Poetry between divine inspiration and art

Plato's Ion in face of the "ancient Muse"

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the notions of ἐνθουσία (divine inspiration) and τέχνη (art/technique) in Plato's Ion, related to the discussion about the aedo and its activity.  Socrates understands the poetic activity not as a technique pressuposing a method, but simply as a form of divine possession, contrary to the claim of the character Ion, who understands it not only as a technique (τέχνη), but as science (ἐπιστήμη). Thus, in this article, we discuss how the limits of these concepts applied to poetry are drawn in this dialogue, comparing them with the ways in which one could, on the other hand, understand the “ancient muse” (Homeric and Hesiodic), from the analysis undertaken by Brandão (2005).