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Plato’s Phaedo as a Pedagogical Drama

2013; Philosophy Documentation Center; Volume: 33; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5840/ancientphil201333225

2154-4689

Sarah Jansen,

Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies

The Phaedo has long been recognized as dramatic in nature (see, e.g., Jowett 1892, 193).Indeed, the dialogue's dramatic portrayal of a Herculean Socrates attacking the heads of a hydra naturally invites this assessment (89c).At the outset of the dialogue Socrates and the fourteen named companions are juxtaposed with Theseus and the fourteen Athenian youth, on their way to defeat the Minotaur (58a-c). 1 Also, Socrates' death scene is particularly dramatic.Fifteen companions, the exact number of a tragic chorus, surround the dying Socrates and lament (117c-d). 2Reflection on this scene has prompted scholars to speculate that it is intended to 'lend moving force' to the tragic perspective and to 'rouse' readers' emotions (see Halliwell 1984, 57-58 and Crotty 2009, 87, respectively).Despite these scholarly observations and compelling evidence that the dialogues were treated as dramatic performance literature in antiquity (see Charalabopoulos 2012), a number of key questions have yet to be satisfactorily and systematically answered: What is drama?;What is the Phaedo a drama about?; What is the function, if any, of the dramatic elements of the Phaedo?I undertake to answer these questions.I conclude with some thoughts about Plato's purpose in writing dramatic dialogues and Plato's attitude toward poetry.One of my aims throughout will be to demonstrate how a proper understanding of the literary dimension of the Phaedo sheds light on the philosophical content of the dialogue. I. Defining DramaBlondell 2002, 16 defines drama as the imaginative presentation of persons and acts, where the authorial voice is 'suppressed'.Drama is 'imaginative' insofar as it represents persons and acts as imagined by the author.So, for instance, a courtroom transcript is not a drama but a record.Blondell 2002, esp.16 seeks confirmation of her definition in the views of Plato and Aristotle, the intellectual forbears of our modern notion of 'drama'.According to Plato and Aristotle, poetry represents persons in action (Republic 603c3-4, Poetics 1448a1-2); and dramatic poetry is poetry absent authorial narration (Rep.394b-c, Poet.1448a19-24).In Republic iii the dramatic poet is said 'to assimilate' (ὁμοιοῦν) his speech to each character, speaking 'as' (ὥς) him or her (393b-c, 394c).He 'impersonates' rather than 'narrates'; that is to say, he uses Ancient Philosophy 33 (2013) ©Mathesis Publications 333 1 Klein 1985 compellingly argues that the Minotaur represents the companions' fear of death, which Socrates attempts to slay.In my view, Socrates battles this and other dangers.2 In addition to the 14 companions named at 59b-c, Crito was present.See Crotty 2009, 66.