Oedipus The Allegory Of The Cave

In the ‘The Allegory of the Cave’, Plato uses a philosophical situation to help us as the reader to examine our perception of life by what is around us. Plato uses such an abstract situation to show that we can mistake the information that we gain due to our position in a situation for truth.

One of the 20th century's greatest Austrian and British philosopher of science, Karl Raimund Popper, stated “ True ignorance is not the absence of knowledge, but the refusal to acquire it.” In many situations people choose to remain ignorant as it benefits them. This belief is often shaped, based on society or self pride. Society as a whole and individuals are intoxicated with their own perceptions based on opinions rather than reasoning. One must process the truth in order to adjust to it and obtain enlightenment through knowledge. In Oedipus the King by Sophocles and The Allegory of the Cave by Plato, in both scenarios each philosopher introduces characters who are ignorant but must eventually reach an intellectual awakening.

1.) "The Allegory of the Cave" - We often hear of various movements that are set out to try to protect our freedoms. We spend most of lives trying to defend our rights and keep ourselves liberated. However, how truly free are we? "The Allegory of the Cave" a story of prisoners in a cave , chained facing upward, by the legs and necks. They cannot move but their eyes are faced straight ahead at a wall. This wall is their world. They see the shadows of people, some carrying objects and others not. These shadows are all they know. Eventually, a prisoner is released and upon his release he finds himself in both physical and mental pain. He is now able to move his muscles and put them into work, this includes his logos(mind).

Plato who was a Greek philosopher was born around the year 428 BCE, where he was known for opening an academy. The academy was considered the first university in the western world. In “The Allegory of the Cave”, three prisoners were tied up and could only see the shadows that reflected from the wall. They have been living in the same cave as prisoner for practically there whole life. The shad`ows represent things that are believed to be true. One prisoner got free and experienced the reality of the world but the other prisoners just laugh at him when he comes back. Plato is telling people In “The Allegory of the Cave”, the rhetorical appeal is a metaphor of the sun and symbolism.

One of Plato’s more famous writings, The Allegory of the Cave, Plato outlines the story of a man who breaks free of his constraints and comes to learn of new ideas and levels of thought that exist outside of the human level of thinking. However, after having learned so many new concepts, he returns to his fellow beings and attempts to reveal his findings but is rejected and threatened with death. This dialogue is an apparent reference to his teacher’s theories in philosophy and his ultimate demise for his beliefs but is also a relation to the theory of the Divided Line. This essay will analyze major points in The Allegory of the Cave and see how it relates to the Theory of the Divided Line. Also, this

The first stage Oedipus travels through was imprisoned by his ignorance; he was trapped in his situation because he didn’t know the truth about his family. In “Allegory of the Cave”, the prisoners are literally imprisoned by ignorance, as they were chained in a cave. The only part of the real world they saw are the shadows on the walls. This is similar to Oedipus Rex’s situation; the both parties are unable to see the truth. For example, Oedipus didn’t know who his real parents are. Oedipus was raised by King Polybus and Merope. Naturally, he thought Polybus and Merope were his parents, so he fled them to escape the prophecy. In his ignorance, he fulfilled the prophecy instead. Also, Oedipus was unaware that his wife, Jocasta, was his mother. Jocasta lived in Thebes instead of Corinth. Therefore, Oedipus had never remembered seeing Jocasta until he arrived in Thebes. Oedipus lived his life thinking that he was far away from his mother, but in fact, he slept right

If Oedipus was told while he was being raised by King Polybus he would have known who he truly was and may have not completed the prophecy, “I was the man / Who should marry his own mother, shed his father’s blood / With his own hands” (p1086). However, since his family didn’t tell him the truth, he fled the home he was raised in, furthering the chances that he would murder his actual father. While traveling, he was bothered by a guarded carriage, which then knocked him off the path and he felt

Truth is a basic concept in human nature. People would reject the truth when they are blinded by religion, community and pride these interfere with people perceiving the truth. Oedipus prideful character in the book Oedipus the King by Sophocles supports this idea. Also in The allegory of the Cave by Plato a community prevents people from finding the truth. Likewise religion such as Islam they allow man to beat their wife which is wrong in today’s society.

In Plato’s work, “The Allegory of the Cave”, he identifies what it truly means to be a philosopher. He says that a philosopher opens up to how the world truly is instead of how society sees it as. By using specific diction, analogies, and metaphors he is able to emotionally captivate his audience to influence their ideas.

