BBL 3103 LITERARY THEORY FROM PLATO TO T. S. ELIOT DR. IDA BAIZURA BAHAR

GREEK CRITICISM: P LATO Plato was a philosopher in Classical Greece. He was also a mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Born: 427 BC, Athens Died: 347 BC, Athens Full name: Plato

GREEK CRITICISM: P LATO 01 Miscellaneous i. About Plato was the first systematic literary critic Wrote poems in his youth, but destroyed them under the influence of Socrates Interested in philosophy and maths instead Formed the Academy, where he instructed young men in philosophy and maths

01 M ISCELLANEOUS ii. Social conditions Athens was in decline; military and practical virtues were prized above all else Literature was considered immoral Philosophers enjoyed an exalted status, more so than poets > rationality praised more than inspiration

02 I MITATION i. Poiesis/ Mimesis Poiesis in its original form is a verb, meaning to create The origin of modern ‘poetry’ Plato equated poiesis with mimesis or imitation

02 I MITATION ii. World of abstractions, world of perception Plato believed in the existence of Ideas, that is the ideal form of earthly things The earthly things themselves were copies of Ideas Artistic renditions are then copies of copies Say F1 is the Ideal form of the flower, F2 the actual flower, and F3 the picture of a flower F1 < F2 < F3 F3 is twice removed from F1

02 I MITATION If Idea is Truth, then the artistic rendition is twice removed from Truth > Philosophy is all about seeking truth beyond perceptual appearances Plato was in the business of churning out young potential leaders from his Academy > If poets and artists were essentially liars, and given to passion/inspiration instead of rational thinking, then they would not be good role models for these young men

03 P OETIC I NSPIRATION i. Divine inspiration Plato also believed that artists/poets were divinely inspired They were prophets of sorts, channelling the divine The implication is that poetry is not rational > arises out of impulse and passion, not contemplative judgment

04 O BJECTION TO P OETRY i. Moral Poetry not conducive to social morality > poets narrate tales of vice Poets lie about gods > portray Greek gods as being immoral > if children imitate what they read, then they would become immoral too Drama is worse than poetry, for it appeals to man’s baser instincts

04 O BJECTION TO P OETRY ii. Emotional Poets are divinely inspired, and irrational > cannot be relied upon for moral guidance Being non-rational, poetry was ultimately useless > wisdom inherent within was vague Dramatic actors are steeped in further imitation > the characteristics they adopt become long-lasting > impairs personal moral refinement Poetry rouses the passions > leads to loss of balance Emphasis on the emotions of pity and grief > these emotions should be restrained

04 O BJECTION TO P OETRY iii. Intellectual Poets essentially liars, as they imitate imitations of the Ideal iv. Utilitarian Poetry is not functional > Neither ‘uses’ nor ‘makes’

05 L EGACY Through denigrating all art as imitations of imitations, Plato hints at the possibility of the artist drawing inspiration directly from the Ideal > the artist rendering not what is, but what could/should be Plato’s Ideal world hinted at a truth lying behind appearances > this in some way influenced modern Theory, which detects non-visible superstructures The classification of poetry > into dramatic and lyric