/lit/ - Literature

>>16412242
>SOCRATES: And if he or anyone else he cares about acts unjustly, he should voluntarily go to the place where he’ll pay his due as soon as possible; he should go to the judge as though he were going to a doctor, b anxious that the disease of injustice shouldn’t be protracted and cause his soul to fester incurably. What else can we say, Polus, if our previous agreements really stand? Aren’t these statements necessarily consistent with our earlier ones in only this way?
Olympiodorus:
'And incurable' ( 480b2): Why 'incurable'? What? Is he punished eternally, and is never freed [of the evil]? No, punishment is
not eternal, presuming that God wants to turn us towards the good,
whereas whatever pays the penalty eternally is eternally in a state
contrary to nature. [This is] especially [so] if we are being turned
around so that we may lead a sensible life in future; 465 so punishment will be pointless if we are punished eternally. We shall
learn in the myth how eternal punishment beneath the earth is
spoken of: that there are cycles which he calls 'aeons', and that one
must submit [to punishment] for the duration of these so as to be
healed.
later, elaboration:
Note that souls who have committed modest wrongdoing are
subject to judgment for a little time, then after purification proceed.
When I say 'proceed', I do not mean physically, but through life;
for indeed Plotinus says 'the soul proceeds not by foot but by
life'. 1003 Souls who have committed very great wrongdoing are
sent 'straightaway' to Tartarus. That means 'very swiftly': he says
'straightaway' since the straight line is the shortest of those [routes]
which have the same beginning and end. And these souls are
subject to judgment 'for ever', never to be purified. It is worth asking why he says 'for ever'. What? Is there never to be a cessation of
punishment? 1004 Note that it is necessary for us to be converted by
>...some elaboration about the rotation of the spheres...
Now it is the length of the rotation it takes for the seven spheres
to be restored to the same position relative to the fixed stars that he
calls 'ever'. The souls of parricides or matricides or suchlike are
punished 'for ever', i.e. 'for the length of this rotation'. Suppose
someone says 'If a parricide dies today, and after six months, years
or even days have elapsed the seven spheres are restored to the
same position relative to the fixed stars, are they punished just for
that length of time?' 1010 Answer 'That is not what I maintain, but
that they are punished for the number of years that it takes for a
restoration to the same position. For example if the restoration to
the same position takes a thousand years, then, whenever he dies,
he is punished for a thousand years'. He calls the duration of
this rotation 'ever', for it is impossible to be punished without
limit.
aka an 'aeon' of punishment is a whole universal (solar sphere) cycle/age.