Mod1Utopia

Creation myth

a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it

Golden Age

a period of time, sometimes imaginary, when everyone was happy

Saturnalia

a Roman festival in which the Golden Age was to return briefly

Cockaigne

imaginary land of extreme luxury and ease where physical comforts and pleasures are always immediately at hand.

Arcadia

a vision of harmony with nature

Lycurgus

supposed founder of Sparta, founded a utopia based on the most rigorous equality amond citizens (slaves and women were not citizens).

Plato

Greek philosopher and utopian. Created a utopia primarily concerned with developing an understanding of justice

Plutarch

Greek philosopher, historian, author and priest, known for his *Parallel Lives*

Lycurgus Economic & social reforms

Redistribution of the land, dividing up movable property, institution of common messes.

Lycurgus women and marriage reforms

Made women exercise, public stigma upon confirmed bachelors, women carried off by force for their marriages.

Lycurgus conception, raising and education of children reforms

Women can have a child with another man if husband is okay with it, children taken to elders to examine whether it is strong and sturdy (to keep) or ill-born and deformed (to kill), children bathed in wine, children left free to develop, taught to be contented and happy, not scared and picky, minimal education, trained to obey commands

Famous classical utopias

Olympus, Golden Ages, Pythagoreans, Elysium, Amazons, Saturnalia

Worldview of Sparta

Militarism, Survival, Domination

Spartan Government

Plato’s Life

Student of Socrates, trying to find the best political system, like sparta better than athens because athen’s democracy killed socrates, voyage to syracuse, the academy

Plato’s utopian works

The Critias (Atlantis)

The Republic (Kallipolis)

The Laws (Magnesia)

The doctrine of Forms

everything in this world is an imperfect attempt to recreate it’s perfect form

Mimesis (art and representation)

all artistic creation is a form of imitation: that which really exists (in the “world of ideas”) is a type created by God

Tripartite soul

even after death, the ***soul*** exists and is able to think.

Deviant constitutions

Aristocracy (nobles)

Timarchy (soldiers)

Democracy (people)

Tyranny (one)

The afterlife (Plato)

Plato’s intention is not to make this life better, it is for us to reach the “light of truth” like Socrates did

Atlantis

from utopia to dystopia because of desire for wealth