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10 - The Republic - Plato · The Philosophy Insights Collection

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Book three, Part two. Enough of the subjects of poetry. Let us
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now speak of the style, and when this has been considered, both matter
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and manner will have been completely treated. I do not understand what you mean,
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said Adamantus. Then I must make you understand, and perhaps I may
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be more intelligible if I put the matter this way. You are aware.
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I suppose that all mythology in poetry is a narration of events, either past,
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present or to come. Certainly, he replied, And narration may be
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either simple narration or imitation, or union of the two. That again,
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he said, I do not quite understand. I fear that I must be
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a ridiculous teacher when I have so much difficulty in making myself apprehended, like
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a bad speaker. Therefore, I will not take the whole of the subject,
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but will break a piece off in illustration of my meaning. You know
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the first lines of the Iliad, in which the poet says that Chrisus prayed
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Agamemnon to release his daughter, and that Agamemnon flew into a passion with him,
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whereupon Creesus, failing of his object, invoked the anger of the God
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against the Achaeans. Now, as far as these lines, and he prayed
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all the Greeks, but especially the two sons of Atreus, the chiefs of
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the people. The poet is speaking in his own person. He never leads
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us to suppose that he is any one else. But in what follows he
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takes the person of Chrisus, and then he does all that he can to
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make us believe that the speaker is not Homer but the aged priest himself.
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And in this double form he has cast the entire narrative of the events which
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occurred at Troy and in Ithaca and throughout the Odyssey. Yes, and a
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narrative it remains, both in the speeches which the poet recides from time to
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time and any intermediate passages. Quite true. But when the poet speaks in
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the person of another, may we not say that he assimilates his style to
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that of the person who, as he informs you, is going to speak.
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Certainly, and this assimilation of himself to another, either by the use
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of voice or gesture, is the imitation of the person whose character he assumes.
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Of course, then in this case the narrative of the poet may be
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said to proceed by way of imitation. Very true. Or if the poet
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everywhere appears and never conceals himself, then again the imitation is dropped, and
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his poetry becomes simple narration. However, in order that I may make my
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meaning quite clear, and that you may no more say I don't understand,
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I will show how the change might be effected. If Homer had said,
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the priest came having his daughter's ransom in his hands, supplicating the Achaeans and
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above all the kings. And then if instead of speaking in the person of
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crisis, he had continued in his own person, the words would have been
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not imitation but simple narration. The passage would have run as follows, I
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am no poet, and therefore I dropped the meter. The priests came and
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prayed the gods on behalf of the Greeks, that they might capture Troy and
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return safely home, but begged that they would give him back his daughter and
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take the ransom which he wrought, and respect the god. Thus he spoke,
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and the other Greeks revered the priests and assented, But Agamemnon was wroth
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and bade him depart and not come again, lest the staff and chaplets of
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the God should be of no veil to him. The daughter of crises should
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not be released. He said she should grow old with him in Argos.
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And then he told him to go away and not provoke him if he intended
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to get home unscathed. And the old man went away in fear and silence.
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And when he had left the camp, he called upon Apollo by his
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many names, reminding him of everything which he had done pleasing to him,
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whether in building his temples or in offering sacrifices, and praying that his good
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deeds might be returned to him, and that the Achaeans might expiate his tears
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by the arrows of the God, and so on. In this way the
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whole becomes simple narrative. I understand, he said. Or you may suppose
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the opposite case, that the intermediate passages are omitted and the dialog only left.
