Socrates’ Poetic Transformation of Odysseus

Authors

  • Nicholas Janszen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.1992.13.0.309-339

Abstract

The traditional stories that we are told in our formative years inform our understanding of justice. In Books II and III of The Republic, Socrates presents a system of poetic education for the fictional guardians of the city in speech by juxtaposing what has been said by poets such as Homer with what should be said to young men who would become good citizens. Through the process of comparing what has been said to what should be said, Socrates establishes for his interlocutors a fundamentally new teaching on justice and citizenship. Socrates interprets Homer such that listeners already familiar with Homer might reexamine their understanding of Greek myths, and thereby come to accept rule founded in reason as preferable to rule founded in force or deceit.

References

Homer. 1951. The Iliad, trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Homer. 1967. The Odyssey, trans. Richmond Lattimore. New York: Harper and Row.

Plato. 1968. The Republic, trans. Allan Bloom. New York: Basic Books, Inc.

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Published

1992-11-01

Issue

Section

Articles