A New Democracy Member of the European Parliament sent a barrage of emails to voters abroad minutes after they were informed how to vote by mail. Credit: jebulon cc 1, Wikimedia Commons
The scandal caused by the leak of the Greek diaspora’s emails has rocked the conservative government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
On Friday, a deputy minister resigned, a governing New Democracy official was fired, and an MEP withdrew from the elections for the European Parliament.
Interior Ministry General Secretary Michalis Stavrianoudakis on Friday tendered his resignation, New Democracy’s Secretary for Diaspora Affairs, Nikos Theodoropoulos, was dismissed and MEP Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou announced that she would not be contesting in the June election.
The internal probe ordered by Mitsotakis found that in May 2023 the list of email addresses was allegedly acquired by an associate of Stavrianoudakis, who forwarded them to Theodoropoulos. The list was later passed on to Asimakopoulou.
Asimakopoulou sent a barrage of emails to voters abroad minutes after they were informed how to vote by mail.
MEP denies wrongdoing in the leak of Greek diaspora emails
She had earlier denied any wrongdoing. She denied that she hadn’t sought their consent as required by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
“One hundred days before the European elections, my office sent a newsletter to Greeks abroad using contact information that I collected during the last five years as an MEP, to ask their permission to communicate with them regularly, as I always have done, concerning personal data and GDPR since 2018.”
“I have never received personal data from the Interior Ministry or any other government body on Greeks living abroad,” she added.
Asimakopoulou is a prominent member of the ruling New Democracy, a lawyer, graduate of the prestigious Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, run by the Quakers, and of the Ivy League Cornell Law School.
Friday’s developments followed Mitsotakis’ comments on Tuesday, emphasizing the need for an “in-depth” investigation into the matter. He said that his conservative party was conducting its own inquiry.
The Athens Prosecutor’s Office and the country’s Data Protection Authority (DPA) have already taken action regarding the case.
The European Parliament will have elections in June and they are seen as a barometer of party strength in countries as well.
Kasselakis blames Mitsotakis for the leak of voter email addresses
The president of SYRIZA, Stefanos Kasselakis, described the withdrawal of Asimakopoulou from the European ballot as anachronistic, stressing that the questions about the conduct of Mitsotakis remain.
“Another ‘sit aside for a while until it is forgotten and you come back’ by Kyriakos Mitsotakis,” Kasselakis said.
“After the uproar over the violation of the personal data of thousands of diaspora voters, Mrs. Asimakopoulou withdraws – retroactively – from New Democracy’s European ballot,” he commented in a post on Twitter.
As he pointed out, “the questions about Mr. Mitsotakis are still valid. How did the MEP gain access to the personal data of thousands of citizens? Did he cooperate with the Ministry of Interior or how else?
“I call on the prime minister to stop hiding. No matter how many innocent victims he sacrifices, the reality will haunt him.”
Stefanos Kasselakis joined the Greek Army on Friday. Credit: AMNA
Stefanos Kasselakis, the leader of Greek main opposition SYRIZA, is starting his brief military service in an army barrack in Thebes on Friday. He is due to receive basic military training for 20 days.
Military service is mandatory for all Greek males. Kasselakis had been exempt from military service as he was residing in the US since age 14. When he returned to Greece he had two options: Spending six months in the military or serving for three weeks and buying off the rest of his time.
While it has a sizeable number of professional troops, Greece’s military is still conscription-based, with service in most cases set at 12 months.
“Proud to do military service in Thebes”, Stefanos Kasselakis says
Before entering the army barracks he was welcomed by the locals in the the central square of Thebes, who offered gifts and good wishes. Some said it was their honor to have the leader of the opposition in the town.
“It is an honor to be here to serve my country as an expatriate who has returned to contribute to his country,” Kasselakis said.
Earlier this week he posted a video on TikTok having an “army-style” haircut. The video begins with Kasselakis holding his dog, Farley, and saying “I’m going to miss her”. The hairdresser asks how he would like his hair done and he replies: “SYRIZA,” which in Greek means very short, to the roots.
When asked about the parting of his hair, he says “Toward the left, where my heart beats.”
The turbulent leadership of Stefanos Kasselakis
Kasselakis, 36, a former businessman without political experience who is gay, was the surprise winner at the SYRIZA elections held last September.
