Bible And Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

The dissemination of truth comes with fierce repudiation. The ancient works of the Bible and Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” express this everlasting theme. Jesus and the Platonic Prisoner walk together, hand in hand, to spread their great truths in their responding body politic to mature. However, they could just as easily remain stagnant in their position of superiority and would logically be better off keeping to themselves. But they did not. These two great teachers feel a strong and dutiful obligation to guide their students. Inevitably, their respective bodies politic respond to their teachings with isolation, alienation, and ultimately execution. Their relationships with their respective body politics are very similar in that they interact
Their introduction of spiritual truths and ideals conflicts with the body politic’s perception of reality. As a result, both of the body politics conflict with their respective protagonists as the protagonists remain persistent by teaching in vain. For instance, when Jesus is taken to be crucified by the Jewish soldiers “they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt it in front of him and mocked him” (Matt. 27:28-29). This reveals that the consequences of Jesus’s obligation to teach the Jews and Gentiles beneficial truths and ideals are isolation, alienation, and execution. The Jews and Gentiles isolate and alienate Jesus onto the cross in order to execute him for teaching them truths and ideals that they cannot stomach. Identically, when the Platonic Prisoner returns to the prison, he struggles with isolation, alienation, and execution. “Wouldn’t he be laughed at? [...] wouldn’t they put him to death?” (Plato 125). This quote demonstrates that like Jesus, the Platonic Prisoner struggles with isolation, alienation, and execution. The commonwealth laugh at the Platonic Prisoner to isolate and alienate him so that his ideals cannot reach
They are also similar in that through their teaching obligation for their people, comes an interactive struggle and conflict that forces the protagonists to deal with isolation, alienation, and execution. By looking at the outcomes of their efforts, it is easy to logically assume that they should break off their relationships to exist at their own entity and island to benefit more. However, the nature of relationships show that there is something that they gain through the relationship that is unattainable by isolating themselves. If Jesus and the Platonic Prisoner only rule themselves, how can they possible gain recognition, leadership, and ultimately justice when they are their own perfect singular island? What good is a shepherd without his sheep? What good is knowledge when you do not share it with others? No matter how tempting it may be to become completely apathetic and apart from any sort of relationship, the necessity of company will always stand near and dear to the hearts of