Abstract

In the present paper, we report the results of a study on the alternation between ὁράω and καθοράω in Plato, Republic, 514a-517a, in which the myth of the cave is presented. We show that the selection of the two verbs is not arbitrary, but corresponds to a strategy to encode different representations of seeing. The principle underlying the distribution of the prefixed and the unprefixed verb is related to the telicity distinction and the transitivity hierarchy. The results of this study are consistent with findings from previous studies on the function of verbal prefixation in Classical Greek (and other ancient Indo-European languages) and reveal the role of the functional opposition between ὁράω and καθοράω within the whole architecture of the tale.