History Literature / TheRepublic

Well, if you insist. ''The Republic'' (''Πολιτεία'' -- ''Politeia'') is perhaps the most well-known dialogue of the ancient Greek philosopher Creator/{{Plato}}, offering profound contemplation on the meaning of justice, and whether the just or the unjust man is happier in life. The work is split into ten separate books, making it one of Plato's longer pieces. Like most of Plato's dialogues, ''The Republic'' centers on Plato's teacher, the celebrated Creator/{{Socrates}}. The other characters in the dialogue are Glaucon, Polemarchus, Cephalus, Thrasymachus, Adeimantus, and Cleitophon. Of these, the chief characters are Glaucon and Adeimantus (incidentally, Plato's older brothers); the others speak little –if at all – beyond the first book. Others are present, but do not speak during the dialogue.

* InvisibleJerkass: Glaucon tells a tale about Gyges, a shepherd of Lydia who found a ring who made its wearer invisible, and who used this power to seduce the queen, murder the king, and make himself king. Glaucon follows with a point that it did not matter whether Gyges was a just or unjust person when he found the ring, because nobody would continue to act justly if he had the option to act unjustly without fear of retribution or social stigma. In fact (Glaucon claims), if someone had the power to become invisible and would ''not'' use it to do something forbidden, people, though they might not admit so, would think that person to be an idiot.

* EmperorScientist: The Philosopher Kings, in an era where what we would call Science is but a subgenre of Philosophy.

* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Some of the utopia's laws are actually horrifying by today's standards (think Literature/NineteenEightyFour with the hierarchical division between the philosopher-king Inner Party, the no-individuality "guardian" Outer Party, and the viewed-as-animals Proles). Also, when asked how this ideal state might be established, Plato's Socrates indicates that the best way to do it would be to find an existing city and exile everyone over the age of ten.

* {{GIFT}}: The Ring of Gyges is sort of an UrExample: instead of Normal Person+Anonymity+Audience=Total Fuckwad, you get Normal Person+Ring of Invisibility+Tempting Targets=Murderer and Rapist. Same principle, really; it's used to argue that being held accountable for one's actions in the public eye is the only thing keeping us from treating one another like jerks.

* MightMakesRight: Thrasymachus is all over this trope.

* DemocracyIsBad: Socrates believes it is an idiocracy that is one step away from tyranny. Of course, the democracy he knew (closer to what we might term "mob rule" nowadays) was quite different from modern republicanism with its institutional checks and balances.

* {{Invisibility}}: In the Ring of Gyges parable, the ring makes its wearer invisible.

* RingOfPower: To illustrate his point that people act justly only because of outward forces, Glaucon relates the tale of Gyges: The shepherd Gyges, having taken a gold ring from an ancient tomb, finds out that the ring makes him invisible when he turns the collet of the ring inwards. Soon after, Gyges uses the invisibility provided by the ring to seduce the queen and murder the king.

* OlderThanFeudalism

* AncientTomb: According to the fable of the Ring of Gyges (as told to Socrates by Glaucon) Gyges started out as a shepherd of Lydia who, after an earthquake, discovered an entrance to a cavern where he found "among other marvels" the statue of a horse made of brass; the statue has a door and inside, there is a skeleton of more-than-human size with a gold ring on its finger. Gyges takes the ring, which turns out to be a magic ring with the power to make its wearer invisible. Obviously, the mysterious cave is a tomb.

* YesMan: One problem with Plato's writings is that he often has Socrates spout off very extensive lists of premises that are simply immediately accepted by everyone present. Characters can go on for pages simply saying, "Yes," "Certainly," "Very true," and "No doubt," while Socrates talks for paragraph after paragraph. Thrasymachus is probably the only one who averts this, but Socrates shuts down his MightMakesRight argument halfway through Book 2.

* ForgotToGagHim It begins with an account of Polemarchus insisting that Creator/{{Socrates}} accept his hospitality -- giving him [[MortonsFork the choice]] of remaining voluntarily or having Polemarchus and his friends detain him by force. When Socrates [[TakeAThirdOption asks if he might persuade them to let him go]], Polemarchus replies that they will simply refuse to listen to anything he has to say.

* {{Invisibility}}: The Ring of Gyges parable.

* PlatonicCave: The TropeNamer.
* ThePhilosopherKing: The TropeNamer, and the prototype for technocracy in general.

* AxeCrazy: Probably one of the first literal examples in the Western canon. Socrates uses the example of giving a woodcutting axe back to a violent lunatic as irresponsible, and that a responsible government must abrogate the rights to property if it might be a danger to the polis. Therefore, proper government is not just about guarding property.

* GenreSavvy: At one point, Socrates is leading the conversation in [[ObfuscatingStupidity his]] [[ArmorPiercingQuestion usual]] [[PullTheThread manner]], and Adeimantus notices. He proceeds to interrupt the conversation and demand that Socrates stop pretending to be a moron and simply state what he's trying to get at.

* DayHurtsDarkAdjustedEyes: Used in the PlatonicCave description.

* {{GIFT}}: The Ring of Gyges is sort of an UrExample: instead of Normal Person+Anonymity+Audience=Total Fuckwad, you get Normal Person+Ring of Invisibility+Tempting Targets=Murderer and Rapist. Same principle, really.

* {{Utopia}}: The point of the dialogue is to define one.