Ancient Wisdom Atlas

Motif

Cyclical change and decline of states

cyclical_change_and_decline_of_states

A motif of the World Ages and Cosmic Decline family. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.

1 occurrences

1 traditions


greek

  • The Republic The Republic / THE REPUBLIC / INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS.; lines 4871-4959 confidence: medium

    The paragraph cites Aristotle's explanation involving cyclical change, a ratio of 4:3, a figure of five, two harmonies, a solid number, and the Pythagorean triangle of 3, 4, and 5.

    Aristotle's reported explanation states that all things change in a cycle, and the later discussion connects numerical symbolism with the decline of States and the disappearance of the Spartan population.

    read in the book