batch.motif.greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg-l10635-l10722
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg-l10635-l10722
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: THE REPUBLIC. / PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE. / BOOK I. / BOOK II.; lines 10635-10722
start: '10635'
end: '10722'
translation: The Republic
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: justice and virtue are honourable, but grievous and toilsome; and that the
pleasures of vice and injustice are easy of attainment
summary: An unnamed speaker addresses Socrates and describes a public and poetic
discourse in which justice is praised but treated as difficult and unprofitable,
while injustice is described as pleasant and profitable if concealed. The speaker
reports claims that sacrifices, charms, prayers, offerings, mysteries, and atoning
deities can turn gods, absolve sins, harm enemies, or avert punishment in the
world below. The passage then imagines how a clever youth might infer that he
should cultivate the appearance of virtue while secretly practicing injustice.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The speaker says that a common human voice declares justice and virtue honourable
but toilsome, while vice and injustice are easy and censured mainly by law and
opinion.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The speaker says that wicked rich or influential men are often called happy
and honoured, while weak or poor good people are despised or overlooked.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The speaker reports a claim that gods give calamity and misery to many good
men and good things and happiness to wicked men.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: Mendicant prophets are described as going to rich men's doors and claiming
divine power to atone for sins by sacrifices or charms.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The prophets are said to promise harm to an enemy through magic arts and incantations
that bind heaven to execute their will.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: Hesiod is cited for the contrast between an easy, nearby way of vice and a
toilsome road before virtue.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: Homer is cited for the claim that gods may be turned from their purpose by
prayer, sacrifices, entreaties, libations, and the odour of fat.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: Books attributed to Musaeus and Orpheus are described as sources for rituals
of expiation and atonement for both living and dead people.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: Certain rites called mysteries are said to redeem people from the pains of
hell, while neglect of them leaves an unknown fate.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:10
text: The speaker asks how quickwitted young people will be affected when they hear
these teachings about virtue, vice, gods, and men.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: A youth is imagined as reasoning that real justice without the reputation
of justice brings no profit, while injustice with a reputation for justice promises
a heavenly life.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:12
text: The imagined youth says he will display a picture and shadow of virtue outside
while hiding a subtle and crafty fox behind it.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:13
text: The imagined strategy includes secret brotherhoods, political clubs, rhetoric,
persuasion, and force to make unlawful gains without punishment.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:14
text: The passage raises the objection that gods cannot be deceived or compelled,
then answers by appealing to poetic traditions that gods can be influenced by
sacrifices, entreaties, and offerings.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:15
text: The passage says that if poets speak truly, an unjust person can keep unjust
gains and propitiate the gods through repeated sinning and praying.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:16
text: The passage mentions a world below where people or their posterity may suffer
for unjust deeds, and answers this fear by invoking mysteries and atoning deities.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Socrates
description: The addressee of the speaker's argument.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Unnamed speaker
description: The person who asks Socrates to consider another way of speaking about
justice and injustice and then develops the argument.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: The gods
description: Divine beings said to apportion calamity and happiness, to be influenced
by sacrifices and prayers, and to be propitiated by offerings.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Mendicant prophets
description: Religious specialists who visit rich men's doors and claim divine power
for atonement, charms, magic arts, and incantations.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Rich men
description: People visited by mendicant prophets and persuaded that atonement can
be obtained by ritual means.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Hesiod
description: A poet cited as authority for the easy path of vice and the toilsome
road to virtue.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Homer
description: A poet cited as authority for the claim that gods may be turned from
their purpose by offerings and prayers.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Musaeus and Orpheus
description: Figures described as children of the Moon and the Muses and associated
with books used for rituals of expiation and atonement.
role_refs:
- role:6
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:8
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Quickwitted young people
description: Young hearers imagined as drawing conclusions from public and poetic
teachings about virtue, vice, gods, and men.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Pindar
description: A poet quoted in the imagined youth's question about ascending a tower
by justice or deceit.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Archilochus
description: A poet called a sage in connection with the image of the subtle and
crafty fox.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Professors of rhetoric
description: Teachers who instruct people in persuading courts and assemblies.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: Atoning deities
description: Deities said to have great power in relation to punishment for unjust
deeds in the world below.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: philosophical addressee
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Socrates is directly addressed by the speaker throughout the passage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: role:2
label: argument presenter
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The speaker introduces and develops the account of public, poetic, and ritual
claims about justice and injustice.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: propitiable divine powers
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The gods are described as allotting outcomes and as capable of being influenced
by sacrifices, entreaties, and offerings.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: role:4
label: ritual mediator
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Mendicant prophets claim power from the gods to atone for sins and harm enemies
through ritual and magical means.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: wealthy ritual clients
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Rich men are the people approached and persuaded by the mendicant prophets.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:6
label: poetic authority
assigned_to:
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:10
- fig:11
basis: Named poets or poet-prophets are cited as authorities for claims and images
used in the argument.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: ritual source figure
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Books attributed to Musaeus and Orpheus are said to be used for rituals of
expiation and atonement.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:8
label: morally impressionable hearer
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Young people are imagined as hearing the claims and forming conclusions about
how to live.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:9
label: teacher of persuasion
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: Professors of rhetoric are said to teach the art of persuading courts and
assemblies.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:10
label: afterlife atoners
assigned_to:
- fig:13
basis: Atoning deities are invoked as powerful in response to fear of punishment
in the world below.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: sacrifice and offering
literal_form: Sacrifices, libations, odour of fat, and offerings used to avert wrath
or propitiate gods.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: sym:2
label: charms and incantations
literal_form: Charms, magic arts, and incantations used for atonement or harming
enemies.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: smooth path and uphill road
literal_form: The smooth nearby way of vice contrasted with the toilsome uphill
road before virtue.
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: mysteries
literal_form: Rites called mysteries said to redeem people from pains of hell and
to aid the living and the dead.
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:13
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:8
- id: sym:5
label: world below
literal_form: A lower world in which people or their posterity may suffer for unjust
deeds.
associated_figures:
- fig:13
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:6
label: loftier tower and fortress
literal_form: A tower ascended by justice or deceit and serving as a fortress for
life.
associated_figures:
- fig:9
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:7
label: picture and shadow of virtue
literal_form: An outward image of virtue used as the vestibule and exterior of a
house.
associated_figures:
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:8
label: crafty fox
literal_form: A subtle and crafty fox trailed behind the outward display of virtue.
associated_figures:
- fig:9
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:9
label: bees on flowers
literal_form: Quickwitted young people compared to bees on the wing lighting on
every flower.
associated_figures:
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Public discourse on justice and injustice
summary: The speaker reports that common opinion praises justice as honourable yet
painful and regards injustice as easy, profitable, and often rewarded when accompanied
by wealth or influence.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Prophets promise ritual power
summary: Mendicant prophets approach rich men and claim divine authority to atone
for sins, harm enemies, and command heaven through sacrifices, charms, magic arts,
and incantations.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Poetic authorities are cited
summary: The speaker reports appeals to Hesiod, Homer, Musaeus, and Orpheus to support
claims about the difficulty of virtue, the ease of vice, divine propitiation,
ritual atonement, mysteries, and the pains of hell.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Youth infers a strategy of concealed injustice
summary: A clever youth, hearing these claims, is imagined as choosing the appearance
of justice while hiding injustice, using reputation, secret associations, rhetoric,
persuasion, and force to gain profit without punishment.
figure_refs:
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:7
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Divine and afterlife punishment answered by offerings and mysteries
summary: The argument considers whether gods can be deceived or compelled, then
invokes poetic tradition that gods can be influenced by offerings; fear of punishment
in the world below is answered by reference to mysteries and atoning deities.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:8
- fig:13
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Propitiating gods through sacrifice and prayer
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
- sacred_exchange
basis: The passage repeatedly reports claims that sacrifices, prayers, libations,
odours of fat, and offerings can avert divine wrath, turn gods, or allow unjust
people to avoid punishment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage reports and critiques these claims within a philosophical
argument rather than narrating a ritual episode as accepted fact.
