Vindicating the hypothesis

 

In the post entitled ‘Conspiracy? What is it about’ I asked what Cleinias is talking about when he maintains that they must enrol the Athenian stranger as their partner in the foundation of the state, or abandon the project. I said that he must mean enrolling the whole of Plato, all his dialogues.

In the meantime I’ve found a passage that vindicates this hypothesis.

In Book VII the Athenian says: We have a great many poets who compose in hexameters and trimeters and all the standard metres (Le/gw mh\n o3ti poihtai/ te h9mi=n ei0si/n tinej e0pw~n e9came/trwn pa/mpolloi kai\ trime/trwn kai\ pa/ntwn dh\ tw~n legome/nwn me/trwn); some of these authors try to be serious (oi9 me\n e0pi\ spoudh/n), while others aim at a comic effect (oi9d’ e0pi\ ge/lwta w(rmhko/tej). Over and over again it’s claimed that in order to educate young people properly we have to cram their heads full of this stuff (e0n oi[j fasi dei=n oi9 polla/kij muri/oi tou\j o0rqw~j paideuome/nouj tw~n ne/wn tre/fein kai\ diakorei=j poiei=n); we have to organise recitations of it so that they never stop listening to it and acquire a vast repertoire (poluhko/ouj t’ e0n tai=j a0nagnw&sesin poiou=ntaj kai\ polumaqei=j), getting whole poets off by heart (o3louj poihta\j e0kmanqa/nontaj). Another school of thought excerpts the outstanding works of all the poets (oi9 de\ e0k pa/ntwn kefa/laia e0kle/cantej) and compiles a treasury of complete passages (kai/ tinaj o3laj r(h/seij ei0j tau0to\n sunagago/ntej), claiming that if the wide knowledge of a fully informed person is to produce a sound and sensible citizen, these extracts must be committed to memory and learn by rote (e0kmanqa/nein fasi\ dei=n ei0j mnh/mhn tiqeme/nouj, ei0 me/llei tij a0gaqo\j h9mi=n kai\ sofo\j e0k polupeiri/aj kai\ polumaqi/aj gene/sqai). I suppose you’re now pressing me to be quite frank (tou/toij dh\ su\ keleu/eij e0me\ ta\ nu=n parrhsiazo/menon) and show these people where they are right and where they’ve gone wrong (a0pofai/nesqai ti/ te kalw~j le/gousi kai\ ti/ mh/;)?

Cleinias: Of course (Pw~j ga\r ou1;).

Athenian: Each of these authors has produced a lot of fine work (polla\ me\n e3kaston tou/twn ei0rhke/nai kalw~j), and a lot of rubbish too (polla\ de\ kai\ tou0nanti/on) – but if that’s so (ei0 d’ ou3tw tou=t’ e1xei), I maintain that learning so much of it puts the young at risk (ki/nduno/n fhmi ei]nai fe/rousan toi=j paisi\n th\n polumaqi/an).

Cleinias: So what recommendation would you give the Guardian of the Laws [i.e. to Cleinias, and to Megillus] (Pw#j ou=n kai\ ti/ parainoi/hj a2n tw~| nomofu/laki;).

Athenian: What about (Tou= pe/ri le/geij;)?

Cleinias: The model work that will enable him to decide what material all the children may learn (Tou= pro/j ti/ para/deigma/ pote a0poble/faj a2n to\ me\n e0w&|h pa/ntaj manqa/nein tou\j ne/ouj), and what not (to\ d’ a0pokwlu/oi). Tell us, without any hesitation (le/ge kai\ mhde\n a0po/knei le/gwn).

Athenian: My dear Cleinias, I suspect I’ve had a bit of luck (W)gaqe\ Kleini/a, kinduneu/w kata/ ge/ tina tro/pon hu0tuxhke/nai).

Cleinias: How’s that (Tou= dh\ pe/ri;)?

Athenian: Because I haven’t got far to look for a model (Tou= mh\ panta/pasi paradei/gmatoj a0porei=n). You see, when I look back now over this discussion of ours, which has lasted from dawn up till this very moment (Nu=n ga\r a0poble/yaj pro\j tou\j lo/gouj ou4j e0c e3w me/xri deu=ro dh\ dielhlu/qamen h9mei=j) – a discussion in which I think I sense the inspiration of heaven (w(j me\n e0moi\ faino/meqa, ou0k a1neu tino\j e0pipnoi/aj qew~n) – well, it’s come to look, to my eyes, just like a literary composition (e1docan d’ ou]n moi panta/pasi poih/sei tini\ prosomoi/wj ei0rh=sqai). Perhaps not surprisingly, I was overcome by a feeling of immense satisfaction at the sight of my ‘collected works’, so to speak (kai/ moi i1swj ou0d\e\n qaumasto\n pa/qoj e0ph=lqe lo/gouj oi0kei/ouj oi[on a9qro/ouj e0pible/yanti ma/la h9sqh=nai), because, of all the addresses I have ever learned or listened to, whether in verse or in this kind of free prose style I’ve been using (tw~n ga\r dh\ plei/stwn lo/gwn ou3j e0n poih/masin h2 xu/dhn ou3twj ei0rhme/nouj mema/qhka kai\ a0kh/koa), it’s these that have impressed me as being the most eminently acceptable and the most entirely appropriate for the ears of the younger generation (pa/ntwn moi metriw&tatoi/ ge ei]nai katefa/nhsan kai\ prosh/kontej ta\ ma/lista a)kou/ein ne/oij). So I could hardly commend a better model than this to the Guardian of the Laws in charge of education (tw~| dh\ nomofu/laki/ te kai\ paideuth=| para/deigma ou0k a2n e1xoimi, w(j oi]mai, tou/twn be/ltion fra/zein). Here’s what he must tell the teachers to teach the children (h2 tau=ta/ te dida/skein parakeleu/esqai toi=si didaska/loij tou\j pai=daj), and if he comes across similar and related material while working through prose writings, or the verse of poets, or when listening to unwritten compositions in simple prose that show a family resemblance to our discussion today (ta/ te tou/twn e0xo/mena kai\ o9moi=a, a2n a1ra pou peritugxa/nh| poihtw~n te poih/mata dieciw_n kai\ gagramme/na kataloga/dhn h2 kai\ yilw~j ou3twj a1neu tou= gegra/fqai lego/mena, a0delfa/ pou tou/twn tw~n lo/gwn), he must on no account let them slip through his fingers (mh\ meqie/nai tro/pw| mhdeni/), but have them committed to writing (gra/fesqai de/). His first job will be to compel the teachers to learn this material (kai\ prw~ton me\n tou\j didaska/louj au0tou\j a0nagka/zein manqa/nein te) and speak well of it (kai\ e0painei=n), and must not employ as his assistance any teachers who disapprove of it (ou4j d’ a2n mh\ a0re/skh| tw~n didaska/lwn, mh\ xrh=sqai tou/toij sunergoi=j); he should employ only those who endorse his own high opinion (ou4j d’ a2n tw~| e0pai/nw| sumyh/fouj e1xh|, tou/toij xrw&menon), and entrust them with the teaching and education of children (tou\j ne/ouj au0toi=j paradido/nai dida/skein te kai\ paideu/ein). That, then, is my doctrine on literature and its teachers, so let me finish there (ou[to/j moi mu=qoj e0ntau=qa kai\ ou3tw teleuta/tw, peri\ grammatistw~n te ei0rhme/noj a3ma kai\ gramma/twn).