Ion (A)

(Originally Written November 23, 2016 in Book 26)

Two Comic Dialogues:
Ion and Hippias Major
Plato (Hackett, 1983)

Both Ion and Hippias Major are important early works dealing with Plato's ideas of poetry and beauty.

Ion is a raphsodie - a reciter of epic poems who performed at festivals and private events for hire. Ion recited the poems, but also explained them and in so doing proclaimed himself an expert in the knowledge they possess. This makes him a likely target for Socrates who goes around showing those who proclaim to be wise that they are unwise.

"Homer was revered in antiquity not merely as a maker of beautiful poems, but as a source of information (Woodruff, 6).

Socrates has very high standards for knowledge.

Knowledge is differentiated however by the Greek term techne - knowledge in a craft or professional knowledge.

Greek poetry claims to come from inspiration from the gods (muses). Both Homer and Hesiod claim inspiration in their works.

In the Greek mind, for a man to be successful he must have divine inspiration. That there were successful men proved inspiration. It is common place in the Greek world. "Inspiration is neither extraordinary nor supernatural in Homer's world" (Woodruff, 7).

Plato sees the poet's inspiration as the gods using the pet as a mere vessel. Poetry comes from a madness brought about by an interaction with the divine.

The man who tries to master poetry by techne alone will be out shined by "the poetry of madness".

But the idea of poetry coming from a divinely induced madness is false. Those who are mad cannot speak coherently, let alone produce poetry.

Why did Plato then put forth this theory? Possible reasons:
1. He is really trying to make an argument for its case.
2. He is attacking poetry
3. He is claiming that poets do not have knowledge when they produce poetry but that philosophers can translate the truth from poetic utterances to the public like priests can translate prophetic utterances made by the oracles who are possessed by the gods when they make said utterances.

Goethe thought Plato attacked poetry. The Renaissance thinkers preferred option one. Most modern scholars believe the third option is likely the best.

Plato does attack poetry, but he also enjoyed it, "we must not forget that the poetry Plato rejected in the Republic was something he deeply loved" (Woodruff, 9).

To possess Techne one must possess a mastery of all knowledge within a field. Ion knows Homer but does not have techne because he knows nothing but techne. Ion knows only through inspiration.

Ion is unable to distinguish between well made verses that are good because they are pleasing to the ear an well made verses because they are true.

Ion

Socrates calls Homer the best poet and the most divine.

Ion claims to be an expert on Homer, but not on the other poets.

Ion claims that while the poets discuss the some topics, Homer does it best.

Socrates forces Ion to admit that there is an art to poetry as a whole and because Ion cannot speak to it as a whole he speaks on Homer not from techne.