Even though Plato apparently bans Homer alongside other poets from his Ideal City, he still heralds Odysseus as an ideal hero. Plato even ends his Republic with a continuation of the myth of Odysseus. Plato lets the soul of Odysseus choose new life-pattern before it is reborn. And its choice is remarkable:

After having gone through the heroic life Odysseus chooses the life-pattern of a layman. No one will know him except for his family and he will return into obscurity after his death.

Furthermore, Socrates earlier in the book praises Odysseus as a good man, because he shows to have a good and just order of his soul-parts in place.

Why is Odysseus so important to Plato?

What do you make of Plato’s continuation of his story in the Myth of Er?

Let me know in the comments.

And if you’re ready to read Homer’s Odyssey, feel free to take my course on it.

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