Socrates’ kατάβασις and the Sophistic Shades: Education and Democracy

Autores

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14195/2183-4105_24_4

Palavras-chave:

Plato, Sophistry, Homer, Literary interpretation, Education, Politics, Democracy

Resumo

This article addresses the unusually elaborate dramatic context in Plato’s Protagoras and effect of sophistry on democratic Athens. Because Socrates evokes Odysseus’ κατάβασις in the Odyssey to describe the sophists in Callias’ house (314c-316b), I propose that Socrates depicts the sophists as bodiless shades residing in Hades. Like the shades dwelling in Hades with no connection to embodied humans on Earth, the sophists in the Protagoras are non-Athenians with no consideration for the democratic body of the Athenian πόλις. I conclude that sophistry can be detrimental to Athenian democracy because it can produce education inequality founded on wealth inequality.

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Publicado

2023-05-31

Como Citar

Rojcewicz, C. (2023). Socrates’ kατάβασις and the Sophistic Shades: Education and Democracy. Plato Journal, 24, 45-60. https://doi.org/10.14195/2183-4105_24_4

Edição

Vol. 24 (2023): Plato Journal #24

Secção

Artigos

Licença

Direitos de Autor (c) 2023 Plato Journal

Creative Commons License

Este trabalho encontra-se publicado com a Licença Internacional Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0.

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