From Nowhere: Utopian and Dystopian Visions of our - Chris J. Young

Case One: The Classical Age
The beginning is the most important part of the work.
Plato, The Republic
The Classical Age produced some of the most influential thinkers on utopian and dystopian literature. Their
visions of Golden Ages, epic stories, and ideal societies lay the foundations for later writers to develop such
concepts as equality and the ideal state. The Golden Age depicted a society that was free of war, sickness,
and strenuous labour – goals that we still strive for in the twenty-first century. Many of the ethical and
political ideals we hold today emerged from this contentious period of history. it was during this time that
notions of humanity begin to emerge. Such notions were expressed through dialogues and epic stories that
defined morality, and set the stage for visions of a better world. As Plato states in The Republic ‘the beginning
is the most important part of the work’. The exhibition begins with a look at the Classical Age to seek the
foundations of utopian and dystopian thought expressed through the philosophy, myths, and histories that
attracted subsequent generations and cultures with the vision of a better life and a better world.
1. Plato. Opera. Venice: Benardinus de Choris & Simone de Luera, 1491.
This incunable edition of the first translation of Plato’s Works into Latin, by Marsilio Ficino between
1468 and 1469, contains thirty-six of Plato’s works from the nine tetralogies, including thirty-five
dialogues and the Platonic letters, printed for the first time in Latin in 1484. Among these works
are his Republic and Laws, which incorporate his design for an ideal society. Written about 360 BCE,
Plato’s Republic is considered to be the earliest surviving European utopia, though opinion is far
from unanimous on this point. Although it may not seem utopian to most modern readers, Plato
envisioned a past Golden Age of communal happiness without government or inequality. Such a
society follows Plato’s belief in compulsion and authority, which are enforced through his Laws and
determine the basic political and legal structure of an ideal city named Magnesia. Plato’s Works also
include the myth of Atlantis, which is the earliest and only classical source to make reference to the
mythical island that fostered a great and ideal civilization. in the dialogues of Timaeus and Critias
there is a discussion of the former great Empire of Atlantis that controlled the island, located off
the Straits of Gibraltar, and which tried to take control of the whole Mediterranean region, until it
was destroyed by violent earthquakes and floods that engulfed the entire island, and consigned the
Atlantean Empire to the sea now known as the Atlantic Ocean.
From Nowhere: Utopian and Dystopian Visions of our Past, Present, and Future 15