ἐνθυμηθεὶς περὶ ποιήσεως
. II 377 B—III 403 C.
τὸ μηδαμῇ ‐‐ μιμητική
. See III 394 B —398 B. Plato speaks as if he had tabooed all mimetic poetry, but it is clear from III 396 E compared with 397 D, 398 B and 401 B—402 C that he did not condemn poetic and artistic imitation
as such, but would have admitted it where the model imitated was good. See also on 595 C, 607 A, 608 A infra.
ἐπειδὴ ‐‐ εἴδη
: viz. in Book IV and also throughout VIII and IX. The psychological theory of these books is laid under contribution in 602 C ff.: see note ad loc. It may seem strange that Plato makes no reference to the metaphysical doctrine of V—VII, since he derives his first argument (596 A— 601 B) from the theory of Ideas: but it was unnecessary for him to refer to it in this connexion, because the theory is itself expressly re-enunciated (
εἷδος γάρ που κτλ. 596 A) before the argument begins.
ὡς ‐‐ εἰρῆσθαι
: ‘between ourselves.’ Cf. IV 430 E note
αὐτά
: viz.
πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα, tragedy and other forms of
μιμητικὴ ποίησις: not (as Schleiermacher) “wie sich
die Dinge in der Wirklichkeit verhalten.” A knowledge of the
real character of dramatic Poetry is the only antidote against its evil influence. On
τυγχάνει ὄντα see I 337 B note
καίτοι φιλία γε ‐‐ λέγειν
. Plato speaks with real feeling: no one who had so much of the poet in himself could be insensible to Homer's charm, and nearly every dialogue of Plato bears evidence of the affectionate admiration in which he held the ‘first of tragic poets.’ See Heine
de rat. quae Platoni cum poetis Graec. intercedit pp. 8—15. The ancients classed Plato and Homer together:
δύο γὰρ αὗται ψυχαὶ λέγονται γενέσθαι παναρμόνιοι, says Olympiodorus (
vit. Pl. 6): and Longinus remarks that of all Greek writers Plato was
Ὁμηρικώτατος—ἀπὸ τοῦ Ὁμηρικοῦ κείνου νάματος εἰς αὑτὸν μυρίας ὅσας παρατροπὰς ἀποχετευσάμενος (
περὶ ὕψους 13. 3). See also the admirable remarks on Plato's imitation of Homer in James Geddes's essay
On the Composition and Manner of Writing of the Ancients pp. 180—200, and Proclus' much less sound and instructive article
ὅτι διὰ πάσης τῆς ἑαυτοῦ συγγραφῆς Ὁμήρου ζηλωτής ἐστιν ὁ Πλάτων ταῖς τε λεκτικαῖς ἀρεταῖς καὶ ταῖς πραγματικαῖς in his
in
remp. Kroll I pp. 163—177. There is a touch of something like filial love and piety in what Plato says of Homer in this passage, and we may well believe that he did not part company with the friend of his childhood without pain. From the way in which Plato here speaks, it looks as if he feared that his heart might after all get the better of his head (cf. infra 605 C, D, 606 B, 607 C ff.), and consequently tried by new and deeper arguments to provide an ‘antidote’ (
φάρμακον, or
ἐπῳδή 608 A) for himself as well as others (so also Hirmer l.c. p. 626).
τῶν καλῶν κτλ.
καλῶν is of course ironical. For the sense cf. 598 D, 602 B, 607 A,
Theaet. 152 E
οἱ <*>κροι τῆς ποιήσεως ἑκατέρας, κωμῳδίας μὲν Ἐπίχαρμος, τραγῳδίας δὲ Ὅμηρος and ib. 153 A, with Arist.
Poet. 4. 1448^{b} 35 ff., 5. 1449^{b} 16 ff. It will be remembered that Aeschylus called his dramas
τεμάχη τῶν Ὁμήρου μεγάλων δείπνων (Athen. VIII 347 E). Herwerden, quite without reason, so far as I can see, brackets
τῶν τραγικῶν. It is unkind of Aristotle to purloin this sentiment in order to introduce his attack on Plato's theory of Ideas in
Eth. Nic. I 4. 1096^{a} 11 ff., and Plato might well complain, in the words of Aeschylus,
τάδ’ οὐχ ὑπ’ ἄλλων, ἀλλὰ τοῖς αὑτῶν πτεροῖς. To read
ἁνήρ for
ἀνήρ, as has been proposed, would make a general statement particular, and spoil the antithesis between
ἀνήρ and
ἀληθείας. The reference in
ὃ λέγω is to
ῥητέον in line 11 above: cf. VII 541 B.
μίμησιν κτλ.
In III 392 C ff.,
μίμησις, in its application to Poetry, was regarded
primarily as a form of style or
λέζις, viz. the imitative or dramatic )( the narrative, and in this sense it included tragedy, comedy, and the strictly dramatic parts of epic and other poetry (394 C). But even in Book III
μίμησις and its cognate notions have sometimes a wider application (e.g. 401 B—402 C). The following discussion tries to define the essential meaning of
μίμησις in general by its relation to the Theory of Ideas. It should be noted that Poetry and Art were admitted to be
μιμήσεις in Plato's day: cf.
Laws 668 B
τοῦτό γε πᾶς ἂν ὁμολογοῖ περὶ τῆς μουσικῆς, ὅτι πάντα τὰ περὶ αὐτήν ἐστι ποιήματα μίμησίς τε καὶ ἀπεικασία, with
Xen.
Mem. III 10. 1
—8, Plato
Crat. 424 D
, 430 B (
τὰ ζῳγραφήματα —μιμήματα—πραγμάτων τινῶν, 434 A,
Soph. 266 D
),
Prot. 312 D
,
Critias 107 B et al. See also on III 392 C and cf. Stählin
Poesie in d. plat. Phil. p. 25. On the contrast between Plato's view of Imitation in Book X and that of Aristotle in his
Poetics, see Butcher
Theory of Poetry^{2} etc. pp. 115—152. Walter has justly remarked (
Gesch. d. Aesthetik im Altertum p. 442) that
μίμησις, with its question-begging connotation, was in many ways an unfortunate word by which to describe the essence of Art, though in view of what Aristotle made of it, I should not go so far as to say that ‘Imitation is an unproductive principle, and dries up aesthetic life’ (ib.). If Poetry, and not Painting and Statuary, had determined the Greek view of Art, we should probably hear more of Creation (
ποίησις), and less of Imitation, in ancient discussions on aesthetics; and it is difficult not to regret that Plato did not select a new and more fruitful point of view. See also on 598 A, B.
ἐπεὶ πολλὰ κτλ.
is neither arrogant nor rude, if we realise the situation: see on VII 532 E f.
