"Killing a man involuntarily is a lesser crime than misleading men about the nature of law and its relation to beauty, goodness, and justice." -Socrates
"I went down to the Piraeus yesterday with Glaucon..." These are the opening words of the Republic. Why is it important that the Piraeus is even mentioned though? Well first, the Piraeus is important to Athens because it gave Athens its empire, it was a gateway for new ideas into Athens, and it was a nice, open area. But specifically going down- kateben- to the Piraeus. How is this significant? Well, to understand this, remember that in the Odyssey, Odysseus is told by Xerxes to travel down to Hades and find Teireseus, who will tell him how to find his way home. Another thing to note is that the army went down to the Piraeus, along with the entire population of Athens (in spirit) to be set off to war at Syracuse. It didn't really hit them that they were only leaving to meet their death. In this way, going down to the Piraeus is leading the men to their death. How else was the Piraeus linked with death? Well, the Plague came in through the Piraeus, didn't it? So, does the Piraeus not represent Hades in a way? Socrates and Glacuon are going down to the Piraeus just as Odysseus went down to Hades... Odysseus went down to Hades to find his way back home, and Socrates and Glaucon are going down to the Piraeus in order to lead Athens out of nosos and rediscover nomos, the healthy state that Athens had once been at the Battle of Marathon. For you see, ever since that battle, the Athenian spirit had been on a slow decline, and the Athenian Thesis was affecting Athens. Instead of acting out of fear, as it had done at Marathon, Athens was now acting solely out of interest. Just look at the huge empire it had! Anyway, since Athens is slowly reaching nosos, Socrates and Glaucon are going down to help Athens find life again.
"I went down to the Piraeus yesterday with Glaucon..." These are the opening words of the Republic. Why is it important that the Piraeus is even mentioned though? Well first, the Piraeus is important to Athens because it gave Athens its empire, it was a gateway for new ideas into Athens, and it was a nice, open area. But specifically going down- kateben- to the Piraeus. How is this significant? Well, to understand this, remember that in the Odyssey, Odysseus is told by Xerxes to travel down to Hades and find Teireseus, who will tell him how to find his way home. Another thing to note is that the army went down to the Piraeus, along with the entire population of Athens (in spirit) to be set off to war at Syracuse. It didn't really hit them that they were only leaving to meet their death. In this way, going down to the Piraeus is leading the men to their death. How else was the Piraeus linked with death? Well, the Plague came in through the Piraeus, didn't it? So, does the Piraeus not represent Hades in a way? Socrates and Glacuon are going down to the Piraeus just as Odysseus went down to Hades... Odysseus went down to Hades to find his way back home, and Socrates and Glaucon are going down to the Piraeus in order to lead Athens out of nosos and rediscover nomos, the healthy state that Athens had once been at the Battle of Marathon. For you see, ever since that battle, the Athenian spirit had been on a slow decline, and the Athenian Thesis was affecting Athens. Instead of acting out of fear, as it had done at Marathon, Athens was now acting solely out of interest. Just look at the huge empire it had! Anyway, since Athens is slowly reaching nosos, Socrates and Glaucon are going down to help Athens find life again.