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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Features Of Greek Satyr Play As A Guide To Interpretation For Plato's "Republic", Noel B. Reynolds
Features Of Greek Satyr Play As A Guide To Interpretation For Plato's "Republic", Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
The paper borrows from recent work by classicists on satyr play and demonstrates significant parallels between Plato’s Republic and the structure, theme, and stereotypical contents that characterize this newly studied genre of ancient Greek drama. Like satyr play, the Republic includes repeated passages where metatheatricality can reverse the meaning. The frequent occurrence of all the stereotypical elements of satyr play in Plato’s Republic also suggests to readers that they should be responding to Socrates’s narration as they would to a satyr play, again reversing meaning by communicating a set of literary expectations to Plato’s readers over the heads of Socrates’s …
Interpreting Plato's Euthyphro And Meno, Noel B. Reynolds
Interpreting Plato's Euthyphro And Meno, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
Plato's decision to use heuristic drama (in the tradition of Aeschylus and Sophocles) as a vehicle for his philosophical teachings forces the serious reader to make a careful examination of the literary elements of the dialogues. Plato's basic reason for using this literary form is to provide guidance for the interpretation of the content. As Kitto has observed, "In a great work of art, whether a play, a picture, or a piece of music, the connexion between the form and the content is so vital that the two may be said to be ultimately identical." It is therefore counterproductive to …