batch.motif.greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg-l21747-l21839
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg-l21747-l21839
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: BOOK V. / BOOK VI. / BOOK VII. / BOOK VIII.; lines 21747-21839
start: '21747'
end: '21839'
translation: The Republic
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: "“the people who would escape the smoke which is the slavery of freemen,
has fallen into the fire which is the tyranny of slaves.”"
summary: The speaker criticizes tragic poets as eulogists of tyranny, describes
how a tyrant maintains his companions by confiscating sacred treasures and exploiting
the people, and frames the tyrant as a violent son who disarms and beats the father-people
that brought him into being. The passage concludes that disorderly liberty passes
into the harshest slavery of tyranny.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The speaker says tragic poets, including Euripides, praise or eulogize tyranny
and tyrants.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The speaker says tragic poets go to other cities, attract mobs, hire persuasive
voices, and draw cities toward tyrannies and democracies.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The passage says tragic poets receive pay and honour, with the greatest honour
from tyrants and the next greatest from democracies.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The interlocutor says the tyrant may confiscate and spend sacred treasures
and use the fortunes of attainted persons.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The people are described as the father from whom the tyrant derived his being.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The people are imagined as demanding that the grown-up son and his companions
depart, like a father driving out a riotous son and undesirable associates.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The tyrant is described as a strong son who may disarm and beat his father
if opposed.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: The speaker calls the tyrant a parricide and a cruel guardian of an aged parent.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: A saying contrasts escape from smoke, called the slavery of freemen, with
falling into fire, called the tyranny of slaves.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:10
text: The passage concludes that liberty, when out of order and reason, passes into
the harshest and bitterest form of slavery.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: speaker
description: The first-person speaker who analyzes tyranny and questions the interlocutor.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: interlocutor
description: The respondent who answers the speaker and supplies some claims about
the tyrant's resources.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Euripides
description: A tragedian named as author of the saying that tyrants are wise by
living with the wise.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: tragic poets
description: Poets described as wise men, eulogists of tyranny, and persuaders of
cities.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: tyrant
description: The ruler whose companions, resources, and violence against the parent-people
are discussed.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: people / father
description: The people are personified as the father or aged parent who brought
the tyrant into being and may try to expel him.
role_refs:
- role:7
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: tyrant's companions
description: Male and female boon companions, slaves, rabble, and associates maintained
by the tyrant or by the people.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: analyzer of tyranny
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker asks how the tyrant maintains his army and concludes the discussion
of tyranny's nature and transition from democracy.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:10
- id: role:2
label: respondent
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The figure answers the speaker's questions about sacred treasures, estates,
and the tyrant's violence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: poetic eulogist of tyranny
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:4
basis: Euripides and tragic poets are said to praise tyranny or act as its eulogists.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: public persuader
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The tragic poets are said to attract mobs, hire persuasive voices, and draw
cities toward tyrannies and democracies.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: resource-seizing ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The tyrant is discussed as maintaining companions through confiscated sacred
treasures, attainted fortunes, and the father's estate.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: violent son / parricide
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The tyrant is framed as a son who disarms and beats the father and is called
a parricide.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: parent of the tyrant
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The people are described as the father from whom the tyrant derived his being.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:8
label: victim of filial violence
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The father-people are described as weak before the strong son and subject
to disarming and beating.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:9
label: dependents of the tyrant
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The companions are maintained by confiscated resources, the father's estate,
or the people.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: sacred treasures
literal_form: sacred treasures in the city
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: constitution hill
literal_form: constitution hill ascended by reputation until it fails from shortness
of breath
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: father and grown-up son
literal_form: father-people and grown-up son-tyrant
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: sym:4
label: monster in the bosom
literal_form: a monster fostered in the parent's bosom
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:5
label: smoke
literal_form: smoke identified with the slavery of freemen
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:6
label: fire
literal_form: fire identified with the tyranny of slaves
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: critique of tragedians and tyranny
summary: The speaker cites Euripides and says tragic poets praise tyranny, persuade
cities, and receive honour from tyrants and democracies.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: resources of the tyrant
summary: The interlocutor says the tyrant will maintain his companions by confiscating
sacred treasures, spending attainted fortunes, and relying on the father's estate
or the people.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: the son turns against the father
summary: The people are imagined as a father who wants to expel the riotous son
and his associates; the tyrant-son is said to be strong enough to disarm and beat
the father.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: scene:4
label: transition from liberty to tyranny
summary: The speaker uses the smoke-and-fire saying to state that disorderly liberty
passes into the harshest slavery, and then concludes the account of the transition
from democracy to tyranny.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: political child destroys parent
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The tyrant is cast as a son brought into being by the people-father, then
disarming, beating, and becoming a parricide against that parent.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: This is a political-philosophical allegory within the passage, not a mythic
kinship narrative.
