Early philosophical and aesthetic works written by Plato in ancient Greece. Ian is a famous professional recitation poet. The theme of this discussion is: Is poetry written by expertise or inspiration? The answer is just inspiration.
Plato believes that when it comes to specialized technical knowledge, poets and poets can't compare with coachmen when talking about driving a carriage, and they can't compare with fishermen when talking about fishing. What kind of specialized skill is reciting poetry itself? Ian can never tell what knowledge to use. Although Homer praises war, when it comes to military affairs, the knowledge that Homer endowed does not make people become generals and lead troops to fight. Art doesn't depend on a certain specialty, so it can't give people a certain specialty.
Where does the talent for literary and artistic creation come from? What do poets use to write their great poems? Although rhetoricians have set some rules for poetry, learning these rules does not necessarily produce poetry. Therefore, Plato came to the conclusion that literary and artistic creation depends not on specialized technical knowledge, but on inspiration. Socrates told Ian in the dialogue: "The technique you explained Homer was not a technique, but an inspiration." He said inspiration is like a magnet. "Magnets can not only attract the iron rings themselves, but also transfer the attraction to those iron rings, making them attract other iron rings like magnets. Sometimes you will see many iron rings attract each other and hang into a long chain, all of which get the strength of hanging together from a magnet. Poet God is like this magnet. She gives people inspiration first, and those who get this inspiration give it to others, so that others can connect and hang into a chain. All brilliant poets, whether epic or lyric, do not make their beautiful poems by skill, but because they are inspired and have divine power to attach themselves. " Therefore, poets are God's spokesmen, just as wizards are God's spokesmen. Poetry, like divination in nature, is an edict issued by God according to people.
This is the oldest literature on artistic inspiration. Inspiration theory is not popular in Greece. At that time, imitation theory prevailed, and literature and art were regarded as replicas of the real world. There is no doubt that the theory of inspiration is mixed with superstitious elements of primitive society, but Plato put forward the theory of inspiration because he realized that literature and art cannot be copied like reality, its psychological activity is not the usual reason, and its source is not technical knowledge. The "crazy state" of inspiration can also be said to be subconscious brewing during artistic creation. Plato felt the importance of these phenomena to artistic creation, but his explanation was unscientific.
Although Plato's view was criticized by Aristotle, its influence is still far-reaching. His inspiration theory has always been the theoretical pillar of genius theory in later generations.