batch.motif.greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg-l17399-l17515
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg-l17399-l17515
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: BOOK III. / BOOK IV. / BOOK V. / BOOK VI.; lines 17399-17515
start: '17399'
end: '17515'
translation: The Republic
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Socrates and Adeimantus discuss the qualities required for philosophical
rule and the common objection that philosophers become useless or corrupt. Socrates
replies with a parable of a ship whose impaired captain is manipulated by quarrelling
sailors, while the true pilot, who understands navigation by seasons, sky, stars,
and winds, is dismissed as useless. Socrates identifies this figure as describing
the true philosopher's relation to the State.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A soul suited to the study must have memory, quickness in learning, nobility,
graciousness, and kinship with truth, justice, courage, and temperance.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Socrates says such people, when perfected by years and education, should be
entrusted with the State.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Adeimantus reports an objection that Socrates' hearers feel led astray in
argument and finally overthrown, as in a game of draughts.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Adeimantus says many mature practitioners of philosophy are considered strange,
roguish, or useless to the world.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: Socrates says the question requires a reply in a parable and introduces a
fictional composite figure.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The imagined ship has a captain who is taller and stronger than the crew but
has impaired hearing and sight and little knowledge of navigation.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The sailors quarrel over steering, each claiming a right to steer without
having learned navigation.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: The sailors beg the captain for the helm and remove rivals by killing them
or throwing them overboard.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The sailors drug or intoxicate the captain, mutiny, take possession of the
ship, and consume the stores during the voyage.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: The sailors praise those who help them seize the ship as pilots or able seamen
and abuse the other sort as good-for-nothing.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: The true pilot attends to year, seasons, sky, stars, winds, and the other
matters belonging to navigation.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:12
text: In the mutinous ship, the true pilot is called a prater, star-gazer, and good-for-nothing.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:13
text: Socrates states that the parable describes the true philosopher in relation
to the State.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Socrates
description: Speaker who describes the qualities of the philosophical ruler and
gives the parable of the ship.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Adeimantus
description: Interlocutor who raises the objection about philosophers and responds
to Socrates' parable.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: philosophical ruler candidate
description: Person with memory, quickness, nobility, graciousness, and kinship
with truth, justice, courage, and temperance, to be entrusted with the State when
educated and mature.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: votaries of philosophy
description: People described by objectors as becoming strange, roguish, or useless
when they continue philosophy into mature years.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: captain
description: In the parable, a taller and stronger captain with impaired hearing
and sight and little knowledge of navigation.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: sailors
description: In the parable, quarrelling crew members who claim the right to steer,
manipulate the captain, seize the ship, and praise their own partisans.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: true pilot
description: A figure who understands the proper art of steering by attending to
seasons, sky, stars, winds, and other navigational matters, but is dismissed by
mutineers.
role_refs:
- role:7
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: the State
description: The political community to be entrusted to perfected philosophical
natures and interpreted through the ship parable.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: parable speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Socrates says he must answer by a parable and then supplies the ship figure.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: objecting interlocutor
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Adeimantus introduces the objection that philosophers may become monstrous,
roguish, or useless.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: qualified guardian-ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Socrates says those perfected by years and education are the only ones to
whom the State should be entrusted.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: criticized philosopher
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Adeimantus reports the view that many philosophers become strange, rogues,
or useless.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: nominal captain
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The captain is physically superior but impaired and does not effectively
navigate or command.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: mutinous crew
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The sailors quarrel for control, drug or intoxicate the captain, and seize
the ship.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: knowledgeable navigator
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The true pilot attends to seasons, sky, stars, winds, and other requirements
of navigation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:8
label: unrecognized wise figure
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The mutinous sailors call the true pilot a prater, star-gazer, and good-for-nothing.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:9
label: political community
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Socrates says philosophers should be entrusted with the State and later explains
the parable as the philosopher's relation to the State.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: ship
