Comedy in Callipolis
Animal Imagery in the Republic
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3314285 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Arlene W Saxonhouse (0000-0002-1828-2435, University of Michigan, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1978 |
| Volume | 72 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 888-901 |
| Publication date | 1978-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Political Science Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-0554 • E-ISSN: 1537-5943 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1955109 |
| OpenAlex | W2139700846 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
| References cited | 16 |
The political society founded by Socrates in the Republic has been seen by many as Plato's conception of the ideal political community, his Callipolis. However, a study of the language used by Socrates as he builds his perfect city reveals an unusually heavy concentration of animal images. This language seems to undercut the ostensible perfection of Socrates' city and illustrates rather its connections to the comic world of Aristophanes, whose comedy the Birds offers the model according to which the Republic is built. It is suggested that the city of the Republic is comic and ugly, indicating the limitations of politics rather than its potentialities. The Republic argues for the need to reorient the concept of justice away from social life and towards the individual. Ultimately, the Republic suggests that the notion of social justice is laughable and fit for the comic Stage
Aesthetics · Art · Comedy · Comics · Economic Justice · Epistemology · Ideal (ethics · Literature · Perfection · Political science · Politics · Sociology · SOCRATES · The Republic · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Law · Philosophy
Socratic and Platonic Political Philosophy
Allegories of Farming from Greece and Rome
The Talking Greeks
The Talking Greeks
Agendas, Arguments, and Political Theory
Justice for All Without Exception
The Comedy of Crowds
Nature and Convention in Book V of the Republic
Communism
The Justice of Socrates' Philosopher Kings
Prostrating Before Adrasteia
Foreigners as Liberators
Ancilla to The pre-Socratic philosophers
Goddesses, whores, wives and slaves
Plato’s Republic
Plato's Philosophic Dog
Les Metaphores de Platon
Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae
The Dialogues of Plato
The presocratic philosophers a critical history with a selection of texts
A Commentary on Plato's Meno
A Commentary on Plato's Meno
A Commentary on Plato's Meno
The Pre-Socratic Philosophers
Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves
Response to Hall
The Philosopher and the Female in the Political Thought of Plato
| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,29 |
| Citation span | 1985 - 2023 (39) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 12 |