Table of Contents
The channel Platonic retells the myth of Er as a story in Plato’s Republic, not as a historical afterlife. Er, a soldier, revives on the pyre and describes two openings in the earth and two in heaven. Judges send the just up on the right and the unjust down on the left. Souls return from a thousand year journey to a meadow and compare tenfold punishments with matching rewards. They reach the spindle of Necessity, whose whorls are likened to the planets, with the three Fates beside it. A prophet says a genius will not be assigned. Each soul must choose, and the blame stays with the chooser. One soul from an orderly heaven grabs a tyranny and sees the harm. Agamemnon takes an eagle’s life, and Odysseus, last, hunts a quiet private life. They drink from the river of forgetfulness. Er alone keeps the memory. The counsel is to hold to justice because the soul is immortal. This is the dialogue’s story, told as such.
Key points
- Er returns to life and reports judges, two paths in the earth, and two in heaven.
- Souls pay or receive a tenfold return across a thousand years, then meet in a meadow.
- The spindle of Necessity and the three Fates frame the choice of the next life.
- Each soul picks its next life and its guardian spirit, and a bad pick is the chooser’s own fault.
- Past experience drives the choices, and a drink from the river of forgetfulness wipes memory before rebirth.
Short quotes
They seemed to have come from a long journey, and they went forth with gladness into the meadow, where they encamped as at a festival.
Platonic, The myth of Er
Returning souls camp in a meadow as if the long ordeal were over. Watch at 1:57
From these ends is extended the spindle of necessity on which all the revolutions turn.
Platonic, The myth of Er
Necessity’s spindle is the axis on which the heavens turn. Watch at 5:43
Your genius will not be allotted to you, but you will choose your genius.
Platonic, The myth of Er
The next guardian spirit is chosen, not handed out. Watch at 8:54
If he chooses wisely and will live diligently, there is appointed a happy and not undesirable existence.
Platonic, The myth of Er
Even a late choice can be a good life if it is careful. Watch at 12:18
Video by Platonic. Watch on YouTube.