literal_form: fleet or ship
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: sym:2
label: helm
literal_form: helm of the ship
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: sky, stars, and winds
literal_form: year, seasons, sky, stars, winds, and other navigational matters
associated_figures:
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: narcotic drug or drink
literal_form: drink or some narcotic drug used to chain up the captain's senses
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: stores of the ship
literal_form: ship's stores consumed by the mutinous sailors
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:6
label: fabulous composite creatures
literal_form: fabulous unions of goats and stags found in pictures
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Qualifications for entrusting the State
summary: Socrates describes the traits of the mind suited to true study and says
only such people, perfected by age and education, should be entrusted with the
State.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:8
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Adeimantus' objection about philosophy
summary: Adeimantus says Socrates' arguments leave hearers feeling defeated and
reports the common view that long-term philosophers become strange, roguish, or
useless.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Introduction of the ship parable
summary: Socrates says the issue must be answered by a parable and introduces a
fictional composite image to plead the cause of the best men in cities.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Mutiny aboard the ship
summary: In the parable, quarrelling sailors demand control of the helm, remove
rivals, incapacitate the captain, seize the ship, and consume its stores.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Dismissal of the true pilot
summary: The true pilot understands navigation through seasons, sky, stars, winds,
and the art of steering, but the mutinous sailors call him useless.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:6
label: Interpretation of the parable
summary: Socrates states that the figure describes the true philosopher's relation
to the State, and Adeimantus agrees he understands.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: wise navigator dismissed as useless
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The true pilot possesses the relevant navigational knowledge but is called
a prater, star-gazer, and good-for-nothing by the mutinous sailors; Socrates links
this to the true philosopher in the State.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage is philosophical parable rather than mythic narrative; the
taxonomy reference is broad.
- id: motif:2
label: mutinous seizure of communal vessel
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The sailors reject instruction, fight for the helm, incapacitate the captain,
seize the ship, and conduct the voyage while eating and drinking from the stores.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: No supplied taxonomy family directly matches this political-parabolic
vessel motif.
- id: motif:3
label: rightful expertise versus popular acclaim
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Those who help the sailors take the ship are praised as pilots and able seamen,
while the actually qualified pilot is abused as useless.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is an interpretive motif grounded in the explicit parable; it should
not be treated as evidence of a separate traditional myth without further sources.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 17399-17417
quote_or_summary: Socrates says the suitable soul has memory, quickness, nobility,
graciousness, and kinship with truth, justice, courage, and temperance, and that
such people should be entrusted with the State after years and education.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; concise summary used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 17419-17445
quote_or_summary: Adeimantus says hearers feel gradually led astray and overthrown
in argument, and reports the view that many who pursue philosophy into maturity
become strange, roguish, or useless.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; concise summary used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 17447-17465
quote_or_summary: Socrates agrees the objection is right in one sense and says he
must answer with a parable, using a fictional composite image like fabulous unions
of goats and stags.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; concise summary used.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 17465-17475
quote_or_summary: Socrates imagines a ship with a tall, strong captain who is partly
deaf and visually impaired, while sailors quarrel over steering and claim navigation
cannot be taught.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; concise summary used.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 17475-17487
quote_or_summary: The sailors beg for the helm, kill or throw rivals overboard,
drug or intoxicate the captain, mutiny, seize the ship, consume stores, and praise
accomplices as pilots or able seamen.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; concise summary used.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 17488-17502
quote_or_summary: The true pilot must attend to the year, seasons, sky, stars, winds,
and the art of command, but in a mutinous vessel he is called a prater, star-gazer,
and good-for-nothing.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; concise summary used.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 17503-17515
quote_or_summary: Socrates says the figure describes the true philosopher in relation
to the State, and Adeimantus agrees that he understands.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; concise summary used.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: The parable and its interpretation are explicit in the passage. Motif labeling
is cautious because the text is philosophical argument rather than mythic narrative.
No comparison claims were added because the passage itself does not compare this
parable to another tradition or motif family beyond its own internal interpretation.
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. Taxonomy references were limited to the supplied list and only applied where broadly supported by the explicit emphasis on knowledge and the true philosopher.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg__l17399-l17515
passage_sha256=abed77aa39108bf093be6b3142d33bdc38ed5221b6d86d95448b0e32dc017eb6