Previous
Logos
Definition of Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other... read full definition
Key Examples in The Republic
Book 2
Explanation and Analysis—Justice in City vs Person:
In Book 2, Socrates uses a metaphor to explain why the group should investigate what a just city looks like in order to understand what a just person looks like:
[...] suppose that a shortsighted person had been asked by some one to read small letters from a distance; and it occurred to some one else that they might be found in another place which was larger and in which the letters were larger [...]. I propose therefore that we inquire into the nature of justice and injustice, first as they appear in the State, and secondly in the individual, proceeding from the greater to the lesser and comparing them.
Related Themes:
Book 3
Explanation and Analysis—Lie as Medicine:
In Book 3, Socrates uses a metaphor to describe how lying fits into the ideal state:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Again, truth should be highly valued; if, as we were saying, a lie is useless to the gods, and useful only as a medicine to men, then the use of such medicines should be restricted to physicians; private individuals have no business with them.
Related Themes:
Book 5
Explanation and Analysis—Dreamer vs Philosopher:
In Book 5, Socrates uses a metaphor to describe what separates philosophical knowledge of forms from experiences in the material world:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And he who, having a sense of beautiful things has no sense of absolute beauty, or who, if another lead him to a knowledge of that beauty is unable to follow—of such an one I ask, Is he awake or in a dream only? Reflect: is not the dreamer, sleeping or waking, one who likens dissimilar things, who puts the copy in the place of the real object?
Related Themes:
Book 6
Explanation and Analysis—Ruler as Ship-Steerer:
In Book 6, Plato uses an allegory to describe the various considerations a good ruler must have by comparing a ruler to a pilot of a ship, or a "ship-steerer." Although Socrates describes the story as a "parable" according to some translations, it is more accurately described as an allegory or an extended metaphor, although the line between a parable and an allegory is sometimes blurry.
Unlock with LitCharts A+
Related Themes:
