Socrates basically discarded most of Homer's work while forming his ideal city, but in other dialogues, he quoted Homer to support his own arguments. If Socrates believed that Homer wrote false, immoral stories, Socrates' use of Homeric poetry seems illogical and inconsistent. After reading the allegory of the cave, I wonder if Socrates might have had a deliberate reason for quoting Homer. He talked about the necessity of seeing shadows and reflections before seeing real things. If poetry is a shadow or reflection, perhaps Socrates was using truth found in Homer's works to lead people from the darkness of ignorance to the light of goodness and knowledge. Maybe this was one of his steps up from the cave.
This is just conjecture. I welcome anyone closer to the light to show me where I am wrong. Don't worry - I promise there will be no threats of hemlock involved in my response. :)
I commented on Samuel Weeks' post.
In my opinion, Socrates used Homer to prove his points because everyone else believed Homer's writings. I still hold firm to my conviction that Socrates, and Plato, want to kick the poets out of the city. I don't think Socrates ever believes what Homer said but instead used Homer to further his argument.
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ReplyDeleteI'm still trying to sort this out myself. Why would he use the very methods that he ends up rejecting at the end of his project? Why use fiction to make a point if you're opposed to all fiction in principle? Surely Socrates isn't oblivious to the apparent contradiction.
ReplyDelete-Dr. Schuler