He took the reigns of the party a few months after the catastrophic election results in June/July 2023 that forced former leader and former PM Alexis Tsipras to resign.
His meteoric rise to leadership had upset many leftwing traditionalists who accused him of “right-wing populism” and authoritarian practices.
On 23 November 2023, 9 Members of Parliament (MPs), 1 Member of the European Parliament (MEP), and 57 central committee members declared their departure from the political party in protest of Kasselakis’ leadership.
Notable figures among them included Effi Achtsioglou along with other former ministers. A few days later previously resigned MPs Euclid Tsakalotos and Peti Perka joined forces with the 9 MPs to announce the establishment of a new political entity called “New Left”.
More recently amidst political turmoil and disagreements regarding Kasselakis’ approaches and agenda, MPs and members of the central committee of SYRIZA initiated a rebellion against Kasselakis’ decision to conduct a survey asking the party’s voters whether SYRIZA should alter its name and ideological focus.
The sandals (on the left) were discovered next to the remains of a man who died 2,500 years ago. Credit: Ministry of Culture
The ancient Greek city of Sicyon located in northern Peloponnese may not be as well known as other city-states but excavations in the last few years are bringing to light important clues about its history.
One of the most spectacular discoveries was a 2,500 grave containing the remains of a man. Archaeologists were surprised to find a pair of sandals laid next to the skeleton.
The excavations up to now have not revealed the entire ancient city, but they have unearthed residential remains of the Classical and Late Classical periods, consisting of rooms of houses and parts of domestic workshops.
Pottery from the 6th century B.C. was discovered in addition to pebble mosaic floors, as well as walls clad in red and yellow plaster.
Excavations continue to find more of the ancient city. Credit: Ministry of Culture
The archaeological site lies just west of the modern village of Sikyona (previously Vasiliko) between Corinth and Achaea. It includes the excavated area of the Agora of the Hellenistic and Roman city, the Theatre, the Stadium and the Roman Baths, which have been restored.
The theater of the Ancient Greek City of Sicyon
The ancient theater at Sicyon. Public Domain
The theater was carved into a natural depression at the foothills of the Hellenistic Acropolis and dates back to the late 4th century B.C.
It consists of the Koilon, the Orchestra and the Scene (stage-building); the two vaulted passages at the sides of the Koilon, used for the entrance of the spectators, constitute unique examples of Hellenistic architecture.
During the Roman era, several adjustments were made to the building, especially the Scene.
With a seating area estimated at 122 meters (400 feet) wide and 58 meters (190 feet) deep, it is one of the largest theaters in the Peloponnese.
The present-day ruins at Sicyon are a faint reminder of the Romanized theater the historian Pausanias visited in the second century AD.
In his day, the historian Pausanias recorded the scene at Sicyon thus: “On the stage of the theater built under the citadel is a statue of a man with a shield, who they say is Aratus, the son of Cleinias. After the theater is a temple of Dionysus.”
Sadly, the “statue of Aratus,” as noted by Pausanias, has long since vanished, as have the columns and carved marble ornaments that once graced the theatre’s façade.
Sicyon became a democracy in the 3rd century BC
An ancient monarchy at the time of the Trojan War, the city was ruled by several tyrants during the Archaic and Classical periods and became a democracy in the 3rd century BC. Sicyon was celebrated for its contributions to ancient Greek art, producing many famous painters and sculptors.
In Hellenistic times it was also the home of Aratus of Sicyon, the leader of the Achaean League.
Architectural remains at ancient Sicyon. Credit: Ministry of Culture
Sicyon was built on a low triangular plateau about 3 kilometers (two miles) from the Corinthian Gulf. Between the city and its port lay a fertile plain with olive groves and orchards.
The 4th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Archaeology is responsible for all city excavations, as well as those in the surrounding area. Movable objects which were found at the site are now housed in the onsite Sicyon Museum, which opened in 2007.
Pure rhodium bead, 1 gram. Credit: Hi-Res Images of Chemical Elements, CC BY 3.0.
The most precious and expensive metal in the world is not gold but a rare and hard metal called rhodium, a name derived from the Greek ‘rhodon,’ meaning rose-colored.
The value of rhodium is far higher than the price of gold, which is currently at $2,161 per ounce.
Rhodium, which sells for $$4,750 per ounce, now holds the distinction of the most costly and rarest metal in the world.
