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3|usomctimcs
kd thcm to b|ur contradictions bctwcen dierent dia|ogucs; in
pa: ticu|ar, thcydid otnvsageamchroiio|ogicalucvc|opmentin
!|t'svicws. Sm cc thcninetecnthtury,I|atonicscho|arshiphas
takcn such deve|opmcnt for granted. Plato is now usuallysecaas
progrcssingfromcar|ydia|ogucssuch ashc x,.tb
6/s-i1:s through the grand theory-bui|ding of thc P/s:1., the
S,-tsie- and thc R:s//i: to a hna| phasc of qucst.and
scl-criticism rcprcscntcd by dia|ogucs such as the Psr-:sid:s thc
St/is|, thc T/:s:|:|esand theP/i/:/es.
.
In most of lto's dia|ogues his tcachcr, Socrates, is the main
spcaker. Jheear|ydia|oguesshowSocratcsscarchingfordehnitions
ofmora|termssuchascourageandtemperancc. Jcdoesthisnot
by
propounding dc6nitions of his own but by testing de6nitions put
forwardbyhisinterlocutors.Jhe:rccgular|yfoundwanting and
thcintcr|ocutors'prctcnsionstoknow|cdgcareexposedasfa|id
empty. Socratcs' activityin dialogesttthc picturcgivcn in
lato'sAt./ q S.:st:s. isurports
tobc Socratcs'
d
againstthe+aargcsofimpictyandcorruptingthcyoung,onwhiche
was tried and ut to death by his fel|ow-Athenians inaasc.
A|thoughtheAt/.wasprobab|ywrittensoonaer~wedonot
z svzrrzo
knowhowcloseiIsoanvihing8ocraiesaciually said.However, in
boihihevsl:grandrhe<dv.dia|oguesTaioseems(1_xuaq g
t" 3! I!x!09'^-r.9!-!-
on
yer.,_t-m By
i
:
iimehewroteihcmiddIe dialogn
n c|!ing_i|:1pol|c,Plato!
z d
movedonfrom 8ocrai 9 uesiioning)oil osoph al
iheoriesofhis own.8ocraies siillappearsasahara cier an d siil| a sk
quesiions1a1nowPlaioaiiribt.uesiohimdocirin es st:hasiheihe ory
ofiwhichwerenever+.eld1yhehisioriaIccra(: s.
Whereas8ocraies' ieaching wa inforotal,Plaio himself foundeda
philosophical school,(+e cademy,andfic |is :aih in ahis
saccsscrs,Seusippus.:d Xenocrates, developedhis e
iheories uriher Plaio's msi|mous pupil, risioile
!fi :c
cadem eeped his own im
. !n
ihe:hirdandsecondeniuriesc).cwscl:oolsofphilosophyxo,ihe
'Hellenisiic' schools of 8ioicsm,E.
i
tism and8cepcim. We
canseefromCicero'sphilosophicalworksihaibyihe itenIuxyac
Paio, cs ioile and ihe Hellenisiic schoolsalhadiheir adherenis.
A readyaiihisperiodphilosophersof dierentschoolswereborrg
ideas from one anoiher. !n ihe subsequeni ceniuries8ioicism and
Plaionism became ihe dominani philosophies. Noi much survives
from:he works wriiienby Plaionisi philosophers ofiheq::iodbui
manyofiheideasofihese'Middle Plaion|sis'canbefoundinsuch
philosophically educaied wriiers as Philo of lexandria |c.cjac-
o:.jo)and Pluiarchof Chaeronea |o:j-:.1cj).
!
si
1|-
iur
Ir
e
r
all mber
o:Higio us
d
me
''!=99!i- !
si
ygos andOr|nialcu|_|m
increanl yrr-Roma
ck
u
.
used
p
!
i
PIJAI!Ii:c
io
tm.. lti
oi|.oeu
ibl i
ando|nceitiries zoand s
e iiih.al gure ofHermes
ism
gis
ih
i_0!^
ond
ce
' '"
'
ol
'! 9
i
he
P/s|.s-J|/:J:.t/s|.-:s|s j
:hinIe:smentioned soa:in0uenced sub s cqtco: agesand manyo
them wiII be men:ioned againla:e: in :his booI. Te H:-:|::s
a:ticuIa: :oused g:e at |ute:es: in thePenaissance . JIcwevcr,:
in.ceofA:is:o:IeandA:isto:eIianthough:Jiesoutsidethescoeof
this voIme,s:pt in so fa: as ce:tain A:istoteIian i deas wete
abso:bed in:o XeoIa:onic thoughi. |The XeoIa:onis:s t:ied :o
ha:moniseJIa:oandA:is:o:IeasmuchasossibIeandoBe:edIa:geIy
A:isto:eIianaccoun:sofbo:hthest:uc:u:eof:hehumansouIandthe
natu:eofthe hysicaIwo:Id.)
Thewo:IofJIot in usma:I anewd ea::u:e:nhiIosohy bccause
hedeveIoedacomIeme:hysic
_
vstnde:r:o:ithe_3)j e
asitsuItima:e!.r.!ipk JIotinus'Oneisenvisagedasthet:anscendent
sou:c<ofaIIbeingsandisa mo:eIof:y steme:inciIethan anyaf
:hose ostuIated by :cvious hiIosohe:s.JIotinus, howeve:, saw
himseIfasan inte::e:e:ofJIatoandhissucccsso:sIiwise egr ded
thcseIves|us:asJIa:onists. |The:e:mXeoIatonism'isamode:n
invention.)JIotinus`hiIosohicalw:itingswe:eeditedanda::anged
insi--:sJsbyhisuiIJo:hy:y |nzz-t.oj)af:e:his dea:h.
XeoIatonic metahysics wa fu:the: deveIoedlyam bIhus
|nc.zjo-c.zj)whomayinhis:u:n havebeenauiIofJo:hy:y.
!ambIichean XeoIatonism was enthusiasticaIIyado:ed by 1he
me:o:Jtilian('|uIian:he Aos:ate',o:-6)andas taugh:
intheJIatonisthiIosohicaIschooIsa:A:bcsandAeand:iainibe
fou::h,nf:handsithcen:u:iesn.J:ocIus|n+oo:+z-8j),vho
:augh:inAthens,uas the mos: imo:tan:and inuen:iaI of these
Ia:e:XeoIa :onists.Hew:o:ee:ensivecommen:a:iesonan umb rf
JIato:vicdiaIogues,inHudingthe Ti-s:sand ta-Ps-:-:J:s.WhiIe
hiscommen:a:ies :eo:t and synthesise theviews`many ea:Iic:
ni titato:s,his/:-:-ts./T/:./.oBe:sasys:ema:ic:esen:a:icn
ofa:ereoIaonis:metahysics.
eopltonistideas con:i::ued toexe:: conside:ablnuenceon
Ch:istianthought.IntheNest,Augus:ine(nj-o)andfae:hius
|n8o-jz) bmh tooIave: many1coIaionistconc eoo |see
beIowCoIeman,.z;-;andBateIy,.8-o). In:heie
aviho:JnownasDio ysivs|Denys)theA:eozitein:he Ia:enho:
ea:I sith cen:u:v
s i rss . r:
__PI_
io
'
s
eip
si
40.
w
! P '
i
par
!& v
hi
J
a
sio
9
o
.!'
asprations.u>'be>.;9]_| . ^n
acconit|eirpbilosophy lUS! ihero tebegthieir :aeiaphsics.
In a nunrberofhisdialoguesandarii:I alyi:: iheRepublic,
se
i
4
i
iwo
1
he
e
qs |'Iorms' or'Ideas')onihe onehandandonihoiheri
cdriirgsacsbleiosensc
:r cepiioS o
iheIormofeauiy,forexample,maybet:iraJiihrticuLr
bu ihis.Jhe Iorm
: t g iru: _ectsof knowled
,Q only ihey are iruly real^lihough_+hepart:culIc1he
erfeciionofiheIormiheyareneverihelessregardedas 'imiiaiing'
ihIorm, ihyare like.tvcn ihough o1llsIoiQl.ln'ie
Republic, IormsareiniroducedinQJq."j.fx.\h,W-.Jl
i oIiiical.g uesiiQJ). w:rd.oib,an>l ui
i
r
PIaio
bes
:,!.
eal si
u
,
-ith
erfeciw
.
The members of ihe siaie are divided inio ihree classes: ihe
~
,ihe auxiliarieswho, as n
defed|]vstaieoihekfarmersandcrah. Plaio '
draw> ancaIo
beiwe
n ihe siaie
an d ih
6nd`.'
t hre corr_nzarisin_Iesou so
s rp.he
philosopherwl:ose.soul:rtIdbyr+onisiheidealr|craure
onl
/
he
has
g
Iii
. ..,\ iom
knowledgeofihe Iorms.
TheNeoplaionisisiooli:rIeinieresi1nPlaio'spoliiicaliheory1ui
iheydevelopediheconirasibeiweenIormsandpariicularsinioan
^^ ~**~~.*~~
* "*^
J
P/s|.ssJ//:J:.c/s/.s:s/s 7
e|aboraemetaphy :
a|svs:cm . .i.I
.
. wheaclivclnl|I)verse
re6ec:t.i
tls hc one.
n
.
)ac_essblenot
o:iIym sct)
e-per cpuoba!so
totbe_ntel|ectual operation oF the mnd, s the soucecIaIltI)er
tl
..,.,.. ,, ,...
+ ~ -- . - ,
So if there is a second afer the One it must have come to be without the One
moving at all, without any 'inclination or act of will or any sort of activity on
its part. How did i t come to be then, and what are we to think of as
surrounding the One in its repose? It must be a radiation from it while it
remains unchanged, like the bright light of the suuwhich, so to speak, runs
round it, springing from it continually while it remains unchanged. All
things which exist, as long as they remain in being, necessarily produce from
their own substances, in dependence on their present power, a surrounding
realty directed to what is outside them, a kind of image of the archetypes
from which it was produced: fre produces the heat which comes fiom it;
snow does not only keep its cold inside itself. Pefumed things show this
particularly clearly_ As long as they exist, something is diffused from
themselves around them, and what is ncar them enjoys their existence. And
all things when they come to perfection produce; the One is always perfect
and therefore produces everlastingly; and its product is less than itself. (Enneads
v+ L6+ 27
40)
P|oiitiishereuscs'he atia|ogcsofsun|gh :,6retid nev tot::ke::
c|ear
be
ava|ablc1nesternTuropethroughou:thcNdd|eAges.IntP|ato
descrbesthemakngofthevldbythe demurgs
iS hs m1ihe demurge oroc_J. evsb|e wor
F
lc
'.
mnmated
oi.sin~
antquty, nterpreters of P|ato`s accoun: have dsagreed on two
f1xm
nta|ssues: 6rst,s :he:t v!tyo|1h dmurgeto betaken
> '
"*^
_
-.._.
.
+
,_
8 ANNE SHEPPAR D
Iiteral|y,imp|yingthattheworldha da5cgnaing, andsecond|y,does
P|ato imply that theateria|wod isinhereniy
iI?Two+ci nt
interpreters, P|utarch o| Chaeronca (ADC.45-c. 1 25) and\tti cus
(ADC. 1 50
ra
!/
sou|whichwas responib|e |orevi|.P|utarch cot::binedxiwith:he
disorder|ynovemenImentionedat Timaeus goaandsoade1|atoa
dua|ist:nmetaphysicswhohe|dnoijustthatmattersevibutxha
theuniversecontainstwo:ppsit:gpit\ciples,oneo|good and oneo|
evi|.Itisc|ear |ron:theasJe,theRepuHic and otherdia|ozueshat
cho|oy,i.e.heutvks:|th<sou|attd:hctody
a
tnotinmetaphyslcs.Theyreecteaataae.t|oath=t
thewor|d had a beginning. Instead, they understood1he ma:a.'
creation-storymetaphorica||y andarguedagaitst
h
e
8l^
o|a
princip|eo|evi|. TheNeop|atonicOne didnotbringtheunivcrse
intobeingatanygiventime,rather,itis:hecausemIIthings)
U
e
sensethat itcontinuous|y s.tstainsandndernsevcr)tbir.g.
orP|otinustheP|atonicormsbe|ongtothe|eve|o|Mind,whi|e
8ouIencompa:s:1o
j
thewo|d-sou|descridinthe mosa. and
individua|h:i
,_
so
|s.
Bodiesan
~
materi
|thi
owthese
hypostasesand|acktruerea|ity.Matterisnotsomuchevi|assteri|e.
InpassagessuchaEnneadS I.8.g. 1
3
-1 7 P|otinusdescribesevi|entire|y
in termso|negation.
one might be able to arrive at some conception of evil as a kind of
unmeasuredness in relation to measure, and unboundedness in relation to
limit, and formlessness in relation to formative principle, and perpetual
neediness in relation to what is self-sufcient; always undefned, nowhere
stable, subjectto every sort of infuence, insatiate, complete poverty.
Thismetaphysica|picturewasdeve|oped|urtherbyIamb|ichusand
his successors. They oered more detai|ed accounts o| the three
hypostases and their re|ation to one anotheras we||as introducing
. cr. the mention of the 'variable cause' at Timaeus 48a and see further R. Sorabji. Time, Creation
and the Continuum (London, 198
3
), pp. 268ff.
P/st.s-Jt/:J:.t/st.-ists
0
someiniermediaielevels.Inpariicular,we6ndinProclusihenotion
thai beiween ihe One and Mind ihere are divine 'henads' which
mediate the transitionfrom the One io the rest ofreality. Proclus
identiedihesehen adswiththetraditionalCreekgods,holdingthat
eachgod,whileprimarilyahenad,wasalsomanifestedateachofihe
lowerlevels.8o,forexample,aswellasthe henadwhichwasZeus
therewasanintelligibleZeusonthelevelof MindandanotherZeus
onihelevelof8oul.
IntheP/s:J.Platoattemptstoexplainhowweacquireknowledge
oftheorms.HeappealsioiheTheoryofRecolleciion .s-s--esis),
arguingthaithereasonwecanrecogniseparticularsiicksandstones
as equal is ihai our soul has seen ihe orm of Equality in a
disembodiedexisiencebeforewewereborn.Hehadalreadyusedihis
theoryin the earlier M:-.to account |orour sti.iknowledge of
mathematicaltruihsand,byimplication,ofmoralvalues,although
ihetheoryof ormsisnotclearlypreseniinthatdialogue. Inboih
dialogues,recolleciionisconneciedwiihtheimmorialityofihesoul
andiniheP/s:J.itis madeexpliciithatihesoul'siruehomeisthe
world of unchanging orms, life in the body is only a iemporary
episode in the soul's timeless existence. In a third dialogue, the
P/s:1s,PlaiousesamythiocombinetheseideaswithiheR:t//::'
iripartite division of ihe soul. He compares the soul to a winged
chariotwhose driverstrugglesto coniroltwodisparatehorses,one
goodand one bad. Before ii enters the bodyihe soul inhabiis the
realm of ihe gods wherereason,ihe charioteer, beholdsiheForms.
The unruly horse of appetite drags the souldown,pulling it away
from pure intellectual coiemplation. 8ome souls ihus become
'burdenedwith a load of Iorgeifulness and wrongdoing' .P/s:Js
z8c), they lose iheir wings and fall inio bodies. There remains a
possibility,aileasiforphilosophicalsouls,ofrecollectingtheirformer
life andgrowing their wingsagain.
TheTheoryofRecollectionimpliesthatwearebornwithinnate
ideasanddo notderiveallourknowledgefromsensoryexperience.
Laterchapiers in this volume will show howboih ihe Cambridge
PlatonisisandtheRomaniicsused Plato to developanti-empiricisi
viewsofknowledge.|8ee8coii,pp.)
0
-jo,Cunlie,pp.zc;-)0,and
Price,pp.z);-z8).TheNeoplatonistsof lateantiquitymadelitileuse
ofiheTheoryofRecollectionbuttheydidtakeupPlato'sviewofthe
IO ANNE SHEPPARD
re|ationshipbetweentheimmortalsoulandtheperishab|ebodyand
thePhaedrus mythprovidedthemwitha|ruit|u|sourceo|imagesand
ideas|ordescribinethc|a|lo|thesou|anditsreturntotheinte||igib|e
wor|d,|orProHus,themythactual|yrevea|edthestructureo|parto|
thatworld.
Moreimportant|ortheNeop|atoniststhantheTheoryo|Reco|lection
wasP|ato'saccountin theS,-tsie-o|thesou|'sabi|ityinthis|i|eto
ascend |rom the perception o|particu|ars to a know|edge o|the
orms. In the S,-tsie-it|s|ove (eros) whichprovide the driving
|orce behind thesou|'sprogress |rominterest inbeauti|ul bodies to
concern|orbeautyo| characterandbeautyo|mindandsoatlasttoa
visiono|trueandunchaneingBeauty,theormitse||.P|atodescribes
thatvision in astrikingpassage which combines|yrica| enthusiasm
w|th the |aneuaeewhichhereeu|ar|vuses to characterize orms.
waoeveraasoeenin|t|ateaso|ar|ntaeavster|eso| Loveanaaasv|eweaa||
taeseasoectso|taeoeaut||u||nauesuccess|on,|sat|astaraw|neneartae
|na|reve|at|on.Ananow, 8ocrates,taere ourstsuoonh|ataatwonarous
v|s|onwaica|s taevervsou|o|tae oeautyaeaas to||easo|one|or.Itisan
ever|ast|ne|ove||nesswa|ch ne|taercoaesner eoes, wa|chneitaerowers
nor|aaes, |orsuc|.oeautv|staesaaeonevervaana,taesaaetaenasnow,
aereastaere, ta|swavas taatwav, taesaaeto evervworsa|ooeras|t|s:o
evervotaer.
Norw|||aisv|s|ono|taeoeaut||u|ta|etae|orao|a|ace,or:|aanas,or6|
anvtainetaatiso|tae6esh.Itwi||oe neitherworas,norknow|eaee,nora
soaeta|ne taat ex|sts |nsoaeta|nee|se, sucaas a ||v|ne creature, or tae
earta,ortaeaeavens,oranvta|netaat|s- outsuos|st|neo||tse||anaov|tse||
|naneterna|oneness,wa||eeve:vlove|vta|neoarta|eso| |t|nsucasorttaat,
aeweveraucataepartsaavwaxanawane,|tw|||oene|taeraorenor|ess,
outst|||tae saae |nv|o|aoIe wao|e. (Symposium 2 1Oe2r ro)
TheascentdescribedintheS,-tsie-maybere|atedtothePhaedrus'
mentiono|thesoul'sabi|itytoerowitswingsagainand returntoits
|ormer|i|eamonethegods.ThePhaedrus mythoccursprecise|yinan
accounto||ove,whichisdescribedasmadness,butamadnesswhich
canbringthegreatestbene6ts.Plato'streatmento|lovebecameinthe
Renaissanceoneo|themostinuentia|aspectso|histhought.In|ate
antiqueNeoplatonism,however,theS,-tsie-andthePhaedrus were
readnotsomuch|ortheirviewo||oveas|ortheirpictureo|thesou|'s
See PlotillUS, Enneads IV, 8.1 and 4; V, 8.10; Hermias, In Plalani! Phaedrum &holia, ed. P.
Couvreur (Paris, 1901); Proclus, Platonic Theolog IV, 4-26 and pp. ix-xlv of the introduction
by H.D. Saff rcy and L.G. Wcstcrink to their Bud edition of Platonic Theolaglv (Paris, Ig8I).
P/s/ssJ|/:J:c/s|.s:s|s II
ascent|romthema:eria|worldtoahigherrea|m.Asimilaraccountis
suggestedbytheCaveanalogyinR:c//icVII. Here8ocratesdescribes
boundprisonersin anunderground cave. Behindthemisahreand
behindthataparapeta|ongwhicharecarriedaserieso|imagesand
statues.Theprisoners,whoare'|iketous'.R:c//ic+a)seeon|ythe
shadowso|thestatuescastbythehre.I|oneo|themwerere|easedhe
cou|dnoton|yturnroundandseethehreandthestatues butcou|d
alsomakehiswayouto|thecaveandgradua||yprogresstothesighto|
objectsin theworld above ground and hna|lytolookingatthe8un
which, accordingtoanear|ierana|ogyinR:c//icVI, representsthe
supremeorm,theormo|theCood.
R:c//i:VII, liketheS,-csi-and theP/s:Jss,suggeststhatthe
individua|sou| can ascend |rom apreoccupation with theshadows
andimageso|theperceptibleworldtoagraspo|truereality,|oundin
the wor|d o| orms. What |or P|ato is perhaps on|y a theory,
expressed through myth and ana|ogy, becomesinNeop|atonisman
essentialdoctrine.ortheNeop|atonists,thebelie|thatthesou|can
ascendtohigher|eve|so|realityandthusreturntoitsownu|timate
originsis|undamenta|. InNeop|atonicterms,however,anascentto
the wor|d o| orms is an ascent only as |ar as Mind. The
Neop|atonistsdidbelievethatitwaspossib|etogo|urtherandreach
the|eve|o| theOne.8incethetranscendentOneisstrictlyunknowable,
anycontactwithitmustbebymeanso| mystica|experience.Plotinus,
indeed,describeshimsel|ashavingo|tenhadsuchanexperience,he
achievedit|ourtimesduringthesixyearsPorphyryspentwithhim
while Porphyry himse||attained iton|y once. But P|otinuswas a
phi|osophica|mysticandinthess:sJsmystica|experienceisalways
regardedassomethingwhichcomeson|ya|tertherigorousintellectual
eortrequired to reach the|eve| o|Mind
A|though|aterNeop|atonists continuedtota|kinaP|otinianway
aboutmystica|experience, theya|sopractisedtheriteso|theurgy,a
type o|re|igious magic associated with the c/s/Js:ss o:sc/:s. The
be|ie|thatthesecou|dassistthesoulinitsascentopenedthewaytoa
|esssevere|yintel|ectua|approachto mysticism. Atthesame time
6 Sec Plotinus, Enneads IV. 8.1.1 ff.; Porphyry, Lie ofP/otilws XXlll, 7f.; E.R. Dodds, Pagan and
CIn"sluIin all Age of Allxier (Cambridge, 1965), pp. 83-9I.
7 It i unclear just how far the later Ncoplatonists modifed Plotinus' attitude here. Two recent
discussions are G. Shaw, 'Thcurgy: Rituals of Unifcation in the Ncoplatonism of
Iamblichus', Traditio, 41 (1985), 1-28, and A. Sheppard, 'l'roclus' Attitude to Thcurgy',
Classical Qarfer{, ns 32 (1982), 212-24.
12 ANNE SHEPPARD
their view o!the universe ando!the individua| sou|'s p|ace in it
remained essentia||y thesameasthato!P|otinus.
Ihavea|readysaid thatP|otinussawhimse|!asaninterpretero!
P|atoandmanyo!histreatisesbeginbydiscussingaprob|emraised
byaP|atonictext.Thesameistrueo! hissuccessors.romthetimeo!
Porphyry onwards, commentaries were the main vehic|e !or the
expositiono!Neop|atonistideas.TheNeop|atonistscommented on
Aristot|e as we|| as P|ato, reecting the c|ose study o!both great
phi|osophers in the phi|osophica| schoo|s o! the period. To the
modern reader, the Neop|atonists appear to be reading their own
metaphysicsintopassageso!P|atothatdonotwarrantitand to be
mis|edbyanexcessivedesiretoexp|ainawaycontradictionsnoton|y
withinP|ato but between P|ato and Aristot|e. Wemust, however,
rememberthatrightupunti|thenineteentbcenturytheNeop|atonists
wereseenasoeringanunderstandingo!P|atonism, not adistinct
phi|osophy. Many |ater writers read P|ato through 'Neop|atonic
spectac|es', using the surviving works o!P|otinus, Porphyry and
Proc|usas aidsin theinterpretation o!P|ato.
THE CONCEPT OF I MAGI NATI ON
This book i s main|y concerned with the use o!P|a
tonist and
Neop|atonist ideas in |iterature. A number o!the authors to be
discussed!oundinP|atonismaspurto|iterarycreativityandpoetic
imagination. Yet P|ato himse|!, !or a|| his abi|ity a a writer, is
notoriouslydismissive about the va|ue o!|iterature.To unrave| this
paradox we need to consider !urther both P|ato's own view o!
|iterature and Neop|atonistattitudes to it. We sha|| hnd that here
abovea|| itwas the Neop|atonist readingo!P|ato that turnedhim
inioasource o!inspiration!or|aterages.
