ABSTRACT
The “Republic” is the expression of the ideal of a classical philosopher, the representative of the highest culture of Plato's age, writing in his prime and consequently representing the best secular thought of the age. The prophets preceded Plato by several centuries, and we know that he had access to great stores of literature through his many travels. The Platonic state was and is regarded as an ideal or chimera impracticable of realization among men. Plato’s original ideas on the subject of scientific mating and state child culture, however, were not due to any morbid or materialistic motives. Plato, by his eugenics program, demonstrated the necessity of a sound physical basis for an ideal state. Happiness and the contemplation of the good were far more possible when the body was sound and healthy than when it was broken and decrepit.