Rhodium is found in platinum or nickel ores with other members of the platinum group metals. It was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston in one such ore and named for the rose color of one of its chlorine compounds.
Rhodium belongs to the transition metal series and is chemically unreactive with oxygen, classifying it as a noble metal. This unique property makes it a perfect catalyst, resistant to both corrosion and oxidation.
With its exceptional hardness and a melting point of 1,964 degrees Celsius (3,567 degrees Fahrenheit), rhodium shares its position among the platinum group metals, including palladium, osmium, platinum, iridium, and ruthenium.
The element’s major use (consuming about 80 percent of world rhodium production) is as one of the catalysts in the three-way catalytic converters in automobiles. I
It is often also used as plating for white gold and other jewelry. Jewelry and timepieces are plated with rhodium to create a gleaming, robust surface that resists scratching and tarnishing.
Gold is relatively abundant compared to rhodium
In the Earth’s crust, rhodium occurs at a mere 0.000037 parts per million, while gold is relatively abundant at about 0.0013 parts per million, according to the British Royal Society of Chemistry.
Rhodium production primarily takes place in South Africa, Canada, and Russia, often as a byproduct of refining copper and nickel ores containing up to 0.1 percent of this precious metal.
Approximately sixteen tons of rhodium are produced annually, with an estimated reserve of three thousand tons.
In a May 2023 report, Market Research Future (MRFR) estimated that the rhodium market is projected to reach $3.55 billion by 2030 at a rate of 4.39 percent.
It notes that the requirement for rhodium used in catalytic converters for cars is rising due to various government regulations being implemented in different nations to reduce carbon emissions.
Additionally, the industry is witnessing the development of fresh technologies such as 3D printing, additive production, and nanomaterials, creating fresh possibilities for the use of rhodium.
“Since rhodium is a precious and rare metal, demand is anticipated to increase over the next few years as more people discover its many uses,” MRFR notes in its report.
It warns, however, that when compared to other metals, rhodium is too expensive.
“This limits the applications for which it can be used and is expected to restrain market growth,” the report concludes. “The global rhodium market is anticipated to face challenges from scarce resources and growing demand for applications that will pressure its supply.”
The mythological Greek monster Scylla, who was said to haunt the straits of Messina and to have killed six of Odysseus’ men. She is shown with a kētos tail and dog heads sprouting from her body. Detail from a red-figure bell-crater in the Louvre, 450–425 B.C. This form of Scylla was prevalent in ancient depictions, though very different from the description in Homer, where she is land-based and more dragon-like. The monsters of Greek mythology form the very concepts of terror for us. The creatures Scylla and Charybdis are no exceptions to this rule. Photo Credit: Jastrow (2006)/ Public Domain
Through the great power and influence of Greek literary works, the monsters of Greek mythology have come to form the very concepts of terror in the imagination of Western European peoples. The creatures Scylla and Charybdis are no exceptions to this rule.
It is worthwhile then to wonder why there are so many of these beings that are female and what that says about the basic dichotomy of men and women. Were ancient storytellers and writers so scared of females deep down that they had to give them horrifying attributes, portraying them as threatening?
And how has this portrayal affected the present day, influencing our worldviews, and in particular our concept of the female?
In a recent article in Smithsonian, Norah McGreevy posits that “Monsters reveal more about humans than one might think.”
“What counts as human?”
“As figments of the imagination, the alien, creepy-crawly, fanged, winged and otherwise-terrifying creatures that populate myths,” McGreevy says, “have long helped societies define cultural boundaries and answer an age-old question: What counts as human, and what counts as monstrous?”
Scylla, the female monster who guarded the straits of Messina in Greek mythology, was portrayed with a beautiful face and voluptuous figure by Bartholomeus Spranger in his 1581 painting “Glaucus and Scylla.” Credit: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
More disturbingly, do the stories that relate men’s conquering of these monsters actually translate to an innate desire to dominate women?
Homer confronts Scylla and Charybdis
In the greatest of all Greek epic poems, Homer’s Odyssey, which was composed sometime around the seventh or eighth century B.C., on his way back home from Troy, the hero must make the impossible decision of choosing between fighting Scylla, who is portrayed as a six-headed, twelve-legged barking monster, and Charybdis, a sea creature.
