Introduction

The denizens of Thedas have long been aware of a dangerously warlike culture inhabiting the islands of the northern archipelago. Tevinter has long been at war with these Golden Giants, and Ferelden has only recently made contact through one known as Sten of the Beresaad. They are the stuff of legend and nightmare, that ever-looming threat that, one day, all will be assimilated, resistance being futile. They fight with the strength of ogres and follow a creed stricter than even the White Divine could conceive. Their navy rivals that of the Felicisima Armada. They are the Qunari.

In the Dragon Age series of video games and novels, there has been very little direct exposure to the Qunari outside brief encounters with their military force, and it leaves our understanding of them nebulous at best. Codex entries throughout the games and conversations with characters such as Sten, Arvaraad, and the Arishok offer a slightly deeper view into their culture and history, but it is still not much. David Gaider and Mary Kirby have provided further information on the BioWare Social Network Forums, and this has been compiled on the Dragon Age Wikia site on the page referencing the Kossith race.

Despite the references and provided details, the Qunari still feel vague and not as deeply explored as the other cultures scattered throughout Thedas. They give us a companion in Dragon Age: Origins (DAO), a formidable opponent in Dragon Age II (DA2), but it remains that there is so little for anyone to go on in order to delve deeper. That is, however, until one spots the comment in the Trivia section of the Kossith wikia page: "The structure of Qunari society is identical to the ideal community outlined in Plato's Republic..."1

The wikia is now no longer our primary source of information. We have pages and pages of translated Classical Greek text at our disposal to happily reference should we so choose. However, not all of that text is relevant. Plato wrote out his philosophy in a series of dialogues that developed each concept over the course of a contrived conversation and sometimes never fully solidified the base idea. Republic is no different. In it, Plato discusses not only his ideas for the ideal society but re-emphasizes concepts from other dialogues such as his primary virtues and what he believes the ideal love to be. The reader also must be made aware of the context of this dialogue as it emerged from Plato's own life and socio-political views. Understanding this is crucial to conceptualizing his ideal society and, by proxy, getting a better grip on who the Qunari really are and what that means for Thedas.

The basis that must be established is what sort of culture the Qunari actually have. With the aforementioned vagueness, fanfiction and other fan works have portrayed the followers of the Qun as having origins akin to Star Trek's Klingons, Borg, or the Samurai of feudal Japan. These are not totally off-base beliefs, but I will once again direct attention back to the quote given above. If the society is identical to that in the Republic, then the conclusion can be drawn that it is predominantly ancient Greek in nature with other elements thrown in for fantasy world flavor. The truth is that many things serve as inspiration for the Qunari as the other cultures in Thedas, but the intent of this essay is to illustrate how what we have already seen in the Dragon Age games relates to Plato and how other facets may be understood based upon that.

1. "Kossith", Dragon Age Wiki, wiki/Kossith (January 2012)