Eficácia do mito no domínio ético-político

ainda sobre o mito da caverna de Platão

Abstract

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to reflect on the myth and the role it has played in philosophy since ancient Greek antiquity. We start from the analysis of its relevance in Plato's corpus, in which it emerges as a vigorous and convincing narrative, sometimes inseparable from the logos as a tool for persuasion in the polis. In order to do so, we focus on the renown myth of the cave. In spite of the indisputably broad and profound investigation already carried out by countless interpreters in the exegetical history of the Republic, we consider that there is an inexhaustible vein to be explored in face of the challenges permanently placed by this intriguing Platonic myth. We seek an interpretation by an eschatological reading of the myth, pointing out the descent into the world of the dead - katabasis - as a mystical-philosophical path and the efficacy of the political message of Plato’s Republic. We take into consideration Athens of the fifth and fourth centuries BC, with its religiosity, culture and political institutions, knowing that the narative contextualisation in its historical-cultural environment, as well as the understanding of its literary form, are necessary for apprehending the meaning and singularity in a rigorous way. In this methodological approach, the influence of the Orphic-Pythagorean tradition enables us to acknowledge the Platonic thought, especially in its ethical dimension, in which the conception of the soul's immortality constitutes a certain representation of life and death.