Ion [5]
lines are rightly expressed or not?
Ion. Clearly, Socrates, the art of the fisherman.
Soc. 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
Odyssey; 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.
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.
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.
Soc. Yes, Ion, and you are right also. And as I have selected from
the Iliad and Odyssey 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.
Soc. 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?
Soc. 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.
Soc. And you admitted that being different they would have different
subjects of knowledge?
Ion. Yes.
Soc. Then upon your own showing the rhapsode, and the art of the
rhapsode, will not know everything?
Ion. I should exclude certain things, Socrates.
Soc. 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.
Soc. 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.
Soc. Or will the rhapsode know better than the physician what the
ruler of a sick man ought to say?
Ion. He will not.
Soc. But he will know what a slave ought to say?
Ion. Yes.
Soc. 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.
Soc. But he will know what a spinning-woman ought to say about the
working of wool?
Ion. No.
Soc. 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.
Soc. 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.
Soc. Why,
Ion. Clearly, Socrates, the art of the fisherman.
Soc. 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
Odyssey; 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.
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.
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.
Soc. Yes, Ion, and you are right also. And as I have selected from
the Iliad and Odyssey 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.
Soc. 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?
Soc. 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.
Soc. And you admitted that being different they would have different
subjects of knowledge?
Ion. Yes.
Soc. Then upon your own showing the rhapsode, and the art of the
rhapsode, will not know everything?
Ion. I should exclude certain things, Socrates.
Soc. 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.
Soc. 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.
Soc. Or will the rhapsode know better than the physician what the
ruler of a sick man ought to say?
Ion. He will not.
Soc. But he will know what a slave ought to say?
Ion. Yes.
Soc. 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.
Soc. But he will know what a spinning-woman ought to say about the
working of wool?
Ion. No.
Soc. 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.
Soc. 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.
Soc. Why,