Plato's Republic
         by Plato (Author), Benjamin Jowett (Translator)

      The Republic (Greek Πολιτεία) is an influential work of philosophy and political theory by the Greek philosopher Plato, written in approximately 390 BC. It is written in the format of a Socratic dialogue.

           Republic: Infomation From Answers.com  

           Plato: Ethics and Politics in the Republic

The son of wealthy and influential Athenian parents, Plato began his philosophical career as a student of Socrates. When the master died, Plato travelled to Egypt and Italy, studied with students of Pythagoras, and spent several years advising the ruling family of Syracuse. Eventually, he returned to Athens and established his own school of philosophy at the Academy. For students enrolled there, Plato tried both to pass on the heritage of a Socratic style of thinking and to guide their progress through mathematical learning to the achievement of abstract philosophical truth. The written dialogues on which his enduring reputation rests also serve both of these aims. MORE

Setting and dramatis personae

The main characters in The Republic are:

• Socrates
• Glaucon, a brother of Plato
• Adeimantus, another brother of Plato
• Other, minor, characters are Cephalus, an elderly arms manufacturer; Polemarchus, son of Cephalus; Thrasymachus, a sophist; his friend Cleitophon; Charmantides, another son of Cephalus
• There are three silent characters: Lysias and Euthydemus, sons of Cephalus, and Niceratus.

The scene of the dialogue is the house of Cephalus at Piraeus, a city-port beyond the walls of ancient Athens; it was the port of entry and exit for trade into the city. Socrates was not known to venture outside of Athens regularly. The whole dialogue is narrated by Socrates the day after it actually took place, to Timaeus, Hermocrates, and Critias, among others.

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