What The Republic is about
A foundational conversation about justice, education, government and the kind of life worth choosing. Plato wrote it around 375 BCE. It sits in the philosophy shelf of the library.
The edition you read
The original text is the Benjamin Jowett translation, 1892, a public domain edition. The text is complete and keeps its own chapter structure, so every reading points back to the same place in the book.
Where to start
The book opens with these readings, in order. The first one is free in the app.
- From festival to first definition
- Helping friends, harming enemies
- Power, law, and error
- Art, payment, and rule
How the readings are split
The 55 readings follow the book's own divisions, grouped into 10 parts. Each reading is a sitting of a few minutes, and the reader remembers the paragraph where you stopped.
Reading it in plain English
Every reading has a plain English draft written paragraph by paragraph, and a short guide with context, an explanation, takeaways and a question to think about. The drafts are labeled Unreviewed plain English draft. Drafts, guides and the readings after the first one need Athenaeum Membership.
Questions about The Republic
Is The Republic free to read?
The Benjamin Jowett translation, 1892 is in the public domain. In Athenaeum the first of its 55 readings is free, and Athenaeum Membership opens the rest.
How long is The Republic?
Athenaeum splits it into 55 readings. Short books take a week of evenings, and long ones work best a reading or two at a time.
Read The Republic in Athenaeum
Athenaeum puts twenty classic books beside a sourced atlas of the Greek world. The first reading of every book is free.
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