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The Play of Character in Plato's Dialogues

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More About This Textbook

Overview

Despite the recent explosion of interest in alternative ways of reading Plato, a gulf still exists between "literary" and "philosophical" interpretations. This book attempts to bridge that division by focussing on Plato's use of characterization, which is both intrinsic to the "literary" questions raised by his use of dramatic form, and fundamental to his "philosophical" concern with moral character. Form and content are also reciprocally related through Plato's preoccupation with literary characterization on the discursive level. Two opening chapters examine the methodological issues involved in reading Plato "as drama," and other preliminary matters, including ancient Greek conceptions of "character," the figure of Sokrates qua "dramatic" hero, and the influence of literary characters on an audience. The rest of the book offers close readings of select dialogues, chosen to show the wide range of ways in which Plato uses his characters, with special attention to the kaleidoscopic figure of Sokrates.
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Editorial Reviews

Booknews
Rather than distinguishing between the literary and philosophical dimensions of the ancient Greek dialogues, as was long the convention, Blondell (classics, U. of Washington) joins a growing movement to accord due weight to both content and form and to address their interrelationship. She finds characterization as the opening, because the form of the dialogue necessarily entails representing individuals and a concern with human character. She makes no mention of plans for a stage production yet. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780521031424
  • Publisher: Cambridge University Press
  • Publication date: 11/28/2006
  • Edition description: New Edition
  • Pages: 468
  • Product dimensions: 5.98 (w) x 8.98 (h) x 1.02 (d)

Meet the Author

Ruby Blondell is Professor of Classics at the University of Washington and author of two books and many articles on Greek drama and philosophy.

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Table of Contents

Preface ix
1 Drama and dialogue I
Reading Plato 4
Plato the "dramatist" 14
Why dialogue form? 37
2 The imitation of character 53
"Character" 53
The Platonic Sokrates 67
Mimetic pedagogy 80
3 The elenctic Sokrates at work: Hippias Minor 113
The elenctic Sokrates 115
Hippias and Homer 128
Sokrates and Hippias 137
Rewriting Homer 154
4 A changing cast of characters: Republic 165
Socratic testing: three responses 165
Playing devil's advocate 190
Sokrates and the sons of Ariston 199
Self-censorship 228
Learning by example 245
5 Reproducing Sokrates: Theaetetus 251
Sokrates and the philosopher prince 252
Likeness 260
Difference 270
Cutting the cord 289
Becoming Sokrates 303
6 Putting Sokrates in his place: Sophist and Statesman 314
Plato's triad 314
The Man with No Name 318
Homogenized, pasteurized respondents 326
The visitor's pedagogy 337
Assaulting the father 347
A place for everything, and everything in its place 357
A word is worth a thousand pictures 365
The visitor and Sokrates 378
Silencing Sokrates 386
Bibliography 397
General index 428
Index of passages cited 438
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