![]() The Athenian democracy, audience for much of the poetry Plato objected to, accepted that it was their responsibility to ensure the quality of the poetry funded by the state. That is not far from the truth about the world in which Plato wrote the Republic. Suppose it was the most popular form of entertainment available, the nearest equivalent to our mass media. ![]() But suppose poetry was not the minority pursuit it has become in Britain today. ![]() To rebut Plato’s critique of poetry, what is needed is not a defence of poetry, but a defence of the freedom of poets to write as, and what, they wish. He banished them because they produced the wrong sort of poetry. Yes, he did banish Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes – the greatest names of Greek literature. On the contrary, poetry – the right sort of poetry – will be a pervasive presence in the society he describes. ![]() Plato is famous for having banished poetry and poets from the ideal city of the Republic. ![]()
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