BookAges 16–18
The Republic
Plato
ClassicalEuropean
The full dialogue, including the allegory of the cave and the myth of Er. Read with a good guide (Eric Voegelin or Allan Bloom's essay).
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Related quotes from the canon
“Behold! Human beings living in an underground den ... here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them...”
— Socrates (Plato), Republic, Book VII (the allegory of the cave)