Now that you have read Plato's Myth of Er (Er is the name of the man who comes back from the dead), please come up with one or two inferences about it. Supply at least one observation for each. You can come up with random inferences, or use this as your guiding question: what values does Plato seem to have, based on this story that he tells? (Note: Plato made up this story; he didn't get it from anywhere.) Good luck!
23 comments:
Inference:(although it's kind of obvious)The unusual birth theme is present in this story as it was with the five notable mortals myths.
An Observation: "Er the son of Armenius, a Pamphylian by birth."
More when I check in. It's Rosamund.
Forethought:
The only thing I don't understand: at the end, is Plato advising Glaucon to do everything and then not drink the water of unmindfulness, or, as he advises earlier, to choose a wise next life, disregarding the excess and deficiencies of evil and selflessness?
My inference:
Our decisions for the future are based on our passed experiences; it is right to observe both good and bad experiences and lifestyles.
"Now he was one of those who came from heaven, and in a former life had dwelt in a well-ordered State, but his virtue was a matter of habit only, and he had no philosophy. And it was true... that the greater number of them came from heaven and therefore they had never been schooled by trial, whereas the pilgrims who came from earth, having themselves suffered and seen others suffer, were not in a hurry to choose.
"And owing to this inexperience of theirs, and also because the lot was a chance, many of the souls exchanged a good destiny for an evil or an evil for a good. For if a man had always on his arrival in this world dedicated himself from the first to sound philosophy, and had been moderately fortunate in the number of the lot, he might, as the messenger reported, be happy here, and also his journey to another life and return to this, instead of being rough and underground, would be smooth and heavenly."
"Most curious, he said, was the spectacle --sad and laughable and strange; for the choice of the souls was in most cases based on their experience of a previous life. "
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Here are my two inferences:
1. Plato believes there is a direct correspondence between moral goodness and good afterlife, while he believes there is also a direct correspondence between moral corruptness and a bad afterlife.
“ He said that for every wrong which they had done to any one they suffered tenfold; or once in a hundred years --such being reckoned to be the length of man's life, and the penalty being thus paid ten times in a thousand years. “
“If, for example, there were any who had been the cause of many deaths, or had betrayed or enslaved cities or armies, or been guilty of any other evil behavior, for each and all of their offenses they received punishment ten times over, and the rewards of beneficence and justice and holiness were in the same proportion.”
2. Plato believes that it is vital to understand the difference between good and evil, and that the hardships of life help us learn this.
“ Let each one of us leave every other kind of knowledge and seek and follow one thing only, if peradventure he may be able to learn and may find some one who will make him able to learn and discern between good and evil, and so to choose always and everywhere the better life as he has opportunity.”
“ He should consider the bearing of all these things which have been mentioned severally and collectively upon virtue. . . he will then look at the nature of the soul, and from the consideration of all these qualities he will be able to determine which is the better and which is the worse; and so he will choose, giving the name of evil to the life which will make his soul more unjust, and good to the life which will make his soul more just; all else he will disregard.”
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I gree with Rosamund but mine is hes's an eager person
I think the tone of the story tells you how amazing and eager he is to tell the wold about his amazing journey into the heavans.
He ounds kind of like a little kid who just had too much sugar and wont be quiet except people want t listen to him
howdy yall!!!
reading this incredibly, ridiculouly long story, i see a lot that i can interpret into my own life and that i can see reflecting off of the author..that he poured a lot of his beliefs, philosphys, religion and thinings and experiences in his life, into this work...
...that's kind of.sort of my inference/interpretaion.......he is a very philosohical, religios and spiritual person...who realy knows how to write an unforgetable story!!!!
Er likes to share his knowledge.
...And on the twelfth day, as he was lying on the funeral pile, he returned to life and told them what he had seen in the other world. He said...
He tells everyone about the other world.
Thanks!
