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diff --git a/old/ionbp10.txt b/old/ionbp10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9dc4aef --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ionbp10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1058 @@ +*********The Project Gutenberg Etext of Ion, by Plato*********** +#11 in our series by Plato + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by Sue Asscher <asschers@aia.net.au> + + + + + +ION + +by Plato + + + + +Translated by Benjamin Jowett + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +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 is delighted at the notion of being inspired, and acknowledges that he +is beside himself when he is performing;--his eyes rain tears and his hair +stands on end. Socrates is of opinion that a man must be mad who behaves +in this way at a festival when he is surrounded by his friends and there is +nothing to trouble him. Ion is confident that Socrates would never think +him mad if he could only hear his embellishments of Homer. Socrates asks +whether he can speak well about everything in Homer. 'Yes, indeed he can.' +'What about things of which he has no knowledge?' Ion answers that he can +interpret anything in Homer. But, rejoins Socrates, when 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 +festival? + +ION: O yes; and of all sorts of musical performers. + +SOCRATES: And were you one of the competitors--and did you succeed? + +ION: I obtained the first prize of all, Socrates. + +SOCRATES: Well done; and I hope that you will do the same for us at the +Panathenaea. + +ION: And I will, please heaven. + +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. And no man can be a rhapsode who +does not understand the meaning of the poet. For the rhapsode ought to +interpret the mind of the poet to his hearers, but how can he interpret him +well unless he knows what he means? All this is greatly to be envied. + +ION: Very true, Socrates; interpretation has certainly been the most +laborious part of my art; and I believe myself able to speak about Homer +better than any man; and that neither Metrodorus of Lampsacus, nor +Stesimbrotus of Thasos, nor Glaucon, nor any one else who ever was, had as +good ideas about Homer as I have, or as many. + +SOCRATES: I am glad to hear you say so, Ion; I see that you will not +refuse to acquaint me with them. + +ION: Certainly, Socrates; and you really ought to hear how exquisitely I +render Homer. I think that the Homeridae should give me a golden crown. + +SOCRATES: I shall take an opportunity of hearing your embellishments of +him at some other time. But just now I should like to ask you a question: +Does your art extend to Hesiod and Archilochus, or to Homer only? + +ION: To Homer only; he is in himself quite enough. + +SOCRATES: Are there any things about which Homer and Hesiod agree? + +ION: Yes; in my opinion there are a good many. + +SOCRATES: And can you interpret better what Homer says, or what Hesiod +says, about these matters in which they agree? + +ION: I can interpret them equally well, Socrates, where they agree. + +SOCRATES: But what about matters in which they do not agree?--for example, +about divination, of which both Homer and Hesiod have something to say,-- + +ION: Very true: + +SOCRATES: Would you or a good prophet be a better interpreter of what +these two poets say about divination, not only when they agree, but when +they disagree? + +ION: A prophet. + +SOCRATES: And if you were a prophet, would you not be able to interpret +them when they disagree as well as when they agree? + +ION: Clearly. + +SOCRATES: But how did you come to have this skill about Homer only, and +not about Hesiod or the other poets? Does not Homer speak of the same +themes which all other poets handle? Is not war his great argument? and +does he not speak of human society and of intercourse of men, good and bad, +skilled and unskilled, and of the gods conversing with one another and with +mankind, and about what happens in heaven and in the world below, and the +generations of gods and heroes? Are not these the themes of which Homer +sings? + +ION: Very true, Socrates. + +SOCRATES: And do not the other poets sing of the same? + +ION: Yes, Socrates; but not in the same way as Homer. + +SOCRATES: What, in a worse way? + +ION: Yes, in a far worse. + +SOCRATES: And Homer in a better way? + +ION: He is incomparably better. + +SOCRATES: And yet surely, my dear friend Ion, in a discussion about +arithmetic, where many people are speaking, and one speaks better than the +rest, there is somebody who can judge which of them is the