Ion | Page 4

Homer speaks of the arts, as for example, of
chariot-driving, or of medicine, or of prophecy, or of navigation--will
he, or will the charioteer or physician or prophet or pilot be the better
judge? Ion is compelled to admit that every man will judge of his own
particular art better than the rhapsode. He still maintains, however, that
he understands the art of the general as well as any one. 'Then why in
this city of Athens, in which men of merit are always being sought after,
is he not at once appointed a general?' Ion replies that he is a foreigner,
and the Athenians and Spartans will not appoint a foreigner to be their
general. 'No, that is not the real reason; there are many examples to the
contrary. But Ion has long been playing tricks with the argument; like
Proteus, he transforms himself into a variety of shapes, and is at last
about to run away in the disguise of a general. Would he rather be
regarded as inspired or dishonest?' Ion, who has no suspicion of the
irony of Socrates, eagerly embraces the alternative of inspiration.
The Ion, like the other earlier Platonic Dialogues, is a mixture of jest
and earnest, in which no definite result is obtained, but some Socratic
or Platonic truths are allowed dimly to appear.
The elements of a true theory of poetry are contained in the notion that
the poet is inspired. Genius is often said to be unconscious, or
spontaneous, or a gift of nature: that 'genius is akin to madness' is a
popular aphorism of modern times. The greatest strength is observed to
have an element of limitation. Sense or passion are too much for the
'dry light' of intelligence which mingles with them and becomes
discoloured by them. Imagination is often at war with reason and fact.

The concentration of the mind on a single object, or on a single aspect
of human nature, overpowers the orderly perception of the whole. Yet
the feelings too bring truths home to the minds of many who in the way
of reason would be incapable of understanding them. Reflections of
this kind may have been passing before Plato's mind when he describes
the poet as inspired, or when, as in the Apology, he speaks of poets as
the worst critics of their own writings--anybody taken at random from
the crowd is a better interpreter of them than they are of themselves.
They are sacred persons, 'winged and holy things' who have a touch of
madness in their composition (Phaedr.), and should be treated with
every sort of respect (Republic), but not allowed to live in a
well-ordered state. Like the Statesmen in the Meno, they have a divine
instinct, but they are narrow and confused; they do not attain to the
clearness of ideas, or to the knowledge of poetry or of any other art as a
whole.
In the Protagoras the ancient poets are recognized by Protagoras
himself as the original sophists; and this family resemblance may be
traced in the Ion. The rhapsode belongs to the realm of imitation and of
opinion: he professes to have all knowledge, which is derived by him
from Homer, just as the sophist professes to have all wisdom, which is
contained in his art of rhetoric. Even more than the sophist he is
incapable of appreciating the commonest logical distinctions; he cannot
explain the nature of his own art; his great memory contrasts with his
inability to follow the steps of the argument. And in his highest
moments of inspiration he has an eye to his own gains.
The old quarrel between philosophy and poetry, which in the Republic
leads to their final separation, is already working in the mind of Plato,
and is embodied by him in the contrast between Socrates and Ion. Yet
here, as in the Republic, Socrates shows a sympathy with the poetic
nature. Also, the manner in which Ion is affected by his own recitations
affords a lively illustration of the power which, in the Republic,
Socrates attributes to dramatic performances over the mind of the
performer. His allusion to his embellishments of Homer, in which he
declares himself to have surpassed Metrodorus of Lampsacus and
Stesimbrotus of Thasos, seems to show that, like them, he belonged to
the allegorical school of interpreters. The circumstance that nothing
more is known of him may be adduced in confirmation of the argument

that this truly Platonic little work is not a forgery of later times.
ION
by
Plato
Translated by Benjamin Jowett
PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE: Socrates, Ion.
SOCRATES: Welcome, Ion. Are you from your native city of
Ephesus?
ION: No, Socrates; but from Epidaurus, where I attended the festival of
Asclepius.
SOCRATES: And do the Epidaurians have contests of rhapsodes at the