The Allegory Of The Cave By Plato

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Allegory of the Cave The Allegory of the Cave, written by Plato, tells a theoretical story of a cave. This dark cave was home to a group of people who had never before left the cave. The people, who were chained to the ceiling, were contented to watch shadows of the outside world. Never being exposed to life outside the cave, the chained people believed the shadows to be real objects. One day, a prisoner is able to escape the cave and experienced the light of the sun. The prisoner finally understood the differences between actual, tangible things and shadows. Thrilled by his discovery, the prisoner returned to the cave to inform the other prisoners. Unfortunately, the other prisoners refused to believe him and rejected his findings. The moral of the allegory is that only the best of humanity is brave enough to go beyond the familiar and embrace a greater truth. Over the course of time, people have experienced this enlightenment and been able to relate it to Plato’s scenario. Three examples of this are Adam and Eve, the Mayan Lord and the goddess, Daphne. Similar to the prisoner, after learning about the unknown, they are often met with great trials. According to Genesis from the Hebrew Bible, at the time of creation, Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of …show more content…

The stories of Adam and Eve, the Mayan Lord and Daphne all give examples of how this revelation can manifest itself. Because people are afraid of what they don’t understand, the escaped prisoners frequently meet malevolence by those still in the cave. The Allegory of the Cave demonstrates why life has its ups and downs, joys ands sacrifices. It shows that at some point, every person will have a chance to be like the prisoner and escape the familiar to discover everything in a new light. The questions remains if one will embrace or disregard what they learned in the

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