Timaeus — Plato

The good man ivill not act a part unworthy of Jiini. 8 1 Neither may they imitate smiths or other artificers, or Republic iii. oarsmen, or boatswains, or the like? Socrates, How can they, he said, when they are not allowed to apply Adeimantus. their minds to the callings of any of these? Nor may they imitate the neighing of horses, the bellowing of bulls, the murmur of rivers and roll of the ocean, thunder, and all that sort of thing?

Nay, he said, if madness be forbidden, neither may they copy the behaviour of madmen. You mean, I said, if I understand you aright, that there is one sort of narrative style which may be employed by a truly good man when h& has anything to say, and that another sort will be used by a man of an opposite character and education. And which are these two sorts? he asked.

Suppose, I answered, that a just and good man in the imitations course of a narration comes on some savincr or action of ^ '^^ ""^ ^ ^ ■' o encouraged. another good man, — I should imagine that he will like to personate him, and will not be ashamed of this sort of imitation : he will be most ready to play the part of the good man when he is acting firmly and wisely ; in a less degree when he is overtaken by illness or love or drink, or has met with any other disaster.

But when he comes to a character which is unworthy of him, he will not make a study of that ; he will disdain such a person, and will assume his likeness, if at all, for a moment only when he is performing some good action ; at other times he will be ashamed to play a part which he has never practised, nor will he like to fashion and frame himself after the baser models ; he feels pi the employment of such an art, unless in jest, to be beneath him, and his mind revolts at it.

So I should expect, he replied. Then he will adopt a mode of narration such as we have illustrated out of Homer, that is to say, his style will be both imitative and narrative ; but there will be very little of the former, and a great deal of the latter. Do you agree? Certainly, he said ; that is the model which such a speaker 397 must necessarily take.

But there is another sort of character who will narrate imitations anything, and, the worse he is, the more unscrupulous he will be^"^roh[bited be ; nothing will be too bad for him : and he will be ready to VOL. III. 2 1

p. 82

TJiree styles, siin^lCy pantomimic, mixed.

Republic III. Socrates, Adeimantus.

Two kinds of style — the one simple, the other multiplex. Iheie is also a third which is a combination of the two.

The simple style alone can be allowed by us ; the mixed style is attractive, but unsuited to the character of our State.

imitate anything, not as a joke, but in right good earnest, and before a large company.

As I was just now saying, he will attempt to represent the roll of thunder, the noise of wind and hail, or the creaking of wheels, and pulleys, and the various sounds of flutes, pipes, trumpets, and all sorts of instruments : he will bark like a dog, bleat hke a sheep, or crow like a cock ; his entire art will consist in imitation of voice and gesture, and there will be very little narration. That, he said, will be his mode of speaking.

These, then, are the two kinds of style? Yes.

And you would agree with me in saying that one of them is simple and has but slight changes ; and if the harmony and rhythm are also chosen for their simplicity, the result is that the speaker, if he speaks correctly, is always pretty much the same in style, and he will keep within the limits of a .single harmony (for the changes are not great), and in like manner he will make use of nearly the same rhythm? That is quite true, he said.

Whereas the other requires all sorts of harmonies and all sorts of rhythms, if the music and the style are to correspond, because the style has all sorts of changes. That is also perfectly true, he replied. And do not the two styles, or the mixture of the two, comprehend all poetry, and every form of expression in words? No one can say anything except in one or other of them or in both together. They include all, he said.

And shall we receive into our State all the three styles, or one only of the two unmixed styles? or would you include the mixed? I should prefer only to admit the pure imitator of virtue. Yes, I said, Adeimantus ; but the mixed style is also very charming : and indeed the pantomimic, which is the opposite of the one chosen by you, is the most popular style with children and their attendants, and with the world in general. I do not deny it.

But I suppose you would argue that such a style is unsuitable to our State, in which human nature is not twofold or manifold, for one man plays one part only?