good speaker? + +ION: Yes. + +SOCRATES: And he who judges of the good will be the same as he who judges +of the bad speakers? + +ION: The same. + +SOCRATES: And he will be the arithmetician? + +ION: Yes. + +SOCRATES: Well, and in discussions about the wholesomeness of food, when +many persons are speaking, and one speaks better than the rest, will he who +recognizes the better speaker be a different person from him who recognizes +the worse, or the same? + +ION: Clearly the same. + +SOCRATES: And who is he, and what is his name? + +ION: The physician. + +SOCRATES: And speaking generally, in all discussions in which the subject +is the same and many men are speaking, will not he who knows the good know +the bad speaker also? For if he does not know the bad, neither will he +know the good when the same topic is being discussed. + +ION: True. + +SOCRATES: Is not the same person skilful in both? + +ION: Yes. + +SOCRATES: And you say that Homer and the other poets, such as Hesiod and +Archilochus, speak of the same things, although not in the same way; but +the one speaks well and the other not so well? + +ION: Yes; and I am right in saying so. + +SOCRATES: And if you knew the good speaker, you would also know the +inferior speakers to be inferior? + +ION: That is true. + +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. + +ION: Yes. + +SOCRATES: And when any one acquires any other art as a whole, the same may +be said of them. Would you like me to explain my meaning, Ion? + +ION: Yes, indeed, Socrates; I very much wish that you would: for I love +to hear you wise men talk. + +SOCRATES: O that we were wise, Ion, and that you could truly call us so; +but you rhapsodes and actors, and the poets whose verses you sing, are +wise; whereas I am a common man, who only speak the truth. For consider +what a very commonplace and trivial thing is this which I have said--a +thing which any man might say: that when a man has acquired a knowledge of +a whole art, the enquiry into good and bad is one and the same. Let us +consider this matter; is not the art of painting a whole? + +ION: Yes. + +SOCRATES: And there are and have been many painters good and bad? + +ION: Yes. + +SOCRATES: And did you ever know any one who was skilful in pointing out +the excellences and defects of Polygnotus the son of Aglaophon, but +incapable of criticizing other painters; and when the work of any other +painter was produced, went to sleep and was at a loss, and had no ideas; +but when he had to give his opinion about Polygnotus, or whoever the +painter might be, and about him only, woke up and was attentive and had +plenty to say? + +ION: No indeed, I have never known such a person. + +SOCRATES: Or did you ever know of any one in sculpture, who was skilful in +expounding the merits of Daedalus the son of Metion, or of Epeius the son +of Panopeus, or of Theodorus the Samian, or of any individual sculptor; but +when the works of sculptors in general were produced, was at a loss and +went to sleep and had nothing to say? + +ION: No indeed; no more than the other. + +SOCRATES: And if I am not mistaken, you never met with any one among +flute-players or harp-players or singers to the harp or rhapsodes who was +able to discourse of Olympus or Thamyras or Orpheus, or Phemius the +rhapsode of Ithaca, but was at a loss when he came to speak of Ion of +Ephesus, and had no notion of his merits or defects? + +ION: I cannot deny what you say, Socrates. Nevertheless I am conscious in +my own self, and the world agrees with me in thinking that I do speak +better and have more to say about Homer than any other man. But I do not +speak equally well about others--tell me the reason of this. + +SOCRATES: I perceive, Ion; and I will proceed to explain to you what I +imagine to be the reason of this. 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. For all good poets, epic +as well as lyric, compose their beautiful poems not by art, but because +they are inspired and possessed. And as the Corybantian revellers when +they dance are not in their right mind, so the lyric poets are not in their +right mind when they are composing their beautiful strains: but when +falling under the power of music and metre they are inspired and possessed; +like Bacchic maidens who draw milk and honey from the rivers when they are +under the influence of Dionysus but not when they are in their right mind. +And the soul of the lyric poet does the same, as they themselves say; for +they tell us that they bring songs from honeyed fountains, culling them out +of the gardens and dells of the Muses; they, like the bees, winging their +way from flower to flower. And this is true. 