So go ahead and read book VIII (I found out in the second class that it was actually in your edition of the text and not mine) and Book X.
Either
describe to me origin of the democratic spirit and then tell me how it is a perversion from the good or just city/soul
or,
read the myth of Er in the final book of the Republic and tell me what eschatology can be gleamed from it.
Cheers,
Dr. Layne
The eschatology that can come from this book is that death a possible result of the acts of injustice. Also the idea that the soul is immortal, and does not die even if the body does. This is the point of the book that I TOTALLY AGREE WITH, BECAUSE I believe that the soul is an everlasting entity. Unjust people die of injustice, but death is the result of their unjust acts.I believe the myth of Er's escahtology is that in death people are still the same as they were in life. Because thier soul does not die for that is the true and real them. In the picking of the lives for the souls, they were not much different from their former life. If anything, they made there new life something that they would have made thier old life, if possible. But, hey this is what got from the text. Of course, I am the one who used the muffin analogy. ;)
ReplyDeleteI think the eschatology presented in the Myth of Er is very clear. The myth states that those who do good in life will be rewarded, while those who do harm to others or have performed ill-deeds will be punished ten fold. Thus, the actions taken in life will affect one's soul after death. This brings forth the idea of the eternal soul. The myth supports this idea. After life, the journey isn't even close to over because the soul lives on. The myth also encourages the importance of morality in life; essentially one's short time on earth determines the life of his or her eternal soul after death.
ReplyDeleteThe Myth of Er sounds as though it inspired our christian belief of heaven and hell. With the good being associated with reward and the sky while the bad is associated with going inside the earth.
ReplyDeleteThe eschatology that can found in the book of Er is that in death people are given the chance to be reincarnated if their souls are good enough. I think that we are given a choice to be reincarnated or not after being judged and may pick the form we come back as. I did find the idea that there is a guardian or daemon that is chosen as a guardian interesting, as well as the River of Unheeding. The river was a explanation for why people don't remember their former lives or what happened during death. I liked the idea of a guardian being given to a person because it reminded me of the "Golden Compass" where a person has an animal that is a part of their souls. Even though they did not talk much about it, I enjoyed the concept. Overall the story had pretty much all the elements I expected when people die. We are judged then sent up or down based on crimes we commit when we are alive, and then we are given a choice to reincarnate or to stay in the afterlife.
ReplyDeleteI believe Hillary is right on with her points on the Myth of Er. The myth tells us that if you do good things in life, and if you are a good person you will benefit in the afterlife. This myth puts an emphasis on the soul. The body may cease to function after one's death but the soul lives on, but the capacity in which it does depends on the actions of that person while he or she was still living. The myth tells us that if we are good and that if we act good we can be reincarnated in the afterlife.
ReplyDeleteThe eschatology that I can be gleamed from the Myth of Er is that humans are in a perpetual cycle of trying to choose the good and just live and heaven is not for ever. After death the person is rewards if they live virtues and use wisdom during there live. If the person lives a good live they are allowed to live in heaven for a 1000 years and if the person lives a bad live with out wisdom and virtue and lives by his or hers vises then they go to hell for a 1000 years. After the 1000 years the souls come back together and choose what form there soul will take again on earth. By choosing either if the soul is going to be an animal or human will determine whether they are rewarded or punished in the next cycle. Only the philosopher will choose the right thing.
ReplyDeleteThe eschatology in the myth of Er involves heaven and hell. The just receive rewards in heaven, while the unjust sinners are punished in hell for a certain amount of time. Then they are brought together and made to choose their next life. The life chosen determines if they will be rewarded or punished in the next life. Only the philosophical people catch on to choosing just lives. Therefore, this kind of eschatology rewards virtue and wisdom. It is a cycle that encourages a just life and the wisdom to pick the rewarded next life.
ReplyDeleteI believe the eschatology in the Myth of Er is similiar to the Christian and Greco-Roman eschatology that our actions in our short lives on Earth determine what will happen to us when we pass on in the afterlife. If a person lives a good virtues life on Earth they will be rewarded in the afterlife, on the other hand, if they do the opposite they will be punished for a thousand years. This too exposes the idea that our life on Earth is not as important as our long afterlife and that we must live a good virtues life in order to obtain salvation. The myth also reminds me of the Far Eastern ideas of reincarnation in that humans can be reincarnated into animal forms.
ReplyDeleteThe Republic Book X: The Myth of the Er
ReplyDeleteThe myth of Er, engages the just man by presenting the rewards which he will receive in the afterlife. According to the myth, a soldier by the name Er was exterminated in battle, but in actuality still lives. Er is commissioned to heaven, and an appointed as a witness or observer of heaven to the return to earth and report his findings and experiences. From what I gathered,Er concludes that Heaven promotes an eschatalogical system that rewards virtue, specifically wisdom. For a span of 1000 years, People either enter heaven to be people are either compensated in Heaven for their good conduct and virtue or penalized in hell for the sins/wrongdoings in their lifetime. After paying their dues or receiving their rewards in either realm, they are reunited on common ground and given the opportunity to choose their next life, as an animal or human. Based on their choice, they also invoke their following destiny in heaven or hell, in the next cycle. Thus, only those who were philosophically adept while alive, become skillful in choosing just lives, such as Odysseus who chose to be reincarnated as a swan. While the majority blindly scramble into happiness and suffering, with every cycle.
Mary Mena