Lyric Quotation in Plato

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In this study, Marian Demos seeks to demonstrate the significance of three famous lyric quotations within their respective contexts in the dialogues of Plato. Demos reminds us that familiarity with the lyric poets was part of the educational background of Plato and his audience. She first investigates the Simonides poem in the "Protagoras", showing that Plato has Socrates provide a fundamentally sound interpretation of the meaning of Simonides' words. She then argues that a purposeful misquotation of Pindar placed in the mouth of Callicles by Plato is not altogether implausible in the light of the quotation's context in the "Gorgias". Finally, Demos discusses Socrates' quotation of Stesichorus' palinode in the "Phaedrus".

Author Bio

Marian Demos is associate professor in the humanities program (classics track) at Florida International University. Her articles have been published in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Transactions of the American Philological Association, Classical World, and American Journal of Archaeology.