# Plato — The Story of Utopias character guide > Plato in The Story of Utopias by Lewis Mumford. **Role:** major **First appearance:** 0003-the-story-of-utopias ## Snapshot The Greek philosopher whose Republic first asked what holds an ideal city together, and whose answer still shadows every utopia written since. ## Who they are Mumford treats Plato as the fountainhead of utopian thought, the moment when the dream of a just city became a deliberate blueprint rather than a rumor. Plato's concern is not comfort but cohesion: what binds citizens into an organic whole, and what must be sacrificed to keep it whole. His Republic sets the terms of the argument the rest of the book tests — whether harmony can be designed or only lived. ## Relationships ### [John Amos Comenius](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters/john_amos_comenius) _professional_ Comenius engages with Plato's philosophical ideas as foundational influences for his own educational and utopian theories. ### [Aristotle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters/aristotle) _professional_ Aristotle was Plato's student and later a critic, engaging deeply with Plato's political philosophy in his own works. ### [Julius West](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters/julius_west) _professional_ West, as a scholar and editor of utopian literature, analyzes and references Plato's foundational utopian ideas. ### [Raphael Hythloday](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters/raphael_hythloday) _professional_ Hythloday's descriptions of Utopia are often compared to Plato's ideal state, establishing a direct philosophical dialogue across texts. ### [Johann Valentin Andreae](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters/johann_valentin_andreae) _professional_ Andreae's 'Christianopolis' draws heavily on Platonic ideals of justice and communal living, adapted to a Christian framework. ## In the story ### [The Story of Utopias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/the-story-of-utopias) His 'Republic' is cited as an early foundational work in the utopian tradition, outlining a class-divided ideal state. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/i) Plato's Republic is cited as a utopian work arising from the social disintegration after the Peloponnesian War, with its courage derived from the hopelessness of the era. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/v) Referenced as the starting point of the journey through utopias, from his Republic to modern writers. ### [How the Greeks lived in a New World, and utopia seemed just round the corner. How Plato, in The Republic, is chiefly concerned with what will hold the ideal city together.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ii) Plato's Republic is analyzed for its focus on the unifying principles of the ideal city. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/i) Identified as the central figure whose Republic, Laws, Statesman, and Critias will be the focus of the Greek utopia examination. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ii) Author of the Republic, writing during the Peloponnesian War and influenced by the conflict between Athens and Sparta. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iii) Plato is the central figure, whose ideal community is described as beginning with physical foundations and rooted in the Greek landscape. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iv) Central figure; his Republic is analyzed for its economic foundations, critique of unlimited wants, and vision of a simple, athletic community. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/v) Plato's community is referenced as a model for discussing the division of people and their relations within a utopian setting. ### [Plato's Republic: The Foundation of Civic Unity](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/vi) Plato's ideal community is defined by a limited population (5,040) to maintain unity, prioritizing civic harmony over commercial or territorial expansion. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/vii) Plato's philosophy of the good community as a harmonious body, emphasizing function, justice, and the rejection of epicurean escape. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/viii) Central figure of the chapter; his Republic and its class division, breeding, and education methods are analyzed. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ix) Central figure; his design for the Guardians in the Republic is the main subject, including their breeding, education, and communal living. ### [The Business of the Guardian](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/x) Central figure whose ideas on the Guardian's role and the ideal state are discussed. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/xi) Plato's utopia is critiqued for its distrust of the emotional life and its severe restrictions on literature and music. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/xii) Plato's voice and vision of the Republic are central to the chapter's reflection on transformed social relations. ### [How something happened to utopia between Plato and Sir Thomas More; and how utopia was discovered again, along with the New World.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iii) Plato's Republic is discussed as the foundational utopian work, setting the stage for later developments. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/i) Mentioned as the starting point of the two-thousand-year span before More's Utopia. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ii) His philosophy, accessed through Greek learning, influences Hythloday's criticisms and suggestions. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iii) Referenced as the originator of the 'beloved community' idea that resurfaces in More's Utopia. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/v) Referenced for contrast: Utopia's equal esteem of trades versus Plato's Republic where mechanic arts are considered base. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iii) Referenced for the Republic's military Spartan model and the camp as the pattern for community life. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/viii) Referenced in comparison to Andreae's Christianopolis, particularly regarding censorship and the enduring nature of the ideal state. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/i) His Republic is a source for Campanella's ideas on community of property, wives, and equality of the sexes. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ii) Referenced as one of the earlier utopians who sought to answer what men should do with knowledge and power. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ii) Cited as a foundational utopian thinker who attempted to see society as a whole, in contrast to later industrial utopians. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iii) Mentioned in comparison: the ideal behind Fourier's utopia is harmony, as in the Republic. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ii) Mentioned as sharing Spence's conviction that true reform must strike at the root of evil. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iii) Plato is referenced in the context of 'busybodies' who would perpetrate the good life, drawing a parallel to Icaria's bureaucratic control. ### [Bellamy's Industrial Army](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/v) Plato is mentioned at the chapter's opening for his cavalier treatment of the labor problem in the Republic, contrasted with Bellamy's detailed focus on labor organization. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/vi) Plato's simple fare of olives, cheese, and beans is contrasted favorably with Bellamy's elaborate communal dining system. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/i) Referenced as the source of the guardian class that Wells's Samurai recall. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/vi) Compared to Wells regarding the division of classes and the concern for education and discipline of guardians, with Wells' Samurai likened to Plato's guardians. ### [The Country House and Its Idolum](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/v) Plato's ideal community is used as a foil to the Country House, which is described as the precise opposite of what he deemed desirable. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/viii) Plato's three classes in the Republic are compared unfavorably to Coketown's class system, with Coketown seen as an 'improvement' in terms of efficiency and incentives. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ix) Referenced for the insight that beyond a certain point, a city ceases to exist as a social unit, critiquing Coketown's growth. ### [The Idolum of National Utopia and Megalopolis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/xiii) Referenced as the originator of the concept of 'pure form' which the author applies to the national utopia and Megalopolis. ### [How we reckon up accounts with the one-sided utopias of the partisans.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/xi) Plato's Republic is referenced as an early, influential but one-sided utopia, emphasizing rigid class divisions and philosophical rule. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ii) Referenced as author of the Republic, contrasting the disorder of modern city life with the ideals of his work. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iv) Referenced as a great humanist whose vision for science aligns with the need for localized, applied knowledge. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/viii) Mentioned as an example of high culture that could shape the younger generation's idea-patterns if genuine artists were more responsible. ### [The Eutopian Challenge: From Idola to Action](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/x) His Republic is used as an example of an ideal commonwealth where the ideal and actual met, but the transition from a real Greek city to such a state is questioned. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/xi) Emphasized the importance of birth and education in the good community. ### [Utopias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/utopias) Author of The Republic, Critias, Statesman, and The Laws, foundational texts of utopian thought. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters/plato - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters