View source for The Republic (dialogue of Plato)

==Criticism of poetry==

In Book Ten, Plato systematically gave a critique of poetry (at that time the term include tragic plays such as ones by [[Aeschylus]]). He derided poetry as "[[imitation]]", an art that captures the crude human emotions instead of seeking the truth (as philosophy). He also specifically named [[Homer]] as the classic example of poets, and criticized Homer for writing about warfares while himself not an expert in military affairs. In the "city in speech" every craft is highly specialized, and according to Plato, the poets try to imitate people of many professions yet are not experts in any, making them unproductive and even harmful. Curiously, however, the ''Republic'' itself utilizes imagery ("imitation"), so some argue that the critique of poetry was intentionally written to contradict previous points, with deeper meanings behind the contradiction.