The Poetics of Philosophical Language: Plato, Poets and Presocratics in the 'Republic' (Studies in the Recovery of Ancient Texts)

Cover......Page 1
Acknowledgments......Page 6
Contents......Page 8
1.1 Plato and the Presocratics: Old and new problems......Page 10
1.2 The language problem......Page 15
1.3 The literary and the philosophical in Plato: Philosophy against poetry......Page 17
1.4 The poetics of philosophical language......Page 21
1.5 The Republic’s main motifs: Mixture, diversity and purity......Page 24
1.6 Philosophy, poetry, painting and the poikilia-motif......Page 27
1.7 The Republic’s interlocutors......Page 35
1.8 Plato and Post-Platonic problems about language......Page 39
Section One: The Theory......Page 44
1. Aims and perspectives......Page 46
2. Poetics......Page 51
3. Mythos and eikõn......Page 67
4.1 Poikilia and images......Page 73
4.2 Eikones in Gorgias’ Helen......Page 74
4.3 Definition of Platonic imagery......Page 78
5.1. Platonic Eikones: A homoiõsis?......Page 87
5.2 Dramatization of language: the theory......Page 99
5.3 Metaphoric language......Page 103
Section Two: The Republic......Page 116
1.1 Introduction......Page 118
1.2 The “two waves” of the argument......Page 120
1.2.1 The first wave of argument: women in the guardians’ agele˜......Page 125
1.2.2 The second wave of argument: the guardians’ mixis and class purity......Page 133
1.2.3 The third wave of argument......Page 145
2.1 Glaucon......Page 151
2.2 The third wave again......Page 164
2.2.1 Part one: the mixed style......Page 172
2.2.2 Part two: the cleansed style......Page 176
2.2.3 Part three: the imagistic style......Page 182
3.1 The poets’ eikones in the Republic......Page 186
3.2.1 Images of human nature......Page 197
3.2.2 The way to the Form of the Good......Page 203
3.2.3 Plato’s eikones: The Image of the Sun......Page 209
4.1 Adeimantus’ philosophers......Page 224
4.2 Human nature, “true” philosophers and “false” philosophers......Page 229
4.3 The poetics of the unjust in Books 8 and 9......Page 238
4.4.1 Democracy......Page 248
4.4.2 Tyranny......Page 252
5. Conclusion. ‘Viewing’ the skiagraphia......Page 264
Bibliography......Page 276
Index......Page 300