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. Many are the noble words in which poets speak concerning the +actions of men; but like yourself when speaking about Homer, they do not +speak of them by any rules of art: they are simply inspired to utter that +to which the Muse impels them, and that only; and when inspired, one of +them will make dithyrambs, another hymns of praise, another choral strains, +another epic or iambic verses--and he who is good at one is not good at any +other kind of verse: for not by art does the poet sing, but by power +divine. Had he learned by rules of art, he would have known how to speak +not of one theme only, but of all; and therefore God takes away the minds +of poets, and uses them as his ministers, as he also uses diviners and holy +prophets, in order that we who hear them may know them to be speaking not +of themselves who utter these priceless words in a state of +unconsciousness, but that God himself is the speaker, and that through them +he is conversing with us. And Tynnichus the Chalcidian affords a striking +instance of what I am saying: he wrote nothing that any one would care to +remember but the famous paean which is in every one's mouth, one of the +finest poems ever written, simply an invention of the Muses, as he himself +says. For in this way the God would seem to indicate to us and not allow +us to doubt that these beautiful poems are not human, or the work of man, +but divine and the work of God; and that the poets are only the +interpreters of the Gods by whom they are severally possessed. Was not +this the lesson which the God intended to teach when by the mouth of the +worst of poets he sang the best of songs? Am I not right, Ion? + +ION: Yes, indeed, Socrates, I feel that you are; for your words touch my +soul, and I am persuaded that good poets by a divine inspiration interpret +the things of the Gods to us. + +SOCRATES: And you rhapsodists are the interpreters of the poets? + +ION: There again you are right. + +SOCRATES: Then you are the interpreters of interpreters? + +ION: Precisely. + +SOCRATES: I wish you would frankly tell me, Ion, what I am going to ask of +you: When you produce the greatest effect upon the audience in the +recitation of some striking passage, such as the apparition of Odysseus +leaping forth on the floor, recognized by the suitors and casting his +arrows at his feet, or the description of Achilles rushing at Hector, or +the sorrows of Andromache, Hecuba, or Priam,--are you in your right mind? +Are you not carried out of yourself, and does not your soul in an ecstasy +seem to be among the persons or places of which you are speaking, whether +they are in Ithaca or in Troy or whatever may be the scene of the poem? + +ION: That proof strikes home to me, Socrates. For I must frankly confess +that at the tale of pity my eyes are filled with tears, and when I speak of +horrors, my hair stands on end and my heart throbs. + +SOCRATES: Well, Ion, and what are we to say of a man who at a sacrifice or +festival, when he is dressed in holiday attire, and 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 the pilot we do not know by the +art of medicine? + +ION: Certainly not. + +SOCRATES: Nor do we know by the art of the carpenter that which we know by +the art of medicine? + +ION: Certainly not. + +SOCRATES: And this is true of all the arts;--that which we know with one +art we do not know with the other? But let me ask a prior question: You +admit that there are differences of arts? + +ION: Yes. + +SOCRATES: You would argue, as I should, that when one art is of one kind +of knowledge and another of another, they are different? + +ION: Yes. + +SOCRATES: Yes, surely; for if the subject of knowledge were the same, +there would be no meaning in saying that the arts were different,--if they +both gave the same knowledge. For example, I know that here are five +fingers, and you know the same. And if I were to ask whether I and you +became acquainted with this fact by the help of the same art of arithmetic, +you would acknowledge that we did? + +ION: Yes. + +SOCRATES: Tell me, then, what I was intending to ask you,--whether this +holds universally? Must the same art have the same subject of knowledge, +and different arts other subjects of knowledge? + +ION: That is my opinion, Socrates. + +SOCRATES: Then he who has no knowledge of a particular art will have no +right judgment of the sayings and doings of that art? + +ION: Very true. + +SOCRATES: Then which will be a better judge of the lines which you were +reciting from Homer, you or the charioteer? + +ION: The charioteer. + +SOCRATES: Why, yes, because you are a rhapsode and not a charioteer. + +ION: Yes. + +SOCRATES: And the art of the rhapsode is different from that of the +charioteer? + +ION: Yes. + +SOCRATES: And if a different knowledge, then a knowledge of different +matters? + +ION: True. + +SOCRATES: You know the passage in which Hecamede, the concubine of Nestor, +is described as giving to the wounded Machaon a posset, as he says, + +'Made with Pramnian wine; and she grated cheese of goat's milk with a +grater of bronze, and at his side placed an onion which gives a relish to +drink (Il.).' + +Now would you say that the art of the rhapsode or the art of medicine was +better able to judge of the propriety of these lines? + +ION: The art of medicine. + +SOCRATES: And when Homer says, + +'And she descended into the deep like a leaden plummet, which, set in the +horn of ox that ranges in the fields, rushes along carrying death among the +ravenous fishes (Il.),'-- + +will the art of the fisherman or of the rhapsode be better able to judge +whether these lines are rightly expressed or not? + +ION: Clearly, Socrates, the art of the fisherman. + +SOCRATES: Come now, suppose that you were to say to me: 'Since you, +Socrates, are able to assign different passages in Homer to their +corresponding arts, I wish that you would tell me what are the passages of +which the excellence ought to be judged by the prophet and prophetic art'; +and you will see how readily and truly I shall answer you. For there are +many such passages, particularly in the Odyssee; as, for example, the +passage in which Theoclymenus the prophet of the house of Melampus says to +the suitors:-- + +'Wretched men! what is happening to you? Your heads and your faces and +your limbs underneath are shrouded in night; and the voice of lamentation +bursts forth, and your cheeks are wet with tears. And the vestibule is +full, and the court is full, of ghosts descending into the darkness of +Erebus, and the sun has perished out of heaven, and an evil mist is spread +abroad (Od.).' + +And there are many such passages in the Iliad also; as for example in the +description of the battle near the rampart, where he says:-- + +'As they were eager to pass the ditch, there came to them an omen: a +soaring eagle, holding back the people on the left, bore a huge bloody +dragon in his talons, still living and panting; nor had he yet resigned the +strife, for he bent back and smote the bird which carried him on the breast +by the neck, and he in pain let him fall from him to the ground into the +midst of the multitude. And the eagle, with a cry, was borne afar on the +wings of the wind (Il.).' + +These are the sort of things which I should say that the prophet ought to +consider and determine. + +ION: And you are quite right, Socrates, in saying so. + +SOCRATES: Yes, Ion, and you are right also. And as I have selected from +the Iliad and Odyssee for you passages which describe the office of the +prophet and the physician and the fisherman, do you, who know Homer so much +better than I do, Ion, select for me passages which relate to the rhapsode +and the rhapsode's art, and which the rhapsode ought to examine and judge +of better than other men. + +ION: All passages, I should say, Socrates. + +SOCRATES: Not all, Ion, surely. Have you already forgotten what you were +saying? A rhapsode ought to have a better memory. + +ION: Why, what am I forgetting? + +SOCRATES: Do you not remember that you declared the art of the rhapsode to +be different from the art of the charioteer? + +ION: Yes, I remember. + +SOCRATES: And you admitted that being different they would have different +subjects of knowledge? + +ION: Yes. + +SOCRATES: Then upon your own showing the rhapsode, and the art of the +rhapsode, will not know everything? + +ION: I should exclude certain things, Socrates. + +SOCRATES: You mean to say that you would exclude pretty much the subjects +of the other arts. As he does not know all of them, which of them will he +know? + +ION: He will know what a man and what a woman ought to say, and what a +freeman and what a slave ought to say, and what a ruler and what a subject. + +SOCRATES: Do you mean that a rhapsode will know better than the pilot what +the ruler of a sea-tossed vessel ought to say? + +ION: No; the pilot will know best. + +SOCRATES: Or will the rhapsode know better than the physician what the +ruler of a sick man ought to say? + +ION: He will not. + +SOCRATES: But he will know what a slave ought to say? + +ION: Yes. + +SOCRATES: Suppose the slave to be a cowherd; the rhapsode will know better +than the cowherd what he ought to say in order to soothe the