Plato on Poetry: Ion; Republic 376e 398b9; Republic 595 608b10 - Paperback

by Plato (Author), Penelope Murray (Editor), P. E. Easterling (Editor)

This is a commentary on selected texts of Plato concerned with poetry: the Ion and relevant sections of the Republic. It is the first commentary to present these texts together in one volume, and the first in English on Republic 2 and 3 and Ion for nearly 100 years. The introduction sets Plato's views in their Greek context and outlines their influence on later aesthetic thought. An important feature of the commentary is its exploration of the ambivalence of Plato's pronouncements through an analysis of his own skill as a writer.