Ideal King in Ancient Iran and Plato’s Beautiful City: Case Study of Cyrus the Great

Document Type : Research Paper

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Abstract

Explaining the ancient Iranian intellectual system and political thought; namely Ideal king in Cyrus period, and through analyzing the socio-political structure of the preferred system, this article seeks to reveal how and why the four reinterpreted pillars of philosopher-king of Plato in Republic namely, wisdom, courage, moderation and justice, as presented by the author of Plato’s Beautiful City and the Ideal King in Ancient Iran, have been the main intellectual portrait of Iranians in Cyrus period; religiously and politically. On the other hand, surveying a domestic cement for an ideal socio-political order consistent to the religious and political identity of the ancient Iran, and by analyzing texts and their historic background, this article seeks to study the spirit of socio-political sovereignty governing the Iranian society in this era, while examining Fathollah Mojtabaee’s theory and adjusting the Cyrus period with Platonist elements.

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