If the guardians are supposed to be courageous, “Mustn’t they also be told things that will make them fear death least?” (386a). In Socrates’ discussion with Glaucon, heroes must never be presented to fear death, Hades must be praised and not painted in a grim light, “because what they say is neither true nor beneficial for men who are to be fighters” (386c). This discussion of poetry was surprising to me, partly because I consider myself to be a poet and partly because my initial understanding of the construction of the perfectly just city would not include any mention of poetry at all. Socrates
If the guardians are supposed to be courageous, “Mustn’t they also be told things that will make them fear death least?” (386a). In Socrates’ discussion with Glaucon, heroes must never be presented to fear death, Hades must be praised and not painted in a grim light, “because what they say is neither true nor beneficial for men who are to be fighters” (386c). This discussion of poetry was surprising to me, partly because I consider myself to be a poet and partly because my initial understanding of the construction of the perfectly just city would not include any mention of poetry at all. Socrates