The Myth of the Cave is an allegory created by Plato to illustrate society's nature and to explain the evolution of knowledge. It is written as a fictional dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon, in his work, The Republic.
You can find an excerpt from the original text clicking on the link bellow:
In this dialogue, Socrates describes a group of human beings imprisoned in an underground cave, where they have been living since childhood, with their legs and necks chained, so they could move neither their bodies nor their heads to look around. They could only see what was in front of them: a blank wall.
Above and behind them, there is a fire, whose light creates shadows on the wall. Between the fire and the prisoners, there is a walkway and a low wall like the ones made to hide puppet players. Behind this wall people pass carrying a great sort of articles and objects, such as statues and figures of men and animals, projecting their shadows on the wall on the other side of the cave. When they talk to each other, they make echoes, but for the prisoners, these sounds come from the shadows.
The prisoners name the shadows as if they were real things. They talk to each other, but they cannot see one another. They probably think they are shadows too. If one can predict which shadow is coming next, this one is recognized as a wise person.
If a man is chosen to be freed and shown the exit of the cave, he will perceive where the shadows come from. At first, the light of the fire will hurt his eyes, but then this person will see that, actually, there are people walking in front of the fire, carrying objects on their heads and he will know that this is what makes the shadows on the wall. If this person continues looking for the exit of the cave, when he comes out, he will be blind by the shinny sunlight. He will look down and, gradually, he will get accustomed to it and he will recognize the shapes of objects, plants and animals in their respective shadows. And then, he will see reflections on the water until he perceives he can see himself on it. When he looks up at the sky, he will see the sun and he will know about the phenomenons that happen because of it, like the seasons of the year. When the night comes, he will be able to see well, once his eyes are accustomed to the dark, but this time he will look at the stars and the moon and imagine different worlds in them.
When he remembers his friends who are still inside the cave, he will return to rescue them and show the whole world he discovered. But when they listen to what he has to say, they would think that a world like that would never exist or that the light made that man blind or mad, because when he returns he doesn’t see the shadows anymore. If the prisoners were able to move, they would probably kill that man, for disturbing the order and their peace.
We can see that this is an analogy to our society. It is a metaphor. This parable has been repeated for many times, through history. An example is the life of Socrates: he was a great philosopher and he taught people like Xenophon and Plato. He used to question everything, so he could make people think. But the government didn’t like his ideas and condemned him to death for atheism (“not believing in the gods of the state”) and corruption of the minds of youth. He had the opportunity to escape, but he wasn’t afraid of death. It is understood that he believed that “the right time had come for him to die”. He believed that a true philosopher mustn’t fear death and to escape would indicate he was afraid. If we compare his history with the myth, we can see that he was the one to go out of the cave, looking for knowledge, and bringing his pupils with him. The government would be like the people who create the shadows, covering the truth. Those ones with the power want to keep powerful. If the population is freed, they lose it and their way of keep controling people's lives is killing the one who threats their security.
The same thing can be perceived on Jesus’ life. He had the knowledge of truth and when he showed it to people, some believed and some did not. He chose a group to follow him and spread his teachings, but one of them didn’t want to accept that truth and betrayed him. That was when the Roman Empire chased him and gave the population the option of setting Jesus or a thief free. The people, the prisoners of the cave, chose the thief, because he was more like them than Jesus. When Jesus died, he was also in peace, because in depth, he was free.
Now you must be wondering: what lesson do we take from this Myth? Well, we learn not to follow the common sense, to be inquiring, to look for the truth in our lives, instead of living an empty life. We learn not to believe in the shadows that others make for us to believe. We learn that even if the path is hard, the light of knowledge gives you a great sight which worths a view. It is just waiting for you.
In the video bellow you can watch to an animation which tells the Myth of the Cave.
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