- id: motif:2
label: Divine judgment complicated by moral inversion
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: The speaker reports that gods are said to give misery to many good people
and happiness to wicked people, while also raising the possibility of heavenly
vengeance or punishment for unjust deeds.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The focus is argumentative and rhetorical; the passage presents competing
claims about divine justice rather than a single mythic judgment scene.
- id: motif:3
label: Mysteries redeeming the living and the dead from underworld pains
taxonomy_refs:
- initiation
- afterlife_journey_map
basis: Rites called mysteries are said to serve the living and dead, redeem people
from the pains of hell, and answer fear of suffering in the world below.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage mentions the world below and redemption but does not describe
an afterlife journey or map in detail.
- id: motif:4
label: Outward virtue concealing hidden injustice
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The imagined youth plans to display a picture and shadow of virtue outside
while hiding the crafty fox behind it, using reputation and persuasion to avoid
punishment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is an ethical and political image in a philosophical argument, not
a developed mythic narrative.
- id: motif:5
label: Difficult path of virtue versus easy path of vice
taxonomy_refs:
- ascent
basis: Hesiod is cited for vice as smooth, abundant, and near, while virtue requires
toil and an uphill road; Pindar is cited for ascent to a lofty tower by justice
or deceit.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The ascent and road imagery is metaphorical and quoted from poets within
an argument about moral education.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 10635-10645
quote_or_summary: The speaker says common opinion calls justice honourable but toilsome,
vice easy, dishonesty profitable, wicked influential men happy, and gods as giving
misery to good people and happiness to wicked people.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 10645-10652
quote_or_summary: Mendicant prophets visit rich men's doors, claim divine power
to atone for sins by sacrifices or charms, and promise to harm enemies through
magic arts and incantations that bind heaven.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 10652-10664
quote_or_summary: 'Poets are invoked: Hesiod is cited for the easy path of vice
and toil before virtue, and Homer for gods being turned by prayers, sacrifices,
entreaties, libations, and the odour of fat.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 10665-10673
quote_or_summary: Books attributed to Musaeus and Orpheus are used for rituals persuading
people and cities that sacrifices and amusements can make expiations and atonements
for the living and dead; these mysteries redeem from pains of hell.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 10675-10684
quote_or_summary: The speaker asks how quickwitted youth, compared to bees on flowers,
will respond to such teachings, and quotes Pindar on ascending a lofty tower by
justice or crooked deceit.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 10685-10696
quote_or_summary: An imagined youth reasons that reputation matters more than true
justice, plans to display only the image of virtue while hiding a crafty fox,
and proposes secret groups, rhetoric, persuasion, and force for unlawful gain
without punishment.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 10697-10712
quote_or_summary: The argument considers whether gods can be deceived or compelled,
then says poetic tradition claims gods may be influenced by sacrifices, soothing
entreaties, and offerings; unjust people could pray and sacrifice to avoid punishment.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: 10713-10722
quote_or_summary: A fear is raised that there is a world below where people or descendants
suffer for unjust deeds; the reply invokes mysteries and powerful atoning deities,
supported by cities and poets or prophets called children of the gods.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is strong because the passage explicitly names figures,
rites, images, and arguments. Motif labels require caution because the material
is presented as reported discourse within a philosophical argument, not as a standalone
myth narrative. No comparison claims were added beyond the passage-level motif
candidates.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
Only the provided passage and metadata were used. Taxonomy references were limited to supplied motif-family options; no symbol taxonomy reference was used because the available symbol list did not match the passage's main ritual and moral images.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg__l10635-l10722
passage_sha256=8921bf98904ff83fb34a68e1cc398f733c4f7ed005d3e0f2d58d54af8dac3f03