batch.motif.greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg-l12405-l12538
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg-l12405-l12538
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE. / BOOK I. / BOOK II. / BOOK III.; lines 12405-12538
start: '12405'
end: '12538'
translation: The Republic
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The speakers discuss what kinds of imitation, narration, music, rhythm,
and poetic style should be allowed in the ideal State. They distinguish a restrained
style that imitates virtue from a many-voiced pantomimic style that imitates anything.
The pantomimic poet is to be honored ritually but sent away, while a severer poet
who imitates virtuous models is retained for the education and health of souls.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage says guardians or trainees should not imitate bad, cowardly, mad,
or vicious people, although madness and vice may be known about.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The passage forbids imitation of craftsmen, oarsmen, boatswains, horses, bulls,
rivers, ocean, thunder, and similar sounds or roles.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: obs:3
text: A just and good narrator may personate another good man, especially when he
acts firmly and wisely, but should avoid sustained imitation of an unworthy character.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: 'The passage distinguishes two main styles: one with little imitation and
much narration, and another that imitates many voices, gestures, sounds, harmonies,
and rhythms.'
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The speakers say all poetry and verbal expression fall into one of the two
styles or a mixture of both.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Adeimantus prefers admitting only the pure imitator of virtue into the State.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The passage says the ideal State is organized so that each person performs
one role, such as shoemaker, husbandman, soldier, pilot, dicast, or trader, rather
than multiple roles.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: A clever pantomimic poet who can imitate anything is to be worshipped as sweet,
holy, and wonderful, anointed with myrrh, crowned with a wool garland, and sent
to another city.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: The State will employ a rougher and severer poet or story-teller who imitates
only virtuous style and follows educational models prescribed for soldiers.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: The speakers conclude that the part of music or literary education concerning
story or myth has been discussed in both matter and manner.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Socrates or primary speaker
description: The first-person speaker who questions Adeimantus and proposes rules
for imitation, poetry, and education in the State.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Adeimantus
description: The addressed interlocutor who replies to the primary speaker and states
a preference for admitting the pure imitator of virtue.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Just and good man or speaker
description: A narrator who imitates good men without shame but avoids sustained
imitation of unworthy characters.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Bad or worse character
description: A speaker described as ready to narrate or imitate anything, including
noises of nature, tools, instruments, and animals.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Pantomimic gentleman or poet
description: A performer clever enough to imitate anything, charming and popular,
but not permitted to remain in the State.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Rougher and severer poet or story-teller
description: The poet or narrator retained by the State to imitate only the style
of the virtuous for the health of souls and the education of soldiers.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: The State
description: The political community whose laws regulate occupations, poetic style,
and education.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Soldiers
description: The group whose education was earlier prescribed and whose models the
permitted poet is to follow.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: questioner and rule-formulator
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The primary speaker asks what forms of narration and imitation should be
received into the State and states the rule for excluding the pantomimic poet.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:2
label: educational theorist
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker frames poetry, music, story, and myth as parts of education directed
toward souls' health.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: responding interlocutor
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Adeimantus answers the questions and agrees with the proposed restrictions.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: virtuous narrator
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The just and good man is described as imitating good action and refusing
to fashion himself after baser models.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: unrestricted imitator
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The worse character is described as willing to imitate anything in earnest
before a large company.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: excluded pantomimic performer
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The performer who can imitate anything is honored but told that the law does
not allow such persons in the State.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:7
label: approved virtuous poet
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The rougher and severer poet is retained because he imitates the virtuous
only and follows the prescribed educational models.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:8
label: regulating community
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The State admits or excludes styles and enforces the principle that one person
plays one part only.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:9
label: educational recipients
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The approved poetic models are connected with the education of soldiers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: myrrh
literal_form: myrrh used to anoint the excluded pantomimic poet
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:2
label: wool garland
literal_form: a garland of wool set upon the pantomimic poet's head
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:3
label: the State
literal_form: the State as the place whose law permits or excludes kinds of poets
and styles
associated_figures:
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: single harmony and nearly same rhythm
literal_form: one simple harmony and nearly the same rhythm associated with restrained
speech
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:5
label: many harmonies and rhythms
literal_form: all sorts of harmonies and rhythms associated with the changeful imitative
style
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Forbidden imitations
summary: The speakers list kinds of people, occupations, animals, natural sounds,
and forms of madness or vice that should not be imitated by those being educated.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Two narrative styles
summary: The passage contrasts a virtuous narrator who uses imitation sparingly
with a worse speaker who imitates many sounds, voices, instruments, and gestures.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Selection of poetry for the State
summary: The speakers decide that the State should admit the imitator of virtue
and reject the manifold pantomimic style because each person should have one role.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Ritualized dismissal of the pantomimic poet
summary: The pantomimic poet is treated with reverence, anointed with myrrh, crowned
with a wool garland, and sent to another city, while the State retains the severe
poet for moral education.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Completion of discussion of story and myth
summary: The passage closes by stating that the part of music or literary education
dealing with story or myth has been completed in both matter and manner.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: education through selective imitation of virtue
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage repeatedly treats poetic and narrative imitation as a means of
education and restricts imitation to virtuous models for the health of souls.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference 'wisdom' is broad; the passage is philosophical
and educational rather than a mythic narrative.
