Plato
Plato was one of the greatest philosophers of all time. He is recognized all over the world as one of the greatest minds of all time. Knowledge is required under compulsion has not hold on the mind.(Durant 24). Plato's dialogues are the fruit of a rare mind; but the could not have kept their perennial freshness if they had not somehow succeeded in expressing he problems and the convictions that are common to Plato's age and to all later ages. Genius alone is not enough; or perhaps it were wiser to say that we recognize genius only in the power of divination that overleaps the boundaries of a special time and place.(Jowett xi). Although Plato did not come up with the Allegory of the Cave, Socrates did, he transcribed it. In their own ways, Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, and Thomas Becket, prove that one must break the chains of the cave to discover the truth. In view of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, several literary works contain characters who break from the shadows of the cave ! Plato's Allegory of the Cave, presents Socrates instructing one of his students to imagine that there was a cave that was totally dark, except from the light that comes from the entrance and from a fire.
The student was instructed then to imagine that the inhabitants of the cave have their necks and legs chained to the wall, impossible for the inhabitants to move. The people who control the cave place objects in front of the fire so that the inhabitants of the cave only see the shadows of the objects that the people want them to see. The chained inhabitants never get to see the real objects, only the distorted images of the objects. Furthermore, the inhabitants of the cave perceive the distorted objects as real, not the actual objects as being real. Socrates, then tells the student to imagine if the inhabitants of the cave were suddenly freed of the chains. The inhabitants would be in agonizing pain, for the first time in their lives the individuals can stand and move! If all of these characters had broke free from there chains from the cave, all three could have made a better life for themselves as well as for the people who supported them. These three characters could not see the distortions for what they were and could not see the reality of the big picture. If one does not break free from the chains of the cave and witness the light of the real world, one will never get to see the harsh truth of their destiny. amlet. The queen drinks the poison that Claudius left for Hamlet and Laertes, Hamlet, and Claudius are fatally wounded by a sword that had poison on the tip. If the queen could have broke the chains from the cave, then she could have saved herself as well as her family, but she could not see the reality in Claudius' scheme in becoming the King of Denmark. Oedipus Rex was the King of Thebes. A plague was ravaging Thebes, and the people wanted Oedipus, the king, to do something. Oedipus tells the people of his kingdom that he sent Creon, the brother of Queen Jocasta, to the Oracles at Delphi to find out what was causing this terrible plague on his people. When Creon returns from the Oracle at Delphi, he announces to the people that this terrible plague will only end when the murderer of the late King Lauis, Jocasta's first husband, is brought to justice. Oedipus then promises the towns people that he will punish the murderer. Oedipus then asks a blind soothsayer to identify who the killer of the late King Lauis was. The blind soothsayer tells Oedipus the killer of the king is a king. When Jocasta arrives to see Oedipus, she points out that the Oracles have
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1622
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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