Answer:
The Ship of State is a famous and oft-cited metaphor put forth by Plato in Book VI of the Republic (488a–489d). It likens the governance of a city-state to the command of a naval vessel and ultimately argues that the only people fit to be captain of this ship (Greek: ναῦς) are philosopher kings, benevolent men with absolute power who have access to the Form of the Good. The origins of the metaphor can be traced back to the lyric poet Alcaeus (frs. 6, 208, 249), and it is found in Sophocles' Antigone and Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes before Plato.