In the Myth of Er the true characters of the falsely-pious and those who are immodest in some way are revealed when they are asked to choose another life and pick the lives of tyrants. Earlier in Book II of the Republic, Socrates points out that even the gods can be tricked by a clever charlatan who appears just while unjust in his psyche, in that they would welcome the pious but false "man of the people" and would reject and punish the truly just but falsely accused man. Socrates tells Glaucon the "Myth of Er" to explain that the choices we make and the character we develop will have consequences after death. In the dialogue Plato introduces the story by having Socrates explain to Glaucon that the soul must be immortal, and cannot be destroyed. He opened his eyes to find himself lying on the funeral pyre early in the morning, able to recall his journey through the afterlife. Er remembered nothing of the journey back to his body. As they lay down at night to sleep each soul was lifted up into the night in various directions for rebirth, completing their journey. As they drank, each soul forgot everything. Each soul was required to drink some of the water, in varying quantities again, Er only watched. They passed under the throne of Lady Necessity, then traveled to the Plane of Oblivion, where the River of Forgetfulness (River Lethe) flowed. Animals chose human lives while humans often chose the apparently easier lives of animals.Īfter this, each soul was assigned a guardian spirit to help him or her through their life. Many preferred a life different from their previous experience. Er observed that this was often the case of those who had been through the path in the sky, whereas those who had been punished often chose a better life. Upon further inspection he realized that, among other atrocities, he was destined to eat his own children. Er recalled the first one to choose a new life: a man who had not known the terrors of the underground but had been rewarded in the sky, hastily chose a powerful dictatorship. Then, in the order in which their lottery tokens were chosen, each soul was required to come forward to choose his or her next life. The souls – except for Er – were then organized into rows and were each given a lottery token. Several women, including Lady Necessity, her daughters, and the Sirens were present. After another day's travel they reached it.
After four days they reached a place where they could see a shaft of rainbow light brighter than any they had seen before. Murderers, tyrants and other non-political criminals were doomed to remain by the exit of the underground, unable to escape.Īfter seven days in the meadow, the souls and Er were required to travel farther. There were some, however, who could not be released from underground. Those returning from underground appeared dirty, haggard, and tired, crying in despair when recounting their awful experiences, as each was required to pay a tenfold penalty for all the wicked deeds committed when alive. Meanwhile from the other opening in the sky, clean souls floated down, recounting beautiful sights and wondrous feelings. But when Er approached the judges, he was told to remain, listening and observing in order to report his experience to humankind. Judges sat between these openings and ordered the souls which path to follow: the good were guided into the path into the sky, the immoral were directed below.
With many other souls as his companions, Er had come across an awe-inspiring place with four openings – two into and out of the sky and two into and out of the ground. The word is used at the end when Socrates explains that because Er did not drink the waters of Lethe, the account ( mythos in Greek) was preserved for us. The tale includes the idea that moral people are rewarded and immoral people punished after death.Īlthough called the Myth of Er, the word "myth" here means "word, speech, account", rather than the modern meaning. Two days later he revives on his funeral-pyre and tells others of his journey in the afterlife, including an account of reincarnation and the celestial spheres of the astral plane. When the bodies of those who died in the battle are collected, ten days after his death, Er remains undecomposed. The story begins as a man named Er ( / ɜːr/ Greek: Ἤρ, gen.: Ἠρός), son of Armenios ( Ἀρμένιος), of Pamphylia dies in battle. The story includes an account of the cosmos and the afterlife that greatly influenced religious, philosophical, and scientific thought for many centuries. The Myth of Er is a legend that concludes Plato's Republic (10.614–10.621).
A Renaissance manuscript Latin translation of The Republic
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