THE MOLDS FOR MUSIC: SOME REFERENCES TO SCULPTURE IN BOOK II OF PLATO'S REPUBLIC

Abstract

As is well known, in Book II of Plato's Republic, the characters shape (plátto) the just city in order to discover what justice is by looking at it. This question, about the nature of justice, is raised in Book I, which ends in aporia, and answered in Book IV. After shaping the city, in Books II and III the characters reflect on what education in the ideal city would be like, the ideal education. It will consist of music (mousiké) for the soul and gymnastics for the body, following the Greek tradition. However, Plato will not completely accept the musical poems known to the Greeks. He will propose a reformulation of them. The characters agree that there should be no wars between gods and heroes, that they should not be led by emotions, that they should not lie, for example. Characters who are paradigms for men should be good, simple and sincere. This is what makes up the molds (týpos) for poetry. It is not up to Socrates, Glaucon and Adeimantus to compose the ideal poems. They are the founders of the city, not poets. It is up to philosophers to show the molds, like those used by sculptors, according to which poets will create their myths. Philosophy, therefore, approaches the art of sculpture; the philosopher works like a sculptor. This image of sculpture to talk about philosophy in its relationship with poetry set to music will be the object of our attention in our text.