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Poetry was central to the development of Greek culture. From an early age, Grecians
would practice reciting poetry in school and at home. The founding principles of Greek society
and the morals it came to champion were heavily influenced by the artists of the era, who moved
the hearts of the people with visionary poetry. Plato made this a matter of contention, for he
believed that art encouraged people to pursue empty appearances over thought, and represented
energy wasted creating pointless imitations of beauty that could have been spent inquiring as to
the nature of why things are beautiful. Plato desired a level of intellectual purity in his Republic,
and sought a city-state where the highest pursuit was philosophical, and he saw no place for
poets whose verses served only the purpose of entertainment.
Plato was highly critical of Greece’s high praise for art, for he believed that the artist
“was typically not the ideal moral character in any society, and thus should not have been in
charge of dictating moral grounds or developing cultural norms” (Grant 2011). In fact, artists
didn’t serve any role in his ideological community, a sentiment he makes apparent with a harsh
example in The Republic, with his hypothetical:
“... if a man, who through clever training can become anything and imitate anything,
should arrive in our city, wanting to give a performance of his poems, we should bow
down before him as someone holy, wonderful, and pleasing, but we should tell him that
there is no one like him in our city and that it isn't lawful for there to be” (The Republic
398a).
Plato continues on, describing how he would then ridicule and exile the artist.
Puzzling as it may seem, his disdain towards poets and artists is consistent with his
philosophy of Form. To Plato, everything that existed in material reality was inferior to the realm
of Form: perfect, unchanging ideals untouched by time and space, that can only be
Poetry was central to the development of Greek culture. From an early age, Grecians
would practice reciting poetry in school and at home. The founding principles of Greek society
and the morals it came to champion were heavily influenced by the artists of the era, who moved
the hearts of the people with visionary poetry. Plato made this a matter of contention, for he
believed that art encouraged people to pursue empty appearances over thought, and represented
energy wasted creating pointless imitations of beauty that could have been spent inquiring as to
the nature of why things are beautiful. Plato desired a level of intellectual purity in his Republic,
and sought a city-state where the highest pursuit was philosophical, and he saw no place for
poets whose verses served only the purpose of entertainment.
Plato was highly critical of Greece’s high praise for art, for he believed that the artist
“was typically not the ideal moral character in any society, and thus should not have been in
charge of dictating moral grounds or developing cultural norms” (Grant 2011). In fact, artists
didn’t serve any role in his ideological community, a sentiment he makes apparent with a harsh
example in The Republic, with his hypothetical:
“... if a man, who through clever training can become anything and imitate anything,
should arrive in our city, wanting to give a performance of his poems, we should bow
down before him as someone holy, wonderful, and pleasing, but we should tell him that
there is no one like him in our city and that it isn't lawful for there to be” (The Republic
398a).
Plato continues on, describing how he would then ridicule and exile the artist.
Puzzling as it may seem, his disdain towards poets and artists is consistent with his
philosophy of Form. To Plato, everything that existed in material reality was inferior to the realm
of Form: perfect, unchanging ideals untouched by time and space, that can only be
