Plato's Republic | Historical Background

It is difficult to imagine what a great gap divides the modern world and the society of ancient Greece. Though united by language and a feeling of superiority over all those who did not speak Greek—the “barbarians”—the ancient Greeks were not united amongst themselves. Each valley could and often did support its own independent political community; even an island often had more than one self-ruled city-state (Greek polis).With so much fragmentation, it is unsurprising that the Greek communities fought each other. This, and the greedy designs of neighboring kingdoms, made...

[The entire page is 895 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass

Summary and Analysis – Themes – Characters – And much more...