Mimesis in Book 3 and 10 of Plato's Republic

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the question of the mimesis in Plato's Republic, what motivates him to banish the poetry of its ideal city and the reasons of this attack. At the beginning of the Republic, Plato seems to assume a lenient position on the imitative poetry, but throughout the dialogue his censorship becomes increasingly violent until culminating with the banishment of the poet from its ideal city. When Plato evinces his major attack against the poetry in Book X, much discussion had already been made concerning the ideal city's education and the ideal citizen by the parallel between the whole and the part that Plato establishes during the entire exposition of his doctrines. With the support of the modern critics about such problematic, we intend to get a more including understanding of the studies of mimesis in Books III and X of Plato's Republic.