batch.motif.greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg-l22466-l22655
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg-l22466-l22655
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: BOOK VI. / BOOK VII. / BOOK VIII. / BOOK IX.; lines 22466-22655
start: '22466'
end: '22655'
translation: The Republic
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The passage compares three lives associated with gain, honour, and wisdom.
It argues that the philosopher is the best judge of pleasures because he has broader
experience, wisdom, and reason. It ranks the wise life as most pleasant, the honour-loving
life next, and the money-making life last. It then begins a further argument about
pleasure, pain, and the neutral state between them, concluding that absence of
pain is not identical with pleasure and absence of pleasure is not identical with
pain.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Three classes of men are examined according to which life each considers most
pleasant.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The money-maker values the advantages of gold and silver and depreciates honour
or learning when they bring no money.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The lover of honour regards the pleasure of riches as vulgar and learning
without distinction as worthless.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The philosopher values the pleasure of knowing truth above other pleasures
and treats other pleasures as necessary rather than preferred.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Experience, wisdom, and reason are proposed as the criterion for judging which
life is most pleasant.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The philosopher is said to have experienced other pleasures from childhood,
while the lover of gain has not necessarily tasted the pleasure of learning and
knowing truth.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: The philosopher is described as the only one who possesses wisdom as well
as experience, and reason is named as his instrument of judgment.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: The pleasure of the intelligent part of the soul is ranked first, the soldier
or lover of honour second, and the lover of gain last.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: The speaker describes a third trial dedicated to Olympian Zeus the saviour
and says a sage whispers that only the pleasure of the wise is true and pure.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: Pleasure is opposed to pain, and a neutral state between them is described
as repose or rest of the soul.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:11
text: Sick or suffering people are said to call health, relief, or cessation of
pain the greatest pleasure.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:12
text: The argument concludes that the absence of pain cannot rightly be supposed
to be pleasure, nor the absence of pleasure to be pain.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: money-maker / lover of gain
description: A class of person who praises the life of gain and values gold and
silver.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: lover of honour / soldier
description: A class of person who values honour, distinction, victory, or courage
and is ranked between the philosopher and the money-maker.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: philosopher / lover of wisdom
description: A class of person who pursues truth, has experience of other pleasures,
and uses wisdom and reason to judge pleasures.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Olympian Zeus the saviour
description: A divine name invoked as the dedicatee of the third trial in the speaker's
argument.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: unnamed sage
description: A sage who is said to whisper that only the pleasure of the wise is
true and pure.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: advocate of gain
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The money-maker praises the life of gain and the advantages of gold and silver.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: advocate of honour
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The lover of honour values distinction and is later identified with the soldier
and lover of honour.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: lover of wisdom
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The philosopher is associated with learning, knowing truth, wisdom, and reason.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: authoritative judge of pleasures
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The philosopher is said to possess experience, wisdom, and reason, which
are named as the judges of pleasure.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: divine dedicatee of a trial
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The third trial in the argument is said to be dedicated to Olympian Zeus
the saviour.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:6
label: source of whispered maxim
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The speaker says a sage whispers that only the pleasure of the wise is true
and pure.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: gold and silver
literal_form: gold and silver
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: truth and knowledge
literal_form: knowing the truth; learning and knowing truth
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: reason as instrument of judgment
literal_form: reason
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: third trial
literal_form: third trial dedicated to Olympian Zeus the saviour
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:5
label: shadow pleasures
literal_form: other pleasures are a shadow only
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: sym:6
label: rest of the soul
literal_form: neutral state; repose of the soul
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Dispute among three lives
summary: The speaker contrasts the money-making, honour-loving, and philosophical
lives, noting that each class praises its own pleasures and depreciates the others.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Criterion of judgment
summary: Experience, wisdom, and reason are named as the proper criteria for judging
pleasures, and the philosopher is described as possessing these more fully than
the other classes.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:3
label: Ranking of pleasures
summary: The wise life is ranked as the most pleasant, the honour-loving life second,
and the gain-seeking life last.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:4
label: Third trial under Zeus
summary: The speaker frames the next proof as a third trial dedicated to Olympian
Zeus the saviour, with an unnamed sage asserting that only the wise person's pleasure
is true and pure.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: scene:5
label: Pleasure, pain, and neutral rest
summary: The dialogue distinguishes pleasure, pain, and an intermediate state of
rest, then argues that the mere cessation of pain should not be identified with
pleasure.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: wisdom as the authority to judge pleasures
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage explicitly identifies experience, wisdom, and reason as the judges
of pleasure and assigns their fullest possession to the philosopher.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: This is a philosophical argument rather than a narrative mythic episode.
- id: motif:2
label: competitive trial of ways of life
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The just man is said to have overthrown the unjust twice, and a third trial
is introduced, producing a ranked contest among lives and pleasures.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The trial and overthrow language appears rhetorical or argumentative,
not an enacted mythic contest.
- id: motif:3
label: apparent pleasure as shadow
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: A sage's maxim states that only the pleasure of the wise is true and pure,
while all others are shadow only.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The shadow image is brief and abstract; no extended symbolic scene is
present.
- id: motif:4
label: discrimination between true and false pleasure
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage distinguishes true and pure pleasure from mere relief, rest,
or cessation of pain, using reasoned judgment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: This motif is conceptual and ethical rather than mythological.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 22466-22475
quote_or_summary: Three classes are introduced; the money-maker praises his own
life and contrasts honour or learning with the advantages of gold and silver.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 22476-22482
quote_or_summary: The lover of honour considers riches vulgar and learning without
distinction to be insignificant.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 22483-22493
quote_or_summary: The philosopher values the pleasure of knowing truth above other
pleasures and would avoid necessary pleasures if they were not necessary.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: 22500-22505
quote_or_summary: '"Is any better than experience and wisdom and reason?"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 22506-22523
quote_or_summary: The philosopher is said to have tasted other pleasures from childhood,
while the lover of gain has not necessarily tasted the sweetness of learning and
knowing truth.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 22538-22555
quote_or_summary: The philosopher alone is said to have wisdom as well as experience,
and reason is identified as his special instrument of judgment.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 22566-22584
quote_or_summary: The pleasures approved by wisdom and reason are called truest;
the intelligent part of the soul has the pleasantest life, the soldier and lover
of honour comes next, and the lover of gain last.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: 22585-22594
quote_or_summary: '"now comes the third trial, which is dedicated to Olympian Zeus
the saviour"; a sage says only the wise person''s pleasure is true and pure and
all others are shadow.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation with summary.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: 22599-22615
quote_or_summary: Pleasure is opposed to pain; an intermediate neutral state is
described as a repose or rest of the soul.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: 22616-22639
quote_or_summary: People who are sick or in acute pain are said to call health,
relief from pain, or rest from suffering the greatest pleasure.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: 22640-22655
quote_or_summary: The argument distinguishes rest from the motions of pleasure and
pain and concludes that absence of pain is not pleasure, nor absence of pleasure
pain.
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: high
notes: The passage is abstract philosophical argument with limited mythic content.
Motif candidates are therefore conceptual and should be reviewed for atlas inclusion.
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: |-
No comparison claims were added because the supplied passage itself does not support a comparison to another text, tradition, or motif family beyond the available wisdom taxonomy reference.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg__l22466-l22655
passage_sha256=dec883910ad4fe9ff60932d014d7eaa0f1f0cc15066ef65fe22cf1952cf1ece9