Tasked with passing through what McGreevy describes interestingly as “a narrow, perilous channel fraught with danger,” Odysseus and his unsuspecting men are confronted with Scylla—a monstrous creature that varyingly has six heads and necks that extend to hideous lengths residing in a clifftop cave.
Furthermore, her jaws can catch and devour unsuspecting sailors. On the other side of the strait, sea monster Charybdis threatens to destroy the entire ship, drowning all the men on it.
The wrong woman
Can this simply be a parable for the fear men have of falling into the clutches of the wrong woman? Or—most likely—a way of saying that no matter what a man does, he will indeed fall into the clutches of the wrong woman?
In this work, at least one of the fearsome beings is described as unmistakably female with Homer describing Scylla with few human characteristics. But in the Roman poet Ovid’s retelling of the Greek myth, written approximately 700 years later, Circe, a witch, turns on Scylla in a fit of jealousy toward her “sister” goddess, transforming her legs into barking dogs.
Naturally, in the modern world of today, these fables are seen as just interesting parables that were perhaps a natural result of the tall tales that are told around the campfires of fighting men.
“Quasi-historical reality”
For ancient people, however, McGreevy says that they “reflected a quasi-historical reality,” so common in all of Greek mythology, where the gods cavorted alongside humans and of course even sometimes had offspring with them.
Anything is possible when that happens.
So it makes sense that all the fears and psychological manifestations of anger that men may have had at that time received a free rein in these stories which were recited, let us not forget, almost entirely by men.
Charybdis, which may in reality have been a whirlpool—an existential threat to any sailor— was portrayed as a woman who was a churning pit of insatiable hunger. The Greek historian Polybius, writing in the second century B.C., was the first to suggest that it was indeed a whirlpool that had long threatened actual sailors along the Strait of Messina.
“In men’s hands, they have always been heroic”
Since any man who got near her would be swallowed up, it isn’t difficult to sense the fear of men who were afraid they could lose their freedom to a woman in that particular portrayal.
In The Odyssey, the greatest of all Greek heroes just barely escapes her grasp by clinging to the splinters that were left of his ship.
Journalist and critic Jess Zimmerman argues in Women and Other Monsters: Building a New Mythology that “Women have been monsters, and monsters have been women, in centuries’ worth of stories because stories are a way to encode these expectations and pass them on.”
It is true that frightening female creatures feature in cultural traditions the world over, but Zimmerman focused on ancient Greek and Roman works of literature and art, which have had, by far, the most influence on American culture.
Zimmerman argues convincingly that the “monstrous” qualities these female creatures had to ancient eyes can alternatively be seen by modern readers as their greatest strengths.
Instead of fearing and loathing these ancient monsters, why can’t contemporary readers today view them as heroes in their own right with all the fantastical and usually fearsome attributes that all the Greek gods had in mythology?
“The traits the [monsters] represent—aspiration, knowledge, strength, desire—are not hideous,” Zimmerman says. “In men’s hands, they have always been heroic.”
Paul Alexander pictured in 1986 was a polio victim since the age of six, and had spent much of his life in an iron lung. Public Domain
Paul Alexander, an American who had polio and spent more than 70 years living in an iron lung, passed away at the age of 78.
Living in Texas in the summer of 1952, Alexander was six years old when he contracted the virus. It took until 1955 to license the first polio vaccine that proved effective.
Alexander was placed in an iron lung, which at the time was cutting-edge life support technology that breathed for the patient, as the infection rendered him paralyzed from the neck down and unable to breathe on his own.
In the ensuing seventy years, Alexander attended college, practiced law, and wrote a memoir called “Three Minutes for a Dog”.
On Tuesday, March 12, news of Alexander’s passing was shared via a GoFundMe campaign set up by Christopher Ulmer, an American disability rights activist who had the opportunity to meet and speak with Alexander in 2022.
“His story traveled wide and far, positively influencing people around the world,” Ulmer wrote on the GoFundMe page. “Paul was an incredible role model that will continue to be remembered.”
Polio that can lead to paralysis almost eradicated
Polio, also known as poliomyelitis, is a highly infectious, viral disease that mainly affects children under the age of 5 and can sometimes invade the nervous system, leading to paralysis.
In the early half of the 20th century, polio outbreaks in Europe and the United States led to the introduction of iron lungs. At Boston Children’s Hospital, the first one was utilized in 1928 to save the life of an 8-year-old girl.
