WE PSYCHOANALYZE PLATOS CHARIOT ALLEGORY

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Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Welcome to myths, legends, andfolk tales, connecting the stories of the
past to the life and the present. Today, we're going to look a
psychological look at again the Allegory ofthe Chariot by Plato. It's a dialogue

(00:23):
and padress Phae d r Us andthe allegory. Plato uses the image of
a chariot being driven by two horsesto illustrate the nature of the soul and
the struggle between his rational and theirrational aspects. The chariot represents the human
soul or psyche and psychology, thesoul can be equated to the mind or
the totality of an individual psychological processes. The two horses, well ones,

(00:45):
represents the two driving forces within thesoul, the rational part and the irrational
part. The noble horse or representsthe rational aspect of the soul, the
cognitive aspect, the reasoning. Itsymbolizes reason, intellect, and wisdom,
self control, higher thinking, allin the pre final court sex of our
brain. The ignoble horse represents theirrational aspect of the soul, or as

(01:07):
Freud would call it, probably theid right, driven by passion's desires,
appetites, and emotions. So itincludes the limbic system and the reptilian part
of the system of the brain.So it has these competitive these powerful drives
that increase our emotions, that increaseour behaviors. The charioteers the human intellect
or reason, which is responsible forcontrolling and directing the chariot. You can

(01:30):
look at this as Ego and Freud'sconcept. The wings of the chariot are
significant as they represent the soul's potentialto ascend to the realm of the divine
and transcend the earthly limitations. Youcan this this kind of resonates with Buddhism
if you think about it. Thechariot allegory can be intributed from a psychological
perspective as a representation again of thehuman psyche and the inherent conflict that we

(01:51):
all have between reason and emotion.The noble horse we talked about, representing
reason and intellect, seeks to leadthe soul toward rationality, wisdom, and
self control, something again that Buddhismtries to attain, and even psychology and
a lot of other religions. Incontrast, the ignoble horses driven by emotions
and desires and can lead the soulof stray through impulsivity and hedonistic pursuits.

(02:14):
The charioteers, symbolizing the human intellect, faces the challenge of maintaining this harmony.
The struggle reflects the constant psychological bottlewe've all have to balance our rationality
and emotional impulses. Think about thingslike anger and lust. The wings of
the chariot symbolize the potential for personalgrowth and self transcendence, and it gives
us hope. When the charioteers successfullymanages both horses, the soul can ascend

(02:37):
to a higher state of understanding,wisdom, and spiritual enlightenment. The allegory
resonates with theories related to emotional intelligence, self regulation, and the integration of
cognitive and emotional processes, and againit resonates with the idea of the prefuntal
cortex. This is two thousand yearsago. How much insight that Plato already
have is phenomenal to me.