Plato’s earth-mother myth promoted militarism, not environmentalism.

Evidence

For example, Plato’s discussion in The Republic of the story of the earth as mother (Lee 1987:181), on which this favourable portrait is partly based, makes it clear that he considers the story to be false but places it in the category of useful lies (or ‘magnificent myths’) which the ruling guardians can propagate if they serve the social ends which the guardians deem worthy. Plato’s discussion of the Mother Earth myth immediately precedes his discussion of the myth of the bronze, gold and silver classes, a story which he suggests is useful in encouraging acceptance of social stratification. Similarly, the Gaia story is presented as false but as useful because it will encourage citizens to fight for the state, in the guise of their land. In short, what the myth is designed to promote is not environmentalism but militarism. Plato is as implausible a candidate for environmental canonisation as he is for feminist canonisation. — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 281

Categorization

• XREF: Directly undercuts the ‘organic Gaia worshipping Greece’ reading; this complicates how environmental historians (and Merchant-inspired readings) romanticise pre-Enlightenment nature views. — connects to: The warrior-hero’s choice of honour over life structures Plato’s devaluation of nature — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 377; Respect for nature is an act of individuation, not of boundary-drawing — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 511

Broader Connections

• The warrior-hero’s choice of honour over life structures Plato’s devaluation of nature #expands (0.85) — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 377
• Respect for nature is an act of individuation, not of boundary-drawing #complicates (0.75) — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 511