Major Themes in Book VIII
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Book VIII: Major Themes
As Socrates and Adeimantus discuss the four lesser types of government, three major themes emerge that connect this book to the rest of the Republic and Ancient Athens.
  Theme I: Kateben
One of the first words in the Republic is kateben, to go down. This one word has a major impact on the way we interpret these dialogues today.
Before he meets up with Polymarchus and decides to stay and talk with him, Socrates heads down to Piraeus with Glaucon. This symbolizes Athens downfall because Piraeus is brought the plague to Athens during the Pelopponesian War; Socrates is also going to see a festival in honor of the goddess who ushers the dead into Hades.
As Book VIII unfolds, a definite relationship between the types of governments appears. Each devolves into a worser kind, taking the people farther and farther away from utopia: timocracy to oligarchy to democracy to tyranny.
This devolution of the state government is kateben. The state's "soul," so to speak, is getting sicker and sicker. Just as Socrates went down to Piraeus in the beginning of the Republic, so the whole state is now going down as its government gets worse and worse. The state is on its way to complete destruction.
Kateben is also present in the fact that the people's state of mind in the lowest form of government-tyranny-descend. Socrates said that "the old respond by descending to the level of youth...they mimic the young." (line563b)

going down...
  Theme II: The Athenian Thesis
The Athenian Thesis stated that the state must act out of fear, honor, or interest. These three properties have a tinge of kateben, going down, in them. Each reason for taking action gets successively worse and worse. Protecting oneself out fear, or in self defense, seems justifiable. Acting out of honor, or doing things because you are self conciously worried about what others think, is less justifiable. Interest, however, is the least justifiable: one should not take action just to gain something.
As the governments devolve, so do their reasons for action. In Socrates defined utopia, an republican aristocracy, the state acts only out of fear. Timocracy, a government of honor, acts out of honor. An oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny would act out of solely interest...an unjust reason.

Fear, honor, or interest??
  Theme III: Judgement Against Athens
Socrates and Plato lived during the Pelopponesian War. At the time of this dialogue, the war was over...Sparta had won. During the war, Euripides had made a special point during the Funeral Oration to describe Athens' democracy in relation to the "other": Sparta. Plato, however, makes a specail point of recording Socrates stating that a timocracy, such that Sparta had, was much closer to aristocracy than Athens' democracy was.
Socrates condemns Athens' government by rating it second farthest from the utopian dream. He indicates that in finding the way back up the scale, Athens must become more like Sparta's timocracy and eventually move on to aristocracy.

Athens Condemned!