Plato

Plato’s ‘Apology’ and book 7 of his book ‘The Republic’, the parable of the cave. Briefly summarize the two readings and the fundamental ideas of the stories. Now provide the historical context to these ideas, were they common, how do they compare/contrast with ideas of the times? What implications did they have on Greek society and the future of Western Civilization?

The cave: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/platoscave.html
Apology: http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/plato_apology.htm

According to Plato, how ought I to live? How much importance or priority should human beings accord pleasure in answering the question, In the search for happiness (eudaimonia), how important is pleasure?