- id: motif:2
label: dangerous mimetic performer honored but expelled
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: The pantomimic poet is reverenced, anointed, crowned, and then sent away
to another city because the law does not permit his presence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The departure is a civic expulsion of an artist, not a heroic or sacred
journey; the taxonomy reference is therefore approximate.
- id: motif:3
label: single-role social order
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The ideal State is said to allow each person one function, with examples
of shoemaker, husbandman, soldier, pilot, dicast, and trader not combining roles.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: This is a political-philosophical pattern rather than a conventional mythic
motif.
- id: motif:4
label: two opposed modes of speech
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
basis: The passage divides speech and poetry into restrained narration with slight
imitation and a changeful mimetic mode using many voices, gestures, harmonies,
and rhythms.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The duality is formal and ethical, not a mythic pair of beings or cosmic
opposites.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly links the preferred mixed but restrained narrative
style to an example previously illustrated from Homer.
claim_level: same_function
target: Homeric narrative style as a model for restrained mixture of narration and
imitation
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage compares literary technique, not a mythic plot motif or
evidence of historical contact beyond Plato's explicit reference to Homer.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 12405-12424
quote_or_summary: Bad, cowardly, mad, or vicious people should not be imitated;
neither should craftsmen, oarsmen, boatswains, animals, rivers, ocean, thunder,
and similar sounds or behaviors.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 12425-12452
quote_or_summary: A just and good narrator may personate another good man, especially
acting firmly and wisely, but avoids studying or sustaining the likeness of an
unworthy person.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 12461-12478
quote_or_summary: A worse character is described as ready to imitate anything, including
thunder, wind, hail, wheels, pulleys, instruments, and animal sounds, with little
narration.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 12480-12504
quote_or_summary: 'The two styles differ in simplicity and change: one keeps nearly
the same harmony and rhythm, while the other requires all sorts of harmonies and
rhythms; all poetry and verbal expression fall into these styles or their mixture.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: lines 12506-12525
quote_or_summary: Adeimantus would admit only the pure imitator of virtue; the State
is described as one in which 'one man plays one part only.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation from supplied passage.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 12526-12535
quote_or_summary: The pantomimic poet who can imitate anything is to be worshipped
as sweet, holy, and wonderful, anointed with myrrh, crowned with wool, and sent
away; the State will use a rougher poet who imitates virtue for souls' health
and soldier education.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 12536-12538
quote_or_summary: The discussion of music or literary education concerning story
or myth is declared finished, with both matter and manner discussed.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: lines 12454-12460
quote_or_summary: The preferred mode of narration is described as 'such as we have
illustrated out of Homer,' with little imitation and much narration.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation from supplied passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Literal extraction is strong because the passage is explicit. Motif labels
are interpretive and should be reviewed because the passage is philosophical discourse
rather than narrative myth.
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 supplied passage and metadata were used. No external taxonomy identifiers beyond the provided available references were added.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg__l12405-l12538
passage_sha256=5aa0022afb45e98090016cbf3a5c2fcd402603c5871124efd86aa72f1d305297