The devices are large, horizontal cylinders that act as artificial respirators, which work by mimicking the breathing process: air is first sucked out of the box by air pumps that are operated either manually or using a motor.
This creates a vacuum that causes the patient’s lungs to expand and draw air in. Then, the air is let back into the boxes, increasing the pressure inside and thus deflating the patient’s lungs to expel air.
The first polio vaccine rolled out in the 1950s, was developed by an American virologist named Jonas Salk. Following this, a global initiative sought to eradicate the disease — to drive the number of cases to zero, permanently — from 1988 onward.
Only a small number of people who were previously utilizing iron lungs, like Alexander, continue to do so as the number of polio cases has decreased.
These days, patients who require assistance breathing are provided access to sophisticated ventilators that do not require the patient to be immobilized in a tube.
Greek Carnival floats for Apokries in Patras. Credit: Tony Esopi/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0
Carnival celebrations in Greece, or “Apokries,” are some of the most beloved traditions in the country, and are reaching their climax this weekend.
Celebrated before the period of Great Lent, or “Sarakosti,” begins, Apokries allow revelers to partake in all the food, dance, and celebration they can before the 40 days of spiritual reflection begin.
During Lent, believers are supposed to reflect on the coming celebration of Easter, as well as the days before it that mark the suffering and death of Jesus.
Therefore, the faithful abstain from eating a variety of foods during Lent, most notably meat — the word “Apokries,” which roughly translates to “abstaining from meat,” comes from this practice.
While Apokries festivities are celebrated in the weeks before Clean Monday, “Kathara Deftera,” the first day of Lent, they culminate in the weekend just before it.
Kathara Deftera falls on Monday, March 18 this year, and on that day families traditionally spend the day outdoors, flying kites and eating traditional foods.
On the weekend before, however, Greeks usually celebrate by dressing up in costumes, partying, and having a parade throughout the streets of their cities. These festivities are accompanied by live music, creative floats, and lots of confetti.
Patras, Naoussa famous for Apokries festivities
The city most famous for its Apokries celebrations is Patras, in the Peloponnese, which has the oldest and one of the largest carnival celebrations in the country. This year’s theme is “Be Unplugged!”
It started in 1870, the annual Patras events include everything from gala balls and parades to children’s events such as treasure hunts and a children’s carnival.
Thousands of locals and visitors gather in Patras each year for the spectacular chariot parade that takes place on Sunday morning and the burning of the Carnival king in the evening before Clean Monday.
Other traditional events for carnivals take place every year in cities and towns like Xanthi, Rethymno, Kastoria, Tyrnavos, Volos, and others across Greece.
This custom is likely among the oldest Greek traditions which has managed to survive to this very day. For this reason, the Carnival of Naoussa is completely different from all other Greek Carnival festivities.
There, along with the contemporary, popular street parties that take place throughout the two weeks of the Carnival season, the city revives this ancient tradition.
In one of Naoussa’s most visually striking customs, young unmarried men dress in a traditional costume which includes the Greek fustanella and other clothing bedecked with silver and jewels, while wearing a unique, handmade mask known as a ”Prosopos.”
This incredibly colorful and unforgettable event, which takes place on the first Sunday of the ”Apokria,” is repeated on the second Sunday, as well as on Ash or Clean Monday.
Centuries old tradition dictates that only young, unmarried men can become ”Genitsari,” the male players who take part in the dance.
Greek soccer giants Olympiacos and PAOK triumphed on Thursday night advancing to the last 8 of Europa Conference League and dreaming of a place in the final of the UEFA competition that will be held in Athens.
PAOK thrashed Dinamo Zagreb 5-1 in Toumba and overturned its 2-0 deficit from seven nights earlier.
The Thessaloniki team had already secured a 3-0 score from the first half, with goals from Abdul Baba Rahman, Brandon Thomas and an own goal from Petar Sucic.
Dinamo pulled one back early in the second half through Arber Hoxha, but could not contain the Greeks, who scored again via Kostas Koulierakis and Andrija Zivkovic for a famous result.
Olympiacos produced an even more spectacular recovery, as it managed to follow up its 4-1 home loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv with a 6-1 triumph in the away leg in Serbia in extra time.
Just like PAOK, Olympiacos led 3-0 at half-time courtesy of Daniel Podence, Kostas Fortounis and Ayoub El Kaabi.