- id: motif:2
label: fall from lesser bondage into harsher bondage
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage says the people flee the smoke of one slavery and fall into the
fire of tyranny, and that excessive liberty becomes the harshest slavery.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: The imagery is proverbial and allegorical rather than a narrative episode.
- id: motif:3
label: sacred resources seized by tyrant
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_theft
basis: The tyrant is said to confiscate and spend sacred treasures in the city to
maintain his army or companions.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage says confiscation rather than stealthy theft; the taxonomy
link is approximate.
- id: motif:4
label: poetic praise legitimating tyranny
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Euripides' saying links tyrants with the wise, and tragic poets are described
as praising or eulogizing tyranny and attracting cities.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The 'wisdom' reference is polemical and ironic in context; it is not a
mythic wisdom quest.
- id: motif:5
label: monster fostered by its own parent
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The people-father discovers that the strong tyrant-son is a monster fostered
in his bosom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The monster language is a metaphor for political danger, not a literal
monstrous being.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage itself compares the philosopher's proposed state with the practice
of tragic poets, presenting tragic poetry as a tradition that praises or eulogizes
tyranny and persuades cities.
claim_level: same_function
target: tragic poets, Euripides, and other poets as public eulogists of tyranny
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The claim is limited to the passage's polemical characterization of
poets; it does not establish a broad historical account of tragedy.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 21747-21839; opening discussion of tragedy and Euripides
quote_or_summary: Euripides is named as author of the saying that tyrants are wise
by living with the wise; the speaker says tragic poets are eulogists of tyranny.
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: 21747-21839; poets going to other cities
quote_or_summary: The speaker says tragic poets go to other cities, attract mobs,
hire loud persuasive voices, and draw cities toward tyrannies and democracies.
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: 21747-21839; honour and constitution hill
quote_or_summary: The speaker says poets are paid and honoured most by tyrants and
next by democracies; their reputation fails as it ascends the constitution hill.
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: 21747-21839; tyrant's resources
quote_or_summary: The interlocutor says the tyrant will confiscate and spend sacred
treasures, use the fortunes of attainted persons, and then be maintained from
the father's estate.
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: 21747-21839; people as father
quote_or_summary: The speaker identifies the people as the father from whom the
tyrant derived his being and says they will maintain him and his companions.
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: 21747-21839; attempted expulsion
quote_or_summary: The people are imagined as saying that the grown son should not
be supported by the father, and as bidding the son and companions depart like
a father expelling a riotous son.
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: 21747-21839; violent son
quote_or_summary: The parent discovers he has fostered a monster in his bosom; the
tyrant-son is strong, disarms the father, and beats him if opposed.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; concise summary used.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: 21747-21839; parricide statement
quote_or_summary: "“Then he is a parricide, and a cruel guardian of an aged parent”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; short quote used.
- id: ev:9
type: quote
locator: 21747-21839; smoke and fire saying
quote_or_summary: "“the people who would escape the smoke which is the slavery of
freemen, has fallen into the fire which is the tyranny of slaves”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; short quote used.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: 21747-21839; conclusion on liberty and tyranny
quote_or_summary: The speaker says liberty, when out of order and reason, passes
into the harshest and bitterest form of slavery, and concludes the discussion
of the transition from democracy to tyranny.
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: medium
notes: The political allegories and symbols are explicit in the passage, but taxonomy
links are limited because the passage is philosophical argument rather than mythic
narrative.
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 are included only where directly or cautiously supportable.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg__l21747-l21839
passage_sha256=0dc16c67401eae2161ec4f1107ba6ea60146b4447b4a86c28bd34e2318f907ef