infuriated +cows? + +ION: No, he will not. + +SOCRATES: But he will know what a spinning-woman ought to say about the +working of wool? + +ION: No. + +SOCRATES: At any rate he will know what a general ought to say when +exhorting his soldiers? + +ION: Yes, that is the sort of thing which the rhapsode will be sure to +know. + +SOCRATES: Well, but is the art of the rhapsode the art of the general? + +ION: I am sure that I should know what a general ought to say. + +SOCRATES: Why, yes, Ion, because you may possibly have a knowledge of the +art of the general as well as of the rhapsode; and you may also have a +knowledge of horsemanship as well as of the lyre: and then you would know +when horses were well or ill managed. But suppose I were to ask you: By +the help of which art, Ion, do you know whether horses are well managed, by +your skill as a horseman or as a performer on the lyre--what would you +answer? + +ION: I should reply, by my skill as a horseman. + +SOCRATES: And if you judged of performers on the lyre, you would admit +that you judged of them as a performer on the lyre, and not as a horseman? + +ION: Yes. + +SOCRATES: And in judging of the general's art, do you judge of it as a +general or a rhapsode? + +ION: To me there appears to be no difference between them. + +SOCRATES: What do you mean? Do you mean to say that the art of the +rhapsode and of the general is the same? + +ION: Yes, one and the same. + +SOCRATES: Then he who is a good rhapsode is also a good general? + +ION: Certainly, Socrates. + +SOCRATES: And he who is a good general is also a good rhapsode? + +ION: No; I do not say that. + +SOCRATES: But you do say that he who is a good rhapsode is also a good +general. + +ION: Certainly. + +SOCRATES: And you are the best of Hellenic rhapsodes? + +ION: Far the best, Socrates. + +SOCRATES: And are you the best general, Ion? + +ION: To be sure, Socrates; and Homer was my master. + +SOCRATES: But then, Ion, what in the name of goodness can be the reason +why you, who are the best of generals as well as the best of rhapsodes in +all Hellas, go about as a rhapsode when you might be a general? Do you +think that the Hellenes want a rhapsode with his golden crown, and do not +want a general? + +ION: Why, Socrates, the reason is, that my countrymen, the Ephesians, are +the servants and soldiers of Athens, and do not need a general; and you and +Sparta are not likely to have me, for you think that you have enough +generals of your own. + +SOCRATES: My good Ion, did you never hear of Apollodorus of Cyzicus? + +ION: Who may he be? + +SOCRATES: One who, though a foreigner, has often been chosen their general +by the Athenians: and there is Phanosthenes of Andros, and Heraclides of +Clazomenae, whom they have also appointed to the command of their armies +and to other offices, although aliens, after they had shown their merit. +And will they not choose Ion the Ephesian to be their general, and honour +him, if he prove himself worthy? Were not the Ephesians originally +Athenians, and Ephesus is no mean city? But, indeed, Ion, if you are +correct in saying that by art and knowledge you are able to praise Homer, +you do not deal fairly with me, and after all your professions of knowing +many glorious things about Homer, and promises that you would exhibit them, +you are only a deceiver, and so far from exhibiting the art of which you +are a master, will not, even after my repeated entreaties, explain to me +the nature of it. You have literally as many forms as Proteus; and now you +go all manner of ways, twisting and turning, and, like Proteus, become all +manner of people at once, and at last slip away from me in the disguise of +a general, in order that you may escape exhibiting your Homeric lore. And +if you have art, then, as I was saying, in falsifying your promise that you +would exhibit Homer, you are not dealing fairly with me. But if, as I +believe, you have no art, but speak all these beautiful words about Homer +unconsciously under his inspiring influence, then I acquit you of +dishonesty, and shall only say that you are inspired. Which do you prefer +to be thought, dishonest or inspired? + +ION: There is a great difference, Socrates, between the two alternatives; +and inspiration is by far the nobler. + +SOCRATES: Then, Ion, I shall assume the nobler alternative; and attribute +to you in your praises of Homer inspiration, and not art. + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Ion, by Plato + diff --git a/old/ionbp10.zip b/old/ionbp10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7e06a0d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ionbp10.zip |