A penalty kick by Eran Zahavi temporarily reduced the arrears for the hosts who played their home games at Backa Topola, before El Kaabi restored the Reds’ three-goal lead on the night.
With the final score at 4-1 after 90 minutes, the game went to extra time, where Olympiacos extended its dominance. Sasa Jovetic and Youssef El Arabi were on target for the Reds to seal their qualification to the last eight.
Hundreds of Olympiacos fans gathered at the Athens Airport in the early hours of Friday to welcome back and celebrate their beloved team:
The draw for the quarterfinals of the Conference League is taking place on Friday.
PAOK and Olympiacos protagonists in Greek soccer
PAOK and Olympiacos are also contenders for the title in Greece’s Super League, along with AEK Athens and Panathinaikos.
The Thessaloniki club was established on 20 April 1926 by Greek refugees who fled to Thessaloniki from Constantinople in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), they play their home games at Toumba Stadium, a 29,000 seating capacity football ground.
PAOK is the only Greek team that has more wins than losses in their European record (89 wins, 65 draws and 76 defeats, as of 14 December 2023). It has won the top spot in the Greek Super League three times.
Olympiacos founded on 10 March 1925, is the most successful club in Greek football history, having won 47 League titles, 28 Cups (18 Doubles) and 4 Super Cups, all records.
Τotalling 79 national trophies, Olympiacos is 9th in the world in total titles won by a football club.
The UEFA Europa Conference League is the third tier of continental club football in Europe. The winners of the competition are awarded a position in the Europa League the following season, unless they qualify for the Champions League.
The philosophical dialogue, The Republic, was written by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato around 375 BCE. It describes his vision of an ideal and just society that would be ruled by philosopher-kings.
Over two thousand years later, this work on political theory and justice remains deeply relevant as we evaluate modern systems of governance around the world.
From the leadership of philosopher-kings to state-controlled education, it’s worth seeing whether his proposals represent a utopian dream of a society or a dystopian nightmare. This, of course, is viewed through the lens of 21st-century values of our liberal democracies, human rights, and individual liberties.
Plato’s concept of justice
According to Plato, justice is a human virtue. This virtue makes an individual “self-consistent and good” while also promoting harmony in society overall. The Republic associates justice at the level of the state or city (‘polis’ in ancient Greek) with justice in the individual soul. In this work, Plato argues that a society based on justice depends on its citizens who display the virtue of justice, too.
Plato also argues that justice, along with wisdom, courage, and moderation, is one of the four cardinal virtues.
To him, justice represents an order or harmony within the individual self. This harmony finds itself between the rational, spirited, and appetitive (bodily) aspects of an individual. Additionally, Plato also believes this harmony extends to the dimension of classes and their interests within the society. Unlike conventional perspectives of our times, which normally focus on property rights or social contracts, Plato sees justice as something deeper—as an inner grace within human beings aligned with civic duty.
Critically, a just individual or society based on true justice acts regarding objective standards of good rather than subjective ones. According to Plato, these exist independently of personal interests or advantages and shape the perceptions of every individual.
Among others, justice requires refraining from harming others even when provoked, while also maintaining promises and fulfilling agreements with others. This is why Plato also believes that respecting communal laws established for the common good is of paramount importance.
For him, the just life has its own inherent value and is not chosen by people merely for reputation or fame. Hence, in Platonic thought, justice is a master virtue. It enables both individual excellence and a political state that would be ideal for all. In this scenario, social classes cooperate instead of competing. Through just souls and just institutions, human potential and happiness can be fully realized, according to Plato’s theory.
Educational system in Kallipolis
The ideal city-state of Kallipolis, as envisaged by Plato in The Republic relies on a strict educational system. The role of this system is to nurture its rulers as well as its citizens. Thus, Plato’s philosophy of education aims at developing virtue, wisdom, and good ethical character for every citizen.
According to him, the future guardians or philosopher-kings will have to undergo rigorous schooling in areas such as mathematics, science, philosophy, and music. This will ensure that they sharpen their abilities in the crucial areas of reasoning, leadership, and maintaining harmony both in the personal and public sphere.
As outlined in The Republic, Plato’s curriculum for this societal elite emphasizes subjects that have the ability to empower rulers to attain truth. This would be crucial in this ideal society, as these elites would be able to make judicious decisions for the good of the community as a whole.
