Plato Knows a Lot About Athens

Using Plato’s Republic a source, historians can learn that Athenians used analogues from nature and from religious text and poetry as a base for their philosophies. The source can teach us that Athenian society and culture was rich with food, entertainment, and education. Athenian societal laws were created through philosophical debates. From this source we cannot learn how slaves and women viewed their stations in society or the current state of the Athenian economy.

The educated Athenians philosophized about human society and the nature of the world.

Citizens would participate in debates about truth, what was just and unjust, and virtue. Some Athenian philosophers like Socrates sought to bring an understanding of the world with the use of analogues drawn from nature and from ancient tales from ancient authors like Homer. “And this is a lesson which I suspect you must have learnt out of Homer…” (Ober, p102). Philosophers needed to be prepared for debates educating themselves on the art of debating, preparing themselves for every contingence.

Debaters knew that to argue an idea not widely held by society would be harshly criticized. Without proper preparation a debater’s philosophy would be easily defeated. Athenian philosophers would practice their art with close acquaintances in order to get feedback, which would show them where their arguments were weak. This source shows that Athenians like Socrates truly wanted to get at the heart of issues that they felt strongly about.

Athens had a democracy with citizen participation. Athenian culture was based on freedom, equality, and respect among the citizenry.

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An important component of Athenian society was the husbandman who farmed the land providing food for Athens (Ober, p.111). Athenian citizens celebrated at religious ceremonies with food and drink and also enjoyed horse races. Athenians citizen were trained in disciplines like gymnastics and played instruments like the harp and flute (Ober, p119). Educated Athenian citizens enjoyed creating and reading poetry (Omer, p.122).

The gods of Athenians were not considered to be perfect. The gods had their own troubles and doubts concerning relationships with their lovers and their children. “But the narrative of Hephaestus binding his mother, or hoe on another occasion Zeus sent him flying for taking her part when she was being beaten, and all the battles of the gods in Homer…”(Ober, p.121) Athenians found humor in people who could do impressions of others including animals and the sounds of nature like the wind (Ober, p.133).

Athenian society had people of all monetary levels. The wealthy were afforded the best education, the middle class could be educated if their families could afford it, and the slaves mostly worked for their masters for a meager living. The theater was an important part of Athenian culture. Athenians enjoyed plays focused on tragedy and comedy (Ober, p.131). Athenians lived in homes with modern comforts like tables, chairs and sofas (Ober, p.114). Many important and lively debates took place in these houses where philosophers practiced their debating art. Citizens enjoyed a diverse diet including meats from cows, sheep, and pigs and fruit and grains like figs, beans, and barley (Ober, pp.112, 114).

From this source we cannot learn how slaves and women viewed their positions in Athenian society. Plato’s Republic does not give a perspective from a female or slave position. Socrates and his fellow philosophers did not hold a high view of women. “Then we shall be right in getting rid of the lamentations of famous men, and making them over to women (and not even women who are good for anything), or to men of a baser sort…” (Ober, p.127). But this does not give of any idea of how women viewed themselves. Slaves were rarely mentioned in Plato’s democracy. The economic state of Athens was also not covered.