Introduction to Philosophy (Spring 09)

 
Various things I’ve come across online that are related to the Platonic myths we discussed in class. 

The Divided Line

* A handout on the metaphor of the sun and the divided line (PDF) 

* An analysis of the Divided Line passage.

* Another analysis of the Divided Line. 

* Peter Losin, Plato’s Analogy of the Divided Line. A proposed interpretation of the Divided Line analogy, well worth reading for those who want an advanced discussion of it.

 
Allegory of the Cave

* Some notes on the Allegory (second page)from a lecture by Simone Weil (an interesting philosopher in her own right).

* Here is an animated version of the Allegory (slightly adapted), narrated by Orson Welles:

* The sun, the divided line, and the cave are found in Books VI and VII of Plato’s Republic, which can be found online. 

The Myth of Thoth

The myth of Thoth (or Theuth) is less widely known and considered, although interesting in itself. The most famous (and controversial) discussions of it are by Jacques Derrida in his essay, "Plato’s Pharmacy," which is summarized here by Tim Spurgin.

I also recommend Thomas Szlezak’s book Reading Plato [Routledge (New York: 1999)] as well.

The myth of Thoth can be found in Plato’s Phaedrus, which can be found online.

Other Myths 

With regard to the myth of the afterlife in Gorgias itself, I recommend that you take time to reflect about the analogies and disanalogies between the myth, Callicles’s description of Socrates on trial, and Socrates’s real-life trial and punishment.

Plato uses many other myths. J. A. Stewart’s The Myths of Plato is a handy (although somewhat out of date) online starting point for looking at them. Arguably the most famous myth other than the Allegory of the Cave is the myth of Atlantis, which we owe to Plato. It is first mentioned in the Timaeus (which is primarily about the nature of the world) but only developed in the Critias (which is incomplete); both the Timaeus and the Critias can be found online.

(Obviously all the editions of Plato that are available online will be older, usually nineteenth-century editions. There are newer and easier to read editions of every dialogue.)