Ion
P >>
Plato >> Ion
ION: The charioteer, clearly.
SOCRATES: And will the reason be that this is his art, or will there be
any other reason?
ION: No, that will be the reason.
SOCRATES: And every art is appointed by God to have knowledge of a certain
work; for that which we know by the art of the pilot we do not know by the
art of medicine?
ION: Certainly not.
SOCRATES: Nor do we know by the art of the carpenter that which we know by
the art of medicine?
ION: Certainly not.
SOCRATES: And this is true of all the arts;--that which we know with one
art we do not know with the other? But let me ask a prior question: You
admit that there are differences of arts?
ION: Yes.
SOCRATES: You would argue, as I should, that when one art is of one kind
of knowledge and another of another, they are different?
ION: Yes.
SOCRATES: Yes, surely; for if the subject of knowledge were the same,
there would be no meaning in saying that the arts were different,--if they
both gave the same knowledge. For example, I know that here are five
fingers, and you know the same. And if I were to ask whether I and you
became acquainted with this fact by the help of the same art of arithmetic,
you would acknowledge that we did?
ION: Yes.
SOCRATES: Tell me, then, what I was intending to ask you,--whether this
holds universally? Must the same art have the same subject of knowledge,
and different arts other subjects of knowledge?
ION: That is my opinion, Socrates.
SOCRATES: Then he who has no knowledge of a particular art will have no
right judgment of the sayings and doings of that art?
ION: Very true.
SOCRATES: Then which will be a better judge of the lines which you were
reciting from Homer, you or the charioteer?
ION: The charioteer.
SOCRATES: Why, yes, because you are a rhapsode and not a charioteer.
ION: Yes.
SOCRATES: And the art of the rhapsode is different from that of the
charioteer?
ION: Yes.
SOCRATES: And if a different knowledge, then a knowledge of different
matters?
ION: True.
SOCRATES: You know the passage in which Hecamede, the concubine of Nestor,
is described as giving to the wounded Machaon a posset, as he says,
'Made with Pramnian wine; and she grated cheese of goat's milk with a
grater of bronze, and at his side placed an onion which gives a relish to
drink (Il.).'
Now would you say that the art of the rhapsode or the art of medicine was
better able to judge of the propriety of these lines?
ION: The art of medicine.
SOCRATES: And when Homer says,
'And she descended into the deep like a leaden plummet, which, set in the
horn of ox that ranges in the fields, rushes along carrying death among the
ravenous fishes (Il.),'--
will the art of the fisherman or of the rhapsode be better able to judge
whether these lines are rightly expressed or not?
ION: Clearly, Socrates, the art of the fisherman.
SOCRATES: Come now, suppose that you were to say to me: 'Since you,
Socrates, are able to assign different passages in Homer to their
corresponding arts, I wish that you would tell me what are the passages of
which the excellence ought to be judged by the prophet and prophetic art';
and you will see how readily and truly I shall answer you. For there are
many such passages, particularly in the Odyssee; as, for example, the
passage in which Theoclymenus the prophet of the house of Melampus says to
the suitors:--
'Wretched men! what is happening to you? Your heads and your faces and
your limbs underneath are shrouded in night; and the voice of lamentation
bursts forth, and your cheeks are wet with tears. And the vestibule is
full, and the court is full, of ghosts descending into the darkness of
Erebus, and the sun has perished out of heaven, and an evil mist is spread
abroad (Od.).'
And there are many such passages in the Iliad also; as for example in the
description of the battle near the rampart, where he says:--
'As they were eager to pass the ditch, there came to them an omen: a
soaring eagle, holding back the people on the left, bore a huge bloody
dragon in his talons, still living and panting; nor had he yet resigned the
strife, for he bent back and smote the bird which carried him on the breast
by the neck, and he in pain let him fall from him to the ground into the
midst of the multitude. And the eagle, with a cry, was borne afar on the
wings of the wind (Il.).'
These are the sort of things which I should say that the prophet ought to
consider and determine.
ION: And you are quite right, Socrates, in saying so.
SOCRATES: Yes, Ion, and you are right also. And as I have selected from
the Iliad and Odyssee for you passages which describe the office of the
prophet and the physician and the fisherman, do you, who know Homer so much
better than I do, Ion, select for me passages which relate to the rhapsode
and the rhapsode's art, and which the rhapsode ought to examine and judge
of better than other men.
ION: All passages, I should say, Socrates.
SOCRATES: Not all, Ion, surely. Have you already forgotten what you were
saying? A rhapsode ought to have a better memory.
ION: Why, what am I forgetting?
SOCRATES: Do you not remember that you declared the art of the rhapsode to
be different from the art of the charioteer?
ION: Yes, I remember.
SOCRATES: And you admitted that being different they would have different
subjects of knowledge?
ION: Yes.