WhenP|atodiscusses|iteratureheisconcernednotwithindividua|
creativityorartisticimaginationbutwith the truth!u|nesso!poetic
representations.Heho|dsconsistent|ythatpoets,howeverhnetheir
work,|acktheknow|edgewhichistheha||marko!thephi|osopher.In
theRc//::heisconcernedtodecidewhatpoetry,i! any,issuitab|e
!oruseineducatingthe!utureru|erso!hisidea|state. InRce//i:II
andIII heattacksmucho!Homerandtragedyasmora||yunedi!ying:
it does not te|| the truth about the gods and presents heroes as
unsuitab|y prone to violent emotion. He a|so criticises dramatic
P/s/s-J//:J:c/s/-s/s 13
representationc:s:,ontwocounts.heregardstheactingo!anevil
characteras potentiallycorruptingand,perhaps more importantly,
he thinks that theversatilityrequiredo!theactorwill producean
unstablepersonality. InR:cs//::X Platopresseshisattackonpoetry
!urther,basingitnowonthemetaphysicso!Formsandparticulars
expoundedinooksV-VII. Heusesadiscussiono!paintingtomake
hispointsandcomparestheartisttosomeoncwhoholdsupamirror
andsoproducesreectionso!everythinginthevisibleworld.While
particularsimitateorms,theproductso!theartistimitateparticulars.
Theyare only imitatlons o!imitations. Thesame applles topoetry
whichisdescribedasmereappearance,'threeremoves!romreality'
.R:cs//::gga).
TheR:cs//::thusoersbothmoraland metaphysicalreasons!or
not taking poetry seriously. Elsewhere however Plato's tone is
dierent. In the i- 8ocrates appears to praise poetic inspiration.
For the poets tell us, don't they, that the melodies they bring us are gathered
from rills that run with honey, out of glens and gardens of the Muses, and
they bring them as the bees do honey, flying like the bees? And what they say
is true, for a poet is a light
J !nihesamedia|ogueihere|aied
adjeciive,/s-/ss/:k.s,isusedo|the|owero|twokindso|imiiaiion.Ai
S:/is/ e. P|aiocontrasts 'eikastic' and 'phantastic' imiiationor
image-making. Boih are o||owvaluebut'eikastic'imitaiion isnot
quiieasbad as 'phantastic'. Whi|e'eikastic' imitationdocsat|east
produceaccurate|ikenesses,'phantastic'makesdeceptiveoneswhich
appearaihrsttoresemb|etheorigina|sbuionc|oserinspeciionturn
outnotto.orP|aio,/s-/ssisandihe'phantastic' be|onghrm|yto
therealm o|appearance andi||usion. V
The noiion o|creativity is introduced in a complete|y diereni
P|atonic contexi, the accouni o|ihe |ormaiion o|theworld in the
1:s:as.Herethedemiurge ispreseniedasadivinecralsman who
shapesand|ashions thepercepiib|eworld. orP|atotheaciivityo|
the demiurge is quiie diereni |rom ihai o| ihe human artist,
nevertheless, the 1is:as provided a power|u| impetus io laier
conceptionso|man himse||as creative. i|ihedivinecreatoro|the
wor|disacosmicartisithenconverse|yihehumanariisicoulda|sobe
seenasacreator. '
P/s-/ss:sp|ays a more signihcant part in Arisiote's psycho|ogy
than in P|aio's. or Aristot|e, /s-/ss:s is ucither perception nor
judgementbutadistinctcapacityo|thesou|,ihecapacitywithwhich
werespondtoappearances,wheiherthesecome|romsense-percepiion,
|rommemoryor|romdreams.` In theHe||enisticperiod, the8ioics
a|sogave/s-/ss:sanimporianiro|ebuiiheyusediheiermrathero|
whatappearstous, thepresentationorimpression whichwereceive
whenweperceivesomeihingwiihthesenses.'Thehrstwriiertoca||
ihe |acu|ty o| producing visua| images /s-/ss:s is ihe sophisi
Phi|ostratus, writing in the ear|y third ceniury AD. In his L:}: .
A::-:as . 1,a-s Philosiraius contrasis /s-/ss:s wiih imitation
l0
Sec further G. Watson, Pmtasia in Classical Tlouglt (Galway, ' g88). pp. 80-93.
I!
Sec especially De anima 111.3.
12
Sec Watson, PllQil/asia, pp. 44-58; M.W. Bundy, Tle Theor q Imaginatioll ill Classical alld
Metieval Thol/glt (Urbana, 1927), pp. 87-96.
ANNE SHEPPARD
.-i-esis). In v:. : gApol|onius isengaged in conversation with an
Egyptian,Thespesion.WhenApo|loniusridicu|estheanima|images
o|gods|oundinEgypt,Thespesionaskssarcastica||ywhethersuch
Creek sculptors as Pheidias and Praxite|es went up to heaven and
copiedthe|ormso|thegods there.Apo||oniusrep|ies thattheCreek
scu|pturesweremadenotby-i-esisbutby/c-/csic,|or/c-tcs:ccan
|ashioneventhingswhichithasnotseen.Thisdoessound rather|ike
themodernconcepto|imagination,althoughweshou|dnotethatin
Philostratus/c-/cs:cenab|esscu|ptorstoconceiveo|independent|y
existinggods,not tocreatesomethingnew.
Phi|ostratus' concept seems to have emerged |rom the eclectic
blendingo|phi|osophica|ideaswhichcharacterisedthecu|tureo|his
time.'TheNeop|atonistshoweverstucktoanessentia|lyAristote|ian
accounto|/c-/cs:c. Theydivided thesou| into a rationa| and an
irrationa|partandmosto|themplaced/c-/cs:catthe|unctiono|the
two,abovesense-perceptionandbe|owreason.Theydidnotusethe
termtodescribetheimaginationo|theartist. Wehaveseenthatwhen
Plato regards poetry with approva| he speaks in terms o|poetic
inspiration,simi|ar|y, Proc|us turns to the concept o|inspiration to
account|orthepoet's abi|ity toreectatranscendentworld. Inhis
6:--:-/c :- //: R://ic ProHus de|ends Homer against P|ato's
attack.Mucho|hisde|encetakesthe|ormo| a||egorica|interpretation
o| the specihc passages o|Homer criticised by P|ato. He a|so,
however,takesupR:/l:cx andarguesthatP|atothereisattacking
onlyimitativepoetry,poetrywhichrepresentsthingsinthewor|do|
sense-perception.Proc|usc|aimsthattherearealsotwoothertypeso|
poetry,thepoetryo|know|edgeandinspiredpoetry.Thepoetryo|
know|edgestates truths either about the physica| wor|d or about
ethics.Inspiredpoetry,thehighest kind, is thepoetrydescribed by
PlatoinP/c:Jsejaand,accordingtoProclus,inthel-,whichhe
takes at |ace-va|ue. Homeric descriptions o|the gods 6ghting or
making|ovearetobeunderstoodal|egoricallyasvei|edpresentatlons
o|highcr rea|ities. 8uch a||egories can on|y be composed by the
inspired poet whosesou| isunited with thegodsina madness more
va|uablethansanity.` Proc|us'descriptiono|inspiredpoetryimplies
that the inspired poet even goes beyond the inte|ligib|e wor|d to
' Watson, Phanlasia, pp. 59-95; D.A. Russell, Criticism in Anliquiry (London, Ig81)
'
pp. 108-10.
' sophrosynes kreiUorl, Proclus, Commentary on lfe Republic, ed. W. Kroll, 2 vols (Leipzig, 1899), 1,
178.24-5. cr. Plato, Phaedrs 24d.
!/s/.s-J//:J:.]/s/.:s/s 1 7
achieve
akindo|mysticalunionwiththesupremegodswhoarethe
divine henads. He thus uses the Neoplatonic be|ie| in mystica|
experienceasawayo|c|aiming|o|tyandnoblepowers|orthepoet.'
Proclus is evident|y distorting Plato in claiming that much o|
Homerisinvu|nerab|etotheR:c//::scriticisms,yetheremainstrue
tothespirito|P|atoinappealingtoinspirationratherthancreative
imagination to exp|ain the poet's powers. It is notjust that hehas
Platonicauthority|or praisinginspirationand that, |oraPlatonist,
imagination,c/s/ss:s
concernson|ylIeetingappearance,atbesta
distant reection o|reality. or Proclus, as |or P|ato, the highest
praise goes to those who reveal the truth and that truth exists
independentlyo|itsinterpreters. Wedonotadmirethepoets|orany
abi|ity to create newworlds but rather |oraninspired capacity to
revea|whatisa|waysthere|orthosewhosesoulscanrisetoapprehendit. .
TheNeoplatonistinspiredpoetdoesnothoweverreportmetaphysica|
truthdirect|y,i|hedid,hewould be aphi|osopher. Heconcealsthe
truthbehindaveilo|a||egory.Proc|us'examp|eso|inspiredHomeric
poetryareo|passageswhichhehasa|readyinterpreteda||egorical|y,
suchas the union o|Zeusand Heraon MountIda inI/:sJXIV. He
contrasts the symbo|ic representation used in such passages with
imitativerepresentation (mimesis) :
How coul
d
the poetry which interprets the divine through symbols be called
imitative? For symbols are not likenesses [mimemataJ of the things of which
they are symbols. Opposites could not be likenesses of opposites, the base of
the fne and the unnatural of the natural; symbolic understanding [theoria]
reveals the nature of things even through their complete opposites. I 6
1
ThisinnovativetheoryrescuesHomeratthecosto|turninghiminto
aNeop|atonist, harnessing the inspiration o|the poet to thecaro|
Platonistphilosophy.
TheNeop|atonistswerephi|osophers,notpoets,buttheyemphasised
justtheaspectso|Platowhichhavemadehisphi|osophyattractiveto
the |iterary imagination. the belie| in a wor|d o|higher realities,
I Proclus' theory of inspired poetry may be found in his Comlmtary 01 lle Republic, I, 1 77-205.
Parts of this text arc translated in Russell, Criticism ill AlIliqui{y, pp. 1 99-201 and in A.
lreminger, D.B. Hardison, Jr and K. Kcn'allc (cds), Classical alld Medieval Literar Criticism
(New York, 1974L pp. 31 3-23. For complete translalion, in French, see AJ. Festugicre,
Proelus, Cammtlltairc sur fa ripublique, 3 vols, (Paris, 170), pp. 197-201 .
I G Proclus, Commtlitary on llle Republic, 1, p. '98.13-19. The tl'anslation is my own.
ANNE SHEPPARD
beyondthe|a||ib|erea|mo|sense-perceptlon,thebe|le|thatthesoul
be|ongs in that higherworld and can hnd itsway back there, and
hna||ytheidea that the|orceso||ove ando|poeticinspiratloncan
asslstthesou|inits return to lts truehome.
PART I I
T/t!cr/, C/rts/tco Itrt:scos//t
Mtss/t Agts
CHAPTER 2
Introduction
Anna Baldwin
The story o| the inuence o| P|ato and the Neop|atonists on
English|iteraturecannotbeto|d withoutsome exp|anationo|how
these pagan ideas were Christianised. The origina| Creek texts
were scarce|y trans|ated into Latin at a||, and so were in a way
|ost unti| theirrediscoveryand comp|ete translation intheRenais-
sance. But they were assimi|ated by key authors who had indeed
read some Creek origina|s, and they were both trans|ormed into
something compatib|e with Christianity, and themse|vesbecame a
major inuence upon Christianity. Itis thisstorywhich I wi|| now
brieHy out|ine, to provide a context |or the |our chapters which
|o||ow.'
Theprocesso|trans|ormationwasmadea||theeasierbythe|act
that Middle P|atonism was itse||one o|the inte||ectua| inuences
upontheNewTestament.Thisinuenceisgenera||ytraced tothe
worko|Phi|o, a]ewish phi|osopher who|ived inA|exandria|rom
about20BC toADSO, andwhomadeasystematicattempttoHe|lenise
1ewishtheo|ogy,using|amongothers)P|atonicand8toicideas.His
accounttrans|ormedtheanthropomorphicDeityo|mucho|theO|d
Testamentintoanimmateria|Being,abovespaceand time,whose
mani|estationinthiswor|disthroughthe/s|Word), described|to
quoteChadwick) , as '"thesecondCod',thepatternandmediatoro|
thecreation,thearchetypeo|humanreason'.Actingverymuchas
theDemiurgeinP|ato'sT:-ses,the/smakesthemateria|worldin
imitation o|the Divine incorporea| wor|d, but out o|an in|erior
materia|.Manisacompositebeing,andshou|dattempttore|easehis
spirit|romthes|averyo|matterso thatitcanascendandbeooded
I I have been greatly assisted in this by Peter Dronkc and Andrew Louth.
, H. Chadwick, 'Philo', pp. 137-57 in The Cmbridge History of llcr Greek and EaTry Medieval
Philosopl, ed. A.H. Armstrong (Cambridge, 1967), p. 143. See also C. Bigg, The Christian
Platonists ofAleandria (Oxford, 1913), pp. 41-5.
2 1
cc ANNA B ALDwI N
with the Divine Light.Thisi snot the p|ace to try to sortoutthe
inuencesonor|romPhiloinanydetai|,butitis at|east c|ear that
there is an amnity between such ideas and parts o| the New
Testament.Moststriking|y,ChristisunderstoodverymuchasPhi|o
understood the/..sinthePro|ogue to 8t1ohn's Cospe| and in 8t
Pau|'sEpist|etothe Co|ossians i . I -c. Phi|o'soppositionbetween
thebodyandthespiritremindsoneo|8tPau|'soppositionbetween
theO|dandNewAdam|e.g.ICorinthiansIS); andNewTestament
writers|requent|yurgetheChristiantoturnaway|romthemateria|
wor|d towards the truthinChrist.
During the next hve centuries both Platonism and Christianity
deve|opedindependentlybutwithanincreasingawarenesso|each
other.A|exandriacontinuedtobeacentre|orsuchdiscussion,where
both C|ement |:. ijo-ci ) and Origen | i 8-c) deve|oped ideas
aboutthe natureo|Codwhichgo back to Phi|o and u|timate|y, to
P|ato. C|ement in particu|ar accepted the P|atonic emphasis on
Reason,whichhebe|ievedtobetheimageo|the/..sinthehuman
mind,andurgedtheChristiantoascendbeyondpassiontowardsan
'apathetic|ove'whichdesireson|ythatothersshou|dpossesswhatit
possessessoabundant|y.Origen,usinganotheraspecto|theP|atonic
tradition,de6ned the8onand theHo|yChostas 'hypostases', and
be|ieveditwas theHo|yChostwhocreatedin man thecapacityto
receiveChristandsoto|oveasChrist|oves.TheseTrinitarianand
other Christian ideas had a para||e| deve|opment to some pagan
P|atonistso|thetime,inc|udingthegreatthird-centuryNeop|atonists
P|otinusandthe|vio|ent|yanti-Christian) Porphyry|see8heppard,
pp. j-i c above) . Their |o||ower Proc|us |c. i o-8j) deve|oped a
system o|hierarchies, and a theo|ogy o|negation and amrmation
|reminiscento|bothPhi|oandP|otinus),whichinspiredthemystica|
writings o|Dionysius the Areopagite in the sixth century. Large|y
through the work o|1ohn 8cotusEriugena |d.8;o) this became an
important part o| the Western mystica| tradition |see Louth,
3 See Philo, cd. and trans. F.H. Colson and C.H. Whitaker, 10 vals. (Loeb Classics, London,
1 929), De Opicio Mundi, I, '5-22, 6g-71, 1 34-5; Olis Rmm DivinarUln Heres, IV, 182-7. 25.
Chadwick, 'Philo' cites many similar passages. Sec also DJ. Riunia. Philo (fAlexandria and the
Timaeus ojPlato (Lcidcn, 1 986).
` Bigg, Christiall Platollists, pp. 31-50; Chadwick, Philo, p. 143; C.K. Barrett. The Gospel according
10 St John: An Introduction with Commentar and Noles on lhe Greek Text, 2nd edn {London, 1978},
pp. 34-6, 73. '52-5.
A. Louth, 'Apathetic Love in Clement of Alexandria', Sludia Palrislica, 1 8 ( lg8g). 413-19; see
also Chadwick, 'Clemenl of Alexandria' and 'Origen', pp. 1 68-g2 in Cambridge HislorojGreek
and Medieval Philosophy; Bigg, The Christian Plalonists, pp. 7'-90, 151-215.
T/::s/,6/:s|:ss::.J
pp.e-below).Buttheinheritanceo|Plot in uswasimportedmore
immediately into the West by 8t Augustine |-o), who was
pro|oundly inuenced by the numinous theology o|Plotinus and
Porphyry. Althoughitwashewho6naIly made thebreakbetween
Christianity and heathen Neoplatonism |see Coleman, pp. e;-;,
below),itwasnotuntilhehadalreadyincorporatedsomeo| themost
importantNeoplatonicideasintoWesternChristiantheology,witha
precision and perception which allowed them to develop without
losingtheircharacter.
ProclushadalsodevelopedtheNeoplatonicnotiono| aprogression
out|romCodanda6nalreturntoHim,intermso|theDivinepowero|
:.s|love) .Thisowsdownthrough thecosmos, bindingallintoa
unityandenablingwhatittouchestoreturntoitssource.Itmayhave
been|romhimthatBoethius,aChristianlivingin Romec.8o-eq,
derived his extraordinarilyinuential account o|thechain o|love
withwhichCodbindstheUniverse.However,sinceBoethiuswasalso
able to read Plato and Aristotle in Creek, his notion o| :.s is
undoubtedlyinuencedbybotho|themdirectly. 8adly,hisplansto
LatinisePlato's |andAristotle's) works, mosto|whichwereshortly
alerwardsvirtuallylostuntiltheRenaissance,were|rustratedbyhis
imprisonmentanddeath.Buthisimprisonmentalsogavehimthetime
and the impulse to write his 6.ss./s|:.:}P/:/.s./., which gave
popularpoeticembodimenttosomeo|Plato'smostimportantideas.
Theseincludenot only theascentthrough:.stoCod, but alsoan
epitomeo|thecosmologyo|theT:-s:asanditsaccounto|therelation
o|timetoeternity,anexplanationo|how themindmayrecoverits
originalknowledgeo| ahigherworld,andmuchencouragementtouse
thisknowledgeo|theCoodinordertopursueitentirely.Boethiuswas
wellknowni nEnglandinhisoriginalLatinbe|oreaswellasa|terKing
Al|red|8q-qoi ) translatedhim|seeBately,pp.8-,below)andis
o| courseaninuenceonChaucer.:.io-:.i oo),aswellasonmost
otherwriterso|themedievalperiod|seeTakada,pp.-e,below) .
Chaucer was also interested in science and society, and used
another, more secularpart o|the Neoplatonic tradition to analyse
natureandman'splaceintheuniverse.ThiswastheLatintradition
6 See]. Marenbon, Ear{ Medieval Philosophy 480115: Al Iltroduction (LondoD, 1983), pp.
18-19; C.S. Lewis, Tie Discarded Image (Cambridge, [ 964), pp. 70-4.
7 J.M. Rist, Eros mId Psyche (Toronto, 1964), pp. n 3-2o (quote pp. 216).
Sec Lewis, The Discarded Image, pp. 75-91 ; MUCnboO, hoT9 Medieval PWosophy, pp. 27-42; S,
Gersh, Middle Pla/oT/ism (ld lie Neaplalolic TraditioT, 2 vols. (London, Tg86) II, pp. 647-7 I8; H.
Chadwick, Bocllius: the COlsolaiiotls ojLogic, Mllsic, Theolog and Phil(sophy (Oxford, Ig81).
24 ANNA BALDWI N
inspiredbythe 1:-s:s,whichhad been partiallytranslated |until
b)byCalcidiusinthe|ourthcentury.Calcidiusaddedacommentary,
heavilydependentonPorphyry,thoughalsoincludingsomequotations
|rom Plato's other works. The continuing availabi|ity o|this text
when all theother Dialogues were lost, ensured that Plato himsel|
wouldbeknown throughouttheMidd|eAgesasagreatcosmologist,
thewisepaganwhohadanticipated thedoctrineo|theTrinity.The
1:-s:s
andthewritingso|Plotinus andPorphyry,aLoinhuenced
thec--:tst/:D:s-;::c:byMacrobius |endo|the|ourth
century), whichincludes an accounto|Neop|atonicHypostases o|
TheOne,Mens|mindors) ,and8oul,a wellasmuchaboutthe
Universeandman.MartianusCapella,writinginthe6hcentury,is
even more encyclopaedic, collecting Neoplatonic as well as much
othermaterialaboutsuchenormoussubjectsasNature,ArtandLove.
A renewed interest in these three authors is a |eature o| the
'twel|\h-century Renaissance' centred on Chartres in Northern
rance. William o|Conches wrote commentaries on the 1:-s:s,
Macrobius, andMartianusCapella |thislasttransmittedindirect|y,
bywayo|alorentinemanuscript),andusedthema wellasCenesis
in his great study o| the created world, the P/:/sc/:s -J:.
Bernardus8ilvestris'cs-sc/:s,drawsontheseandawiderangeo|
relatedtexts,andAlaino|Lilleusedthemmoremetaphorical|yinhis
D:c/s:tJsts:.Anaccounto|thisNeoplatonicrevivalliesoutside
the scope o| this book, but Takada illustrates how Chaucer's
descriptionso|loveandnatureowesmuchtothiskindo|learning. '
Also outside the scope o|this book is any discussion o|how
Aristotle's works came to be rediscovered and trans|ated in the
twel|th century, and, in the thirteenth, to displace the interest in
Platonism, at least|orscholars. |!nabout i i 6othe 8icilian schoar
HenricusAristippusalsotranslatedPlato'sM:andP/s:J,butthey
werenotwidelydisseminated.) However,literary6gurescontinued
toreadWesternPlatonictextssuchasMacrobiusandBoethius,and
, On Calcidius, Macrobius and Martianus Capella, sec Lewis, The Discarded Image, pp. 49-60;
C.S. Lewis, The Allegor ofLove (Oxford. 1936), pp. 78-82; Marenbon, Erly Medieval
Pfosoph). pp. to-l2; Gersh, Middle Plalomsm, M, 421-646. T. Gregory, 'The l'latonic
Inheritance', pp. 54-80, in A Histry of Twelfth-Cntur Wester philosDf, ed. P. Dronke
(Cambridge, Ig88).
10
On the twelfthccntury Renaissance, see Marenbon. EarlY MedieualPhilosophy, pp. I 1-27; D.
Elford, 'William of Conches' , pp. 308-27, in P. Dronkc, T wellh-Cenlur Philolopt. P. Dronkc
discusses the Florentine Manuscript in P. Dronke, Fabula: Explorations into the Uses o Myth in
Medielal Platonism (Leiden, 1974), ch. 3 and Appendix B.
See L.D. Reynolds and N.G. Wilsoll, Scribes and Scholars ( 1 g68, Oxford 1065), p. 106; P.
Dronke, T welfh-Cenlur Philosophy, p. 14.
1/eestc/:s/:ssce:.J e
theEasternP|atonismo|DionysiusandEriugenaexercisedastrong
inuence on at |east one |ourteenth-century Eng|ish mystic, who
wrote 1/ec/.aJusls.o:s.Thisa|soshowsadeepknow|edge o|
Augustine,asdothewritingso|his|ellowmysticsWalterHiltonand
1u|ian o|Norwich, and indeed most re|igious writers o|the later
Midd|e Ages. Thisis why Augustine has been inc|uded in a book
about Eng|ish |iterature, |or it was |arge|y because o|him that a
Patonic interpretation o|Christianity continued to deve|op even
a|ier the impact o|the new scho|asticism inspired by Aristotle's
ana|yticmethods.
But outside this group o|mystics itis hard to nnd writers who
deve|op P|atonicideasin the Eng|ish|anguage unti| onearrivesat
Chaucerandhis|o||owers.Wi||iam Lang|and, itis true,writes that
Envyadvised the|riars to
preche.men of Plato, and preve it by Seneca,
That aIle thynges under heuene oughte to be in comune.
B.XX.275-6"
But he may have been usingpagan authorities` praise o|common
ownership||oundinthePro|oguetothe1:-seasandSeneca'sc:s//es
IX+ ), rather than Luke's |Acts e., .e) because he wanted to
discredittheidea.AmorepositiveamnitywithPlatomaybedetected
intheMidd|eEng|ishpoemPes/.Hereanupperanda|owerwor|d
aredennitelydepicted,andcorrespondencesbetweenthemshownin
termso|imageandarchetype.Thewhitenesso|thePear|-maidenis
an image o| the brightness o| the Lamb, her innocence o| His
per|ection, her adornmento|His power to adorn and i||umine the
wor|d. Although this kind o| Platonism could be derived |rom
AugustineorBoethius,mightithavebeenthecirc|ingimageryofthe
1:-seasitse|||0b)whichinspiredtheauthortocomparethehuman
sou| to aspherica| pearl, madeintheimageo|aheavenwhichis
'ende|esroundeand b|ytheo|mode' (I. ;8)?'
