La alegoría del carro del alma en Platón y en la Kaṭha Upaniṣad

The intriguing similarity between the allegory of the chariot in Plato’s Phædrus and in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad has been pointed out by several scholar, accompanied with varying verdicts: whereas, e. g., Belvalkar and Ranade aver enthusiastically: “the extraordinary resemblance of the two descriptions down to the smallest details staggers us, and we must confess that we do not know how to account for it”, for his part Keith coldly declares that, the “interesting parallel” notwithstanding, “the details of the two are perfectly distinct”, and goes ahead to barely mention what he regards as the main difference, i. e. the lack of the Platonic distinction between rational and irrational aspects of the soul in the Indian counterpart. Radhakrishnan again stresses agreement in “looking upon intelligence as the ruling power of the soul [...] and aiming at the integration of the different elements of human nature”. More recently McEvilley, in his wide-ranging comparative essay on The Shape of Ancient Thought, does not exert his analytical acumen in this particular case, being content with remarking that, although the “similarity in imagery is intriguing”, it may well “bespeak the common Indo-European heritage of Greeks and Indians”. After a preliminary review of the relevant texts in both literary traditions to clearly set out the congruencies and the discrepancies, of which a synopsis is presented in tabulary form, this paper discusses the mutual relationship of the allegory of the chariot in the Kaṭha and the Phædrus investigating possible influences.