Ion Plato Benjamin Jowett 9781484170977 Books
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ION By Plato The Ion is the shortest, or nearly the shortest, of all the writings which bear the name of Plato, and is not authenticated by any early external testimony. The grace and beauty of this little work supply the only, and perhaps a sufficient, proof of its genuineness. The plan is simple; the dramatic interest consists entirely in the contrast between the irony of Socrates and the transparent vanity and childlike enthusiasm of the rhapsode Ion. The theme of the Dialogue may possibly have been suggested by the passage of Xenophon's Memorabilia in which the rhapsodists are described by Euthydemus as 'very precise about the exact words of Homer, but very idiotic themselves.' (Compare Aristotle, Met.) Ion the rhapsode has just come to Athens; he has been exhibiting in Epidaurus at the festival of Asclepius, and is intending to exhibit at the festival of the Panathenaea. Socrates admires and envies the rhapsode's art; for he is always well dressed and in good company—in the company of good poets and of Homer, who is the prince of them. In the course of conversation the admission is elicited from Ion that his skill is restricted to Homer, and that he knows nothing of inferior poets, such as Hesiod and Archilochus;—he brightens up and is wide awake when Homer is being recited, but is apt to go to sleep at the recitations of any other poet. 'And yet, surely, he who knows the superior ought to know the inferior also;—he who can judge of the good speaker is able to judge of the bad. And poetry is a whole; and he who judges of poetry by rules of art ought to be able to judge of all poetry.' This is confirmed by the analogy of sculpture, painting, flute-playing, and the other arts. The argument is at last brought home to the mind of Ion, who asks how this contradiction is to be solved. The solution given by Socrates is as follows— The rhapsode is not guided by rules of art, but is an inspired person who derives a mysterious power from the poet; and the poet, in like manner, is inspired by the God. The poets and their interpreters may be compared to a chain of magnetic rings suspended from one another, and from a magnet. The magnet is the Muse, and the ring which immediately follows is the poet himself; from him are suspended other poets; there is also a chain of rhapsodes and actors, who also hang from the Muses, but are let down at the side; and the last ring of all is the spectator. The poet is the inspired interpreter of the God, and this is the reason why some poets, like Homer, are restricted to a single theme, or, like Tynnichus, are famous for a single poem; and the rhapsode is the inspired interpreter of the poet, and for a similar reason some rhapsodes, like Ion, are the interpreters of single poets………………….
Ion Plato Benjamin Jowett 9781484170977 Books
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Ion Plato Benjamin Jowett 9781484170977 Books Reviews
Is ok, Cant do much better for the price, Can be a slow read at some times in the book.
Ion is a very short Platonic dialogue between Socrates and a rhapsode by the name of Ion who specializes in reciting the poetry of Homer. The dialogue explores the nature of poetic and artistic inspiration in a most playful way. If you are interested in literature and the arts, you will really enjoy. Likewise, if you haven’t read any Plato, this is a great place to start. To offer a taste, here are a few snatches of the dialogue along with my brief reflections. Sidebar all of my statements are, in a way, questions, not to be taken as definitive answers; scholars and philosophers have been debating the details of Plato’s thought for over 2000 years.
SOCRATES I often envy the profession of a rhapsode, Ion; for you have always to wear fine clothes, and to look as beautiful as you can is a part of your art. Then, again, you are obliged to be continually in the company of many good poets; and especially of Homer, who is the best and most divine of them; and to understand him, and not merely learn his words by rote, is a thing greatly to be envied. ---------- A stroke of true Socratic irony. The idea of a philosopher envying someone preoccupied with wearing fine clothes and making sure they look beautiful. What a scream. And then to say such a person ‘understands’ Homer. Too much. Plato must have had fun writing this dialogue since he adjudged the philosopher beyond concern with physical appearance and ascribed ‘understanding’ to the realm of abstract, logical thinking.
SOCRATES The gift which you possess of speaking excellently about Homer is not an art, but, as I was just saying, an inspiration; there is a divinity moving you, like that contained in the stone which Euripides calls a magnet, but which is commonly known as the stone of Heraclea. This stone not only attracts iron rings, but also imparts to them a similar power of attracting other rings; and sometimes you may see a number of pieces of iron and rings suspended from one another so as to form quite a long chain and all of them derive their power of suspension from the original stone. In like manner the Muse first of all inspires men herself; and from these inspired persons a chain of other persons is suspended, who take the inspiration. ---------- What a crystal clear image! The divine muse is the magnetic stone and the poet is the magnetized ring pulled by the stone. And the poet inspires others in the same way the magnetized ring magnetizes a 2nd and a 3rd ring, forming an entire chain of magnetized rings. Applying this to our site, Crime and Punishment is written by muse-inspired Dostoyevsky, the novel inspires members to write reviews and the reviews inspires comments and more readers of the novel. Thus, according to Plato, everyone in the chain is muse-inspired. How inspiring!
SOCRATES For the poet is a light and winged and holy thing, and there is no invention in him until he has been inspired and is out of his senses, and the mind is no longer in him when he has not attained to this state, he is powerless and is unable to utter his oracles. ---------- Anybody who loves music and has developed a degree of technical expertise in playing a musical instrument knows the experience of reaching a point, a zone, where the music flows naturally beyond the boundaries of the ordinary thinking mind. When a number of musicians play together and share this inspired state – sheer magic.
SOCRATES Then, my dear friend, can I be mistaken in saying that Ion is equally skilled in Homer and in other poets, since he himself acknowledges that the same person will be a good judge of all those who speak of the same things; and that almost all poets do speak of the same things?
ION Why then, Socrates, do I lose attention and go to sleep and have absolutely no ideas of the least value, when any one speaks of any other poet; but when Homer is mentioned, I wake up at once and am all attention and have plenty to say?
SOCRATES The reason, my friend, is obvious. No one can fail to see that you speak of Homer without any art or knowledge. If you were able to speak of him by rules of art, you would have been able to speak of all other poets; for poetry is a whole. ---------- What a thought-provoking line of reasoning. Applying Socrates’s logic to lovers of novels, when someone can offer penetrating insight into a novel or novels written by one author, they should be able to provide insights into any novel. I sense a fallacy here but this is such an interesting question, I wouldn’t want to spoil it with an answer.
This dialogue examines whether Ion, a rhapsode, receives his gift of recitation through techne or Inspiration. This dialogue holds many implications for Plato's aesthetic theory and is well worth the read.
Socrates questions Ion, who recites the lines of Homer. Ion claims to recite and understand the meaning of Homer's poetry as part of his success. Ion is like an actor who overestimates his intelligence and ability, like one who thinks he can run a company because he plays a CEO in a movie (insert actor of choice).
This is a short dialogue. Socrates argues that Ion has no real understanding of Homer's content (Homer is the TRUE genius). The rhapsode (the one who recites) is a vehicle. Socrates attributes Ion's success to 'inspiration' from the muses or the god. Not from intelligence.
All of Plato is insightful and worth reading, but I liked Ion for two additional reasons. This dialogue is shorter than Plato's other dialogues. Unlike some, there was a clear conclusion reached here, even though is was specific and not universal.
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