Whatismostorigina|abouttheseauthors' useo|the traditiono|
Latin |earning,inc|udingitsP|atonice|ements,is theirreadiness to
express itin Eng|ish. It is with Chaucer that this e|evation o|the
nativetonguebecomesthorough|yestab|ished,|orheclear|yaimsto
' W. Langland, Tle Vision afPiers Plowman, ed. AV,C. Schmidt (London, 1978), pp. 260, 357
for Seneca reference; the Plato reference was suggested to me by Peter Dronkc.
' Pearl elf, cds A.C. Cawley and J.A. Anderson (London, 1962, 1976), p. go. The
Ncoplatonism in the poem is discussed by Eugene Vance in 'Pearl: Love and the Poetics of
Participation', in Poelics: Theor (nd Practice in Medieval English Literature, cds. P. Boitani and
A. Toni (Suffolk, 1991 ).
ANNA BALDWI N
educate his vetnaculat teadets. Heknew Mactobius' wotk we|l,
p|ayinginseveta|wotkswiththenotiono|thesou|'sascent,andheis
a|sointtiguedbytheidea|whichgoesbacktothe1|sessthoughhe
mayhaveteaditinAlaino|Li||e) thatthecteativepoweto|Natute
otthepoetisanimageo|God,andshatessomechatactetisticswith
Him.Abovea||histtans|ationolBoethius,andhisextensiveuseo|his
wotk in the K-|//'s 1s/e and 1|/sss-ecr|s:ee,''may be seen as
paving the way|ot theEng|ishRenaissance,inwhichtheascento|
loveisptovokedasmuchbyapatticu|atwomanasbyatecognitiono|
the Good.
' See c.g. Knight's Tale I, 2987-2990, Parliament ofFow/rs, 379-82 in which Go or Nature
appears to act Ua crafsman, and compare T6naeus goe, Boethius, Consolations I\ pr.G. He
could have found the idea that language should be appropriate to its subject, which he
ascribes to Plato (C.T. 742, I. 208) in Timaeus 2gb, or in Boethius, Conolalons III. pr.', or in
Romance o the Rose 7099f. (these three references from Robinson).
C H A PTER 3
The Christian Platonism if St Augustine
Janet Coleman
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3-3
7.
P.3
JANET COLEMAN
thought,wentend to high|ightwhat, arguab|y, became themost
inuentia|renderingo|theP|atonictradition|ortheChristianLatin
West.
Augustine, theson o|a Christan motherand apagan|athero|
humb|e means,came|roma rura| hi|| townintheLatin-speaking
provinceo|Roman North A|rica |now Algeria). Hewaseducated
|ocally to pursue a career which eventua||y led him to become a
pro|essor o|Latin rhetoric in Ita|y. He |earned Creek to a |eve|
sumcienttotrans|atequite technicalphi|osophica|textsa|thoughhe
nevermastered HomerandCreek|iterature. Nordoesheseem to
havemadeadirectstudyo|anyCreek texto|P|atoa|thoughsuch
were avai|able' Wedo not know i|Augustineread Cicero's Latin
trans|ation o|P|ato's Timaeu on which Ca|cidius had written an
e|aborate commentary in the |ourth century. In his ownwritings,
Augustine neverrevea|s which texts o|the 'P|atonists' he read or
heardiscussed, butitisc|ear thatthe|orm o| P|atonicphi|osophy
thateventua||ycaptured himoncehcarrived in Ita|y topursuehis
career, wasthe 'modern' Neoplatonism o|the|ate third centuryo|
P|otinusandPorphyry.8oenduringwastheirinuenceonhim that
whenhe6na||ylaydyingatHippoduringthe\andalsiegeo|hiscity,
hislastrecordedwords werea quotation|rom P|otinus.
Augustineexperiencedaserieso|lurcom throughouthis
turbu|ent|i|e.6stotbeph_o|li|eexressedb_Ci,mn
tothedua|_relijqussect_nic!sm,.third|ytopgan P|atons
and6na|lytoChristianity|80) .I nhisConfessions, Augustineretells,
stage by stag
-
ne||ectua| and spiritua| journey he had
undertaken throughout his |i|e. He exp|ains here how at 6rst he
thoughttheshi|t|romNeoplatonismtoChristianitytobeeasy, but
gradua||yhereinterpretedthemoveasapaln|ulbreakwltho|dways,
atakingo|sidesandacavernousdivide.At6rst,however,hewrote
works to demonstrate his optimistic commitment to the kind o|
ChistianP|atonism|orwhich 8tPaulwason|yashortstep|urther.
3 We need only mcntiOll the variety oftypcs o(twclfthcculUry Platonism thal derived not only
from Augustine but from Bocthius, PscudoDionysius, Islamic Neoplatonism - principally
from Pradus's Liber de Callsis. Sec M.D. Chenu, L tMalogic du dou.: itme sieee (Paris, 1957),
chapter 5. Also R.A. Markus, The &,d o Ancient Christianit (Cambridge, 1990), p. xii .
. Henry Chadwick, Augustine (Oxford, 1986). pp. 7[ Augustine benefted from the Latin
translations or Greek Ncoplatonists made by Marius Victorinus. See Pierre Hadot, Mati/I
Viclon'nus, recherches sur sa vie el ses oeuvres (Paris, 1971).
Chadwick, Augustine, p. 25.
T/:6/ris/issP/st.ss-:}S/Aees/s: 29
Inhesceat|ywotksweseeAugustine'sdebttoCiceto'sP|atonism,
to that ptecursor and source o| Chtistian Platonic thinking, the
He||enistic]ewPhi|oo| A|exandria,totheGteekFathetsC|emento|
A|exandria,Otigen, the
|iving.1usticeistheotdetbywhichthesou|setvesGodand
dominatesnonebutbestiaIandcotpotea|natutes,imagesthatwou|d
inuencepo|itica|theotyandptacticeo|medievalchutchandregnum
|'state`) |ot centuties.(
D
e musica VI-15.50)
Augustine'seat|yoptimismconsistedinthebelie|thatthegoalo|
humansttivingwasattainab|ebyhumaneottthtoughtationa|ity
andhedesctibestheapostlesashavingachieveditinthis|i|e."1he
c|assica|debate,towhichCicetohadconttibuted,ovetthemetitso|
thethteekindso||i|e,active,contemp|ativeotmixed,wasdecidedin
|avouto|anotium liberale (awithdtawa||tompub|icaaitstoputsue
|ibeta|studies) (De ordine 11.5. 1 4) . The|i|e o|action is |inked with
mu|tip|icity and that o|contemp|ation is |inked with unity. The
active|i|ecanon|ybeconsidetedtheinitiatingsteponthetoadtothe
sou|'stetutn|otthesou|begins|i|easapi|gtim,|at|tomitshomeand
seekstosteetitse!|tothehatbouto|phi|osophy,'imagesthatwou|d
stittheimaginationso|Renaissancethinkets.Hence,themaintheme
o|Augustine'seat|ywotksasaChtistianP!atonististhesou|'squest
|otwisdomandasa Chtistian heiscettainthathewill notdepatt
|tomtheauthotityo|Chtist.AsaNeoplatonistheisequa||ycettain
that teason wi|| hnd in P|atonism what is in agteement with
Chtistianity(Contra academicos 111.20-43). Chtistianityistheonettue
phi|osophy,|ocusingasitdoesonthesou|andtheothet,inte||igib|e
wot|d.Augustinemoveswithease|tomthephi|osophica|distinction
between thesensib|e and the inte||igib|e to theBib|ica| distinction
betweeneshandspitit.P|ato,StPau|andCicetoseemtobetalking
to one anothet. Hehas no dimculty in teconci|ing P|ato with the
Bib|e,identi|yingthestageso|God'sptovidenceinhistotywith the
stageso|theP|atonistsou|'sascent. 1ewishhistotyis,thete|ote,tead
asanimageo|theChtistianpeop|eandtheconsequenceisanout|ine
o|histoty in tetms o|univetsa| ptogtess. Histoty is God's gtadual
educationo|thehumantace (De vera religione) .
Because Augustine began his cateetas an otatot and became a
pto|essoto|thetoticitisptobablynotsutptisingthathehasatheoty
o|cognitionthatdependsextensive|yonlanguage. Indeed, mucho|
thegtammatical, logica| and thetotica| ttadition o|antiquity was
concetnedwith thewaysinwhichlanguagete|ated ontheonehand
?0
De .sermonc Domini i'l monle 1. 4. 12; I. 9, De aoctrillfl c"ristiolla I. 27-8, De liherQ arbitrio M. 25. Sec
Markus, Conversioll and Discndtanlmenl, p. 1 6.
?1
De libero arbilrio II. 38. 53: Dc bealo vita I. 1-2.
1 De Genesi contra Manic/lacos I. 23- 3Sr., De vera religiollc, passim.
34 JANET COLEMAN
tonon-|inguistictea|ity |appeatancesand expetiences) and on the
othet, to the way in which human minds think and speak about
appeatancesandexpetiences.Augustine'swtitingsinttoduced|atet
agestotheseancientconcetnsandhisteachingon|anguagewouldbe
lundamenta|tomedieva| monasticandscho|asticattitudestotexts
andtheitintetptetation. Hence,histeachingon|anguagewou|dbe
centtal to|atetattitudesto the|itetaty imagination.
In his Soliloquies Augustine speaks ol an intetnal dia|ogue ot
convetsationwiththese|linwhich theob+ectsolknow|edgeatethe
patticipants, btought to consciousness thtough speech. Hete the
ptob|emolknow|edgeistheptob|emol|anguageasasystemolsigns.
Augustine's discussion wou|d gteat|y inuence medieva| monastic
schoo|s' tteatmentoldivineandhuman|anguageassignsespecial|y
thtoughhislutthetelabotationinhistwoeat|ywotkstheDe magistro
andtheDe doctrina christiana.'4 Hetehe exp|ainstheteis acognitive
teality behind wotdsandilweknowwhatthewotdssignilyweate
teca||inganimp|icit|yknownttuthwhichAugustineca||steco||ection.
1hisisamodihedPlatonismbecausethettuthisnotinnateinman's
mind, lot Augustine, but must be |eatned. 1he commemotative
lunction olspeech is most impottant lot the Chtistian because
Augustinebe|ievesthatthtoughptayetandtheteadingolthewotds
olSctiptuteman'smemotyisstimu|ated.Thtoughptayetamanis
temindedolthetea|ityolGodwhomheaddtesses.Theknowledgeol
Godisstotedawayinman'smemotyandthebe|ievetisaidedbyhis
memotyolthis antetiotknow|edgewhen he teads and studies the
Bible. Chtistthewotdactsasaptiot,intetiotteachetandsomeone
whohasnoantetiotknow|edgeandmemotyolGodwithinhismind
cannotundetstand anymeaningin thesacted page.ButasStPau|
hadsaid,anyonewhoseeksGodinthegoodthingsthatateseencan
hndhim. Menwhohavenoantetiotknow|edgeolGodatewithout
excuse |Rom.I . I o-eo).Augustinesaysthatthevastma|otityolmen
tequite|atgequantitiesolhumanspeechtootientthemtowatdsGod
and stimu|ate theit memoties olthe intetiot teachet. But a sma||
minotitydonotneedtotelyonthesensotystimu|ationptovidedby
the sight and sound olwotds because they have access to the
intelligible, acquiting laith thtough that inwatd divine speech
achieved thtough contemplation. Signs signily divine tealities,
teachingusnothing,butpointingbeyond andcausingustothinkol
:3 Sec Coleman, Ancie1lt and Medieval Memories, chapters 1-7. pp. 3-1 l 1 .
` Sec Markus, 'Augustine on Signs'. ill Augustine, cd. Markus, pp. 61-88.
1/:c/r:s/:sP/s/:s}/Aas/::
35
whatisbeyondtheimptessionthewotd,assign,makesonthesenses.
This attitude was |undamental to |utute monastic /:ct. J:s
|teadingo|sctiptute).
Augustinewouldmodi|yandtennehistheotyo| cognitionovetthe
yeatsbuthewouldalwaystetainhisconcetntoestablishadominant
tole|otthepoweto|thoughtinotdetthatitmaybteakthtoughthe
sut|aceo|appeatanceand habit, disclosing beyond it theob|ective,
etetnal,immovablesttuctureo|the natuteo|things,o|manando|
histoty,knowabletothecontemplativemindalone.Asaconsequence
hewillmaintain aPlato
nisthietatchyintheob|ectso|thoughtthat
tuns|tomaknowledgeo|tempotalthingstoaknowledgeo|etetnal
objects and itis in the intellectual tealm, divotced ltom all sense
expetience,thatmotalandphilosophicalttuthsteside,anintelligible
wotldo|ideasconsonantwiththoseo|thedivine mind. Suchmotal
and philosophical ttuths divotced |tomsense expetience wete, |ot
him,themani|estationso|God'sintetiotptesenceinthemindo|man
wheteChtistthewotddwellsinthehumansoulas thewotdo|God,
illuminated as the intelligible ::r/ :/:s |wotd o| the mind) .
Human speech, be it wtitten ot spoken, could bting |otth that
immutablettuth,acondencethatwasnotshatedbyPlatobutone
whichwouldinspitelitetatyattistso|the|ututetotegatdtheitwotks
as capableo|tevealingptophetic ttuth.
I|wewetetostophetewiththediscussiono|thoseeatlywtitings
that demonsttate the ovetwhelming Neoplatonism o|Augustine's
eatlyChtistianyeats, wewould haveptesented an Augustinethat
wasmote|amiliattotheRenaissancethantotheRe|otmation.But
Augustine'sthinkingdidnotstandstill. Latetageswouldnottead
Augustine's wotks as having evolved and changed thtoughout his
tutbulent li|e and |ot this teason Augustine, like Soctates, would
becomeallthingsto all men atttacted tosomekindo|Platonically
inhuenced Chtistianity. In |act, duting the 390S when Augustine
te-teadSt Paul, hegtadua|ly |ounditdimcultto see howapagan
thetotot a Neoplatonist could pass so easily into the tanks o|the
Chtistians.Hislatetwotksthete|oteatgue|otadtamatictenunciation
o|his past conhdence in man's tational and motal capacities to
achieve pet|ection. The otdeted cosmos, which he continued to
believein,was nownotopentotationalcomptehension.Itwas,like
1 Markus, End ojAncient Christianity, pp. 29. 485 1-
" COlissiollS VII. 21 . Sec Mrkus, End ojAncient Clristianity, pp. 506, and Cerald Bonner,
Augustine oj Hippo, Lit and Controuersies (London, Ig63).
J ANET COLEMAN
God's|udgemeuts, iuscrutab|e. Likewise, he surreudered his ear|y
coundeuce iu a possib|e orderiug o|meu's |ives, iudividua|ly or
socia||y.Therewou|dbeuoeu|ighteuedru|ertocoutro|societywith
reasou. Humau experieuceaudtheChristiauphi|osopher'sstriviug
towards |e|icity uow seemed impossib|e o| achievemeut except
throughGod'sgrace.Mausimp|ymustbe|ieve.Hecauuotkuow.Siu
tookouauewpoweriumeu's|ivesto the exteut thatitseemed to
Augustiue that mau was power|ess to |ree himse||without God`s
grace.Siuwasuo|ougertobecouceiveda adisruptiouo|theright
ordero|the cosmos uor was it au iguorautsurreudero|reason to
scusua|ity. 1he ear|ier csee:s describiug a se||-wi||ed aud se||-
per|ormed per|ectiouism was rejected. Now good wi|| cau ou|ybe
brought aboutiu usby God's actiou. No|ougerwasthere asimp|e
oppositioubetweeueshaudspirit,sou|aud body.Rather,thesou|
was to be seeu as the batt|ehe|d o|turbu|euce aud the esh, uow
ueutra|,becamecorruptedbythesiuso|thesou|,byitsvarious|usts -
|or thebody aud |or domiuatiouo|othermeu.Therewas tobeuo
victoryo|miud overbodyiuhimse||, uoradistiuctioubetweeu the
ratioua| phi|osophica| Christiau 'saved by |ibera| studies' aud the
averageChristiau,savedbytheauthoritativeteachiugo|theChurch
providiug'P|ato|orthemu|titude'.NowGoda|oue,uoteducatiou,
wasseeu to|ead to truth .c.-;ess:.-sVII.ZO).
Iutheeudtherewasou|youedivisiou.betweeuthosedestiuedtobe
savedaudthosewhoarereprobate, thecityo|Godaudtheearth|y
city.Thereasou|orthisdivisiouwashiddeuiutheiuscrutab|edepths
o|God'swi||butwhatdistiuguishedthemiuthis|i|ewastheobjecto|
their|ove, be it se||orGod. I|theordiuaryChristiauwas uow uo
|urther away |rom grace thau the erudite or the ascetic, theu
imper|ectiouistheiuescapab|ecouditiou|ora||a|ikehere.Maukiud
a|terAdamisamasso| siu.Per|ectiou- thatdistautgoala|ter|i|eaud
history- cauou|ybeduetoGod'swi||.GodchoosesHise|ectouthe
basis o| His |orekuowledge o| His determiuatiou o| their wi||s.
ReadiugNeop|atouistswithueweyes,Augustiuehua||yiusistedthat
thegu||betweeu God aud mau cou|d uot be bridged throughse||
kuow|edgebutcou|d bemeditated by gracea|oue.
Augustiue wou|d coutiuue to speak o|our iguorauce o|God's
esseuce as, uouethe|ess au iu|ormed iguorauce, usiug Porphyriau
|auguage wheu hespeaks o|the be|ievercoutemp|atiugGod as au
' Markus, Conversion lnd jisellclanlmetll, pp. 18-23. 36-4. Sec also Markus, SaeculumJ Histor
alld Sociery ill Ihe Theology of SI AI/guslim (Cambridge, 1 970), pp. 8792.
The Christian Platonism ofSt Augustine
37
expetiencebeyondintel|ection,suchthingsbeingbestknownbynot
being known. He would stil| speak o|salvation as, in a way, a
deihcationbydegreethroughparticipationinGod.Hewou|dremain
aChristian Neoplatoni
be|iet in
toteknow|edgebyGod, towhomevetythingisknown,outsidetime,
inthesimu|taneityotetetnity (Consolatio, v.pt.vi. ). Godisseentobe
wotkingthtoughFate.Howevet,whiletheteatenoovetttetetences
to Chtistian docttines, suchas thetemissionotsins, tedemption,ot
etetna||ite, thete isnothingotP|ato that cannota|sobe tound in
Augustine.'
TheteatemanyteasonswhyA|ttedshou|dhavechosento make
avai|ab|e to his peop|e an Eng|ish vetsion ot the Consolatio, a
phi|osophica|wotkot gteatpowet,otigina|ityandauthotity,co|outed
by its authot's petsona| ttagedy. Neat|y ;oo yeats |atet anothet
Eng|ishmonatch- QueenE|izabethI- wastoundettakethesame
) Sec Roetnius. His lif, Thoug/lt and Ill jrunce, cd. Margaret Gibson (Oxford, 198r) and Til
Medieval Boe/iiIIS. Sludies ill the Veracular Trans/alions ofDe COlIsclatiOlle Pltilosophiae, cd. A.J.
Minnis (Cambridge, (987).
6 H. Chadwick, 'Introduction', Beelhius, cd. Gibson, p. I I .
7 See further Boe/Mus, cd. Gibson, Pan I , :lso Henry Chadwick, BOe/lius. The Consolations oj
Music, Logic, Theola,V, and Philosophy (Oxrord, 1981, reprinled 1990).
JANET BATELY
task. YetAltred'sisuoclose trauslatiouiuthemoderuseuseotthe
word. Rather, it is a reiuterpretatiou, made iu the light ot his
experieuceaudobligatiousasamedievalChristiaukiug,reectiughis
owupersoualquesttorauauswertotheproblemsotaworldiuwhich
evilaudsiuotteuseemedtohavetheupperhaud.Eveuiutheceutral
discussiousotFate,Fortuue,Freewi|laudProvideucemajordiereuces
emergebetweeutheattitudesofthetwomeu.Altredcertaiulytollows
Boethius iu his acceptauce otFate as the ageut by which God's
provideuceworks out its will iu the temporal world. However, he
partstromBoethiusiuhisemphasisouapersoualGodwhoisvery
clearlytheChristiauGod.So,toriustauce,whereBoethiustakestrom
the Neop|atouists the image ot couceutric circles to represeut
ProvideuceaudFate(Consolatio, iv.pr.vi.0j-8e),A|tred,iutroduciug
theAugustiuiau themeotthesoul yearuiugtor God, but reachiug
Him ouly through contemptus mundi |coutempt tor the world), uses
iustead theimage ota cartwheel. Its axlerepreseutsGod aud the
uave,spokesaudtelliesrepreseutmeu,whoaregradedasthebest,the
middlesortaud theleastworthy,accordiugto theexteuttowhich
thevsettheirloveueartoGodauddespiseearthlythiugs(Boethius,
i eo. io-r o. e;). Aud as his ultimate auswer to theproblemsotthe
secretworkiugsott ateaudtortuueAltredproducesthedoctriueot merit.
ALFRED
'
S BOETHI US
Itisuotpossibletodo +usticeheretoa|lthemodincatiousaudchauges
madebyAltrediuhisreuderiugottheConsolatio' aud thevarietyot
waysiuwhichhehaudlesthosematerialswhichBoethiushimselthad
iuherited trom the Platouists. Exploratiou otthree liuked themes
must sumce by way otillustratiou. the Platouic doctriues otthe
Pre-existeuceottheSoul, Recollectiou aud theAsceutottheSoul.
These,aswehaveseeu,aredoctriueswhichBoethius,tollowiugthe
Neoplatouists, explicitly associated together iu the Consolatio, aud
Altred reactstothemiuavarietyotways.Ououeoccasiouwhere
Boethius' Philosophiadescribesallhumaukiud astrom oueorigiu,
ouetather,who'|ockediuto limbsspirits broughtdowutromtheir
highabode'(Consolatio, m.m.vi.j),herEuglishcouuterpart,Wisdom
(alias Reasou)summarisesiusteadChristiauteachiugsouthecreatiou
" Book length studies include K. Otten, Kiilig Aled!Boehius (Tibingcn, 1964), and F. Anne
Payne, Kilg Aled and Boelius (Madison and London, 1968).
Boetli!!s and King Alfred
4
'
olmau.(Boethius, 69. 1 7-23)" Ouauotheroccasiou,A|lredpreserves
Boethius' relereuces to reco||ectiou a|oug with his Neop|atouist
emphasisou se|l-kuow|
cer'sexploitationotBoethius'drunken-man
imageinaverydierentcontextintheKnight's Tale (c. I 382), where
Arcite,havingsucceededinobtaininghis|iberty,realisesthathehas
in the process deprived himse|t otwhat was in tact even more
importanttohim- sightotEmi|y.
We witen nat, what thing we preycn hccre:
We faren as he that dronke is as a mOllS.
Adranke man woot wei he hath an hous,
But he noot which the righte wey is thider,
And to a dronke man the wey is slider.
And certes, in this world so faren we;
We seken faste afer felicitee. I Z
(11 . 1 260-6)
Perhapsthemostiuterestingexampleot useottheP|atonicdoctrineot
theAscentottheSou|inA|tred'sBoethils is,however,intherendering
otBook1Il. m.xii, ameterwherethe turningbackotOrpheusashe
|eavestheUnderwor|disused- undertheinuenceot thea||egoryot
theCavein Plato'sRepublic - toportraythe|ai|ureoasou| in its
ascent towards the|ight.AccordingtoBoethius'version the tab|eis
intendedtorthosewhoseek to |ead their mind into the upper day.
For he who overcome should turn back his gaze
Towards the Tartarean cave,
Whatever excellence he takes with him
He loses when he looks on those below.
Allred's Wisdom both provides a di!erent moral' and shows
greatercompassion to thebacks|ider.
these false tales teach every man who wishes to fee from the darkness of hell
and come to the light of the true goodness (or God) that he should not look
round at his old sins, so that he again commits them as fully as he once did.
For whoever with entire will turns his mind to the sins that he previously
abandoned and then fully commits them, and they then fully please him, and
he does not think ever to forsake them, then he will lose all his former good,
unless he atones for it again. (Boethius, 1 3. 1 4-21 )
1?