I'll be checking in
If you are reading this Mr. Durning
I tried to log on to my first class and it said that the site was under construction. sorry:(
btw this is Alex Potts
plato thinks that an enlightened person will what share what they know.
and on the twelth day, as he lying on the funeral pile, he returned to life and told them what he had seen in the other world.
It's Hunter :)
My inference is...
Plato's metaphorical thinking suggests that he believes everyone has the strength to choose.
My support is...
--"He was slain in battle, and ten days afterwards, when the bodies of the dead were taken up already in a state of corruption, his body was found unaffected by decay, and carried away home to be buried. And on the twelfth day, as he was lying on the funeral pile, he returned to life and told them what he had seen in the other world."
--"All the souls had now chosen their lives, and they went in the order of their choice to Lachesis, who sent with them the genius whom they had severally chosen, to be the guardian of their lives and the fulfiller of the choice..."
**Just something I noticed...
In this text, it seems to me that he continues to talk about having a good life by (coming out of the cave, like in the Parable of the Cave reading) and choosing it and not just going along with everyone else (the dead people). I think he's saying you have the strength to choose.
This is my inference:
Even causing a little sin will effect everything in your afterlife.
"--He said that for every wrong which they had done to any one they suffered tenfold; or once in a hundred years --such being reckoned to be the length of man's life," This explains how short your life is and about the sins that you did.
I will come back later.
Inference: In the story Plato expresses his believes in heaven and hell, and in reincarnation.
“Then the Interpreter placed on the ground before them the samples of lives; and there were many more lives than the souls present, and they were of all sorts.”
“…for the choice of the souls was in most cases based on their experience of a previous life.”
“and when they had all passed, they marched on in a scorching heat to the plain of Forgetfulness, which was a barren waste destitute of trees and verdure; and then towards evening they encamped by the river of Unmindfulness, whose water no vessel can hold; of this they were all obliged to drink a certain quantity, and those who were not saved by wisdom drank more than was necessary; and each one as he drank forgot all things. Now after they had gone to rest, about the middle of the night there was a thunderstorm and earthquake, and then in an instant they were driven upwards in all manner of ways to their birth…”
This is Alison... I have a 3 quotes sorry got carried away!
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My two inferances are as follows:
1. I agree with Rosamund about the birth thing. There are things in the story that clue in that he wasn't born like a normal person
2.I also agree Hunter (wow...everyone is taking mine!!) I think that is a common theme with Plato....
I agree with Jake about the afterlife. There is much evidence to support the fact that they believed like many other cultures that if you were good in your life, you had a good afterlife. If you were bad in your life, you had a bad afterlife..
This is Alex Manning....
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This is Sofia...
I hope this doesn't sound too obvious, but based on this reading, I will infer that Plato strongly believes that when you do wrong, you should surely be punished (and harshly at that!) On the other hand, he believes that if you are a good person during your life on earth, you should be rewarded (The better your behavior was on earth, the better the reward in the afterlife!). The reason I make this inference is because, although Plato didn't exactly state that this (my inference) is what he believes to be true, him writing about this situation and the convincing way he wrote is what made me infer this. It's difficult for me to find any specific evidence to support my inference, as my evidence is kind of the piece of writing as a whole.
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My inference as follows...
Er's descent into the world and then journey back is not only a form of enlightenment for Er, but a way for him to provide virtue to people above.
"And of all the many terrors which they had endured, he said that there was none like the terror which each of them felt at that moment, lest they should hear the voice; and when there was silence, one by one they ascended with exceeding joy. These, said Er, were the penalties and retributions, and there were blessings as great. "
We see the theme of nature again in this story/myth. ("The largest (of fixed stars) is spangled, and the seventh (or sun) is brightest; the eighth (or moon) coloured by the reflected light of the seventh; the second and fifth (Saturn and Mercury) are in colour like one another, and yellower than the preceding; the third (Venus) has the whitest light; the fourth (Mars) is reddish; the sixth (Jupiter) is in whiteness second.")
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