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| retellings
of the republic |
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1993
From:
Harold Sjursen
Subject: Re-tellings of the _Republic_
I
am thinking about developing a course called "Images of Plato's
_Republic_" or "Re-Visions of Plato's _Republic_" --
something of that sort-- that would examine the principal notions of
Plato in various reformulations. To this end I would like to ask
members of this list to suggest texts that might work in such a
course. A central objective would be to help students understand
Plato's proposals for reform in as wide a variety of contexts as
possible. Any suggestions, however obvious they may seem, would be
appreciated.
Date:
Thu, 8 Jul 1993
From:
Robert Kern Curtis
Subject:
Re: Re-tellings of the _Republic_
I
would surely suggest the Alegory of the Cave -- what is education
anyway?
Date:
Thu, 8 Jul 1993
From: James EG Zetzel
Subject:
Retellings of Republic
Not
that I have an axe to grind, but Cicero's *Republic*, though
fragmentary, is a good place to start. The Sabine and Smith
translation is good (I'm doing one, but it won't be done for another
year), as is the long and careful introduction. From there, you can
go to the City of God, and from there to any number of renaissance
texts. You might even look at the Federalist, and Adams and
Jefferson have an interesting discussion of Plato (they hate him) in
about 1815 (in their correspondence, ed. Lester Cappon). You can
also throw in parodies and other utopian texts not directly in the
line of Plato--Lucian, Utopia, etc.
Date:
Thu, 8 Jul 1993
From:
Charles Young
Subject:
Retellings of the Republic
Arguably
Rawls's _A Theory of Justice_ is such a work.
Date:
Thu, 8 Jul 1993
From:
Lowell Edmunds
Subject:
Re: Retellings of Republic
Heidegger's
essay on the Allegory of the Cave is an obvious 20th c. text. Then
you have the controversy (Vlastos et al.) over women in the Rep.
Date:
Thu, 8 Jul 1993
From:
Judson Herrman
Subject:
Re: Re-tellings of the _Republic_
For another Athenian viewpoint on the idea of "communist"
society and a changed social role for women compare the
Ecclesiazusae of Aristophanes. To put Plato's work in a very general
frame, one might examine the Spartan politeia of Xenophon, and the
works on the Athenian constitution by pseudo-Xenophon and
pseudo-Aristotle. (The last three of these are translated with a
commentary by J.M. Moore, "Aristotle and Xenophon on Democracy
and Oligarchy.")
Date:
Fri, 9 Jul 1993
From:
Don Fowler
Subject:
Re: Re-tellings of the _Republic_
Douglas
Woodruff Plato's American Republic is an example of the satirical
spoof Republic genre: full of stuff like: "You are prepared to
leave the address to the Business Men's Lunch Club, then", said
Agathon, "and follow Socrates on a new path?' "Yes",
said Lysis, "let us leave the business men. For my part I feel
filled with pity for men leading such a life". (London and NY
1926, p.53).
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1993
From: "S. Georgia Nugent"
Subject:
Re: Re-tellings of the _Republic_
For a course on *Re-visions of Plato's Republic* a must-read would
be Luce Irigaray's *Speculum of the Other Woman*--a difficult but
extraordinary feminist/philosophical text, which places Plato and
Freud firmly at its center.
Date:
Fri, 9 Jul 1993
From: John R Lenz
Subject:
Re: Re-tellings of the _Republic_
Popper's
_The Open Society and Its Enemies_ is a "must" read-- for
anyone, in fact.
Date:
Fri, 9 Jul 1993
From:
WEBB DENNIS W
Subject:
Re-Tellings of the Republic
I have a suggestion on this topic which lies outside any canon of
mainstream readings, but is so intrinsically interesting that I will
mention it anyway. The New Yorker Magazine (Dec. 16, 1991) carried a
fairly lengthy article called "An Ideal State". It is a
first-hand account of teaching classics in the small African country
of Malawi. The young woman who wrote it recounts not only her own
experiences in bringing Latin and Greek to the students of Malawi,
but in addition takes the reader through the strange history of this
state as it has evolved under its absolute ruler Banta. The
relevance to The Republic comes from the fact that Banta, in his
younger days, received a thorough classical education and was much
impressed by Plato. The author of the piece sees in Malawi social
institutions an attempt by Banta to do Plato's social experiment in
the 20th century. I think anyone who has taught classics, been
involved with Plato, or dreamed of a more adventurous life, would
find this article very interesting.
Date:
Sat, 10 Jul 1993
From:
"Daniel P. Tompkins"
Subject:
Re: Re-Tellings of the Republic
Well,
Plato does get used by absolute rulers, and it's hard to see what
lasting good will be done the classics by the support of Hastings
Banda's corrupt regime, tho I have to admit I didn't read Caroline
Alexander's piece. She's done other interesting things on Africa
too. Pipinelis, first foreign minister of the Greek junta, was a big
fan of the republic, though not of the Funeral Speech. As far as the
New Yorker is concerned, I found the pieces on satanism and on David
Durk quite wonderful and topical, and not "political" in
the sense of endorsing any narrow set of policies. Unless doubts
about Satanic possession betray a party line of some sort.
Date:
Sat, 10 Jul 1993
From:
Carl Conrad
Subject: Re: Re-Tellings of the Republic
I recall that in the 1950's then Prime Minister of then Union of
South Africa declared himself a philosopher-king and South Africa an
incarnation of the Republic.
Date:
Sat, 10 Jul 1993
From:
gregory crane
Subject:
Re: Re-Tellings of the Republic
I
can recall reading, perhaps 10 or 12 years ago in Der Spiegel, that
the Ayatollah Khomeini was, in fact, a professor of Greek and an
expert on Plato's Republic (which influenced the creation of the
Islamic republic). Does anyone know anything about this? (If true,
it provides a rather striking new trivia question: "who was the
most influential classicists of the past generation?")
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