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That also, he said, I understand you mean, for example,
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as in tragedy, you have conceived my meaning perfectly. And if I mistake
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not, what you fail to apprehend before is now made clear to you that
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poetry and mythology are in some cases wholly imitative. Instances of these are supplied
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by tragedy and comedy. There is likewise the opposite style, in which the
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poet is the only speaker. Of this the dithoram affords the best example,
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and the combination of both is found in epic and in several other styles of
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poetry. Do I take you with me? Yes? He said, I
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see now what you meant. I will ask you to remember also what I
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began by saying that we had done with a subject and might proceed to this
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style. Yes, I remember. In saying this, I intended to imply
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that we must come to an understanding about the mimetic art. Whether the poets,
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in narrating their stories, are to be allowed by us to imitate,
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and if so, whether in whole or in part, and if the latter,
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in what parts? Or should all imitation be prohibited? You mean I
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suspect to ask whether tragedy and comedy shall be admitted into our state? Yes,
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I said, But there may be more than this in question. I
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really do not know as yet. But whither the argument may blow, thither
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we go, and go we will? He said, Then, adamantus,
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let me ask you whether our guardians ought to be imitators, or rather,
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has not this question been decided by the rule already laid down that one man
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can only do one thing well, and not many, and that if he
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attempt many, he will altogether fail of gaining much reputation in any Certainly,
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and this is equally true of imitation. No one man can imitate many things
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as well as he would imitate a single one. He cannot, then the
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same person will hardly be able to play a serious part in life and at
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the same time be an imitator and imitate many other parts as well. For
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even when two species of imitation are nearly allied, the same person cannot succeed
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in both. As for example, the writers of tragedy in comedy. Did
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you not just now call them imitations? Yes? I did, And you
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are right in thinking that the same persons cannot succeed in both any more that
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they can be rhapsodist in actors at once. True, neither are comic and
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tragic actors the same. Yet all these things are but imitations. They are
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so, and human nature adeimantus appears to have been coined into yet smaller pieces,
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and to be as incapable of imitating many things well as of performing well
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the actions of which the imitations are copies. Quite true, he replied,
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if then we adhere to our original notion, and bear in mind that our
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guardians, setting aside every other business, are to dedicate themselves wholly to the
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maintenance of freedom in the state, making this their craft, and engaging in
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no work which does not bear on this end. They ought not to practice
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or imitate anything else. If they imitate at all, they should imitate from
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youth upward only those characters which are suitable to their profession, the courageous,
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temperate, holy, free, and the like. But they should not depict
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or be skillful at imitating any kind of illiberality or baseness, lest from imitation
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they should come to be what they imitate. Did you never observe how imitations,
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beginning in early youth, and continuing far into life, at length grown
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to habit and become a second nature, affecting body, voice, and mind.
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Yes, certainly, he said. Then, I said, we will
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not allow those for whom we profess a care and of whom we say they
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ought to be good men, to imitate. A woman, whether young or
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old, quarreling with her husband or striving and vaunting against the gods in conceit
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of her happiness, or when she is in affliction or sorrow or weeping,
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And certainly not one who is in sickness, love, or labor. Very
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right, he said. Neither must they represent slaves, male or female,
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performing the offices of slaves. They must not, and surely not bad men,
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whether cowards, or any others who do the reverse of what we have
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just been prescribing, who scold or mock or revile one another in drink or
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out of drink, or who in any other manner sin against themselves and their
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neighbors in word or deed, as the manner of such is. Neither should
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they be trained to imitate the action or speech of men or women who are
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mad or bad, For madness like vice, is to be known, but
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not to be practiced or imitated. Very true, he replied. Neither may
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they imitate smeths or other artificers, or oarsmon or Bosun's or the like.
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How can they, he said, when they are not allowed to apply their
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minds to the calling of any of these. Nor may they imitate the neighing
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of horses, the bellowing of bulls, the murmur of rivers, and roll
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of the ocean, thunder and all that sort of thing. Nay, he
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said, if madness be forbidden, neither may they copy the behavior of mad
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men? You mean, I said, if I understand, you are right
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that there is one sort of narrative style which may be employed by a truly
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good man when he has anything to say, and that another sort will be
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used by a man of an opposite character and education. And which are these
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two sorts? He asked, Suppose I answered that a just and good man,
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in the course of a narration, comes upon some saying or action of
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another good man, I should imagine that he would like to personate him,
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and will not be ashamed of this sort of imitation. He will be most
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ready to play the part of a good man when he is acting firmly and
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wisely, in a less degree, when he is overtaken by illness or love
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or drink, or has met with any other disaster. But when he comes
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to a character which is unworthy of him, he will not make a study
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of that. He will disdain such a person, and will assume his likeness,
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if at all, for a moment, only when he is performing some
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good action. At other times he will be ashamed to play a part which
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he has never practiced, nor will he like to fashion and frame himself after
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the Baser models. He feels the employment of such an art unless in jest
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to be beneath him, and his mind revolts at it. So I should
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expect, he replied, Then he will adopt a mode of near such as
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we have illustrated out of Homer. That is to say, his style will
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be both imitative and narrative, but there will be very little of the former,
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and a great deal of the latter. Do you agree, certainly?
