batch.motif.greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg-l3081-l3113
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg-l3081-l3113
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: The Republic / THE REPUBLIC / INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS.; lines 3081-3113
start: '3081'
end: '3113'
translation: The Republic
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: A speaker presents and interprets a parable about a ship whose ignorant
sailors seize control from an impaired captain and disparage the true pilot. The
parable is explicitly applied to the philosopher’s relation to political authority,
with the philosopher compared to the skilled pilot and the mutinous sailors to
politicians who render him useless.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The speaker says he will answer with a parable from fiction about the relation
of good men to their governments.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The captain of the ship is described as taller than the crew but somewhat
deaf, blind, and ignorant of seafaring.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The sailors want to steer the ship despite not knowing the art of steering
and believing it cannot be learned.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: When denied the helm, the sailors drug the captain, bind him, and take possession
of the ship.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The sailors call a participant in the mutiny a good pilot and fail to understand
that a true pilot must observe winds and stars.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: The passage interprets the pilot as the philosopher and the mutinous sailors
as politicians who make him useless.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: The passage says the philosopher should not beg for authority; instead, those
in need should seek him as they would seek a physician.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: The philosopher is described as loving truth, hating falsehood, and being
drawn from many phenomena toward contemplation of the absolute.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: The passage says philosophy is dishonoured by its own professing sons when
they are corrupted by the world.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: captain of the ship
description: A tall captain who is somewhat deaf, blind, and ignorant of the seaman’s
art.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: sailors
description: Crew members who want to steer, deny that steering can be learned,
and seize the ship by drugging and binding the captain.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: true pilot
description: The one who must observe the winds and stars and master the ship, though
the sailors would call him a fool, prater, and star-gazer.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: philosopher
description: The interpreted counterpart of the pilot; described as loving truth,
hating falsehood, and contemplating the absolute.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: mutinous sailors / mob of politicians
description: The interpreted counterpart of the sailors; they render the philosopher
useless.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: physician
description: 'A figure used in a secondary analogy: people in need should knock
at the physician’s door rather than expect the physician to beg them.'
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: truth
description: Truth is described as leader of the virtues and as taking up abode
in the philosopher’s soul.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
roles:
- id: role:1
label: impaired authority figure
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The captain is physically and technically deficient yet remains the ship’s
captain until overpowered.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: mutinous ignorant crew
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:5
basis: The sailors seek control without knowledge and seize the ship by force and
drugging.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: unrecognized true expert
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:4
basis: The true pilot has navigational knowledge but is mocked as a star-gazer;
the passage identifies the pilot with the philosopher.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: lover of truth
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The philosopher is said to love truth, hate falsehood, and contemplate the
absolute.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:5
label: political mob
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The interpretation names the mutinous sailors as the mob of politicians.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: needed healer
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The physician is used as an analogy for someone whom people in need must
seek out.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:7
label: leader of virtues
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Truth is explicitly called the leader of the virtues.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: ship
literal_form: ship
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: sym:2
label: helm
literal_form: helm
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: winds and stars
literal_form: winds and stars
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: physician’s door
literal_form: door of the physician
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:5
label: truth in the soul
literal_form: truth and virtues taking abode in the philosopher’s soul
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Introduction of the parable
summary: The speaker frames the coming illustration as a parable from fiction about
good men and governments.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Mutiny aboard the ship
summary: Ignorant sailors demand the helm, incapacitate the captain when refused,
and take possession of the ship.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Misrecognition of the true pilot
summary: The sailors praise mutineers as pilots while dismissing the true pilot,
who must know winds and stars, as a star-gazer.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Interpretation of the parable
summary: The passage identifies the pilot with the philosopher and the mutinous
sailors with politicians who render him useless.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Philosopher as needed expert
summary: The philosopher is compared to a physician whom people should seek when
they need him, rather than expecting him to ask for authority.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Nature and corruption of philosophy
summary: The true philosopher is described as oriented toward truth and the absolute,
while some professing sons of philosophy are corrupted by the world.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: wise expert rejected by the ignorant many
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The true pilot/philosopher possesses the relevant knowledge but is dismissed
as useless or foolish by those who lack that knowledge.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The passage is philosophical allegory rather than a mythic narrative.
- id: motif:2
label: mutiny against rightful or nominal authority
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The sailors drug and bind the captain and seize possession of the ship after
being denied the helm.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The captain is described as impaired and ignorant, so the passage does
not present a simple idealized rightful-ruler motif.
- id: motif:3
label: guidance by celestial observation
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The true pilot must observe the winds and the stars in order to master the
ship.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The stars function literally within navigation and allegorically within
the philosopher-pilot comparison; no specific mythic celestial guide is named.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 3081-3085
quote_or_summary: The speaker says he will answer with a parable from fiction to
illustrate the relation of good men to governments.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: lines 3085-3087
quote_or_summary: "“Conceive the captain of a ship, taller by a head and shoulders
than any of the crew, yet a little deaf, a little blind, and rather ignorant of
the seaman’s art.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 3087-3089
quote_or_summary: The sailors want to steer, know nothing of the art, and claim
the art cannot be learned.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 3089-3091
quote_or_summary: If the helm is refused, the sailors drug the captain’s drink,
bind him, and take the ship.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 3091-3095
quote_or_summary: The mutineer is called a good pilot; the true pilot must observe
winds and stars but is called a fool, prater, and star-gazer.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: lines 3100-3103
quote_or_summary: "“Now the pilot is the philosopher—he whom in the parable they
call star-gazer, and the mutinous sailors are the mob of politicians by whom he
is rendered useless.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 3097-3100
quote_or_summary: The philosopher should not beg for authority; anyone in need,
rich or poor, should knock at the physician’s door.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 3105-3109
quote_or_summary: The philosopher is recalled as loving truth, hating falsehood,
not resting in multiplicity, and being led toward contemplation of the absolute.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 3103-3105, 3110-3113
quote_or_summary: Philosophy is dishonoured by professing sons corrupted by the
world; many persons described as philosophers are said to be rogues, with a small
useless exception.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:10
type: quote
locator: lines 3109-3110
quote_or_summary: "“All the virtues as well as truth, who is the leader of them,
took up their abode in his soul.”"
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/republic-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: Literal extraction is well supported by the passage. Motif labels are cautious
because the passage is a philosophical parable in an introductory analysis rather
than a myth narrative. No external comparison claims are made.
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 provided passage and metadata; available taxonomy refs were applied only where directly supported.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-republic-jowett-gutenberg__l3081-l3113
passage_sha256=9118a12f1f93605aa3e3cbf3ab858438ffdf5acea0cb34b811ff19d4eb591a74