Ion

“SOCRATES: I mean, no one would ever get to be a good rhapsode if he didn’t understand what is meant by the poet. A rhapsode must come to present the poet’s thought to his audience; and he can’t do that beautifully unless he knows what the poet means.”

Socrates introduces a distinction that he will discuss throughout the dialogue: memorization vs. interpretation. Because Ion is a great rhapsode, his ability to perform Homer’s work admirably seems to imply that he understands what Homer means. Diction is significant in this quote because Plato uses four different words to refer to the intellectual activity taking place: understanding, meaning, presenting thought, and knowing; this quote invites readers to consider the distinction between them and how each may function in each case he describes.

“SOCRATES: Then what in the world is it that you’re clever about in Homer but not in Hesiod and the other poets? Does Homer speak of any subjects that differ from those of all the other poets? Doesn’t he mainly go through tales of war, and of how people deal with each other in society—good people and bad, ordinary folks and craftsmen? And of the gods, how they deal with each other and with men? And doesn’t he recount what happens in heaven and in hell, and tell of the births of gods and heroes? Those are the subjects of Homer’s poetry-making, aren’t they?”

By alluding to Homer and the subjects he discusses in his poetry, Socrates tries to point out a contradiction in Ion’s thinking. If Ion can judge how Homer treats these subjects in his poetry—which he claims he can—then there should be nothing preventing him from judging the same subjects in another poet’s work. When Ion says he does not have the power to do this, Socrates concludes that Ion’s talent for reciting Homer must come from some source other than Ion’s familiarity with the poetry’s content.