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He said? That is the model which such a speaker must necessarily take.
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But there is another sort of character who will narrate anything. And the worse
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he is, the more unscrupulous he will be. Nothing will be too bad
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for him, and he will be ready to imitate anything, not as a
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joke, but in right, good, earnest, and before a large company,
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as I was just now saying, he will attempt to represent the roll
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of thunder, the noise of wind and hail, or the creaking of wheels
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and pulleys, and the various sounds of flutes, pipes, trumpets, and
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all sorts of instruments. He will bark like a dog, bleat like a
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sheep or crow like a crock. His entire art will consist in imitation of
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voice and gesture, and there will be very little narration. That he said,
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will be his mode of speaking. These, then, are the two
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kinds of style, Yes, And would you agree with me in saying that
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one of them is simple and has but slight changes. And if the harmony
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and rhythm are also chosen for their simplicity, the result is that the speaker,
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if he speaks correctly, is always pretty much the same in style,
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and he will keep within the limits of a single harmony, for the changes
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are not great, and in like manner he will make use of nearly the
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same rhythm. That is quite true, he said, whereas the other requires
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all sorts of harmonies and all sorts of rhythms. If the music and the
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style are to correspond, because the style has all sorts of changes. That
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is also perfectly true, he replied. And do not the two styles,
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or the mixture of the two, comprehend all poetry and every form of expression
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in words? No one can say anything except in one or the other of
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them, or in both together. They include all, he said, And
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shall we receive into our state all the three styles, or one only of
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the two unmixed styles, or would you include the mixed I should prefer only
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to admit the pure imitator of virtue, yes, I said, adeimantus.
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But the mixed style is also very charming. And indeed, the pantomimic,
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which is the opposite of the one chosen by you, is the most popular
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style with children and their attendants, and with the world in general. I
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do not deny it. But I suppose you would argue that such a style
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is unsuitable to our state, in which human nature is not twofold or manifold,
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for one man plays one part only. Yes, quite unsuitable. And
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this is the reason why in our state, and in our state only,
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we shall find a shoemaker to be a shoemaker, and not a pilot also,
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and a husbandman to be a husbandman and not a dychist also, and
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a soldier a soldier and not a trader also, and the same throughout true,
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he said. And therefore, when any one of these pantomimic gentlemen,
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who are so clever that they can imitate anything, comes to us and makes
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a proposal to exhibit himself in his poetry, we will fall down and worship
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him as a sweet and holy and wonderful being. But we must also form
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him that in our states, such as he are not permitted to exist.
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The law will not allow them. And so when we have anointed him with
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murmer and set a garland of wool upon his head, we shall send him
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away to another city. For we mean to employ for our soul's health,
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the rougher and severer poet or story teller, who will imitate the style of
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the virtuous only, and will follow those models which we prescribed at first when
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we began the education of our soldiers. We certainly will, he said,
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if we have the power. Then now, my friend, I said,
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that part of music or literary education which relates to the story or myth may
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be considered to be finished, for the matter and manner have both been discussed.
