Plato on Poetry

Much has been written in recent years on Plato as a critic of literature, but no commentaries have appeared in English on the Ion, or the opening books of the Republic in which Plato launches his famous attack on poetry, since the early years of this century. This volume brings together these texts and the relevant section of Republic 10. It aims to provide the reader with a commentary which takes account of modern scholarship on the subject, and which explores the ambivalence of Plato’s pronouncements on poetry through an analysis of his own skill as a writer. A general introduction sets Plato’s views in the wider context of attitudes to poetry in Greek society before his time, and indicates the main ways in which his writings on poetry have influenced the history of aesthetic thought in European culture.

• First commentary to bring together Plato’s major texts on poetry • First commentary in English on Ion and Republic 2 and 3 since the early years of this century • Should be a very attractive edition for teachers to use, linking language teaching with a most important aspect of Plato’s thought

Introduction: 1. Mimesis; 2. Poetry and inspiration; 3. Plato as poet; 4. The battle between poetry and philosophy; 5. Plato and Homer; 6. The Platonic legacy; 7. The text; Ion; Republic 376e–398b9; Republic 595–608b10; Commentary; Appendix: Poetic inspiration in Plato; Bibliography; Index.