Tie Riverside CJlalcr, srd cdn, cd. L. Benson (Oxford, I g88).
' For the interpretations in contemporary commentaries, sec Joseph S. Wittig, 'King Alfred's
Bocthius and its Latin Sources, a Reconsideration', I I (rg83), AlIglo.Saxoll England, 157-98,
44
JANET BATELY
Etetua|puuish
meuti sthetewatdlotevi|,whichWisdomdesctibesas
themisuseolthelteedomGodhasgiveutomeu(Boelhius, i i . e i-e) . '
But A|lted's God is a metcilu| God who a||ows lot tepeutauce
(Boelhius, r.ee-o)audtheteatep|eutyolescapeclauseshetelotthe
|ess thau hatdeued siuuet. P|atouic thought, as ttausmitted by
Boethius, has beeu adapted aud ttauslotmed by a medieva| kiug,
seekinglothimsellaudhispeop|eadeepetuudetstaudiugolmau's
p|aceiutheschemeolthiugs.
'" Alfred foHows Boethius (Book lII.pr. 12, 80-2) in the Platonic view that evil is nothing
'because ifcyi\ were anything, then God would be able to do it' (Boethius, 100.3-4) ' However,
his reasons for agreeing that evil men arc happier when punished (Collso/alia, Iv.pr.4. 42-4.
Boethius, 1 18.21-2) are lhat those who arc unpunished for their wickednes in this world will
[ace the worst retribution after this world (Boct/tius, I lg. I S-IS). And whereas Philosophia
claims that the wicked are punished because evil i its own punishment (Iv,pr.3, 37-8).
Wisdom on the one hand sees eternal punishment as the reward for evil ( 1 13.21-2), which, he
claims, is the result oflhe misuse of the freedom God has given to men, but on the other hand
maintains that God determined that if men sinned in that freedom, they might amend it
afterwards with repentance in that freedom ( ( 43.22-9). There is nothing comparable to this
in Consolatio, v.pr.4.
CHAPTER 5
Chaucer's use ofNeoplatonic traditions
YaSllnar Takada
Theteateuotab|eteteteucesiuChaucetto theNeop|atouicauctores
suchasMattiauusCape||a,Boethius,MactobiusaudA|aiuotLi||e.
They stand us ingood stead iushowingChaucet wotkiug uot iu
insu|atsec|usionbutinauactivedia|oguewiththegteatcontineutal
ttaditionotNeoplatonism.TheimageotChaucetasacosmopo|itau
poetisiudeedtami|iateuough, patticulat|yto theteadetotTroilus
and Criseyde, wheteissuggestediu aDantesquemauuettheauthot's
ambitiou to amliate himse|twith the gteatEutopean ttadition ot
'poesye', i.e. 'Vitgi|e, Ovide, Omet, Lucan, and Stace' |v,
i
;oe) . '
The ttauscu|tuta| uegotiation hete is in a sense simple aud
sttaighttotwatdandevenaustete.Butiuthecaseotthedia|oguewith
Neop|atouicauctores tathetthauthoseot'poesye',thiugsateasotteu
as uot chatactetised by ob|iqueness, a sense othumout aud eveu
itouy.Pethapsthiscanbebestseeuifwetocusoutatteutiouonsome
ot the ideas and motits which have a c|ose association with
Neop|atouism. |ove, theasceut toheaveu, aud Natute.
LOVE
Tota|kottheseideasaudmotitsintheintel|ectualmi|ieuo|the|atet
Midd|eAgesmeausan inevitableteteteuce,ouewayotanothet,to
the so-ca||ed 'twelih-ceututy teuaissance'. Amoug tepteseutative
ngutesotthemovementateA|aiuotLi|le,Wi|liamotCouchesaud
Betuatd Si|vestet, who detive theit chatactetistica||y Neoplatouic
ideaslatge|yttom the Latinised Timaeus, Boethius, Mactobius aud
MattiauusCape|la.I t ischatactetisticotthemovemeuttoemphasise
the te|eo|ogica| aspect ot the cteated univetse, whete man as
' All quotations rrom Chaucer arc from Tie Riverside Chaucer, general editor, L.D, Benson
(Boston, 1987).
45
YASUNARI TAKADA
microcosmi si uesseutia|sordaiuedtoactasparto|audiuharmouy
withthemacrocosm.Thecosmic|i.e.harmouious)correspoudeuce,
whichiso|teuiuvokedaudvarious|yeuvisagediuapoeticvisiou,cau
perhas ud its most basic aud symbo|ic representatiou iu the
Boethiau |ove, 'the ho|y boud o|thiugs'. Love is the overridiug
priucip|eo|harmouyiuboththemacro- audmicrocosm.Asmightbe
expected,suchavisiouiuevitab|ygoesto|ormauimportautparto|
Chaucer's imagiuatiou, his Neop|atouism is derived |rom these
twelih-ceutury authors as we|| as theirsources.
Totake|orexamp|eTroi|us'|ove.Atthecousummatiouo|the |ove
whichhehas|ougwished|or,Troi|usgivesthaukstovariousgodsaud
goddesses,iucludiugamougothersHymeu.
Than seyde he thus: '0 Love, 0 Charite!
Thi moder ek, Citheria the swete,
After thiself next heried be she -
Venus mene I, the welwilly planete! -
Audnext that, Imeneus, I the grete,
For nevere man was to yow goddes holde
As I, which ye han brought fro cares colde.
'Benigne Love, thow holy bond of thynges,
Whoso wol grace and list the nought honouren,
La, his dcsir wol fe withouten wynges?'
(III, 1 254-63)
TogetherwithHymeu,thedeitiesiuvokedareLove|orCupidiuthe
capacityo|caritas), Veuus|couceivedasp|auetarydeityaswe||),aud
ouceagaiuLove|thistimeiuthestatuso|theBoethiau'ho|yboudo|
thyuges').The |ast-uamed Love, which is to be giveu au exteuded
treatmeutsome5
00 |iues|ateriuthe'CauticusTroi|i'( 1 744-7 1 ) , isa
Chauceriautraus1atiouo|theMetrumVlll o|theDe consolatione, audis
here dovetai|ed iuto St Beruard's prayer to the B|essed Virgiu
(Paradiso, XXXll1. l 3-8). Faced with the appareut varieties o|these
amorousdeities,themoderureadermaywe||wouderhowtheycaube
accommodatediusomekiudo|hermeueuticuuity,theaua|yticmiud
ishardputtohudacouuectiug|iukbetweeucharityaudmarita|love.
To so|vethishermeueuticcouuudrum,itseemshe|p|u|to takea
brie||ookatthecommeutarytraditiouwhichwas|ormedarouudthe
workso|theauctores, especia||yiuthisparticu|ariustauce,Martiauus
Cape||a's h|th-ceutury De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii aud its
Chaucer's use if Neoplatonic t.aditions 47
ttadition otcommentaties. Betote coming down to the hand ot
Chaucet, the De nuptiis hadbeen tutnished with commentaties by
suchgutesas1ohannesScotusEtiugenaandRemigiusotAuxette,
andsincethetenthcentutyhadbeenenlistedasoneottheauctores ina
notmativecutticulum.Thewotkopensnotab|ywith thehymnto
Hymen,thegodotmattiage,andthisHymenisapetsonihcationot
theNeop|atonic totceot'mutua| atttaction' bywhichate btought
into ttuittu| hatmony and cohetence the vatying e|ements that
composethe univetse. Thecommentaty ttadition hadintetpteted
thisgodastheBoethian
cosmichatmonizetandbondotthings.We
hndthisintheso-cal|ed'F|otentineManusctipt'. Accotdingtothis
manusctipt, a seties otnotes on theDe nuptiis, Hymenaeus can be
intetptetedinthteeways.nattative,scientihcandphi|osophical.At
the|ast-named'philosophica|'|evelthecommentatyteadsastollows.
Take Hymenaeus as the natural power of propagation, that is to say the
lovers which they (who love) cherish mutually in glory: and these lovers are
regarded as reciprocal where Philosophia says:
This order of things is bound
by the love ruling earth and sea
and dominating heaven.
If this love relaxes its reins,
all things that now love each other
would at once wage war.
This is the Holy Spirit, who infuses an ardent charity in all things. He is
called god of weddings, that is, he composes the holy conjunction ofelements.6
Identiedtstota||with'thenatuta|powetotptopo gat ion',Hymen
isthente|ated, thtoughthecelebtatedquotationttomBoethius (De
consolatione Philosophiae, II. m.8, r -r 8) , to the spiritus sanctus, 'who
intuses anatdent chatity [caritas] in al| things'. Theauthot otthe
'F|otentineManusctipt'isunknown,butithasbeenpointedoutthat
2 For Chaucer's humorous rererence to Martianus Capella's Hymen, sec The Merclant's Talc,
11.1 729-37.
3 Johannes Scotus Eriugena, Annola/iottts in MarcilRum, cd. C.E. Lutz (Cambridge, Mass.,
1939}i Remigius of Auxerrc, Catmentum in Martimwm Capcllam, 2 vols, cd. C.B. Lutz (Leidell,
1962); compare E. R. Curti us, EtTOpean Litera/tlTe and the LatIn Middle Age, trans. W.R. Trask
(New Yo,k, 1953), p. 49.
W.H. Stahl, R. Johnson and E.L. Burge, MaTliantls Capell(l and tile Scucl/ Iibcral Arts, V vols,
(New York, 1977), P. 31l.
'fhe ',Florentine Manuscript' (Florence, Bib!. Naz. Cony. SOPPI'.I. 1.28) is printed in selection
in Peter Dt'onke (cd.), Fabtll(l: Explorations into Ihe Uses ofMyth ill Medicval Platonism (Lcidcl1,
1974), pp. 114-18. Sce Appcndix B for the stl'angc f
.
1.tc of this foul'tccnthcentul'y MS.
Dronkc, F(hu[a, p. 103.
YASUNARI TAKADA
the para||e|s which are touud iu Wi||iam otCouches' Philosophia
mundi, particu|ar|y iu the expositiou otHymeu, show at |east the
author was 'iu siguicaut respects uuder the iuhueuce otWi||iam
Couches',' oue ot the represeutative iute||ects ot the Chartriau
Neop|atouicReuaissauce.
Here iu the case otthe 'F|oreutiue Mauuscript' such disparate
diviuities as caritas
,
the Ho|y Spirit aud the Boethiau amor are
eective|ymobi|isedtoatu||eruuderstaudiugotMartiauusCape||a's
Hymeu.Audilthismobi|isatiouismadepossib|eou|ybyrecourseto
thespiritotChartriauNeop|atouism,thesametoa|argeexteutho|ds
trueu the case otTroilus and Crised. I t does uot matter whether
Chaucerhadachauceto|ookatthecommeutaryiuthetormoteither
the 'F|oreutiue Mauuscript' or Philosophia Mundi. The importaut
thiugis that Chaucer makes use otthe characteristic Neop|atouic
discourse ot |ove iu describiug Troi|us' ecstasy aud |oy, whose
'summer's|ease',wemayuote,|astsou|ytorashortperiodmarkedo
by'thedoub|esorrow'.
THE ASCENT TO HEAVEN
Whattheaboveargumeutimp|iesi sthatChauceri suotcomp|ete|y
positiveabouttheNeop|atouicviewotthewor|d.Thereisaseuseiu
whichweseesomeirouyiuhisuseotNeop|atouictopos.Thepassage
tocousummatiouwhichTroi|usuudergoesiuBookIII isdescribed by
the aua|ogy with the Neop|atouic 'cosmichight' orascensus audis
actua||ycomparedbybothPaudarusaudtheuarratortoauasceutto
heaveu, be it earth|yorce|estia|. 'Make the redy right auou,jFor
thow sha|t iutoheveue b|isse weude', says Paudarus at the outset
(II. ;o-)aud,atthetu|h||meutotthejouruey,theuarratordescribes
thehero'smeuta||audscapeas 'this heveue b|isse' |l. i ee). I uthis
'asceut'thereisobvious|yte|tChauceriauirouyaudparody,whichis
detectab|ea|mostthroughout,begiuuiugwiththepoiutotdeparture,
tromthe'stewe'|l.0or ) - meauiug'brothe|'aswe||as'sma||room'-
throughPurgatoria|para||e|,audeudiugwiththece|ebrateda||usiou
toStBeruard'sprayertotheB|essedVirgiu,which,aswehaveseeu,
is merged iuto the geuera| Neop|atouic discourse ocosmic |ove.
, Ihid., p. 179.
Cr Winthrop Wetherbee, Chau.cer (/nd the P(cis: All Es ay0R Troilu (nd Crisyde (New York,
1981), pp. 145-78.
Chaucer's use ofNeoplatonic traditions o
Appare
in
the One ot nous, ttom which evetything emanates and to wh:ch
evetythingu|timate|ytetutns.Butequa||yimpottantisthevisiouaty
momentinwhichthiscyclicpattetn is ttanstetted to thesub|unaty
wotIdandcousequeutIytheIattetattaiustheimagiuativeIeveIwhere
: cao be ceoceee as |te ase tIe Sen:eran cctam) 'c|crncn
mutabi|itie' undet theptocteativecateotGoddessNatute. Such a
visionatymomentisgivenitsbestexptessionbyChatttianNeop|atonism
iuitschatactetisticmythico-a||egotica|mode, whichmakesmuchot
the 'specia| awateness ot a continuity betweeu cteation aud
tedemption' . ' Hetetedemptionmeansman'simagiuativetestotatiou
othisptopetp|aceinthenatuta|otdetotthingsotdainedbyGod.It
is notamattetot|ineatptovidentia|histotyaschatactetisedbythe
IncatnationandRedemption. Asistypica||yseeuinA|ainotLiI|e's
De planetu Naturae, one ot the exemp|aty wotks ot Chatttian
Neop|atonism,itisnotChtistbutapptoptiate|yGeuius,theptiestot
Natute,whoistoaccomp|ishtedemptioubyptonouncingthedectee
ot excommuuicationonthosewhoactagainsttheptoptietyot uatuta|
otdet.Thisisjustied,initstutu,byhetcapacityasviearia Dei, 'the
vicaiteotthea|myghtyLotd'|touseChaucet'sowntendetingiuThe
Parliament of Fowls) . Hete, God, Natute,Venus, andGeuiusate'ot
imaginationa|lcompact',buttheimagination, inconttadistinction
to the ittationa| dteam visiou otmidsummet, chatactetistica||y
be|ougs to tationa| otdet and cosmos. What is at stake in this
visionatytedemption isthesenseotcottespondeuceandcontinuity,
psycho|ogica||yenvisaged,betweenman[mictocosmandGod'sgtand
design[mactocosm- theessentia|boudbetweeuthembeingthatot
Boethiau|ove.
A|thoughitisthecase,aswehaveseeuin Troilus and Crieyde that
Chaucetdoestakeadvautageotthis kiudotChatttiauNeop|atonic
discoutse, hemakes on|y a |imited use otit and hatdIy shows an
iuc|inationtocommithimse|twho|e-heatted|yto thatgtaudvisiou.
Rathet theteseems to be a sense inwhich it is too much to tteat
Natute as viearia Dei. He wou|d a|so wish to avoid a teductionist
!
For a standard study on Nature in the Neoplatonic tradition, see George D. Economou, The
Goddess Natura in Medieval Literature (Cambridge, Mass., 1972). For the belt introduction to
the Chartrian Ncoplatonism, see Winthrop Wetherbee, Platonism and Poetr in the Twelth
Centur: te Literary Infuence if tie School oj Chartres (Princeton, 1972).
Chaucer's use rif Neoplatonie traditions
5
'
treatmeut otthe vatieties otthiugs aud eveuts uudet the moou.
Nowhete is Chaucet's critical attitude towards the Chatttiau
Neop|atouicvisioushowusocleat|yasiuThe Parliament ofFowls, that
isiuwhatpurportstobethenua|episodeolThe Parliament. Iuspiteot
theexp|icita||usioutoDe planetu Naturae, wheteNatuteisiudeedthe
viearia dei, the sectiou ou Natute's patliameut cau be tead most
approptiate|y as a Chaucetiau critique o!A|aiu. Iu this respect
Natute'scasua|statemeutto the 'totme|'seems crucial.
But as fqr counseyl for to chese a make1
If I were Resoun) thanne wolde I
Consseyle yow the royal tercel take.
As seyde the tercelet ful skylfully
(11.63 1-4)
Natutecoutesses thatsheis uotReasou. But this wou|dhatd|ybe
couceivableiuAlaiu'svisiou.Whatguarauteesthecosmiccortespou-
deuce,thevita||iuk thatcouuectscreatiouaudtedemptiou,isuoue
othetthautheNatuteolChartriauNeop|atouism,audtotuuctiouiu
such a positiou aud capacity Nature should be au uureplaceab|e
tepreseutativeoldiviueLogos,orReasou.Natute'sstatemeutheteis
justauotheriudicatiouotthecharactetisticro|ethattheNeop|atouic
ttaditioushavetop|ayiuChaucer.Theyateiudispeusabletraditious
lrom which Chaucet mostltuittullygtows.
.- ------
I
(::'.I
I
``
:' :, : : '''I:'lSU
: ' "
.
CHAPTER 6
P|c/.cisoic/ksMi11|s Ecg|isk Ms/iss
Andrew Louth
TodiscusstheinhuenceotP|atouismoutheMidd|eEng|ishMystics
istocousidersomethugratherdi`erent6omtheother examp|esot
P|atouic iuuence in Eng|ish |iterature discussed in this vo|ume.
E|sewhereitisusua||ypossib|etopointtosomeP|atouictext,either
by P|ato himse|tor one othis epigoui. With the Midd|e Eug|ish
mysticsthisisoccasional|ypossib|e.variouswritiugsbyStAugustine
audDionysus|orDeuys) theAreopagitewou|dhavebeenavai|ab|e
totheEng|ishmystics.Buttocoucentratecutheinuenceotspecihc
textswou|dbetomisconstrueinatundamenta|waythenatureotthe
P|atouiciuuenceoumedieva|Eng|ishmysticism.Forthatinuence
was,hrstotal|, theinuenceota tradition: a traditiou ottheology,
concerned especia||y with ways otprayiug, that over theceuturies
had been decisive|y impregnated by P|atonic ideas and ways ot
thiuking. The history o!the inueuce otP|atouism ou Christian
theo|ogygoesbackat|easttothesecondcenturyotheChristianera,
i|notear|ier,andbecamesopervasivethatitisa|mostimpossib|eto
euvisageChristiau theo|ogyaparttrom its P|atonicdress. '
THE CHRISTIAN PLATONIC TRADITION
Theprincipa|reasontorthisinueuceissimp|ythatP|atouismaud
Christianityhadsomuchincommon.that,combinedwiththegreat
respectaccordedtoP|atonismbymanyottheirpagaucontemporaries,
meautthat Christian theo|ogiaussooncameto|ooktoP|atouismtor
argumentswithwhichtodetendChristianity.Audtherewasiudeed
' On the history of the infuence of Platonism on Christian theology see especially E. von
Iv:nka, Plato Chrst;anus (Einsiedeln, 1964).
Platonism in the Middle English Mystics
53
muchthattheyhe|diucommou.be|ieliuouetrausceudeutGodwho
caredlorhiswor|d,be|ieliuaua|ier|ileiuwhichhumaubeiugswou|d
be rewarded lor the good hey had doue aud puuished lor their
wickeduess,audacouvictiouthathumau beiugswerelreetochoose
betweeugoodaudevi|.Butitwasuotexact|ytheP|atouismolP|ato
that they embraced as a provideutia| a||y, it was what their
coutemporariesiudeed ca||edP|atouism, butwhatmoderuscho|ars
havecometoca||'Midd|eP|atouism',amixtureolmaiu|yP|atouic
audStoicdoctriuesthatcaubetracedbacktoAutiochusol Asca|ou,
thelouuderoltheso-ca||ed 'FilthAcademy'iuAtheusear|yiu the
hrst ceutury Be. Such P|atouism, as R. E. Witt has put it, 'was
characterized byitspredomiuaut|yre|igious aud theocratic wor|d-
view. . . Secoud-ceuturyP|atouismistheo|ogica|audotherwor|d|y.'
Itwas the productolau age 'attracted uotsomuchby P|ato the
ethica|teacherorpo|itica|relormer,asbyP|atothehierophaut,P|ato
who|accordiugtoauo|d|egeud)hadbeeucouceivedolApo||oaud
boru ol the virgiu Perictioue'. Not that Christiau theo|ogiaus
swa||owed P|atouism uucritica||y. Certaiu P|atouic doctriues were
lair|yuuilorm|yrejected,uotab|ythedoctriueolthePre-existeuceol
Sou|s, gradua||y the Christiau doctriue olcreatio ex nihilo came to
distiuguish Christiau theo|ogy lrom deve|opmeuts iu P|atouic
phi|osophy,uotab|yiuNeop|atouism,thatexp|aiuedtheorigiuatiou
oleverythiuglromtheOuebymeausola|mathematica||yiuspired)
theory olemauatiou, aud eveu though Christiaus embraced the
P|atouicuotiouolthesou|'simmorta|ity,theysoughttowedthisto
thewho||y uu-P|atouic idea olthe resurrectiou olthe body. This
piecemea|adaptatiouolP|atouismmakes it, iu lact,dimcu|ttoput
oue's huger ou uuambiguous|y P|atouic e|emeuts iu Christiauity.
Christiaumouotheismisc|ear|yuotderived lromP|atouism. butitis
olteuexpressediuawaythatowesmuchtothe|aterP|atouicdoctriue
thateverythiugderiveslromauiudivisib|e uuity. It wi|| be uselu|
uouethe|esstolocusourdiscussiouoltheiuhueuceolP|atouismou
theChristiaumystica|traditiouououeP|atouicdoctriue,viz.thatol
the two wor|ds.
R.E. Witt, Albinus and tie History ojMiddle Platonism (London, 1937; reprinted Amsterdam,
1971), p. 123.
" See]. Trouillard, 'Procession Ncoplatonicicnnect crcationjudeo-chretiennc', in Nioplalollisme.
Milanges ojerls a Jean Trouilard CFontcnay aux Roses, Ig81).
ANDREW LOUTH
THE DOCTRI NE OF THE TWO WORLDS
Iti stundamenta|toP|atonism,i nvirtua||yanyguise,thatthiswor|d,
thewor|dweperceivethroughthesensesandaboutwhichweho|da
vatietyolopinions, is not the rea| wor|d. This wor|disa wor|d ol
change,decay,and,lora||olus,death:a||otwhichbearthemarkol
unreality. The rea| wor|d is change|ess, incorruptib|e, a p|ace ol
enduring|ile.itis,torP|ato,therea|moltheForms.Onelundamenta|
wayolcontrastingthesetwowor|dsistosaythatoneismateria|,the
otherspiritua|. there are two wor|ds- thewor|d olthesenses, the
kosmos aisthetos, andthewor|dotspiritua||orinte||igib|e) rea|ity,the
kosmos noetos. Wehumanbeingsbe|ongtobothwor|ds. clear|ytothis
wor|d |which is why we ca|| it this wor|d), but in virtue olour
possessing |orstrict|y. being) asou| |strict|y. an inte||ect,nous), we
be|ongtothespiritua|wor|d.ForP|atothewho|epointotphi|osophy
is to secure our passage to the spiritua| wor|d. phi|osophy is
'practising death', melde thanatou (Phaedo 8r a) , lor death is the
separationotthesou|tromthebody.Butthespiritua|wor|d, asthe
p|ace oleterna|, change|ess, incorruptib|e |ite, is the ob|ect otour
deepest|onging.our|ove|:r.s)lortruth,|orbeauty,ison|ytu|||ed
when we tree ourse|ves trom the shadows otthis wor|d and gain
entrance to thespiritua|wor|d,asP|atoexp|ains mostcompe||ing|y
through Diotima's speech reported by Socrates in the Symposium
|eor e-er eb).Thesou|'sgainingthespiritua|wor|disexperiencedas
a homecoming (nostos) . P|otinus' writings are lu|| ol e|oquent
expressionotthesou|'snosta|gia.inapassagethatevokestheGreeks'
|onginglorhomeoutsidethewa||solTroyandOdysseus'ighttrom
theenchantmentolCirce and Ca|ypso, hesays, 'our tatherland is
whencewe have come, and thereis theFather' (Enneads i .0.8.ei ) .
