The Writings Of Plato And Dantes

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of ideas where all things exist in the perfect form. That ideal place
is where all ideas that we have and that appear in material form originate.
Thus the paper you read this essay off of is an imitation of the idea of
paper, that idea of paper is paper in its quintessential paper perfection.
This sets up two layers of import, the first, or perfect, layer; and the
second, or imperfect, layer where we all live and construct things. But now
where does literature fit into all of this? According to Plato it is yet
further from the truth. For literature is an imitation of the world. It was
Plato who originated the idea that the poet is but an imitator of something
already imitated in its form. Making poetry a third layer thus two removed
from perfection. That is to say what the poet writes i s but mimicry of the
real thing and not of worth in a society where people value contributions
which enhance the community(Plato 21-29). Plato's ideal state is such a
society. The tenth book of the ...

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of Odysseus in the land of the
dead(Homer 125-137). As we all know these are things that must happen eve
ry day. "Wasn't it just yesterday we saw that 10 foot, one eyed
behemoth walking downtown with a zombie??" and isn't it every man's right
to have the Nymphs of Zeus send down a flock of goats for dinner(Homer
103)? So truly we can see by the example of how the literature of Homer
mimics the world perfectly. How anyone could question Plato on his opinions
on literature is a mystery that baffles the mind. Take for example chapter
IX of the Odyssey: Odysseus is trapped in a cave with one of the
Cyclopsians who is slowly eating all of the crew of Odysseus' ship. He then
makes ...

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