Ion | Page 8

has golden
crowns upon his head, of which nobody has robbed him, appears
weeping or panic-stricken in the presence of more than twenty
thousand friendly faces, when there is no one despoiling or wronging
him;--is he in his right mind or is he not?
ION: No indeed, Socrates, I must say that, strictly speaking, he is not in
his right mind.
SOCRATES: And are you aware that you produce similar effects on
most of the spectators?
ION: Only too well; for I look down upon them from the stage, and
behold the various emotions of pity, wonder, sternness, stamped upon
their countenances when I am speaking: and I am obliged to give my
very best attention to them; for if I make them cry I myself shall laugh,
and if I make them laugh I myself shall cry when the time of payment
arrives.
SOCRATES: Do you know that the spectator is the last of the rings
which, as I am saying, receive the power of the original magnet from
one another? The rhapsode like yourself and the actor are intermediate
links, and the poet himself is the first of them. Through all these the
God sways the souls of men in any direction which he pleases, and
makes one man hang down from another. Thus there is a vast chain of
dancers and masters and under- masters of choruses, who are
suspended, as if from the stone, at the side of the rings which hang
down from the Muse. And every poet has some Muse from whom he is
suspended, and by whom he is said to be possessed, which is nearly the

same thing; for he is taken hold of. And from these first rings, which
are the poets, depend others, some deriving their inspiration from
Orpheus, others from Musaeus; but the greater number are possessed
and held by Homer. Of whom, Ion, you are one, and are possessed by
Homer; and when any one repeats the words of another poet you go to
sleep, and know not what to say; but when any one recites a strain of
Homer you wake up in a moment, and your soul leaps within you, and
you have plenty to say; for not by art or knowledge about Homer do
you say what you say, but by divine inspiration and by possession; just
as the Corybantian revellers too have a quick perception of that strain
only which is appropriated to the God by whom they are possessed, and
have plenty of dances and words for that, but take no heed of any other.
And you, Ion, when the name of Homer is mentioned have plenty to
say, and have nothing to say of others. You ask, 'Why is this?' The
answer is that you praise Homer not by art but by divine inspiration.
ION: That is good, Socrates; and yet I doubt whether you will ever
have eloquence enough to persuade me that I praise Homer only when I
am mad and possessed; and if you could hear me speak of him I am
sure you would never think this to be the case.
SOCRATES: I should like very much to hear you, but not until you
have answered a question which I have to ask. On what part of Homer
do you speak well?--not surely about every part.
ION: There is no part, Socrates, about which I do not speak well: of
that I can assure you.
SOCRATES: Surely not about things in Homer of which you have no
knowledge?
ION: And what is there in Homer of which I have no knowledge?
SOCRATES: Why, does not Homer speak in many passages about arts?
For example, about driving; if I can only remember the lines I will
repeat them.
ION: I remember, and will repeat them.
SOCRATES: Tell me then, what Nestor says to Antilochus, his son,
where he bids him be careful of the turn at the horserace in honour of
Patroclus.
ION: 'Bend gently,' he says, 'in the polished chariot to the left of them,
and urge the horse on the right hand with whip and voice; and slacken
the rein. And when you are at the goal, let the left horse draw near, yet

so that the nave of the well-wrought wheel may not even seem to touch
the extremity; and avoid catching the stone (Il.).'
SOCRATES: Enough. Now, Ion, will the charioteer or the physician be
the better judge of the propriety of these lines?
ION: The charioteer, clearly.
SOCRATES: And will the reason be that this is his art, or will there be
any other reason?
ION: No, that will be the reason.
SOCRATES: And every art is appointed by God to have knowledge of
a certain work; for that which we know by the art of