Christians|appedthisup.Theytoobe|ievedi ntwowor|ds.Theyle|t
themse|ves tobea|iens (peregrini) inthis wor|d. 'herewehave no
abidingcity'|Hebrews r.i).Theysawthehuman|otasexi|etrom
Paradise. there the dying thielhad been received by Christ (Luke
e.), there the martyrs were united with Christ, there, too,
Christianshoped to bewe|comed ilthey died taithlu|to Christ. Or
theythought olheaven and earth. the twowor|dsconjoined when
human voicesming|ed with ange|icsong in the ce|ebration olthe
` Sec for example, Saturus' vision as recounted by Perpetua: Passio SS. Perpetuae el Feticilalis,
1 1 r. and the apse in the Church or Sao Vitale, Ravenna,
Platonism in the Middle English Mystics
55
Eticharist.P|atonismprovidedthemwithtermino|ogywithwhichto
articu|atesuch be|ief. Itwas not who||ysatisfactory. in particu|ar,
P|atonic|anguage and concepts tended to e|ide the notion oftwo
successive agesofChristianbe|ief|thisoneandtheagetocome) .Butin
doingthatiton|yacce|eratedatendencya|readypresentinChristian
thoughttomovefromwhatmoderntheo|ogiansca||a'futurist'toa
'rea|ized' eschato|ogy.
Thedoctrineofthetwowor|dswasopentomanyinterpretations.
FortherestofthischapterIwanttotakethreeoftheseandshowhow
theyareusedbytheEng|ishmysticsofthefourteenthcentury.The
threewaysofinterpretingthedoctrineofthetwowor|dsare these.
hrst, the two wor|ds conceived as an inner and an outer wor|d,
second|y,asthewor|dofange|sandthewor|dofhumanbeings,and
third|y,asthewor|dperceivedbythespiritua|sensesincontrasttothe
wor|d ofthe physica| senses. These three ways cannot be kept in
separatecompartments. someover|ap wi|| beunavoidab|e.
I NNER AND OUTER WORLDS
P|atonevercontraststhetwowor|dsasinnerandouterbutP|otinus
c|ear|yidentines thespiritua| wor|d with the innerwor|d. 'we are
eachof ustheinte||igib|ewor|d'(Enneads :ri... ee). It|iesbehindone
ofhisfavouritemetaphorsforthere|ationshipbetweentheOneand
a||otherrea|ity:thatof acirc|ewiththeOneasthecentreandtherest
ofrea|ityasthecircumference.ToseektheOneistoseekwithin.This
chimes in with the emphasis in Christianityon inward re|igion, as
opposedtooutwarddisp|ay. Theidea that thehigherwor|d is the
inner wor|d becomes axiomatic for Augustine, for whom God is
interior intima mea et superior summa mea .'moreinward than myinmost
se|f and higher than the highest part of my being')(Conftssions
rrr.0. i i ) . ThebeginningofthesearchforGodistoreturnwithin.in te
ipsum redi |'returnintoyourseI|) |Dvera religione u. ;e) . Inasense,
interiorityisa||.ergo intus age tatum . . . in te ora |'there|creactentire|y
within. . . praywithinyourselr).Suchsentimentsechodeafening|y
insubsequentChristiantradition,sothatWa|terHi|tonisrepeatinga
Sec the words introducing the Soneils in virtually any liturgy.
6 This was a longdl'awout process. Colin Morris, Tle Papal Monarcly (Oxrord, 1989). pp.
378-80, sees it still taking place in the twelfh century.
1 Sec for example, Matthew 5.6-7.
Augustine, Traciaills in Joallnis Euange/iul ' 5.25. The translations or this and the preceding
quotations arc mine.
ANDREW LOUTH
commonp|aceottheChristian traditionwhenhesays, 'thereisone
usetu|anddeservingtaskonwhichto|abour,and. . . ap|ainhighway
tocontemp|ation. . . andthatistorapersontogointohimse|ttoknow
hisownsou|anditspowers,itstairnessanditstou|ness'.Thesehna|
words remind us how tar this P|atonic idea has trave||ed trom its
P|atonic source. inwardness is no |onger in itsel an unambiguous
ascent, tor the tracturing otrea|ity as a resu|t otthe Fa|| reaches
inward,andtheinteriorrealityothumanbeingsneedshea|ingbetore
it can disc|ose the u|timaterea|ityotGod.
Asimportantassuchinjunctiontoinwardnessistheexp|orationot
man's inner wor|d. Here Augustine's importance is unpara||e|ed.
BothinhisConfssions, especia||yintheintrospectiveBookx, andin
hisprotoundesttheo|ogica|work,De T rinitate, heexp|orestheinner
rea|ityotthehumanmind.Hisguidingbeaconhereis theBib|ical
doctrinethatmaniscreatedintheimageotGod,adoctrinethathad
a|readybecomepivota|inthetheo|ogyottheFathers.Theideathat
man,ormoreprecise|ythehumansou|,iscreatedintheimageotGod
makesthehumanmindthetu|crumonwhichthedoctrineotthetwo
wor|dsturns.thehumanmindisnolongersimp|ypoisedbetweentwo
wor|ds,itisawor|d onitsown reectinginitse|tdivinity.Theword
Augustineturnstotor this innerwor|d |perhapshampered by the
|imitationsotLatinwhichhasnowordasevocativeastheGreeknous)
is memoria: more than memory, it reca||s the Platonic doctrine ot
anamnesis, a|thoughbyatranspositioninwhichnothingotthesoul's
pre-existenceremains.InDe T rinitate IX-X, Augustinepressestheidea
that an image ota Trinitarian God must be itse|ttrinitarian and
ana|ysesman'sinnerrea|ityintomemoria, intelligentia, andvoluntas |or
amor) . Gradua||y,thiswayotunderstandingthesou|estab|isheditse|t
intheWestandcanbec|earlyseeninthepsycho|ogyotbothWalter
Hi|ton (Scale, I.43) and theCloud i Unknowing."
This notion otman's inwardness rehecting the divine takes a
curious twist in the West in the thirteenth century. The twe|tth
century had seen an enormous growth in the nuence ot St
Augustinebutitalsosawtheintroductionotasignihcantinuenceot
the writings otDenys the Areopagite. Denys had already been
trans|atedintoLatinintheninthcentury.onceincomprehensib|yby
" Walter Hilton, SaleojPerficlion, 1.42. trans.J.P.H. Clark and Rosemary Dorward (Mahwah,
NY, 1991), p. t 1'.
10
The Cloud ojUnknowillg, 63-7. ed. Phyllis Hodgson (218), (London, 1944). pp. t tS-'1 . Early
English Text Society.
Platonism in the Middle English Mystics ;
Hi|duin, Abbot otSt-Deuis, aud ouce by the Itish scho|at,1ohu
Scotus Etiugeua, who may have hiudeted the iuueuce othis
ttaus|ation ot Deuys by his owu teputation tot obscutity |aud
doubttu|otthodoxy) . 'Butitseems thatitwas]ohu the Sataceu's
tevisiouotEtiugeua's ttaus|atiou, uudettakeu iu thesecoud ha|tot
thetwe|hceututyatthebehestofhisttieud1ohuotSa|isbuty,that
nua||yiuttoduced Deuys to the West. AsAugustiuehad absotbed
iuto Chtistiau theo|ogysomeottheNeop|atonism otP|otiuus |and
hisdiscip|e and editot, Potphyty) , so Deuys had absotbed Neo-
p|atouism, but thetathetdieteutNeop|atouism thatweassociate
withProc|us,thePlatouicdiadochus attheAtheuiauAcademy,who
died iu 8. Thete ate mauy dieteuces betweeu Procus aud
P|otiuus, buttot outimmediate putposes whatwe ueed touoteis
Ptocus'systematicdeve|opmeut otapophaticaudkataphatictheo|ogy
| theo|ogyotuegatiouaudtheo|ogyotamtmatiou),withhisptivi|egiug
otthetotmetovetthe|attet|iutact,P|otiuusisscatce|ylessapophatic
thauPtocus,butapptoachedttomPotphytythissideothimismuch
|ess evident) . Denys embtaced this watm|y aud touud a Bib|ica|
symbo| ot apophatic theo|ogy in Moses' asceut iuto a c|oud ot
impeuettab|edatkuessouMountSiuaiinotdettoteceivetheLaw
ttomGod|attaditioua|themethatgoesbacktoPhi|oandthatDeuys
hadtakeuovettromStGtegotyot Nyssa). 'Denyssimplymeautthat
iuitsascenttoGodthec|osetthemiudcametoGodthe|essitcou|d
makeout.itwasasititeutetedanimpenettab|ec|oud.Themiudis
teducedtoawoudetiugsi|euce,audhe|dthetebyits|ovetotGodas
HeisiuHimse|, tathetthaubya|ovetotauythiugitcaugetttom
God, tot iu the datkuess it is awate ot uothiug. Such apophatic
theology totms a tcttain thtoughout Deuys' wtitiugs, and attains
couceuttatedexptessiouiu hisshotttteatise,theMystical Theology.
TheauthotottheCloud had ttaus|ated1ohu theSataceu's Latiu
vetsiouotthe Mystical Theolog iutoEug|ish aud kuew it we||. He
iuttoducestheuotiouotthecoudotuukuowiugiu auautheutica||y
Dionysianway. 'LittupthinhettevntoGodwithameekstetyugot
|oue, aud menehim-se|t, & uoue othisgoodes. & therto|oke thee
|othetotheukououghtbotonhym-se|fsothatuoughtwotcheiuthi
witte ue iu thi wi||e bot ouly him-se|t' (Cloud, , p.r 0) . But this
Dionysiau sttaud is i uttoduced iuto a tuudameuta||y Augustinian
For a very brief survey of Denys's influence in the Wet, sec my DC1!S the Areopagite (London,
1989), pp. 1207
l?
Ibid., p. 87 for Denys on apophatic theology.
5
8 ANDREW LOUTH
tradition. Augustinian psychology, analysing the humansoul into
memory,understandingandwill,wasopentoanoppositionbetween
understanding|orintellect.intelligential andwill|anoppositionquite
toreigntoAugustinehimsel) thathadalreadybeenexploitedbySt
Bernard.Bernardistondotsettingup anoppositionbetweentruth
and love (veritas-caritas) , knowledgeand teeling (cognitio-afectus), to
thedetrimentotthetormer. Itisloveand tee|ingthat touches man
mostdeeply,itisatthatlevelthatmancomesclosetoGod.Welearn
otGodwith theheart. 'corde, . . . cordis afectu, id est voluntas'. 13 1he
authorottheCloud iswhollyotBernard'smind. 'Bylovemayhebe
getyn & holden: bot bithoughtneither' |0,p.e0). And hedrawsin
Denys'apophatictheologytoexpressthis. 'torwhenIseyderknes,I
menealackyngotknowyng'(4, .e) .Apophatictheologymeans,tor
theauthorottheCloud, shuttingdownthe'principalworchingmight,
the whiche is clepid a knowable might' and relying wholly on
'another principal worching might, the whiche is clepid a louyng
might', tor, as hesays, 'otthewhichetwo mights, to thenrst, the
whiche is a knowyng might, God, that is the maker othem, is
euermore incomprehensible, & to the secound, the which is the
louyng myght, in ilch one diuerslyhe is all comprehensible at the
tulle . . . ' |, p. ig). Denys certainly did not mean that God was
accessib|e to onehumantacultybutnottoanother.rather,torhim,
God is utter|y unknowab|e. The author ot the Cloud is in tact
inconsistenthere.alreadyinchapterhehadsaidthat'thisderknes
andthiscloudeis,how-so-euerthoudost,bitwixtheeandthiGod,&
letteth thee that thou maist not see him cleerly by light ot
vnderstanding in thi reson, ne telt him in swetnes otloue in thin
aeccion' |, p.i7). These problems are probably traceable to
dierentemphasesinhissources.AsDom1ustinMcCannnotedlong
ago,'theauthorottheCloud introducedintohis translationotthe
Mystical Theolog theideathatGodisknown'withaeccyonabouen
minde''tromThomasGallus |d.i240): inotherwordstheideathat
the deepest taculty n man is theprincipalis afctio which alone s
capableotGod.Buttorthemostpartin the Cloud itsauthorseemsto
stickclosertoAugustineinseeingunderstandingandwillasparallel,
even though he entertains a doctrine that really requires an apex
1 3 St Bernard, Senna in Canlica Canlicorum) 42.4.7 in Sandi BemaTdi Opera, II,J. Leclcrq OSB, C,H.
Talbot and H.M. Rochais QSE (Rome, 1958), p. 37.
I In his edition of The Cloud ofUnknowing (London, 1924), p. 252.
Deomse Hid Divinile, 1 1 .25f., cd. Phyllis Hodgson (EETS 231 ), (London, 1955), p. 2.
Platonism in the Middle English Mystics 59
a.f ectus, as Bonaventure called it:" the highest (or deepest) part of the
soul that transcends the intellect and is the seat of love.
WORLD OF ANGELS AND WORLD OF MEN
Another way i n which the doctrine of the two worlds is articulated is
by seeing these two worlds as the world of angels and the world of
human beings. It is an old idea, recalling both the Homeric
distinction between gods and mortals, and the Biblical distinction
between the heavenly court where God is surrounded by his angels
and the earth. In Plato himself it is difcult to see his two worlds as
foreshadowing the distinction between angels and men: the realm of
the Forms is a realm of object of intellection rather than purely
intellectual beings. But in two places Plato introduces ideas that
prepare the way for the realm ofthe Forms to becomes a realm of pure
intellects. One place occurs in Sophist 249b-d where the Eleatic
Stranger forces the concession that there must be change in the realm
of the Forms if intelligence is to be found there. The other place is in
Symposium 202e-203a where Plato introduces the notion of the
daemon (daimon): a daemon is a being intermediary between the
changeless perfection of the gods and the changeable imperfection of
humans - Eros, the god of love, is such a daemon. Later Platonism
developed both these ideas to produce a much richer upper world
than Plato ever envisaged. For Plotinus the daemons are beings
between gods and men, though he seldom mentions them: like
everything else they ultimately derive from the One by emanation
and seek to return there, but they are closer to the One than we and
can assist us in our endeavours to return. In later Neoplatonism,
however, especially that stemming from Iamblichus, daemons and
other intermediary beings assume considerable importance: in his On
the Mysteries of Egypt, Iamblichus has four ranks of beings mediating
between gods and human souls - archangels, angels, daemons and
heroes. " Iamblichus' mention of the Biblical angels and archangels
reminds us that the trafc between the Platonic tradition and
Christianity was not all one-way.
Christian theologians, following the example of their Jewish
predecessors, found it easy to assimilate the Platonic doctrine of
'" ltinerarium mentis in Delm, 7.4. in Works rSt Bonaventure, ed. P. Boehner (Sl Bonaventure, NY,
r956), It, p. g8.
l 1
Dc mysteriis, 11-4(78), cd. E. des Places SJ (Paris, 1966), pp. 84-5.
60 ANDREW LOUTH
daemons and the Biblical doctrine of angels: as Philo candidly put it,
'it is the custom of Moses [i.e. Scripture 1 to give the name of angels to
those whom other philosophers call daemons' . ' . Most important for
the medieval doctrine of angels was the contribution of Denys the
Areopagite. He classifed the angelic beings into three ranks of three:
Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones; Dominions, Powers, Authorities;
Principalities, Archangels, Angels (in descending order) . ' This
eventually became the accepted order of angelic beings in the Middle
Ages (from about the end of the twelfth century: St
'
Bernard, for
example, still follows the order suggested by Gregory the Great) .'
What are these angels for? The short answer is that they are
ministering beings who mediate between God and men: see the oratio
for the feast ofSt Michael the Archangel (29 September) . But it is a
question that echoes in the fourteenth century." It is not clear,
however, that Julian of Norwich, or any of the English mystics, knew
much about such Dionysian speculation. Richard Rolle knows that
the angelic beings are ordered in three ranks of three: but he gives an
ordering that is closer to Gregory the Great's (and Bernard's) than to
the Areopagite's.22 There was elaborate speculation about the angels
on the continent in the thirteen th cen tury. Such speculation projected
the angelic hierarchies inwards, using them as a way of furthering the
exploration of interiority we have already noticed: as Bonaventure
put it, ifcitur spiritus noster hierarchicus ('our spirit is made hierarchic')."
' " Dtgigalllibus, 6, ill Philo, cd. F.H. Colson and G. H. Whitaker, 1 2 vals. (London. 1929-62). II
P
44B.
'` For angels in general and Denys in particular, sec Louth, Denys, pp. 33-51 , and, more
generally, J. Dani6lou, us anges leur mission (Chcvetogne, 1951).
2
0
Dante introduced the disagreement between Gregory and Denys into his Paradiso:
E Dionisio con tanto disio
a contemplal' qucsti ordini si unise,
chc Ii noma e distinse com'ie.
Ma Gregorio da lui poi si divise;
oude, 51 tosto come Ii ocehi apersc
in questa del, di sc medesmo risco (XXVJlI. 1 30-S).
' Forcxample,Julian of Norwich, A Revelation ojLove, 80, cd. Marion Glasseoe (Exeter, 1976),
p. 97. E. Colledge and ]. Walsh 8J attribute to Julian some knowledge of Dionysian
angclology: see their A ROlk qShowingsil theAnchoress JulianofNorwich (Toronto, 1 978). p. t8g.
22
Rolle, Ego Dormio, 11 . 1 8-'8, in Eng/ish WriJillgs ofRichard Rolle, cd. Hope Emily Allen
(Oxford, 193' )' pp. 6'-2.
" Bonaventure, Itinerarium. 4.4 (Bochner edition, pp. 74-6). On the important role of Thomas
Gallus in such speculation, sec]. Walsh 5J. 'Thomas Gallus et I'effort eontemplatiP. in Revue
d'Hisloirc de la Spirilualill, 51 ( 1 975), 1 7-42, and my 'The Influence of Denys the Areopagite
on Eastern and Western Spilituality in the Fourteenth Century'. Soborost, 4 (lg82),
185-200, especially pp. 1 91-3.
L
Platonism in the Middle English Mystics 61
But I can fnd no trace of this in the English mystics. What we do find
is development of an older and much more general idea that in
contemplation the soul realises its kinship with the angels 'for both
souls and angels are created spiritual beings': so Rolle closes his
enumeration of the angelic ranks with this: 'this I say to kyndel thi
hert for to covayte the felichip ofaungels'." Their fellowship is to be
cultivated because of their closeness to God. In Walter Hilton we fnd
the idea that in contemplation the purifed soul can come to know the
song of the angels:
Qwen asaule is purifed be lufe of god, iIIumyned be wysdome, stabild be the
myghte of god, than is he eyghe of the saule opynde to behalde gastly
thyngys, as vertu,e & aungels & haly saulys, & heuenly thyngys. Than is the
saule habyl be cause of denness to fele the towchynge, the spekynge of gude
aungels. This towchynge and spekynge is gastIy, and nought bodyly: for
qwen the saule is lyfth & rauisched out of the sensualyte, & out of the mynde
of any erthely thyngis, than in grete feruourc ofIufe and Iyghth of god, if oure
lorde vouchcsafe, the saule may here & fele heuenly sown, made be the
presence of aungels in louyngc of god. Nought that this songe of aungels es
thesouerayne loye of the saule . . . For the souereyn & the essencial loye es in
the lufe of god be hym-selfe & for hym-selfe, and the secundarie es in
commuynge & behaldynge of aungels & gastly creaturis.25
SPI RI TUAL AND PHYSI CAL SENSES
Hearing the angels' song leads us on to the third way i n which the
doctrine of the two worlds can be treated: as a contrast between the
world of physical and the world of spiritual senses. This is a develop
ment of the Christian mystical - or Christian Platonic - tradition,
though it is not without parallels in Platonism and Neoplatonism: for
instance, in the way in which Plotinus tries to describe union with the
One by calling it 'pressing toward touch' (Enneads VJ.9. 1 1 .24) or,
more signifcantly, in the distinction introduced by Pausanias in his
speech in Symposium IBod between popular love and heavenly love
eros pandemos and eros ouranios. This distinction between popular and
heavenly love is pressed into service by Origen in the prologue to his
Commentary on the Song of Songs." It parallels the distinction
Origen develops at length in this part of the prologue between the
` /o DaTtio, I!aV8f (p. 6').
2 From OJAnges' Song, in Yorkshire Writers: Riclard Rolle ofHarpaIe, ed. Christine Horstman
(London, 1895). I, p. 178. Compare Sale 11.46.
26
Origen, Commentarollllie Song(jSOllgS, cd. and trI1S. R. P. Lawson (London, 1957). Prologue V.
62
ANDREW LOUTH
innetmanandtheoutetman.theoutetman,tutnedouttowatdsthe
extetna|wot|d-uotsomuchthephysicalwot|d,asthewotldvaluediu
tetmsottheextetna|,awot|dotteputatioiandambition,awot|dot
possessious andconsumption- and theinnetman, tutuedinwatds
towatdsthespititualwot|d|undetstoodastheiunetwotld,asabove).
Astheoutetmanexpetiencestheoutetwot|dwithhisphysicalsenses,
so the innetman expetiences the spititua| wotld with his spintual
seuses. Iu thisway, Otigen is able to intetptet thehighlysensuous
wotldottheSongot Songsiutetmsotthelovebetweeu
Chtistandthe
Chutch,the|oveot thesou|totGod,tespondiugtoHis|ovetothet.It
can,Ithink,betegatdedasanautheuticdevelopmentot thePlatonic
ttaditioninthattheasceutotthesouldesctibediutheSymposium, otin
Phaedrus, istea|isediuChtistiautetmsinintetptetatiouottheSongot
Songs.Thedocttineotthespititua|seusesisusedtoexptessthewayiu
which thesou| wakesup to thewot|dotinuetspititua| tea|ityand
beginstoexpetiencethatwot|dbyleatuingtouseitsnew-toundseuses.
Asthesou|gtowstomatutityinthisnew|ytevealedwotld,itdeve|opsa
sensitivitytospititua|tea|ity.soOtigensays,'thatsoulon|yispettect
whohashetseuseotsme||sopureandputgedthatshecancatchthe
ltagtauceotthespikenatdaudmytthaudcyptessthatptoceedtrom
the Wotd otGod, aud cau inha|e the gtace otthe diviueodour'.
Thedocttineotthespititualsensesisdeve|opedinallsottsotways
inOtigen'swake.Itsdeve|opmentispatticu|at|ybouudupwththe
ttaditionotiutetptetingtheSongotSongsotthemystical |ite:iuthe
East,thedocttiuewasdeve|opedinthetoutthcentutybyStGtegoty
otNyssa, in theWest, Betnatdinhiswondettu|seties otsetmonsou
theSongotSongsdeve|opedthedocttinewithatatesensuousuess.
AmongtheEnglishmysticsthespititualsensesatemostptominentin
Richatd Rolle who, alone among them, continues the ttaditiou ot
commentatyontheSongotSongs.! InhisIncendium amoris, hemaps
Compare Ephesians 5.25-33.
" Origen. Commelllar, lUI (Lawson edition, p. 168).
There arc two important articles by K. RallncrSJ on the origins and medieval developments
of the doctrine of the spiritual senses: in Relued'.Ibctliqleel de Mystique, rg ({932), 1 13-45. and
'4 ( 1 933), 263-99. For English translations (with references somewhat abridged) sec,
Rahner, Tlltological lrwtstjgatiolls ( 1 979), XVI, pp. 81-J34.
On which see, recently, 1:Ann Matter, The Voice ofMyBeloved. TIle Song DfSongs in Wetem
Medieval C/lristianir (Philadelphia, 1990). Also Ann W. Astcll, The Song oj Songs in the Middle
Ages ( Ithaca and London, 1990).
3
1
See Ego Dormio, ed. Allen, pp. 60-72; 01elll ejlIsllnl 'IOmell bwm, in rorkshire writers, cd.
Horstman, f pp. 186-gl , and the beginnings of a Latin commentary in O. Madon. 'Le
Commcntaircdc Richard Rollcsur Ic Cantiquc des Cantiques', i n Mllallges de science riligieuse,
7 ( 1 95), 3
1 1 -25.
