Plato's Four Muses : the Phaedrus and the poetics of philosophy / Andrea Capra.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Capra, Andrea, 1971- author.

Contributor:

Center for Hellenic Studies (Washington, D.C.)

Series:

Hellenic studies ; 67.

Hellenic Studies ; 67

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Plato. Phaedrus.

Plato.

Plato. Dialogues.

Plato--Criticism and interpretation.

Poetics--History--To 1500.

Poetics.

History.

Criticism and interpretation.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 234 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Center for Hellenic Studies, 2014.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Plato's Four Muses reconstructs Plato's authorial self-portrait through a fresh reading of the Phaedrus, with an Introduction and Conclusion that contextualize the construction more broadly. The reference to four Muses in the myth of the cicadas is read as a hint of the "ingredients" of philosophical discourse, which Plato sets against the Greek tradition of poetic initiations and conceptualizes as a form of provocatively old-fasioned 'mousikē'. The book unravels three surprising features that define Plato's works. First, there is a measure of anti-intellectualism: Plato counters the rationalistic excesses of other forms of discourse, thus distinguishing his own words from both prose and poetry; second, Plato envisages a new beginning for philosophy: he conceptualizes the birth of Socratic dialogue in, and against, the Pythagorean tradition, with an emphasis on the new role of writing and on the cult of Socrates in the Academy; finally, a self-consciously ambivalent attitude emerges with respect to the social function of the dialogues. Plato's works are conceived both as a kind of "resistance literature" and as a preliminary move towards the new poetry of the Kallipolis.

Contents:

1 Terpsichore. Socrates' Palinode in the Phaedrus 25

Plato's Stesichorus 28

The Divine Turn 30

The Palinode: Socrates' Re-Vision 35

Socrates' Performance 40

Socrates vis-à-vis Stesichorus: Verse and Muses 43

Stesichorus' Shadow 48

Conclusions 53

Endnote: New "Facts" 54

2 Erato. Erotic Rhetoric: Sappho's Helen and the Plane-Tree 57

Gorgias' and Isocrates' Helen 60

Helen's Tree 65

Plato's Sappho 69

Plato's Hymn to Memory 72

Sappho's Helen 75

The "Mother" of Socrates' Speech 80

Mobilizing the Poetry of the Past 82

Conclusions 85

Endnote: New "Facts" 86

3 Calliope and Ourania. The Initiation to Dialogue 89

Mimesis and Errthousiasmos: A Very Short Introduction 91

Averting Voetic "Termination": Socrates and Thamyris 103

The Gift of the Muses 106

Conclusions 115

Endnote: New "facts" 116

4 The Muses and the Tree. The Academy and the Heroization of Socrates 119

Praying to Pan: The Riddle 123

The Gift of Poetry 127

Heroism in the Making 129

The Cult of Socrates in the Academy 134

Socratic Monuments 139

Conclusions 147

Endnote: New "Facts" 147

Conclusion 149

Socrates' Anti-Intellectualism 150

The Death of Socrates and the Birth of Philosophical Writing 156

The Status of Plato's Dialogues 167

Appendix. Plato's Self-Disclosures: A Discussion of Gaiser's Interpretation 175

Four Self-Disclosures 175

A Possible Objection 181

Reductio ad Duo: Plato's Seriocomic Poetry 185.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Capra, Andrea, 1971- Plato's Four Muses

OCLC:

940832561

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.