TY - CHAP
T1 - Plato's myths, the soul and its intra-cosmic future
AU - Long, Alexander George
PY - 2021/9/30
Y1 - 2021/9/30
N2 - In Plato's myths of the afterlife (with the exception of the Gorgias), the destiny and judgement of souls after death are translocated to the cosmos experienced and inhabited by living people. For example, in the Timaeus’ account of metempsychosis, or reincarnation, rewarded souls are attached to a bodily part of the cosmos. In the Republic and elsewhere, a god's responsibilities can include both the cosmos and the judgement of souls, and there is no longer a firm boundary between the gods responsible for the living and the world of the living, and those responsible for the deceased. This chapter aims to explain this development in Plato's myths, and argues that it should be connected to his reflections on (a) godlikeness, (b) the soul's functions and (c) eschatological justice. It also draws a contrast between Plato's myths about the discarnate soul and Christian expectations for the afterlife.
AB - In Plato's myths of the afterlife (with the exception of the Gorgias), the destiny and judgement of souls after death are translocated to the cosmos experienced and inhabited by living people. For example, in the Timaeus’ account of metempsychosis, or reincarnation, rewarded souls are attached to a bodily part of the cosmos. In the Republic and elsewhere, a god's responsibilities can include both the cosmos and the judgement of souls, and there is no longer a firm boundary between the gods responsible for the living and the world of the living, and those responsible for the deceased. This chapter aims to explain this development in Plato's myths, and argues that it should be connected to his reflections on (a) godlikeness, (b) the soul's functions and (c) eschatological justice. It also draws a contrast between Plato's myths about the discarnate soul and Christian expectations for the afterlife.
UR - https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315459486
UR - https://discover.libraryhub.jisc.ac.uk/search?isn=9781138208315&rn=1
U2 - 10.4324/9781315459486-10
DO - 10.4324/9781315459486-10
M3 - Chapter
SN - 9781138208315
SN - 9781032043050
T3 - Rewriting antiquity
SP - 144
EP - 155
BT - Eschatology in antiquity
A2 - Marlow, Hilary
A2 - Pollmann, Karla
A2 - Van Noorden, Helen
PB - Routledge Taylor & Francis Group
CY - Abingdon, Oxon
ER -