batch.motif.greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg-l14071-l14242
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg-l14071-l14242
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: BOOK I. / BOOK II. / BOOK III. / BOOK IV.; lines 14071-14242
start: '14071'
end: '14242'
translation: The Republic
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: the god who sits in the centre, on the navel of the earth
summary: 'The speakers assign sacred legislation to Apollo at Delphi, then continue
a philosophical inquiry into justice by examining the four virtues of a well-ordered
city: wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. Wisdom is located in the guardian
class, and courage in the war-making part that preserves right opinion about what
is to be feared.'
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The remaining work of legislation concerning temples, sacrifices, service
of gods, demigods, and heroes, repositories of the dead, and rites for the inhabitants
of the world below is assigned to Apollo, the God of Delphi.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The founders say they are ignorant about these sacred matters and should trust
their ancestral deity as interpreter.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Apollo is described as sitting in the centre, on the navel of the earth, and
as interpreter of religion to all mankind.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The speakers propose to search within the newly made city for justice and
injustice, and to identify how they differ.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The inquiry assumes that the rightly ordered State is perfect and therefore
wise, valiant, temperate, and just.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The method proposed is to identify three of four virtues and then recognize
the remaining virtue as the residue.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: Wisdom in the city is identified with good counsel, a kind of knowledge concerning
the whole State and its relations with other States.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: The knowledge that makes the city wise is said to belong to the guardians,
especially the perfect guardians, who are the smallest class.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: Courage in the city is located in the part that fights and goes to war on
behalf of the State.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:10
text: Courage is described as preserving under all circumstances an educated opinion
about what is and is not to be feared, and is called a kind of salvation.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: the speaking inquirer
description: The first-person speaker who answers questions, proposes the civic
inquiry, and analyzes the virtues of the State.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:10
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Glaucon
description: An interlocutor who reminds the speaker of his promise to search for
justice and responds to the argument.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Apollo, the God of Delphi
description: The deity to whom the ordering of sacred institutions and rites is
assigned; described as the ancestral deity and interpreter of religion.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: gods, demigods, and heroes
description: Beings whose service is included among the sacred matters to be ordered
by Apollo.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: inhabitants of the world below
description: Beings to be propitiated through rites associated with repositories
of the dead.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: the State or city
description: The newly founded and rightly ordered city examined for justice, injustice,
and the four virtues.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: guardians or perfect guardians
description: The class possessing knowledge about the whole State and serving as
its presiding and ruling part.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: the fighting part of the city
description: The portion of the city that fights and goes to war on the State's
behalf.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
roles:
- id: role:1
label: philosophical investigator
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker undertakes to search for justice and explains the method of inquiry
into the State's virtues.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:2
label: interlocutor and reminder of promise
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Glaucon says the speaker promised to search for justice and participates
in the exchange.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: ancestral deity
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Apollo is identified as the ancestral deity to be trusted in sacred matters.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: religious interpreter and ritual authority
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Apollo is said to order sacred institutions and be the interpreter of religion
to all mankind.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: recipients of divine service
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The passage names gods, demigods, and heroes as recipients of service.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:6
label: underworld recipients of propitiatory rites
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Rites are mentioned for propitiating the inhabitants of the world below.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:7
label: object of ethical investigation
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The city is searched for justice and injustice and is analyzed through its
virtues.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:8
label: ruling wise class
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The guardians hold the knowledge that counsels about the whole State and
are called its presiding and ruling part.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:9
label: courage-bearing martial part
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The part that goes to war is identified as the source of the city's courage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: navel of the earth
literal_form: Apollo sitting in the centre, on the navel of the earth
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- world_center
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: temples and sacrifices
literal_form: institution of temples and sacrifices
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: repositories of the dead
literal_form: repositories of the dead and rites for the inhabitants of the world
below
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:4
label: candle-lit search
literal_form: light a candle and search
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:5
label: four virtues
literal_form: wisdom, valour, temperance, and justice as four virtues of the perfect
State
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Sacred legislation assigned to Apollo
summary: The speakers state that civic founders should leave the ordering of temples,
sacrifices, divine service, burial repositories, and underworld rites to Apollo
of Delphi.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Search for justice in the city
summary: The speakers turn from city-making to an inquiry into where justice and
injustice can be found in the newly founded city.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Virtues of the perfect State
summary: The inquiry assumes that the perfect State has four virtues and proposes
to identify them by a process of elimination.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: Wisdom located in the guardians
summary: Wisdom is defined as good counsel concerning the whole State, and this
knowledge is assigned to the small ruling class of guardians.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: scene:5
label: Courage located in the war-making part
summary: The courage of the city is located in the part that fights for it and preserves
the educated opinion about what is to be feared.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:6
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: World center as religious authority
taxonomy_refs:
- world_center
basis: Apollo of Delphi is described as sitting at the centre, on the navel of the
earth, and as interpreter of religion to all mankind.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage uses the image to justify ritual authority within a philosophical
discussion rather than narrating a mythic journey to the center.
- id: motif:2
label: Sacrificial and temple institution
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: The passage explicitly names the institution of temples and sacrifices and
the service of gods, demigods, and heroes as sacred matters to be ordered.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: high
cautions: The passage concerns legal and ritual ordering, not an enacted sacrifice.
- id: motif:3
label: Propitiation of the underworld dead
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage mentions repositories of the dead and rites to propitiate inhabitants
of the world below.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: No underworld narrative, journey, or judgment scene is described.
- id: motif:4
label: Wisdom as ruling knowledge
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The city is called wise because a small presiding guardian class possesses
knowledge concerning the good of the whole State.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: This is a philosophical-political pattern rather than a mythic episode.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 14071-14242
quote_or_summary: The passage assigns to Apollo the institution of temples and sacrifices,
service of gods, demigods, and heroes, repositories of the dead, and rites for
propitiating inhabitants of the world below.
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 14071-14242
quote_or_summary: The civic founders say they are ignorant of sacred matters and
should trust no interpreter but their ancestral deity.
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: quote
locator: lines 14071-14242
quote_or_summary: Apollo is described as the god who sits “in the centre, on the
navel of the earth” and interprets religion to all mankind.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation from supplied passage.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 14071-14242
quote_or_summary: The speakers propose to search the habitable city, with friends
assisting, to discover justice and injustice and how they differ.
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: summary
locator: lines 14071-14242
quote_or_summary: The argument assumes the rightly ordered State is perfect and
therefore wise, valiant, temperate, and just.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 14071-14242
quote_or_summary: 'The speakers compare the four virtues to four things: once three
are known, the fourth is known as the remaining one.'
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 14071-14242
quote_or_summary: Wisdom is identified with good counsel, a form of knowledge that
advises about the whole State and its dealings with itself and other States.
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: summary
locator: lines 14071-14242
quote_or_summary: This knowledge is said to be found among the guardians, the smallest
class, whose knowledge makes the whole State wise.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 14071-14242
quote_or_summary: The courage or cowardice of a State is located in the part that
fights and goes out to war on the State's behalf.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 14071-14242
quote_or_summary: Courage is described as preserving the legislator's education
about what is and is not to be feared, and as a kind of salvation.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized from supplied passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The passage is primarily philosophical and political. Ritual, underworld,
and world-center elements are explicit but brief; most motif candidates should
be reviewed for suitability in a comparative mythology index.
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: |-
Used only the supplied passage and metadata. No external comparisons were added.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg__l14071-l14242
passage_sha256=c5d1c4f474f687cb4f7db6101af52967c23eea6d6ef5ad0a33e42b4b553c8825