This core training of the philosophers-kings would include, among others, abstract reasoning, pure mathematics, dialectics examining underlying forms and assumptions, and, crucially, an emphasis on moral self-mastery.
In contrast, ordinary people and the masses would receive a basic education in Kallipolis. Their education would be focused on developing more cooperative and civic attitudes as well as specific skills that would be needed to fulfill their roles in this ideal society. While the system divides children early based on capabilities as well as their social class, the citizens of Kallipolis would still receive moral and ethical education, as it is seen as necessary. This would allow them to properly follow orders and rules, as set by the enlightened elite.
Thus, Plato’s education system aims to supply rulers with the necessary knowledge that would enable their philosopher-king status. At the same time, this structure would give average citizens sufficient intellectual and ethical schooling, too, to navigate the complexities of everyday life. This would thereby ensure social stability within a society that would, inevitably, be unequal.
As one can understand, this two-tier model comes in direct contrast with modern ideals of equal opportunities and well-rounded public schooling for all, regardless of backgrounds. Rather, it is based on needs.
Bolshevik soldiers parade with a banner in a historical photograph. Credit: rosauxembourg, Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0
Is Plato’s Republic an ancient Greek prelude to socialism?
Many people have argued that in his ideal society, Plato proposes a system that is seminally socialist, if not communist for the guardian class. This “enlightened” elite would rule and protect Kallipolis, as they would be both intellectually and morally capable to do so. The select group would live in a community totally devoid of private property. It would engage in exclusive marriages and have nuclear families. Guardians would have to share dwellings, spouses, and children. The aim of all this, of course, would be to reinforce communal bonds above the selfish interests of the individual.
Does this remind us of something? All we have to do is look into the foundational principles of the Soviet Union to draw some parallels with Plato’s story.
Plato also argues that communal living without any personal wealth is capable of producing impartial philosopher-kings and courageous rulers. These individuals would be focused wholly on public duties away from individualistic distractions. Shared experience would also aim to enhance social cohesion against inevitable divisions by the different classes within the community.
This principle extends into more personal aspects of human life, such as marriage. Guardians of Kallipolis would be denied exclusive relationships. This is because Plato believed these would prioritize specific individuals above collective welfare.
While restrictions on marriage and property aim to strengthen society as a whole, the modern reader may perceive them as totally dystopian infringements on liberty. The average citizen of a liberal Western society of the 21st century might hear all these proposals as completely scary and contradictive with each one’s pursuit of happiness.
As we all know, historical examples of attempts at actual governance under communist principles in the 20th century failed, often tragically. This eventuality is being used by the opponents of Plato’s ideas as an argument for the difficulties in enforcing Plato’s ideals in practice.
However, the recognition of Plato that self-interest can distort social bonds and plague our society with individualistic principles continues to resonate with many.
The role and power of the guardians: Protectors or controllers?
In The Republic, Plato argues that the guardians have a duty to obtain significant control in the affairs of Kallipolis. There is a sole reason for this, namely to guide society towards virtue and stability and avoid societal chaos.
Appointed based on rigorous training and testing, these philosopher-kings would be making and enforcing laws. These laws would regulate both public and private conduct of citizens, the latter of which would be unthinkable for today’s Western societies. Their wisdom and shared interests with the city would supposedly check abuses of power and serve as the means to balance power.
Obviously, Plato grants his guardians extensive authority over their fellow citizens. This appears extremely totalitarian by modern standards, something that today we see in autocratic and suppressing regimes.
Guardians in Plato’s Republic would supervise issues such as marriage, reproduction, raising children, poetry, music, and even opinions expressed by people. This standardized and systematic control of each person’s lifestyle and mentality would be relentless.
Its purpose, however, would be aimed at producing social harmony that would trump all caveats.
It must be mentioned that the claim that rigorous preparation ensures only the most virtuous of citizens become guardians remains highly debatable. One might wonder who would check and guarantee that. Surely, if this responsibility falls on humans, it would mean they are already morally superior and could, therefore, assume the role themselves.
It is evident that without checks and balances, absolute elite rule risks becoming self-serving too quickly. All one needs to do to determine this is to look at the numerous examples of “enlightened” leaders going rogue in human history.
