the pilgrimage of
18:33
a thousand years, which we have been describing. End of book ten,