Platonism in the Middle English Mystics
oui the spiritual life i n three phases - calor, dulcor, canor: all states of
feeling. His lyrics are full of deeply felt emotion that flows over into
defnite experiences. I n ontrast there is a certain cautiousness about
the spiritual senses in Hilton and even more in the author of the Cloud,
though such caution can also be found in Rolle, in The Form of Living
for example. Rosamund Allen is certainly right to stress that in his
expressive sensuousness Rolle is drawing on the traditional doctrine of
the spiritual senses:" but his spiritual feelings are real feelings, not a
mere metaphor." Walter Hilton, in OJAngels' Song, recognises both a
genuine experience of hearing the song of the angels, and also a
delusion that nothing but 'a fantasie caused of trubblyng of the
brayne'." A similar caution is found in the Scale ojPerfection (1.46),
while the author of the Cloud dwells at length on the dangers of
confusing the physical and the spiritual (45-62 passim), and is even
reluctant to use the language of interiority, preferring his own
paradox: 'noghwhere bodely is euerywhere goostly' (68. p. 1 2 I )
"
At
the root of all this there perhaps lies an unresolved problem for
Christian Platonism: what is the true estimate of the body? Are
spiritual and bodily senses simply to be opposed? Or are the spiritual
senses a transfguration of the bodily? Is Paradise a purel spiritual
place (and therefore not a place at all), or is Paradise a place where
there is complete harmony between the spiritual and the bodily? It is
curious to note that chapters 63-7 of The Cloud seem to point in a
diferent direction from the chapters that precede and follow: here the
fracture between the physical and the spiritual is clearly ascribed to
the Fall, rather than (more platonico) rcgarded as being intrinsic.
CONCLUSI ON
That the English mystics are to be regarded as heirs of the tradition of
Christian Platonism has, it is hoped, been sufciently demonstrated.
The nature of this debt is also worth underlining. It is a severely
practical interest: even when the English mystics betray awareness of
speculative developments concerning the true centre of the human
personality or the way in which the hierarchies of the angels may be
31 In her introduction to Richard Rollc: tie English Writings (London, Ig8g), p. '7.
3 As Evelyn UndcrliIl rightly notes in her introduction to Te Fre ofLve . . . and tle Mending oj
Lift, translated into Modern English from Richard Misyn's Middle English version by
Frances M.M. Camper (London, 1 914), p. xv.
3 Yorkshire Writers, ed. Horstman, I, p. 1 80.
, It is possible that Hilton and thc Cloud had RoUe in mind in their criticisms. Sec Dom David
Knowles, The llglisf Mystical Tradition (London, 1961), pp. 96, 107-9.
,
! .
ANDREW LOUTH
i nteriorized, they are only interested i n practical conclusions that
may be drawn. The author of the Cloud fnds the imagery of darkness
and unknowing something that helps him to understand a fundamental
aridity in contemplative prayer that must simply be endured, rather
than treated as a worrying symptom of something that needs to be put
right (depression, or half-heartedness, or sinful habits) (Cloud,75) .
This lack of speculative interest has been noticed elsewhere in the
English mystics. So Riehle says of their treatment oflhe term gounde:
Just how far the traditional metaphor of the abyss is changed in English
mysticism is apparent from the meaning of the commonly used metaphor
ground,. At frst sight it would seem to correspond to the Middle High
German grunt, a synonym of abgrunt (abyss). But when the English authors
speak of the divine grounde they leave aside the element of infnite
unfathomable depth and tend rather to concentrate on another meaning
which the word has, namely the meaning 'solid ground' in the sense of the
La tin fundamentum."
That the English mystics were essentially practical is a truth that their
designation as 'mystics' perhaps obscures. The writings of the English
mystics are concerned with prayer as a practical matter. For them the
Platonic tradition was part of the fabric of a traditional wisdom about
God and the soul that they drew on for the insight it gave into the
practical business of living a life devoted to prayer.
10
W. Richie, Tie Middle Ellglish Myslics (London, Ig81), p. 85.
PART I I I
T/t Rtoctssco.t cos//t st:to/tto// to/ar
CHAPTER 7
Introduction to the Renaissance
and seventeenth centur
Sarah Hutton
The image of Plato which dominates the Renaissance is that of Moses
Allicus, the Attic Moses, or Greek sage whose wisdom echoed the
teachings of the Bible. ' A striking visual representation of this is the
portrait of Plato in Raphael's mural, now known as the School of
Athens, located in the heart of Western Christendom, the Vatican
itself (An engraving based on this picture serves as the frontispiece for
this volume.) The spirit of Raphael's portrait of Plato is very much
the spirit of Plato invoked almost a century and a half later by
Milton in 'II Penseroso' where Plato is the seer of the soul, holding the
secrets of 'the immortal mind that hath forsook I Her mansion in this
feshly nook' (II. 88-g). Raphael's unwitting anticipation of Milton is
a reminder that no account of Plato in Renaissance England can
ignore the key importance of the I talian Renaissance in the recovery
of the Platonic corpus and the transmission of Platonic thought.
Raphael's grouping of Plato with other philosophers is a reminder
that throughout the Renaissance and seventeenth century Plato was
always seen in relation to other thinkers. Although considered primus
inter pares by his admirers, he was linked with a constellation of what
they believed to be like minds, Orpheus, Hermes Trismegistus and
Plotinus among them. Nor did Platonism ever dominate the
philosophical scene or succeed in dislodging Aristotelianism as the
core of the university curriculum.2 None the less, in the Renaissance
the philosophy of Plato was read and valued more than at any time
since the closure of the Athenian Academy by the emperor Justinian
in AD 529.
' Sec D.P. Walker, The Ancient Theology (London, 1972).
` Some of Plato's dialogues did, however, fgure on the curricula of Greek courses in European
universities and grammar schools of the Renaissance, see P.O. Kristcller, ReIQissance Thoug/l
(New York, 1961), pp. 601.
68 SARAH HUTTON
In the Middle Ages, Plato had been known through at most a
handful of dialogues (See Baldwin, pp. 2 1-6 above), but in the
ffteenth century Plato's entire extant oeuvre became known in
Western Europe. An important herald of the new interest in Plato
and Neoplatonism was Cardinal Nicholas ofCusa ( 1 401 -1 464).' But
it is to the humanists of the Renaissance that we owe the recovery and
Latin translation of the Platonic corpus! Here the lead was given by
Petrarch ( 1 304-1 374)' whose high valuation ofPlatollic philosophy
(on the authority of Cicero and Augustine) combined with his
manuscript-collecting activities lent impetus to the recovery of the
Platonic corpus, furthered by such fgures as Luigi Marsigli, Francesco
Filelfo ( 1 398-1 481 ) and Leonardo Bruni ( 1 369-1 444) . Petrarch's
knowledge of Plato was limited: even though he possessed a Greek
codex of Plato: his attempts to learn Greek came to nothing. I t was
only later with the promotion of Greek studies by such fgures as the
Florentines Coluccio Salutati ( 1 33 1-1 406) and Niccolo Niccoli that
Plato's writings were read in Greek in I taly for the frst time since
antiquity. In the rebirth of Greek studies, as well as the new interest in
Neoplatonism, a key role was played by Byzantine scholars who
travelled to I taly, notably Manuel Chrysoloras ( 1 350-1 41 4) who
taught Greek in Florence from 1 397, George Gemistus Pletho
(c. 1 360-1 452), a formative infuence on the shaping of Renaissance
Platonism' and Cardinal Bessarion (c. 1 403-1 472) who settled in
Rome where he defended Plato from the attacks on him by George of
Trebizond ( 1 395-1 484).8 Contact with the Greek east was also a
source fm the supply of Plato MSS which were brought to Italy either
by visiting Byzantines like Chrysoloras or by I talians like Filelfo who
visited Constantinople. I t was not until 1 51 3, however, that the works
of Plato were printed in the original Greek, by Aldus Manutius (see
Baker-Smith, p. 87 below).'
The earliest attempts to translate Plato into Latin, the linguaJanca
of Renaissance Europe, concentrated on individual dialogues (for
" Charles Lohr, 'Metaphysic', in The Cambridge Histor of Renaissance Philosophy, ed. C.B.
Schmitt (Cambridge, Ig88) (hereafter CHRP), pp. 548-66.
J. Hankins, Plato in te [laliotl Renallsa'IC
stones at it,
although nothing was ever said by a pagan philosopher which came
closer to the mind of Christ' . " This virtual admission of Plato into the
ranks of Christian sages is carried to its extreme in the colloquy 'The
Godly Feast' of [526, where it is obliquely hinted that some divine
power may have prompted pagan wisdom. To make the point one of
the speakers, Nephalius, alludes to the account of the death of
Socrates in the Phaedo; reading such things, he asserts, 'I can hardly
help exclaiming, 'Saint Socrates, pray for us"."
This makes it clear that Erasmus does not engage with Plato as a
philosopher, at least not in any rigorous sense, but rather as a
rhetorician of spiritual experience, the instigator of a metaphorical
system which coheres efectively with Pauline Christianity. In
particular i t is the fgure of Socrates, the midwife of understanding in
others, that holds a powerful attraction for him. Erasmus is often
bracketed together with Thomas More as though they were identical
in outlook, and certainly they had signifcant concerns in common.
But their mental attitudes and their public commitments were
distinct, and their diferent reactions to Plato demonstrate this.
Erasmus, for one thing, must bear some of the responsibility for the
image of More as a contemplative scholar dragged into public afairs.
I t is the case that More was deeply religious and carefully reserved
part of his life for private meditation, but he was also an active and
highly efcient public fgure whose training in the common law was
the prescribed Tudor preparation for an upwardly mobile career.
Erasmus, in common with Ficino and his Florentine associates under
the Medicis, showed little interest in the life of practical politics, even
ifhe did engage in acerbic criticism of contemporary rulers. More's
active spirit, by contrast, has something in common with the civic
humanism that evolved in Florence prior to Medici domination; the
active role he played in the afairs of the city of London, at least up to
[ 5[ 5, fts with his life-long resistance to absolutism. His early
translation of the life of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola ( [ 504) is
suggestive in this regard: More so edits the original that a major
` CWE, 777f p. 30.
17 Erasmus, Tke Coloquies, translaled by C.R. Thompson (Chicago, 1 965), p. 67, ASD, 1.3, 254.
Uses if Plato by Erasmus and More 93
thcmetoemetgeisthetime-honouteddebateovetthecontemplative
and tbe active lives. ' Platonists like Pico himsel!, ot Ctistototo
LandinoinhisDisputationes Camaldulenses, had touchedonthemattet
and giveu ptiotity to the contemplative lite. But Moteleaves the
questionopen.WhenhetutnstoPlatoitisnotinthespititotFicino,
otevenEtasmus, but tathetas a student otpoliticstutningto the
otiginatototpoliticalscience.
NodoubtMotecuthisPlatonicteethonFicino'sLatinttanslation,
thoughtheteisthepossibilitythatheencountetedtheRepublic inthe
vetsionbyDecembtio. ' ButsomepattinhisdiscovetyotPlatomay
havebeenplayedbytheHellenisticthetoticianandsatitistLucianot
Samosata,anumbetot whosedialogueswetettanslatedbyMoteand
Etasmus as patt ottheit|oint Gteekstudiesin 1 504-06. Lucian's
scepticism made him hostile to the Platonists and he en|oyed
tidiculingPlato. One exampletelevanttoMoteoccutsin the True
History, asatiticttavelnattativewhichhasitsimpottancetotUtopia:
whenthenattatotteachestheIslesottheBlestand meetsthegteat
ngutesotGteekhistotyPlatoisabsent.Heis,itemetges,inhisideal
cityandisconsequentlyinvisible.Itisajokcthatpointstothenameot
Mote'sisland- Utopiaotno-place- anditalettsustothenatuteot
Mote'sengagementwithPlato,thatis,atadicalquestioningotthe
ways in which the idealising imagination can engage with social
institutions.Toputi t anothetway,whatatetheobligationsotthose
who have climbed out otthe cave to those lettinside? It is also a
distinctpossibilitythat Lucian had the !ottuitouse`ect o!aletting
MotetowhatcanbestbedesctibedasPlato'sintellectualplaytulness.
ThusoneottheotiginalteatutesotMote'splatonismisthatitshows
little intetest in Plato as the mastet ot atcane, spititual wisdom,
tathet, he is petceived as a cteative, questing intelligence who
challengeshisteadetstoengageinadialoguethatextendsbeyondthe
text.As muchis impliedin thetull titleotMote'smost cclebtated
book,De optimo rei publicae statu deque nova insula Utopia (OJ the best state oj
a commonwealth and ojthe new island if Utopia) ; thismakesadeclatation
otgente,otgentes,includingattavellet'staleaboutanewly-tound
island, but also pointing to a ttadition otdebate de republica |on
govetnment)whichlooksbacktoPlato'sRepublic asitsptimalsoutce.
I8
Sec D. BakerSmilh. More's Utopia (London, 1991), pp. 16-:.
1
9 On Morc's access lo Plato, sec P.O. Kristcllcr. 'Thomas Morc as a Renaissance Humanist',
Moreana. 17 ( l gSO), 5-22; on Dcccmbrio's translation, sec R. Weiss, Humanism in Englalld
during tie Fifteenth Centur (Oxrord, 1957), pp. 51-7.
94
DOMI NI C BAKER-SMITH
An important link in the chain of transmission had been St
Augustine's Cii qGod which owes to Plato its distinction between the
bogus community of the terrestial city and the city of God beyond the
reach of time. I t also, incidentally, contains fragments of Cicero's lost
contribution to the debate, his De Re Publica, a point of some interest
since More lectured on the CiiY qGodin 1 501 at Grocyn's church ofSt
Lawrence Jewry.
The Platonic credentials of Utopia are most aptly recognized by
examining its name. If we slip back for a moment to t
h
at joke of the
invisible Plato in Lucian's True Histor, it appears to allude to a key
moment in the Republic at the end of Book Ix when the political
argument is brought to a close (592a-b), and a rather teasing close at
that. To Socrates' declaration that the wise man will care for 'the
established habit of his soul' Glaucon responds that he will not
willingly participate in politics. Yes he will, afrms Socrates, 'in his
own city . . . yet perhaps not in the city of his birth, except in some
providential conjunction'. The fragile hope of such a conjunction has
earlier been associated with the fusion of wisdom and political power
in the philosopher-king, an improbable ifnot impossible fgure (473d;
499b-c). Unless that ideal is realised the wise man apparently
remains a political exile from the land of his birth, free only to
participate in the life of 'his own city'. Glaucon sees the point: 'You
mean the city whose establishment we have described, the city whose
home is in the ideal, for I think that it can be found nowhere on earth'.
This ideal city, literally one 'laid up in words' (te en logois keimene), is
available as a pattern for contemplation; whether it comes into being
or not, it alone will be the political homeland of the wise man.
No doubt the sceptical Lucian was only interested in the comic
potential. But Thomas More accepted Plato's real point: that the
intellectual refection prompted by his sketch of a commonwealth
goes some way towards bridging the gap between an ideal and our
actual experience. The performance of political duty will, Plato
hopes, be qualifed by the in tellectual (and afective) experience of
reading the Republic. The aim is not exemplary but heuristic. This
More seems to have perceived. The very name Utopia indicates as
much: deriving from ou-topos, 'no-place', it was conceivably Erasmus'
substitution while the book was in preparation for the press for More's
original Nusquama, 'nowhere'. But just in case we miss the point, two
items in the prefatory materials direct the humanistically trained
reader in the right direction: these are the letter addressed toJerome
Uses ofPlato by Erasmus and More 95
Busleyden by Pieter Gillis, and the verses on Utopia supposedly by a
certain Anemolius but actually by Gillis. It is clear in the prefatory
materials that a complicated game is going on, and that Gillis is an
accredited participant.
T
his suggests that the idea of the book arose
during More's stay in Antwerp as Gillis's guest in the summer of [ 5 [5,
and there is a more than random chance that i t was provoked by
discussions of the Aldine Greek Plato. The verses make the point that
Utopia rivals and even surpasses Plato since it manifests (praestiti)
what he merely outlines in words (literisfDeliniavit) . This distinction is
further elaborated in the letter, where Gillis asserts that as he
contemplates the island depicted by More, 'I am afected as ifI were
sometimes actually living in Utopia itself." This playfulness makes
proper sense when it is grasped as an allusion to the ideal city which is
the philosopher's true home.
This practice ofbilocation - being in the world and yet out of it -
can be taken either as a rejection of the political life or as an
admonition to discerning involvement. One option results in a kind of
political quietism as the philosopher avoids contact with a corrupting
society, while the other demands a constant adaptation of the ideal to
the exigencies of the actual. It is when Plato is about to introduce the
idea of the philosopher-king that Socrates raises the critical question,
'Is it possible for anything to be realised in deed as it is spoken in word,
or is it the nature of things that action should partake of exact truth
less than speech . s ?' (Republic, 473a). When we think of the city 'laid
up in words', it is clear that the philosopher who is its true citizen is the
only person who can mediate its conceptual possibilities to the actual
world of deeds. Platonic politics need not involve the blind imitation
of institutions proposed in the Republic but the adoption of a critical
frame of mind, one that can mediate between the idealism of words
and the resistant contingency of actions. This concern with the
implementation of the ideal in the actual theatre of politics seems to
be the most challenging aspect of Plato's thinking for More." If the
dream of the philosopher-king represents an ideal conunction of
political power and philosophical intelligence (Republic 473d-e), then
within the terms of the Renaissance court the alliance of prince and
counsellor might be presented in comparable terms, as indeed it is in
20
Tle Complele Works oSir Tlwmas MOTt, vol. 4, cd. }'. SUriZ andJ.H. Hcxtcr, (New Haven and
London, 1965), pp. '9-23.
` This is fully argued in the important article by Kevin Corrigan. 'The FUllction oCthe Ideal in
Plato's Republic and St Thomas MOI'c's Uopia" i\4oreana, 27 (1 990), 27-48.
96
DOMI NI C BAKER-SMITH
Castiglione. The dificulty is, as Plato acknowledges in Letter VII, that
wisdom and the life-style of princes cannot agree, the creative
conjunction of speculation and action is inhibited by irrational forces;
confronted by the hostility of Dionysius in Syracuse, '1 feared to see
myself at last altogether nothing but words' (Letters 328c). Just such
an anxiety motivates Raphael's angry rejection in Utopia of the
proposal that he enter the service of some prince.
If Plato provides More with the starting point for his discussion 'de
optime rei publicae statu' (about the best kind of state) he can also be
recognised as the inspiration for many features in More's extraordinary
island." The central feature of Utopian life is its austere rationality;
much as in Republic, the can trolling consideration is spiritual worth -
what will proft the soul. But in Utopia there are no distinctions of
class and all citizens are expected to aim at the spiritual poise and
self-control Plato proposes for his guardians. The absence of privacy,
the standardised clothing and the rejection of all personal ownership,
features listed by Socrates as necessary for the formation of an
altruistic governing class (Republic 41 6b--1 7b), are basic to the
Utopian polity. More's departure from Plato is to make a strictly
rational life the goal of the entire community rather than of its
governing elite alone, a point that has some importance for the role of
women. Plato admits women to the elevated status of the guardians.
This is arguably at the expense of their being women," but in the
classless society of Utopia both sexes preserve distinct areas of
responsibility while sharing essential human concerns. Though
political ofce seems to be a male preserve women oversee all matters
relating to nurture. At the same time they may be admitted to the
priesthood and, most important of all, they enjoy equal access to
education and cultural life, the means of realising a common human
potential. The monogamous ideal of Utopian marriage, likewise,
underlines the complimentarity of the sexes, as Plato is modified in
the light of a Christian anthropology.
The common basis of both repu blics is the primacy of soul, of
rationality, over the pull of materialism or sensuality. This is most
evident in the
'
Utopian hierarchy of pleasures: any initial impression
of indulgence is swiftly checked by the recogni tion that the islanders
not only dismiss those pleasures based on custom or association but
"" For Ucomprehensive survey of More's Platonic borrowings see Thomas I. White, 'Pride and
the Public Good: Thomas Morc's Usc of Plato in Utopia', Joural oJlhe HislQrojPhilosoplv, VO
(' 98.) , 3.
9-54
.
2 On this aspect sec JuIia Annas, An Introduction to PlaID's Republic (Oxrord, Ig81), d3t-S.
Uses if Plato by Erasmus and More
97
rigorously distinguish between satisfaction of the body and satisfaction
of the soul, a lower pleasure cannot be allowed to interfere with the
enjoyment of a higher oe. A further, unexpected, consequence is the
presence in this ideal society of slavery; but this is penal slavery, not
hereditary, and can be read in almost metaphorical terms as the just
consequence of irrational behaviour which forfeits the claim to
human status. More's rational citizens, united in their pursuit of
spiritual values, are a fictional embodiment of that ideal community
sketched in the Republic (464d) and most emphatically expressed in
the 'first-best society' of the Laws where all things combine in the
common service and all citizens 'approve and condemn in perfect
unison and derive pleasure and pain from the same sources' (739c-d) .
In the ideal society rationality underpins the solidarity which
ownership would subvert.
Thus while More takes over a range of Platonic schemes and motifs
to construct his alternative world, the most persistent echo of Plato in
Utopia is the note of anxiety about the relation between intellectual
ideals and the theatre of active politics. How keenly More fel t the
dilemma is revealed later in the Responsio ad Lutherum ( 1 523) where
Luther's church ofthe elect is derided as 'somehow imperceptible and
mathematical - like Platonic Ideas - which is both in some place and
in no place, is in the flesh and is out of the flesh'." From his own
Augustinian perspective, More sees Luther's doctrine as an attempt
to anticipate the certainties of the City of God, to merge the ideal in
the actual, when for him (as for Socrates) the human burden is to
linger uncertainly between the two cities. And the reference to
'noplace', 'in nullo loco' has its utopian reverberations.
If we take this Platonic view of the political vocation as central to
More's in ten tions in Utopia, the structure of the work becomes clearer.
The central account of the island and its rational institutions, given to
us in the form ofa report by the traveller Raphael, is framed within an
encounter that takes place in Antwerp after Mass, a parallel to the
opening of the Republic in Piraeus after a religious festival. The
conversation in an Antwerp garden fuses historical reality-a real city
and real people, More and Gillis - with the fictional traveller
Raphael, who has none the less been to the New World with the
historical Amerigo Vespucci. When we add on to this the prefatory
verses and letters prepared by More and Gillis, which touch on such
matters a Raphael's present whereabouts and the precise location of
14 More, Complele Works, vol. v, cd.J.M. Headley (New Havcll and London, 1969), part p. 167.
98
DOMI NI C BAKER-SMITH
Utopia, we can see a deliberate device to alert the reader to the
invisible frontier between fact and fction, a narrative refection of the
equally obscure line between action and ideals. The tenuous thread
by which the vision of a rational society is transported back to Europe
and dispersed through the means of a reported conversation alerts the
reader to the problematic ways in which ideals grate against
established social customs.
The Platonic credentials of Raphael, our guide tp Utopia, are
beyond question. Plato is his favourite philosopher and his travels are
compared to Plato's: new-found lands and the frontiers of thought are
tacitly linked. Even his name, Hythlodaeus ( 'purveyor of nonsense') ,
may owe something to the dismissive term, hythlos (nonsense) that
Thrasymachus, the voice of custom, directs at Socrates' idea of justice
(Republic gg6d). Finally, the disposal of his estate to relatives has
something in it of Pico della Mirandola's otherwordly rigour; both
the historical and the fctional Platonist refuse to compromise, to
sacrifce independence or integrity to political engagement. More
devised Book I as an example of existing societies based on custom in
order to prepare us for the vision of the rational society of the
Utopians, but its central episode is the clash between Raphael and
Morus (More's own persona in the fction) over this basic question of
engagement. Against Raphael's 'academic' philosophy which refuses
to compromise with the irrational, Morus advocates discretion and
fexibility, an 'indirect approach' which may at least minimize evil
even if it doesn't uproot it." The issue returns on the fnal page of
Book II: after the account of Utopia Morus is left still sceptical about
the feasibility of emulating the ideal yet equally ill-at-ease about the
aspects of things as they are. His dilemma becomes a model for our
own reception of the book: as in the Republic, it is the interaction of
'there' and 'here' within the perceptive reader, the essential act of
accommodation, that is the intended aim of the narrative. Otherwise
why use fction? The terms we encounter in the book are not those on
which we are allowed to rest.
In certain respects, then, More and Erasmus develop their Platonic
interests in contrasting modes. What stands out is the fertility of the
tradition and its adaptability in bridging the gap between imagined
worlds and mundane experience in a manner that ofers, if not
transformation, at least the elevation of immediate afairs. Hence its
More, Complete Works, IV, pp. gg-tol.
Uses oj Plato by Erasmus and More 99
potential for destabilising entrenched custom. If the Neoplatonic
rhetoric of the soul adopted by Erasmus seems to diverge from the
institutional focus pursued by More, the fact remains that both find in
Platonism a radical challenge to the complacencies of the day. While
Erasmus in his depiction of inward life remains faithful to a tradition
of interpretation which includes Origen as well as Ficino, More
shows a powerful originality and penetration in his response to the
epistemological challenge of the Republic. It is intriguing to reflect that
this rare perception may owe something to the provocation of a
Lucianic joke.