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I think so too, he said, Next in order will follow melody
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and song. That is obvious. Every one can see already what we ought
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to say about them. If we are to be consistent with ourselves, I
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fear, said Glaucon, laughing that the word every one hardly includes me,
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for I cannot at the moment say what they should be, though I may
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guess at any rate you can tell me that a song or ode has three
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parts, the words, the melody, and the rhythm. That degree of
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knowledge I may presuppose, Yes, he said, so much as that you
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may. And as for the words, there will surely be no difference between
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words which are and which are not set to music. Both will conform to
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the same laws. And these have already been determined by us. Yes,
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And the melody and rhythm will depend upon the words. Certainly, we were
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saying when we spoke of the subject matter, that we had no need of
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lamentation and strains of sorrow? True, And which are the harmonies expressive of
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sorrow? You are musical and can tell me the harmonies which you mean are
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the mixed or tenor lydion and the full tone or base lydion, And such
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like these, then, I said, must be banished, even to women
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who have a character to maintain. They are of no use, and much
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less to men. Certainly, in the next place, drunkenness and softness and
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indolence are utterly unbecoming the character of our guardians, utterly unbecoming. And which
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are the softer drinking harmonies? Theeonian he replied, and the Lydian they are
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termed relaxed well, and are these of any military use? Quite the reverse,
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he replied, And if so, the Dorian and the Phrygian are the
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only ones which you have left, I answered. Of the harmonies, I
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know nothing, but I want to have one warlike to sound the note or
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accent which a brave man utters in the hour of danger and stern resolve,
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or when his cause is failing and he is going to wounds or death,
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or is overtaken by some other evil, and at every such crisis meets the
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blows of fortune with firm step and a determination to endure, and another to
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be used by him in times of peace and freedom of action, when there
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is no pressure of necessity, and he is seeking to persuade God by prayer,
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or man by instruction and admonition, or on the other hand, when
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he is expressing his willingness to yield to persuasion or entreaty or admonition, and
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which represents him when by prudent conduct he has attained his end, not carried
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away by his success, but acting moderately and wisely under the circumstances, and
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acquiescing in the event. These two harmonies. I ask you to leave the
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strain of necessity and the strain of freedom, the strain of the unfortunate and
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the strain of the fortunate, the strain of courage, and the strain of
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temperance. These I say leave. And these, he replied, are the
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Dorian and Phrygian harmonies of which I was just now speaking. Then I said,
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if these and these only are to be used in our songs and melodies,
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shall we not want multiplicity of notes or a panharmonic scale? I suppose
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not. Then we shall not maintain the artificers of liars with three corners and
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complex scales. Are the makers of any other many strained, curiously harmonized instruments?
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Certainly not. But what do you say to flute makers and flute players.
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Would you admit them into our state when you reflect that in this composite
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use of harmony, the flute is worse than all the stringed instruments put together.
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Even the panharmonic music is only an imitation of the flute. Clearly not.
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There remain only the lyre and the harp for use in the city,
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and the shepherds may have a pipe in the country. That is surely the
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conclusion to be drawn from the argument. The preferring of Apollo and his instruments
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to Marsius and his instruments is not at all strange, I said, Not
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at all, he replied, And so by the dog of Egypt we have
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been unconsciously purging the state which not long ago we termed luxurious, and we
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have done wisely. He said. Then let us now finish the purgation,
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I said next, in order to harmonies, rhythms will naturally follow, and
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they should be subject to the same rules. For we ought not to seek
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out complex cysterns of meter or meters of every kind, but rather to discover
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what rhythms are the expressions of a courageous and harmonious life. And when we
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have found them, we shall adopt the foot and the melody to words having
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a like spirit, not the words to the foot and melody. To say
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what these rhythms are will be your duty. You must teach me as you
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have already taught me the harmonies. But indeed, he replied, I cannot
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tell you. I only know that there are some three principles of rhythm out
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of which metrical systems are framed, just as in sounds. There are four
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notes, out of which all the harmonies are composed. That is an observation
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which I have made. But what sort of lives they are? Severally the
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imitations I am unable to say. Then I said, we must take Damon
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into our councils, and he will tell us what rhythms are expressive of meanness
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or insolence, or fury or other unworthiness, and what are to be reserved
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for the expression of opposite feelings. And I think that I have an indistinct
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recollection of his mentioning a complex cretic rhythm, also a dactylic or heroic.
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And he arranged them in some manner which I do not quite understand, making
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the rhythms equal in the rise and fall of the foot, long and short
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alternating, And unless I am mistaken, he spoke of an iambic as well
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as of a trochaic rhythm, and assign them the short and long qua quantities.
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Also, in some cases he appeared to praise or censure the movement of
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the foot quite as much as the rhythm, or perhaps a combination of the
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two, for I am not certain what he meant these matters. However,
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as I was saying had better be referred to Damon himself, for the analysis
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of the subject would be difficult, you know. Rather so I should say,
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But there is no difficulty in seeing that grace, or the absence of
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grace, is an effect of good or bad rhythm, none at all.
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Into Book three, Part two,