Ion

Literapedia Book Notes for
=//Ion// by Plato=

Characters

 * **Socrates**—a man searching for truth
 * **Ion**--a rhapsode

Background to "Ion"

 * 1) Investigates the relationship between artists and their art.
 * 2) A rhapsode dramatically recited poetry (especially the works of Homer) for a living.
 * 3) Ion was a rhapsode and also professionally lectured on Homer.

Part 1: Is Ion’s Skill Genuine? (1-66)

 * 1) Ion claims to be an expert on Homer but not to understand other poetry.
 * 2) Socrates refutes this: "when a man has acquired a knowledge of a whole art [skill], the enquiry into good and bad is one and the same" (57).

Part 2: Poetic Inspiration (67-80)

 * 1) Socrates suggests that artists are inspired by the gods.
 * 2) Since performers are interpreters of the art, the inspiration extends to them, too.
 * 3) "The answer is that you praise Homer not by art but by divine inspiration" (80).

Part 3: Testing the Theory (81-179)

 * 1) Socrates asserts that the best interpreter of technical passages from Homer would be one knowledgeable in that skill.
 * 2) Ion just can’t let go of some stupid ideas—like good poets would make good generals.

Book Note Creator
Hal Waller, instructor