CHAPTER 1 0
Italian Neoplatonism and the poetr ofSidney,
Shakespeare, Chapman, and Donne
John Roe
ITALIAN NEOP LATONI SM
Much of the influence ofNeoplatonism on Elizabethan erotic poetry
can be traced directly to the impact made by Castiglione's II eOTtegiano
(see Hutton, pp. ;e-, above). The pertinent ideas of Ficino
concerning the body's beauty and that of the soul, as well as Ficino's
novel arrangement (following Plotinus Enneads 1.6) of the senses
according to a hierarchy of values, find expression in Bembo's famous
speech in Book IV of It eOTtegiano. These are the ideas which principally
shape those poems of Sidney, Shakespeare, Chapman, and Donne
which provide the material for this chapter. I propose to examine in
turn the Neoplatonic features of AstTophil and Stella, Veu and Adonis,
Ovids Banquet if Senee, and The Songs and Sonets of John Donne,
concluding with 'Tpe Ecstasy'.
Immediately striking about the English encounter with Italian
Neoplatonism is how the latter's infuence on the poetry operates, the
philosophical ideas being adapted, not to say redirected, to poetic
ends. This makes the poets I am dealing with quite diferent in tone
and intention from Spenser whose abstract thinking in his most
overtly Neoplatonic work The FowTe Hymnes traces a more orthodox
Platonic design (see Thomas Bulger's chapter in this volume.) For
example, the fgure represented as Astrophil in Sidney's sonnet
sequence directs the Platonic theory of pure love to the ends of
seduction, while Venus the spokeswoman of desire in Shakespeare's
poem artfully modifes the order Ficino gives to the senses to vindicate
those of them upon which Ficino (and Castiglione) would place least
value (see below, pp. r o8-ro).This seems to draw a rejoinder from
Chapman (whose title Banquet if Senee refers most obviously to
Ficino) , for while Chapman also gives the bodily senses a higher status
than Ficino assigns to them the tone and tenor of his poem seems
markedly in contrast to that of Shakespeare's.
roo
The poetry ' Sidne, Shakespeare, Chapman, and Donne 1 01
To begin then by resuming the Italian arguments (for more of
which .ee Kraye, pp. 76-85 above) : Ficino, emphasising harmony as
the principal determinant in the relationship between love and
beauty, makes it clear t
h
at the intellect, which hc considers to be a
sense, and the eyes and ears have priority over the other organs:
Beauty, therefore, is three-fold: of souls, of bodies, and of sounds. That of
souls is known through the intellect; that of bodies is perceived through the
eyes; that of sounds is perceived only through the ears. Since, therefore, it is
the intellect, seeing, and hearing by which alone we are able to enjoy beauty,
and since love is the desire-to enjoy beauty, love is always satisfed through
the intellect, the eyes, or the ears. What need is there for smell? What need is
there for taste, or touch?]
Castiglione takes up the argument concerning the senses in the
celebrated fourth book of The Courtier in which Cardinal Bembo,
speaking on behalf of Platonic love, elaborates the Ficinian distinctions
in a tone and style more in keeping with courtly sprezatura
(nonchalance) :
Let him lay aside therefore the blindejudgement of the sense, and enjoy with
his eyes ye brightnesse, the comelinesse, the loving sparkels, laughters,
gestures, and all the other pleasant furnitures of beau tie: especially with
hearing the sweetnesse of her voice, the tunablenesse of her wordes, the
melody of her singing and playing on instruments (in case the woman
beloved bee a musitian) and so shall he with most daintie foode feede the
soule through the meanes of these two senses, which have little bodily
substance in them.2
Castiglione appears to omit the Ficinian insistence on the intellect as a
third sense oil a par with those of sight and hearing (and superior to
touch, taste, smell), concentrating rather on the visual and auditory
as pure means of perceiving beauty. He also gives, in keeping with the
work as a whole, a more courtly context to his depiction of the senses,
which in Ficino have a methodical abstract status (Ficino's model of
three higher and three inferior senses provides an abstract pattern
which Castiglione does not adopt). But he observes the important
Ficinian distinction of spiritual as opposed to corporeal love and
beauty, and the role assigned to Bembo is that of a spokesman for the
ethical end of love which is to eschew sense gratification and
concentrate on self-perfection through virtue.
Before turning to the application of Italian Platonic ideas in
I Marsilio Fieino, Commentar on Plaio's Symposium on Love, trans. and cd. Scars R.Jayne (Dallas,
1985), p. 4".
2 Baldassare Castiglione, The Book of/he Courtier, (rans. Sir Thomas Hoby (1561) (London,
J928j reprinted with revisions, 1974), p. 31 3.
102 J OHN ROE
Elizabethan poetry, we should note one important addition made by
Castiglione to the Ficinian scheme, and that concerns the activity of
kissing which Castiglione favours as long as its purpose is chaste:
For since a kisse is a knitting together both of bodie and soule, it is to be
feared, less the sensuall iover will be more enclined to the part of the bodie,
than of the soule: but the reasonable lover woteth will, that although the
mouth be a parcell of the bodie, yet it is an issue for the wordes, that be the
interpreters of the soule, and for the inwarde breath, which is also called the
soule. ( The Courtier, p. 3 (5)
The emphasis on 'inwardness' will shortly call to mind Sidney's
sonnet sequence in which Astrophil pay special, Platonic tribute to
the 'inward sun' (of virtue) which shines in Stella (see sonnet 71 ) .
Similarly, in language which will summon up Donne's 'The Ecstasy',
Castiglione's Bembo continues:
And one alone [i.e. soul) so framed of them both ruleth (in a manner) two
bodies. Whereupon, a kisse may be saide to be rather a coupling together of
the soule, than of the body, because it hath such force in her, that it draweth
her unto it, and (as it were) separateth her from the bodie. For this doe all
chaste lovers covet a kisse, as a coupling of soules together. And therefore
Plato the devine lover saith, that in kissing, his soule came as farre as his
lippes to depart out of the bodic. ( The Courtier, p. 3 ( 5)'
Neoplatonism infuences then the literary convention of courtliness
a concern which in varying ways had been the subject of the frst three
books of The Courtier. Ficinian Neoplatonism does not enter in a 'pure'
way into literary works but with alternately modifying and modifed
effect, and it is to some of its modifcations that we now turn.
) A the passage continues, Castiglione refers U the kiss in the Song ofSoiomon, whieh shows
incidentally that his souree at this point is not i''ino but Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. See
the Commelltar 01 a Can;olle oj Beniuielli, trans. Sar R. Jayne (New York, Bere,
FrallkfurtonMain, 1984), p. 1 51 . Pica is a slightly misleading authority as, contrar to his
assertion, Plato says nothing about the kissing of AgaIhon ill the Symposium. According to
Edgar Wind, Pica is rc;tlly alluding to Diogcncs Laertius (or pedlaps thc AI/thologia graeca)
who ascribes an epigram on kissing to Plato, See Wind, Pagan Mysteries ill tile Renaissallce, 2nd
edn (Lndon, 1967), p. 155. Sec Wind's chapter also for the influence of the Cabbalistie 1I0rs
osculi, and Kraye, p. OOO above. For a particularly detailed discussion, see Nicholas Jame
Perella's TIle Kiss Sacred and i'roJallC (Berkeley, Los Angcles and Londoll, 1969), pp. 158-88.
Finally, Marlowe seems to be drawing on the Platonic as influenced by the Inors osculi tradition
in his dcel'iplion ofHclen's kiss in Dr Faustus. Sec Tie Works q Clris!opller Marlowe, cd. C.F.
Tucker Brooke (Oxford, I gIO), p. ,8g.
The poetry ofSidney, Shakespeare, Chapman, and Donne 103
SI DNEY
Sidney declares his position on Platonic morality in the Dimce i
Poetry where he attempt
s
to answer Plato's objection that poetry is a
false and deluding art. Sidney deals with this criticism, which is made
chiefy in The Republic, by contending that Plato's own practice as a
moralist, whose purpose must surely be to encourage active and not
merely contemplative virtue in others, owes more to the art of poetry
or feigning than it does to the drier, less in tieing skill of dialectic:
Where the philosophers, as they scorn to delight, so must they be little
content to move-save wrangling whether virtus be the chief or the only good,
whether the contemplative or the active life do excell - which Bocthius and
Plato well knew, and therefore made mistress Philosophy very often borrow
the masking raiment of poesy.4
Sidney is not above employing a debater's tactics in reminding his
audience of Plato's authorizing of ' abominable filthiness' (a charge of
homosexual tendencies) , or of the fact that The Republic advocates free
love.' But while seeking to lessen the strength of Platonist opposition
to poetry with such tactics, on the whole he seeks to enlist Plato as an
authentic, if sometimes unacknowledged, ally of the poetic cause:
And a man need go no further than to Plato himself to know his meaning:
who, in his dialogue called Ion, giveth high and rightly divine commendation
unto poetry. So as Plato, banishing the abuse, not the thing, not banishing it,
but giving due honour unto it, shall be our patron) and not our adversary.
(Misc. Prose, p. lOB)
Such distinctions are put with precision in The Dience, where they
enable Sidney to steer a painstaking course through the treacherous
shoals of moral ambiguity. Are the arguments of poetry a force for
virtue or evil? Exposing the contradictions in Plato's own statements,
and playing the more positive side deftly against the lesser, Sidney
manages to dismiss the threat he poses to poetry while retaining him
as a supporter. Sidney uses a similar ploy in his sonnet sequence
Astrophil and Stella, where his speaker Astraphil pleads that his love for
Stella is pure; but on thIS occasion the morality of the argument is
confused and uncertain rather than enlightening. The reason perhaps
is that Astrophil takes the ideal of feminine beauty, which in The
Dience Sidney employs as an image of an eq ually ideal heroic poetry,
Miscellaneous Prose ofSir Philip Sidne, cd. Katherine DuncanJoncs and Jan van Dorsten
(Oxford, 1973) (hereafter Misc. Prose), p. 93.
Ibid" p. 107.
JOHN ROE
and uses i t directly of the woman herself I n speaking of heroic or
virtuous ideals (as in the inspiring deeds of Achilles, Cyrus, Aeneas,
etc.) Sidney cites Plato (and Cicero) to the efect that to recognise the
good is to love it, illustrating the argument with the image of a
beautiful woman:
if the saying of Plato and Tully be true, that who could see virtue would be
wonderfully ravished with the love of her beauty - this man
(
i.e. the heroic
poet) sets her out to make her more lovely in her holiday appare1.6
To love virtue in the image of female beauty and to love its
embodiment as such are two quite separate things; in bringing them
together Sidney (or perhaps Astrophil) eliminates distinctions
alarmingly. Astrophil, who from an early point displays a mischievous
talent for sowing confusion, says to Virtue:
I sweare, my heart such one shall shew to thee,
That shrines in fesh so true a Deitie,
That Vert"e, thou thy selfe shalt be in love.'
In the same sequence, Astrophil applies a blend of Christianised
Platonism only to overturn it defiantly:
True, that true Beautie Vertue is indeed,
Whereof this Beautie can be but a shade,
Which elements with mortall mixture breed:
True, that on earth we are but pilgrims made,
And should in soule up to our country move:
True, and yet true that I must Stela love.
(S, 1
1 9-[
4)
Astrophil and Stella admits of no single interpretation, critical opinion
being sharply divided on the degree of sympathy we should accord its
spokesman for passion, Astrophil. There is no doubt that the love he
proposes is technically adulterous - or would be were Stella to accede
to it - since she is a married lady. The earlier sonnets indicate that a
comedy of seduction is in progress; but for Sidney the spiritual
consequences of behaviour also matter a good deal. Hence one of
6 Ibid., p. g8. His editors note (p. 20 r) that here Sidney receives his Plato from Cicero in the De
Oficiis. Sidney'S direct knowledge of Plato was well served by the edition of Henri Estienne
sent to him in 1579 (Misc. Prose, pp. 63-4).
7 Aslrophil and Stella, sonnet 4, 11.12-14. All reference arc to The Poems if Sir Philip Sidey, cd.
William A. Ringlcr.Jr (Oxford, 1962). P.J. Croft compares Sidney's Platonism with the more
idealistic, self-denying kind which appears in his brother Robrt's poetry. See his edition of
The Poems of Robert Sidne (Oxford, 1984), pp. 54-62.
The poetry of Sidney, Shakespeare, Chapman, and Donne 1 05
Astrophil's tactics in defending the rightness of his love for Stella is to
protest seriously that her marriage itself is a shameful thing (see
sonnet 78), and
that his own feelings'cannot be put down to mere
lasciviousness:
If that be sinne which in fxt hearts doth breed
A loathing of all loose unchastitie,
Then Love is sinne, and let me sinfull be.
(14, 11. 12-14)
As we have just seen, in the early sonnets Astrophil employs logic to
establish that the body-s
o
ul dualism turns on too fine a distinction to
be able to separate the one from the other: Stella so embodies virtue
that to desire her person is to engage in spiritual worship. While a
Platonic spokesman such as Castiglione willingly admits that a lover
of sufcient maturity and self-awareness can be trusted to tell pure
from improper feelings, he would undoubtedly baulk at Astrophil's
cheerful identification of spiritual refinement with bodily pleasure.
Astrophil himself eventually acknowledges the strain Platonic thinking
imposes on the erotic by representing desire's distress at the thin
nourishment provided by the mind:
So while thy beau tie drawes the heart to love,
As fast thy Vertue bends that love to good:
'But ah,' Desire still cries, 'give me some food'.
( 71 , 11. 1 2-14)
Always adept at drawing on arguments that may redound to his
advantage, Astrophil as the sequence goes on seems to apply the
Platonic kind of kissing which Cardinal Bembo advocates (see p. 1 02,
above and Kraye, pp. 83-4) to broader ends. The kiss famously
celebrated in the eighth and ninth decades of the sonnet sequence
fuses Italian Platonism with the older hasia tradition deriving from
Catullus, sensual enjoyment acquiring a spiritual basis:
o kissc, which doest those ruddie gemmes impart,
Or gemme, or frutes of newfound Paradise,
Breathing all blisse and sweetning to the heart,
Teaching dumbe lips a nobler exercise.
o kisse, which soules, even soules together ties
By liokes of Love, and only Nature's art.
(81 , 1
1
. 1-5)
As Sidney's editor William Ringler points out, these lines distinctly
echo the Castiglionian Bembo's description of kissing; and as we
Ringler, p. 402.
106 J OHN ROE
have seen already, a kiss may be imbued with a seriousness of purpose
that far exceeds the ordinary motives of delight. Yet there is no doubt
from the temper of his remarks in the kissing sequence that such
delight is what Astrophil chiefy aims at. For that matter, it is not
entirely clear whether at this point Astrophil wishes to celebrate a kiss
bestowed or merely one anticipated. Sidney draws an exceptionally
fne line between presenting Stella as a willing, conniving lover of the
troubadour school or as a Petrarchan woman whose concern for
chastity outweighs all other considerations; and it is this latter vision
of her which ultimately prevails. To that degree, despite the freedom
he allows Astrophil to parody Ficinian Neoplatonism in sonnet 7 1 ,
Sidney appears to endorse the aim of Castiglione's Bembo's to restore
the code of honour to its original stilnovistica status.
Shortly following this comes the famous rupture between the
lovers, whereby a bewildered Astrophil fnds himself confronting the
fact of Stella's sudden and hasty withdrawal: having dallied briefy
with the notion that sincerity of heart condones technical adultery,
s
h
e has in the event thought better of accepting Astrophil's suit. To
betray the marriage bed would certainly exceed the Bembian
mandate which supposes a pair of lover
,
for whom physical union,
within marriage or without, is a far lesser aim than a love in which the
body understands its proper subordination to the authority of the
soul. This is indeed what Astrophil is left with as the sequence enters
its fnal phase; feelings of desolation are mitigated by his constant
sense of Stella's worth. Even though deserted, he continues to nourish
hopes that Stella will acknowledge him ifhe fulfls a Petrarchan vow
of chastity similar to the restraint practised by her. Astrophil's
continuing commitment to the living Stella, which the poet seems to
endorse, if we are to judge by the elegiac mood of the concluding
sonnets, would prevent Sidney from responding with any warmth to
Giordano Bruno's later appeal to abjure the fesh and concentrate on
love as a wholly symbolic abstraction (see Kraye, p. 85 above). But
this is not quite all. The drama of the final phase deepens and is
enhanced by the poetry's apparent drawing on one of Plato's most
famous myths, that of the fgures in the cave in The Repulc. Darkness
The Venus Pandemos ofPlato'sSympasium is not noted for her procreativity, which is rather a
Medieval and Renaissance development. See Earl G. Schreiber, 'Venus in lhe Mythographic
Tradition', Joural of English and German Philology, 74 ( '975), 5' 9-35: and Daigle, 'Venus and
Adonis' .
l I O
J OHN ROE
and love at the more mundane level of attraction and dislike means
that the Platonic ideal manifests itself only fitfully and has no shaping
role in the poem as a whole. This said, it must also be acknowledged
that the concluding pathos of the work, following the death of Adonis,
owes something to Venus' recasting of his memory according to one of
the ideal fgures of Platonic love, Orpheus:
'To see his face the lion walked along
Behind some hedge because he would not fear him;
To recreate himself when he hath sung,
The tiger would be tame, and gently hear him;
If he had spoke, the wolf would leave his prey,
And never fright the silly lamb that day.'
(II. 1093-98)
1 2
Shakespeare makes use of the Platonic in order to bring greater
delicacy to the terms of opposition acted out by Venus and Adonis in
their frustrated love match. Like Sidney previously, Shakespeare
parodies the Neoplatonic ideal, gently and comically rearranging
Ficino's careful hierarchical ordering of the senses; but also like
Sidney, especially where he appears to draw upon the Platonic idea of
the Cave, Shakespeare, in introducing the Neoplatonic, efects a
deepening of pathos which might not have been possible had the
poem avoided it altogether. As a carefully applied refning principle,
the poem's Platonism prevents the tone from descending to the sort of
crude farce in which an improbably wimpish boy seeks to escape the
clutches of a sweaty mature woman. But while ensuring that decorum
never falters in this respect, Shakespeare includes enough of a
hedonistic current to maintain for the poem a conventional Ovidian
poise. It is quite possibly the success of his venture which induced
George Chapman, Shakespeare's more straightforwardly moralistic
contemporary, to manage the 'banquet' in reverse, that is, enlist the
Ovidian erotic on behalf of the Platonic.
CHAPMAN
The situation of Chapman's poem i s one in which Ovid overhears his
mistress Corinna playing the lute and singing while at her bath. She is
bathing outdoors in a pleasant, secluded grove. For the Elizabethan
reader the story has the Biblical overtones of Bathsheba observed
1?
For the Platonist Orpheus, sec D.P. Walker, 'Orpheus the Theologian', JQumal ofike Warburg
and Courlauld institutes, 1 6 ( 1 953), 100-20.
The poetry of Sidne, Shakespeare, Chapman, and Donne I I I
baihing. by David or Susannah by the Elders, an indication perhaps
that Chapman means to set the Ovidian theme of shameless
scopophilia in a more serious key. Like the Shakespearean Venus
before him, though m
o
re fully and extensively, Ovid enjoys the
presence of Corinna through each of the senses: frst he listens to her
song, then savours the odour of her fragrance, after which he
surreptitiously watches her. But to show he is no sly voyeur he openly
declares his presence assuring her of his good intentions. Indeed he
claims a kiss (i.e. taste) to show no harm has been done. Shortly
afterwards Ovid makes his final request to Corinna which is to grant
him the favour of touching her; she complies by unveiling her breast.
Put thus baldly, the poem may sound like a mischievous seduction
piece along the lines of Ovid's own Art of Love; but the narrative, like
Corinna's robe, unfolds with a visionary solemnity which is the
reverse of licentious in tone:
Close to her navill she her Mantle wrests,
Slacking it upwards, and the foulds unwound,
Showing Latonas Twinns, her plenteous brests
The Sunne and Cynthia in theyr tryumph-robes
Of Lady-skin; more rich than both theyr Globes.
After more description he touches her breast, which,
made her start like sparckles from a fre,
Or like Saluria from thtAmbrosian pride
Of her morns slumber, frighted with admire
When Jove layd young Alcdes to her brest."
As with each depiction of sensual appreciation Chapman amplifies
and dignifies the context in a progressively heroic manner, the
reference toJove's and Saturnia's powerful son being the culmination.
In the process sensuality is transformed into an ideal description of
itself whereby, as in this instance, a particular action of touching
seems to resonate with universal significance, the image of the lover's
contact with the breast merging instantly with that of the infant
Hercules endowed with immense strength of hand."
As the poem approaches what in a classical context would be the
' Ouids Banquet OjSeIlCt, 1I.950-4 and 992-5. in E'i;oheilll Narrative Verse, ed. Nigel Alexander
(London, 1 967).
14 Frank Kcrmocc fnds evidence of Chapman's subtle undermining of Ovid's eroticism in the
lines on Corinna's breasts (Shakespeare, Spmur, Donne (London, 197J, p. 1 1 5). But '!Alo1(s
Twinn:' arc the sun god and moon goddes, i.e, '}u(ueldy,tlobes'. There is nothing here to
suggest iI'ony,
1 1 2
JOHN ROE
moment of concubitus or sexual culmination, Chapman's Ovid utters a
complaint about the metaphysical condition oflove whereby the soul
must resort to an unsatisfactory feshly medium for its expression:
Alas why lent not heaven the soule a tongue?
Nor language, nor peculiar dialect,
To make her high conceits as highly sung,
But that a feshlie engine must unfold
A spiritual notion.
(11.1 ,001-5)
For all its contemplation of erotic delight the poem concludes,
somewhat grudgingly, by giving the body a necessalY but decidedly
inferior place in love's scheme. And while, like Shakespeare, he
inverts the sense order as prescribed by Ficino and Castiglione, unlike
Shakespeare he ends by afirming the Ficinian primacy of the soul.
Although stylistically Ovids Banquet ojSence must be counted as one
of the most awkward of the more distinguished Elizabethan long
poems, fuency and gracefulness occurring only intermittently during
its progress (while many ofits statements are fussily resistant to precise
interpretation) , it succeeds in its aim of converting the Ovid of bawdy
reputation into an eloquent spokesman for the erotic as a potential
expressor of virtue; and to do this Chapman draws notably on
Neoplatonism. To a signifcant degree he difers in intention from
both Sidney and Shakespeare in that he never takes the philosophical
ideas lightly; but if Chapman follows a more consistent and serous
Neoplatonic design than either of them, both Sidney and Shakepeare
make fuller use of such ideas when it comes to including that element
of pathos without which the cleverest comedy may achieve no more
than witless, brutal farce. In that respect the three poets unite in
turning Neoplatonism to account in terms of what it may say about
the dignity of instinct and the heroic aspect offawed human experience.
D ONNE
This brings us to the Neoplatonic example of John Donne who in his
Songs and Soncis gives us a more versatile, more original encounter with
Platonism than perhaps any other Elizabethan poet. Donne sometimes
uses the Platonic argument for consolation, as most famously in his
poem of leave-taking, 'A Valediction: forbidding mourning':
The poetry if Sidney, Shakespeare, Chapman, and Donne 1 1 3
Dull sublunary lovers' love
(Whose soul is sense) cannot admit
Absence, because it doth remove
Those things which elemented it.
But we, by a love so much refn'd
That ourselves know not what it is,
Inter-assured of the mind,
Care less, eyes, lips, and hands to miss.
('A valediction') II. J3
-
4)
5
These stanzas draw clearly on the Platonic idea that the body is only a
vehicle for the soul and that it is dispensable for anybody who has the
art to perceive the soul's essence truly. But we remember, none the
less, that the speaker of these lines is ofering solace to his lover
(possibly his wife) at a moment of tender and painful parting. In a
seriously witty fashion (characteristic of Metaphysical poetry's
paradoxical style) he attempts to make light of the pain which for
both of them is all too material. Similarly, in another poem which
strikes an even more heartfelt note of grief, 'A Nocturnal upon St
Lucy'S day', Donne appears moved to invoke the Platonic condemnation
of fesh-centred ness as a means of overcoming both his despair at
having lost her and his envy of those still in possession of their lovers:
You lovers, for whose sake the lesser sun
At this time to the Goat is run
To fetch new lust, and give it you,
Enjoy your summer all:
Since she enjoys her long night's festival,
Let me prepare towards her.