Overall, Plato’s Republic does highlight an enduring political challenge. It is that of empowering someone with sufficient authority to govern effectively on the one hand while preventing unchecked control that would threaten individual liberties on the other.
Plato’s philosopher-kings, however, lean excessively towards absolute and totalitarian duties rather than rights-protecting restrictions. This would be essential for modern freedom anyway.
Title page of a 1713 edition of Plato’s “Republic.” Credit: Garystokebridge617, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
Assessing Plato’s Republic: A utopian dream or dystopian nightmare?
In assessing Plato’s Republic, we see an ingenious experiment of human thinking in constructing an ideal society. This community would be ruled by philosopher-kings, who would be trained in reason and justice.
However, many of its proposals—from censorship to state control over personal and family life—are unthinkable by modern liberal standards that value individual rights. Ultimately, while Plato’s emphasis placed on harmony, wisdom, and virtue still resonates, his proposed authoritarian methods can only seem dystopian to the citizen of the twenty-first century. They come in direct contrast to the heart of many modern societal priorities, including these of diversity and individual liberty.
So, yes, the Republic of Plato represents more of a dystopian version of an idealistic and yet non-existent society than a utopian dream in which every citizen would flourish. Nonetheless, grappling with the complex relationships between justice, order, and leadership, Plato still provokes questions and invites us to think about what we could do better millennia after his time.
The world’s largest computer chip is capable of training 10 times larger AI models. Credit: ESO / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0
Researchers have developed the largest computer chip ever made. It’s packed with 4 trillion tiny switches called transistors. The creators of this chip say it’s destined to run an incredibly strong artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer in the future.
The new chip, called the Wafer Scale Engine 3 (WSE-3), is from a company called Cerebras. It’s the third version of their supercomputing technology meant to fuel AI systems, like OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Anthropic’s Claude 3 Opus.
The chip has 900,000 AI cores and is made from a silicon wafer that measures 8.5 by 8.5 inches (21.5 by 21.5 centimeters), just like its previous version, the WSE-2 from 2021, as reported by Live Science.
“When we started on this journey eight years ago, everyone said wafer-scale processors were a pipe dream. We could not be more proud to be introducing the third-generation of our groundbreaking water scale AI chip,” said Andrew Feldman, CEO and co-founder of Cerebras.
Twice as powerful as its predecessor
Company representatives stated in a press release that the new chip uses the same amount of power as its predecessor but is twice as powerful. In comparison, the previous chip had 2.6 trillion transistors and 850,000 AI cores.
This indicates that the company has roughly followed Moore’s Law, which suggests that the number of transistors in a computer chip roughly doubles every two years, according to Live Science.
Comparatively, one of the powerful chips used for training AI models is Nvidia’s H200 graphics processing unit (GPU). However, Nvidia’s powerful GPU has only 80 billion transistors, which is 57 times fewer than Cerebras’.
That's not a chip, this is a chip. The Cerebras WSE-3 has 4 trillion transistors and 125 petaFLOPS of computational power. pic.twitter.com/eJKM1oVSLn
Based on a separate statement released on March 13, company representatives mentioned that the WSE-3 chip will eventually fuel the Condor Galaxy 3 supercomputer, which will be located in Dallas, Texas.
The Condor Galaxy 3 supercomputer, currently in the works, will consist of 64 Cerebras CS-3 AI system “building blocks,” all powered by the WSE-3 chip. When these blocks are connected and switched on, the whole setup will deliver 8 exaFLOPs of computing power.
Moreover, when linked with the Condor Galaxy 1 and Condor Galaxy 2 systems, the entire network will be a total of 16 exaFLOPs.
For reference, Floating-point operations per second (FLOPs) is a measure that gauges the numerical computing performance of a system — where 1 exaFLOP equals one quintillion (10^18) FLOPs, according to Live Science.
Condor Galaxy 3 will train AI models 10 times larger than ChatGPT
The current titleholder for the most powerful supercomputer is Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Frontier supercomputer, producing approximately 1 exaFLOP of power.
Company representatives stated that the Condor Galaxy 3 supercomputer will be utilized to train future AI systems, which could be up to 10 times larger than GPT-4 or Google’s Gemini.
For example, GPT-4 supposedly employs around 1.76 trillion variables (referred to as parameters) during training, according to rumored information. However, the Condor Galaxy 3 could manage AI systems with around 24 trillion parameters.
