This has resulted in value judgement, particularly to the non-great-books. ... In Book II of The Republic, Plato begins a discussion of poetry which is concerned with gods and heroes. He condemns much of this poetry as lies, "and still further because their lies are not attractive" (Republic, II, p24). Many stories, Plato is saying, are not imitations of any reality but are outright falsities, on the grounds that since gods and heroes are by definition better than men, they cannot perform such atrocious acts as shown for example in Homer and Aeschylus (the examples in Republic 26-...

• Word Count: 5585
• Approx Pages: 22
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Time spent not pushing the republic toward success as he sees it would be time spent ultimately pushing the republic closer to succumbing to failure. ... When thoughts of "justice" were pondered in Ancient Greece, early students of Socrates accepted actions that were to the benefit of friends and detriment of enemies as the standard definition of justice (Plato I.332b). ... If freedom is a republic's greatest possession, then ingratitude is the republic's most superior defense against those who will make attempts to steal it away. ... What we ultimately see in Machiavelli&#...

• Word Count: 2733
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: Undergraduate