A leader’s actions do not always follow popular opinion or the opinion of one’s superiors. In “The Allegory of the Cave”, Socrates says “Human beings living in a underground cave, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the cave; here they have been since childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads.” Only one of the prisoners, the leader, breaks the pattern of what the prisoners have done their entire lives when he goes on “the journey upwards to be the advent of the soul into the intellectual world” after being “liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light.” This does not follow the beliefs or opinions of the other prisoners who believe “it was better not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.” The actions of the prisoner that leaves the

In Plato’s Republic, Socrates describes a cave in which men are chained to the ground to the point where they are not able to move at all, save for their eyes. These men spend their lives staring at the wall of the cave where shadows are projected due to clay figures sitting atop of a wall behind the men while a great fire blazes behind the wall, casting shadows of the clay figures on the cave wall. Due to watching the shadows on the wall for so long, the men perceived the shadows as the ‘Truth.’ Outside of the cave, there are hills, trees, lakes, people, the sky, stars, the moon, and the sun. If one of the men were to be unchained and dragged out of the cave and into the outside world, he would see that the shadows are not the ‘Truth’ but

Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher, once characterized ignorance as “the root and stem of all evil.” In his work “The Allegory of the Cave,” as well as the Greek playwright, Sophocles’, work Oedipus Rex the presence of this theme regarding ignorance can be analyzed in order to determine the messages each piece of literature conveys about ancient Greek views. “The Allegory of the Cave” narrates the story of a group of men chained inside a cave, with only sunlight projected shadows displayed on a parapet to help them decipher what was happening outside of the cave. Once a man was released and eventually able to adapt and understand the reality of the world, the other men would mock this man if he tried to change their truth. Oedipus Rex tells the story of Oedipus, of whom became ruler of Thebes after solving the riddle of the Sphinx. When a plague hits the city, Oedipus dedicates himself to finding the corruption, which he eventually discovers is actually himself. Oedipus Rex and “The Allegory of the Cave” correspond in their connection of knowledge and justice, but contradict one another with their messages of fate that reflect the two opposing views of the ancient Greeks.

As Oedipus grows up,he hears a rumour that he is not the real son of the King and Queen. When Oedipus asks them,they just deny it,still confused, he asks the oracle who his parents really are. But the Oracle just tells him that he would kill his father and would marry his mother someday. After hearing those words, he decides to leave corinth to avoid hie foretold fate. As he is walking on the road to Thebes,he meets Laius,his real father,with four other men.

In the Greek play, “Oedipus is the hero for aiding in keeping off Thebes’ plague through solving the riddle, He is also the false hero and the villain,” (Ferdous, 2017). Oedipus unknowingly has cursed the entire town of Thebes. He was cursed to kill his father and marry his mother but never knew who his true parents were. As a result of him escaping from the town he was sent off to, he did exactly what was prophesied, killing his own father and marrying his mother, without knowing who his parents were. His father was the king and his mother the queen of Thebes. Oedipus would then best the Sphinx and he would move to the throne after the vacancy he made when he killed his father. Now king, Oedipus married his mother, unbeknownst to him, and had several children. This cursed the city because the killer of the king, King Laius, was set free and not executed. “He is also determined to discover the truth about himself,” (Zachrisson 2013). Oedipus was told that he murdered the king before him by Tiresias, the blind prophet that could only see the future. The outcome of Oedipus receiving this information, he lost his temper on the blind prophet. He could not believe it. He said that everyone that pointed towards him with the truth were liars. He has so much pride and self-righteousness

During Oedipus’s journey to escape his unbearable prophecy, his dominant character traits are egotism and pride. Oedipus fled from the city he thought he had been birthed in, Corinth, to avoid killing King Polybus, and marrying Queen Merope, whom he thought were his parents. Oedipus’s desire to change his future not only backfires when he eventually kills his real father, but also leads him to solve the Sphinx's riddle while on this mission. As a result, Oedipus is crowned King of Thebes, and therefore marries his mother. During Oedipus’s reign, he makes many poor decisions, blinded by the overconfidence that came with solving the Sphinx’s riddle. When Oedipus was informed that King Polybus had died, he says in relief, “They prophesized that I should kill Polybus, kill my own father; but he is dead and buried, and I am here- I never touched him, never” (50). Clearly, Oedipus now shares Jocasta’s belief that the prophecies are not to be considered, for they have outsmarted the gods. Oedipus’s desire to avoid Apollo’s prophecy