SOCRATES: Then upon your own showing the rhapsode, and the art of the
rhapsode, will not know everything?
ION: I should exclude certain things, Socrates.
SOCRATES: You mean to say that you would exclude pretty much the subjects
of the other arts. As he does not know all of them, which of them will he
know?
ION: He will know what a man and what a woman ought to say, and what a
freeman and what a slave ought to say, and what a ruler and what a subject.
SOCRATES: Do you mean that a rhapsode will know better than the pilot what
the ruler of a sea-tossed vessel ought to say?
ION: No; the pilot will know best.
SOCRATES: Or will the rhapsode know better than the physician what the
ruler of a sick man ought to say?
ION: He will not.
SOCRATES: But he will know what a slave ought to say?
ION: Yes.
SOCRATES: Suppose the slave to be a cowherd; the rhapsode will know better
than the cowherd what he ought to say in order to soothe the infuriated
cows?
ION: No, he will not.
SOCRATES: But he will know what a spinning-woman ought to say about the
working of wool?
ION: No.
SOCRATES: At any rate he will know what a general ought to say when
exhorting his soldiers?
ION: Yes, that is the sort of thing which the rhapsode will be sure to
know.
SOCRATES: Well, but is the art of the rhapsode the art of the general?
ION: I am sure that I should know what a general ought to say.
SOCRATES: Why, yes, Ion, because you may possibly have a knowledge of the
art of the general as well as of the rhapsode; and you may also have a
knowledge of horsemanship as well as of the lyre: and then you would know
when horses were well or ill managed. But suppose I were to ask you: By
the help of which art, Ion, do you know whether horses are well managed, by
your skill as a horseman or as a performer on the lyre--what would you
answer?
ION: I should reply, by my skill as a horseman.
SOCRATES: And if you judged of performers on the lyre, you would admit
that you judged of them as a performer on the lyre, and not as a horseman?
ION: Yes.
SOCRATES: And in judging of the general's art, do you judge of it as a
general or a rhapsode?
ION: To me there appears to be no difference between them.
SOCRATES: What do you mean? Do you mean to say that the art of the
rhapsode and of the general is the same?
ION: Yes, one and the same.
SOCRATES: Then he who is a good rhapsode is also a good general?
ION: Certainly, Socrates.
SOCRATES: And he who is a good general is also a good rhapsode?
ION: No; I do not say that.
SOCRATES: But you do say that he who is a good rhapsode is also a good
general.
ION: Certainly.
SOCRATES: And you are the best of Hellenic rhapsodes?
ION: Far the best, Socrates.
SOCRATES: And are you the best general, Ion?
ION: To be sure, Socrates; and Homer was my master.
SOCRATES: But then, Ion, what in the name of goodness can be the reason
why you, who are the best of generals as well as the best of rhapsodes in
all Hellas, go about as a rhapsode when you might be a general? Do you
think that the Hellenes want a rhapsode with his golden crown, and do not
want a general?
ION: Why, Socrates, the reason is, that my countrymen, the Ephesians, are
the servants and soldiers of Athens, and do not need a general; and you and
Sparta are not likely to have me, for you think that you have enough
generals of your own.
SOCRATES: My good Ion, did you never hear of Apollodorus of Cyzicus?
ION: Who may he be?
SOCRATES: One who, though a foreigner, has often been chosen their general
by the Athenians: and there is Phanosthenes of Andros, and Heraclides of
Clazomenae, whom they have also appointed to the command of their armies
and to other offices, although aliens, after they had shown their merit.
And will they not choose Ion the Ephesian to be their general, and honour
him, if he prove himself worthy? Were not the Ephesians originally
Athenians, and Ephesus is no mean city? But, indeed, Ion, if you are
correct in saying that by art and knowledge you are able to praise Homer,
you do not deal fairly with me, and after all your professions of knowing
many glorious things about Homer, and promises that you would exhibit them,
you are only a deceiver, and so far from exhibiting the art of which you
are a master, will not, even after my repeated entreaties, explain to me
the nature of it. You have literally as many forms as Proteus; and now you
go all manner of ways, twisting and turning, and, like Proteus, become all
manner of people at once, and at last slip away from me in the disguise of
a general, in order that you may escape exhibiting your Homeric lore. And
if you have art, then, as I was saying, in falsifying your promise that you
would exhibit Homer, you are not dealing fairly with me. But if, as I
believe, you have no art, but speak all these beautiful words about Homer
unconsciously under his inspiring influence, then I acquit you of
dishonesty, and shall only say that you are inspired. Which do you prefer
to be thought, dishonest or inspired?
ION: There is a great difference, Socrates, between the two alternatives;
and inspiration is by far the nobler.
SOCRATES: Then, Ion, I shall assume the nobler alternative; and attribute
to you in your praises of Homer inspiration, and not art.