La Malinche and the Noble Lie

Abstract

This chapter explores the representation of La Malinche, a central figure in the Spanish conquest of Mexico, to explore concepts of truth and lies that Plato introduced in the Republic. La Malinche has been represented in a great variety of ways, and this chapter argues that these representations can be read as elucidating Plato’s considerations of the relationship between poetry and the ideal state, as well as the nature of myth making.