('A Noctural, 11.38-43)
The 'lesser sun' is evidently a symbolic equivalent of the earthly
Venus of Neoplatonism, butin this poem such a sun's light is fel t to be
inferior to the spirituality emanating from the darkness of St Lucy's
night, while the unmistakably scornful tone wi th which the speaker
repudiates the lovers' fascination with 'lust' reinforces the moral
implications of 'lesser'. Donne uses the Neoplatonic framework to
speak personally and enforce oppositions which in the philosophy
would be kept in harmonious relation. A more extreme example of
the same thing
'
Occurs in 'The Undertaking or Platonic Love', which
The Songs ad Sonets ofJohn DOlme, ed. Theodore Redpath, 2nd cdn (London, 1983).
1 1 4 J OHN ROE
repudiates the fesh, especially female fesh, in the following harsh
images:
But he who loveliness w
i
thin
Hath found, all outward loathes,
For he who colour loves, and skin,
Loves but her oldest clothes.
('The Undertaking', 1l. 13-16)
Here Platonism combines with the medieval tradition of misogynistic
satire to produce a voice of stern rebuke which again difers in its tone
markedly from the accomodating accents of Ficino and Castiglione;
and such a manoeuvre is in keeping with poetry's modifcations and
often strategic adaptations of Platonism as outlined above.
But it is in 'The Ecstasy', a poem which carefully analyses the
body-soul relationship in a manner which sustains the erotic mood
convincingly, that Donne makes his greatest and undoubtedly most
challenging statement about the impact of the Neoplatonic on love
poetry. " The poem describes a situation in which the two lovers sit
together on a 'pregnant bank' gazing into one another's eyes. They
appear to do nothing except hold hands ('So as to intergraft our
hands, as yet I Was all our means to make us one', 11.9-1 0) . Each
lover's soul seems to leave the body (the title of course refers to the
Greek word 'ekstasi', meaning a standing forth) and interact with the
soul of the other:
But as all several souls contain
Mixture of things, they know not what,
Love these mix'd souls doth mix again,
And makes both one, each this and that.
('The Ecstasy', 11.33-36)
The issuing forth and commingling of the souls appears to owe
something to Castiglione'S description of such a process during a
chaste kiss between a man and woman who know how to love each
other with propriety (see above, p. 102). Donne markedly says
nothing about a kiss in developing his point about the soul's
intermingling. This may be the result of an uncustomary feeling of
caution with regard to so delicate a subject, but the more likely reason
is that he is holding back the sensual part of his argument to the fnal
and most dramatic phase of the poem in which an urgent appeal is
launched on the body's behalf:
1 6 For good summaries of {he various critical and scholarly approaches to the poem, sec
Redpath (Songs and SOlctS), pp. 323-7 and Merritt, Y. Hughes, 'Some of Donne's
"Ecstasies" ', PMLA, 75 ( l g60), 509-18.
The poetry if Sidne, Shakespeare, Chapman, and Donne
l i S
But oh alas, so long, so far
Our bodies why do we forbear?
They are ours, though they are not we, we are
The intelligences, they the sphere.
(1l49-53)
As lovers who have met each other in bodily form, the poet and his
mistress 'owe [their bodies] thanks because they thus / Did us, to us, at
frst convey' (11.53-4) . The pertinent question is how should such an
obligation be discharged?" My reading of this is that the body can
and must be enjoyed but without compromising the serious attitude
which is maintained from the start. Such a reading is endorsed by the
authoritative tone of the decisive stanza:
So must pure lovers' souls descend
To afections, and to faculties,
Which sense may reach and apprehend,
Else a great Prince in prison lies.
(H.65-8)
b
Is this prince the soul, the body, or some compound of the two?Italian
Neoplatonism would conventionally identify it as the soul,l 9 but the
lovers' souls, far from being prisoners, actively assist the process of
liberation; and they descend in order to do so, whereas the normal
Platonic argument would describe a movement upwards out of the
body's cage. If the lovers' souls are already free and eager to assist,
then the 'great Prince' still seeking his liberty must be either the body,
awaiting release into a superior evaluation, or some compound of
body and soul which difers from the usual idea of the transcendance
ofthe one (body) by the other (soul). And this compound must surely
be love itself, which Donne in another Neoplatonic lyric describes as
needing to take or occupy a body rather than merely existing." If this
is the case, the subtlety ofthe poetic argument makes it hard to decide
what weighting, if any, is being given to either the body or the soul in
their reciprocal relationship; furthermore the poet's enigmatic closing
statement C . . . he shall see I Small change when we are to bodies
gone', 11.75-6) indicates his reluctance to spell matters out any more
'' See Legouis, DOlme le Crqflsmall (Paris, 1928), pp. 68-9; and Gardner, 'The Argument about
"The Ecstasy" \ in Elizabethan Studies Presel/ted to F. P. W (Oxford, 1959. p. 283).
t0
It is well put by, among otbers, Earl Miner, although he maintains, as I would not, that the
purpose of bodily interaction is to procreate the rational soul. See The Metaphysical Modefom
Donne to Cowle (Princeton, N.J., 1969), pp. 81-2.
` See, ror example, Bcmbo's own treatise Gl Asolalli: 'egli (the soul) in questa prigione delle
membra rnchiuso' + in Nesca Robb, .NeoplallIism oJlhe /faliaf Rtaissfllce (London, '935), p. J86.
?9
'Love must not be, but take a body too' ('Air and Angels', I. 10; SOllgS alld SOllelS, p. Ig6).
JOHN ROE
clearly. But his very diplomacy would surely mean that he is arguing
for a more than usually prominent role for the body and that his
purpose is to dignify the erotic rather than to eclipse or abjure it. The
poem's erotic statement neither parodies Neoplatonism, as in
Shakespeare's example, nor does it end by submitting to its orthodoxy.
Unlike George Chapman who at the end of Ovid Banquet ofSenee
deplores the fact that the loving soul is compelled to express itself
through a physical medium, Donne celebrates the erotic as a valued
element of the process. Note the diferent force Donne's climactic
'alas' has from Chapman's in the key moment of each poem:
and,
But oh alas, so long so far
Our bodies why do we forbear?
(,The Ecstasy', 11.49-50) ,
Alas why lent not heaven the soule a tongue?
Nor language, nor peculier dialect,
To make her high conceits as highly sung,
But that a feshlie engine must unfold
A spirituall notion.
(Ovids Baquet, 1l. I,OO 1-5)
Because of his success in fnding an authoritative role and position for
the erotic in what is normally, in Neoplatonic philosophy, the
exclusive preserve of the soul, Donne is, in 'The Ecstasy', the most
original and adventurous of Elizabethan poetic thinkers to engage
wi th the Platonic mode.
C HAPTER I I
Shakespeare on beaut) truth and transcendence
Stephen Medcal
Venus, in Shakespeare's Veu and Adonis, is given subtle understanding
of the Neoplatonic doctrine that Beauty is an absolute quality which
is conferred from on high on other qualities like pleasingness of colour
and proportion, from which it is distinc
i
. But she combines this with a
simple misunderstanding by identifying absolute Beauty with her
beloved. When Adonis lived, she says,
his breath and beauty set
Gloss on the rose, smell to the violet. I
While without him
The fowers are sweet, their colors fresh and trim,
But true sweet beauty lived and died with him.
(ll. I 079-80)
In Sonnet 53, Shakespeare picks up Venus' statement and, speaking
a himself the lover of the Beautiful, transforms it into a paradoxical,
but much more serious play with Platonic logic. He addresses the
beloved young man as the reality behind not only Adonis, the
paradigm of male beauty, but Helen, the paradigm offemale beauty;
not only as a pattern for human beauty, but for that of the spring and
autumn; not only as a pattern for 'beauty' but also for 'bounty'. The
third of these pairs recalls the sentence in which Hoby, rendering
Castiglione's Courtier and indirectly Plato's Symposium, speaks of the
Beautiful as 'the beawtye unseperable from the high bountye'.' The
young man is addressed not only as ifhe were the Beautiful itself but
as the Good, which is in fact what Plato implies by to kalon, although it
` Venus and Adonis line 935-6. All quotations from Shakespeare's poems are f'om ThePoems, ed.
Kenneth Palmer (London, 1960).
" Baldassare Castiglione, The Book oj(ke Courtier, translated by Sir Thomas Hoby, with an
introduction by W. Raleigh (London, 1 91 7), p. 360.
1 I 7
1 1 8 STEPHEN MEDCALF
is inadequately translated as 'the Beautiful'.' Furthermore, the
relation between the young man and every instance of good is
underlined by the confation for which there seems to be no parallel,
of all Plato's models for the relation between forms and particular
things. First the vivid, vague and pregnant image of 'strange
shadows', recalls Plato's account of the relatio
n
offorms to things in
the Myth of the Cave in Republic VII. Secondly, Shakespeare evokes
Plato's logically more precise but also more difcult concepts of
imitation ('counterfeit' and painting) and of participation ('In all
external grace you have some part') (Parmenides [ 3[-2, Republic x).
Finally, at the end of the poem, Shakespeare reveals the logical
relation which underlines them all, i.e. likeness: 'But you like none,
none you, for constant heart'. In this last line, correctly stating the
principal way in which the Form of the Beautiful should not be like its
particulars, that of being subject to transience, he also gives the real
difculty in identifying it with a person. This he was presently to explore.
The uncanny alliance of mystery and logic in this sonnet approaches
Plato's higher fights so nearly a to suggest that Shakespeare had
been improving his knowledge of him: a suggestion confrmed by The
Phoenix and the Turtle, which he published in [ 601 . At whatever time
he read Plato, it would have been not in Greek, of which the evidence
is he knew little, but in Latin. For as the most recent writers on his
learning, the Martindales, put it, 'his "small Latin" (as Jonson saw it)
would have allowed him to read Latin books if they were not too
difcult, without translation where necessary'.' And the Latin of the
most widely available translations (Ficino and Serranus) is far from
difcult. It is possible that it was Ben Jonson himself who introduced
Shakespeare to Plato in Latin, for they collaborated in the volume
Loves Marrrin which the Phoenix and the Turtle appeared. The two had
some acquaintance since at least [598, when Shakespeare acted in
Jonson's Ever Man in hi Humour, and by Jonson's own witness their
friendship was in the end close. Now Jonson's knowledge of Plato was
good. He later owned Serranus' edition and translation in Latn of
Plato's works, and may already have owned Ficino's.' One of the
, Shakespeare may have been foUowingsuggestions from Sidney. c.g. AstTophil and Sulla, 91 . Sec
John Roc's chapter, pp. 100-I6t.
C. and M. Martindale, ShaktSpeareand 'he UsesoJAntlqi! (London and New York, J990), p. f l.
Jonson's copy of Serra nus' edition is in the Chetham Library. Manchester. His library was
fuid, suffering at least onc fire, and several disposals to pay his debts (Herford and Simpson,
Be Jonson, f (Oxford, 1925), pp. 250-71 ). The British Museum's copy (c,lo7 K.3) of the
edition of Fieino's Plato printed in Lyons in '590 has a pencilled note, 'Ben Jonson's copy
with 21 9 Annotations in his hand 33 Trefoil marks in his hand'. though it is not clear on what
evidence.
Shakespeare on beau!, truth and transcendence I l g
earliest and one of the latest of his masques - The Masque ofBeau!
( 1 608) and Loves Triumph through Gallipolis ( 1 630) - are expositons of
Plato on love, the latter a dazzling presentation of how Love drives
false followers of his outofPlato's ideal city. In his play The New lnne
( 1 629) a gentleman called Lovel describes love, following the
Symposium closely, and at times Ficino's commentary on it.' Now,
although in this play Jonson is anticipating a new fashion for
spiritual, Platonic love based on Honore d'Urfe's pastoral romance
Astnie, which only took hold at court with William Davenant's
masque The Temple ofLove in 1 635,7 his thought and style look back
thirty years. An anti-Platonic, Lord Beaufort, comments derisively on
Lovel's speeches by conjuring up Chapman's Ovids Banquet ' Sence
(compare Roe, pp. 1 1 0-1 2 above):
I relish not these philosophical feasts;
Give me a banquet o'sense, like that of Ovid.
( The New lnne, m.ii.1 25-6)
Lovel's Ficinian lines could not be bettered as an introduction to The
Phoenix ad the Turtle. Love is, he says
a fame, and ardor of the mind.
Dead, in the proper corps, quick in anothers;
Trans-ferres the Louer into the Loued.
The he, or she, that loues engraues, or stamps
Th'Iea of what they laue, frst in themselves:
Or, like to glasses, so their minds take in
The formes of their belou'd and them refect.
(m.ii.g6-102)
Chapman, as well as Shakespeare and Jonson, took part in Loves
Mar!r. So did John Marston. But Jonson, who had some close
association with Sir John Salusbury, to whom the whole book is
dedicated, is perhaps the most likely person to have put it together.'
The Phoenix and the Turtle is an episode in a sequence begun by
someone otherwise unknown called Robert Chester. Nature, fearing
that the Phoenix of the present will have no successor, causes her
Herford and Simpson, Bm]ollso1 (Oxford, 1938). VI, Tie.New 11l1lC,III,ii. The commentary in
7 (Oxford, 1 950), gives some of the sentences in Ficino, pp. 31 9-20, ahhough oddly with a
mistaken reference. h should be Commentary on the Symposillm lI.viii. Sec Commenlarillm in
Corwivillm Platonis, cd. R. Marcel (Paris, 1956).
7 Kathleen M. Lynch, The Social Mode oj Restoratjofl Comed (New York, (926), chs 2 and 4.
Robert Chester's 'Loves Martyr' ,cd. A.B. Grosart, 1878. Most of the literature on TIle PloCix
and the Turtle i competently summariscd in R.A. Undcrwood, Shakespeare's Ti Poeix and tle
Turtle,' A Survey ofScllo/arship (Salzburg, 1974)' See also P. Dronkc's 'The Phocnix and the
Turtle', Orhis l.itterorum, 23 ( 1 968), '99-222, and editions of Shakespearc's Poems by W.
Empson (1972), John Roe (Cambridge, 1992) and MaUl'ice Evans ( 1989).
120 STEPHEN MEDCALF
union with the Turtle dove. They join i n the mutual fame of love and
death which Shakespeare celebrates. The story continues after him
with the poems by Marston, Chapman and Jonson celebrating the
appearance of a new Phoenix. I t is an allegory, relating to the lives of
people oftbe time, probably to Sir John Salusbury's family. Its detail
has not yet been clearly interpreted, but it gives us entry to the
civilisation for which it was created, to a world of people acting out
elaborate, vivid and extreme moral parts, whose characteristic form
of art is the masque. I t makes it easier to understand how known and
recognisable people could be seen in a dream or vision as the forms of
Beauty and Truth. In this allegory, Shakespeare being given or
choosing for himself the moment of suspense between the death of the
former Phoenix and the epiphany of the new one, was enabled to treat
once again the theme of the unique person with whose death beauty
and truth have passed from the earth. He made of it a kind of divine
nursery rhyme, like Who Killed Cock Robin?, some early version of
which may have been in his mind, and discovered in it the enchanted
purity which belongs to the songs of Ariel, songs that express the
non-human life of an elemental spirit, an eInanation of Renaissance
Neoplatonism. The first five verses of The Phoenix and the Turtle
summon up a child's equivalent of such a world, with emblematic
birds in place of spirits. The anthem which follows, sung by one or all
the birds, is more genuinely N eoplatonic, resembling both Ficino and
The New Inne. It proclaims positively for four verses the mutual
indwelling, in the flame that is at once love and death, of the two
lovers, in whom the distinction between two and one is lost because
either lives with the life and sees with the sight of the other. In the next
four, Property and Reason together stress the converse truth that
what looks like one is still two. Property is appalled 'That the self was
not the same', Reason puns on true, 'actual', and 'faithful';
How true a twain
Seemeth this concordant one!
Reason admits to being unable to comprehend love
Love hath reason, Reason noneq
Ifwhat parts can so remain.
As a consequence of this admission, Reason makes a lament, in which
Shakespeare once again picks up the paradoxical identifcation of the
beloved with Beauty. He reverts or progresses fom the paradox of
Sonnet 53, in which the beloved is the Beautiful while still living,
Shakespeare on beaui, truth and transcendence I 2 I
person'l and particular, and makes the identification, as in Venus and
Adoni, only in death. With the death of the Phoenix and the Dove, he
says, 'Truth may seem but cannot be' (1. 62) a gnomic statement of
the place of Truth in the world of appearance which concentrates a
great deal of Plato. He paralles this with something that recalls what
is said in Phaedrus 250d, that in this world Beauty alone of the forms
shines 'most clearly through the clearest of our senses':
Beauty brag, but 'tis not she;
Truth and beauty buried be.
(11.63-4)
This last line of a very Platonic verse is signalled as a Platonic allegory
by its logical incompatibility on the literal level with what follows:
To this urn let those repair
That are either true or fair
(Il.65-6)
People with some share of truth and beauty, then, do exist in this
imperfect world of experience. They owe their duty to the mythical
place in this world where ideal Truth and Beauty, who are in heaven,
are closest. There let them, 'For these dead birds sigh a prayer' (1.67).
This prayer is also perhaps a lamentation for the absence of perfect
Truth and Beauty, and request for their continued presence in those
who pray.
The image of a contradiction of this world as representing its
transcendence turns out, when one looks back, to run through the
poem. I t opens with an image that has perplexed interpreters, of 'the
bird of loudest lay I On the sole Arabian tree', which cannot be
anything but the Phoenix: no other bird has the right to be on that tree.
If so, the Phoenix is calling the other birds to its own funeral. The priest
it calls is the swan, who sings only when it dies. Only, and immediately,
when Reason recognises that it is confounded by love, does it make its
lament. It is in the moment that the creatures of this world are
confounded that they sing and love: it is nature's, reason's, identity's
business to transcend itself The poem is about ecstasy, and its style is
ecstatic, which does not prevent its being, as it says, tragic. The
childlike purity of its language is made up of scholastic subtleties, and
the nursery-rhyme simplicity of its thought is governed by paradoxes
which descend from Aquinas on the Trinity, Plotinus, and Plato.'
` J.V. Cunningnam, <IdcaasStructurc: ThPloenixana te Turlle', Col/cclcdEsays (Harmondsvorth,
Chicago, 1976), 16g-209.
STEPHEN MEDCALF
Plato is not only the Plato of the myths. He put his philosophy
forward not as a code of doctrine, but dramatically as a set of
explorations, in dialogues that look like
Morc,
A Collection ojSeveral Philosophical Writings, V vols (London, 1662), I Jlhltsiasmus
(riump/loIIIS, p.
" Cambridge Pla/onisls, cd. Patridcs, pp. 25-31 .
'
4
DOMINIC S COTT
our ideas are not implanted by external objects but merely stimulated
by them; the mind has an 'active sagacity' that, when prompted, will
produce ideas from within itself. Perception does not produce the
ideas as if they had never been there before in any form: it acts merely
as a catalyst for bringing out those latent ideas into full consciousness.
He then compares this to a musician who is asleep but is then
awakened by a friend and asked to sing a song, given the opening
words. 'Upon so slight an intimation' the musician is jogged into a
full-blown recital.
.
Cudworth championed the essentially active nature of the mind as
a source of innate truth both in the Treatise concering Eternal a
Immutable Moralir and the True Intellectual System ofthe Universe. 1 O At
one point in the System, as part of a sustained attack against atheism,
he attempts to demolish the claim that the idea of God is an invention
of astute politicians devised as a means of subduing their subjects (p.
693) . After pointing out the difculty this thesis has in explaining why
the concept of God is sO similar in all places, he asks how the
politicians could impose the idea of God on the subjects if these
subjects did not have it already. Ideas cannot simply be poured into
people as if into vessels. The idea has to come from within. Here
Cudworth is insisting that the human mind is not a passive thing that
can be manipulated by politicians, any more than by sense
perception. It comes with its own active sagacity, and no ideas can be
created except by that means, which derives ultimately from God.
There is a common strand that runs throughout the philosophical
anti-empiricism of More and Cudworth and Whichcote's theological
innatism. In both contexts the mind is seen to have its own connatural
and active sagacity. Far from being the creature of external factors, it
comes to those infuences with its own natural resources. In theology
the external factor is revelation acting as a reminder of our interal
state. With no innate resources scripture could not mean anything to
us and could produce no religion. In the philosophical fght against
empiricism the position is analogous. If there were no internal
sagacity all the bombardments of sense would be powerless to
produce our ideas: however many similar objects we saw, we would
" Morc, An AnlidoleagainsJAtlltism,l.v, p. 17 i nA Collection, 1. Asifto recan the Meno, More's frst
examplesofinnatcideas come from gometry, but ultimatdy, he wishes to show that the idea
of God as necessarily existent is innate.
l0
Cudworth's Trealise was published posthumously (London, 1731). HisSyslem was published
in London in 1678.
Reason, recollection and the Cambridge Platonists 1 45
have no idea of similarity; if we had no innate idea of God, no one
could lead us to form the idea. Neither the Bible nor politicians nor
sense impressions will have any efect without an innate source.
RECOLLECTI ON AND PRE-EXI STENCE
Interestingly enough Whichcote, More and Cudworth all compare
their theorie of innate ideas to recollection. As Whichcote puts it, 'No
sooner doth the Truth of God come to our soul's sight, but our soul
knows her, as her frst and old Acquaintance' (Sermons, III, i8). In
More's analogy of the musician reminded of a tune, he talks of the
soul's active sagacity being merely 're-minders' (Antidote, I.V.2). For
Cudworth, the soul's apprehension of its ideas is like someone looking
into a crowd of unknown faces and then suddenly recognising one of
them as that of an old friend ( Treatie, p. 1 28) . " Here they all invoke
recollection as a metaphor for the way in which, in some sense,
knowledge is already in us. But metaphor was as far as they would go:
recollection in its literal form is kept frmly out of bounds. An obvious
reason for this might seem to be that it involves a doctrine, the
pre-existence of the soul, which conficts with the orthodox Christian
view that the soul is created along with the body. We need, however,
to tread carefully here. Pre-existence need not be considered inimical
to the very essence of Christianity. Some Christians have believed in
it, among them the church father Origen, according to whom God
created all souls at the beginning of time, and all but one, by the
exercise of their individual wills, proceeded to fall away from Him.
Eventually, some fell so far away that they were punished with
incarnation. The one soul that remained true became so close to God
that it became divine, i.e. Christ (De principiis, n.g.6).
Now Cudworth had no sympathy at all with this position. For him,
God's majesty must be realised in the perpetual creation of souls. The
notion of a God who creates all souls at the beginning of time and then
sits back as a spectator letting nature look after itself as if it were a
godless world is at variance with His true nature (System, pp. 43-4) '
Thus for Cudworth the case against recollection was simple: it
involved an unacceptable commitment to the pre-existence of the
soul. But More, who also rejected recollection, must have had other
reasons because he, like Origen before him, cheerfully espoused
' * Sec the Preface to 'The Pre-existcncy of the Soul' in More's PMifsophicai Poems (Cambridge,
1647) and The Immortali! oJte Soul (London, 1 659). II, pp. 12-13.
DOMI NI C S COTT
pre-existence. In his Poem ( 1 647) he hazarded the view that
pre-existence was a reasonable opinion; later ( 1 659) he embraced the
doctrine whole-heartedly, citing Origen among others. Yet, although
More believed in pre-existence, he did not accept recollection along
with it. In one of his attacks on Thomas Vaughan he argues against
recollection explicity:12 admitting that Plato was quite right in the
Meno to point out that the slave boy's learning comes from within, he
takes issue with Plato's inference from this to recollection on two
counts: frst, there is no perception or awareness of re
c
ollection; and
second, the slave boy's achievement could equally well be explained
by God's creating a soul, endowing it with knowledge of geometry
and then incarnating it.
In the second criticism of recollection in the Meno More argues that
the inwardness oflearning does not have to imply pre-existent souls
another possibility is that God equipped the boy to learn. This of
course is the line that Whichcote and Cudworth would take.
Remember that the reason of man is the candle of the Lord; it is a
God-given, hence derived light, enabling us to see the eternal truths.
Recollection is thus unnecessary. The point had already been made
by Augustine (De trinitate XII. I 5) : making a parallel between sensible
and intellectual vision he said that in order to see we do not need
memory, only light; similarly for intellectual vision we do not need
memory of the Platonic variety, only the divine light. So More
accepts pre-existence but denies recollection: the soul in its previous
state would originally have had explicit knowledge but, as its fall
approached, failed to keep up its rational and intellectual activity. In
its incarnate state the soul cannot remember anything of its previous
state, not even the intellectual truths it once contemplated. This does
not mean, however, that the soul does not have access to those truths
by a route other than recollection. Both now and before its
incarnation, the soul can know these truths by the divine light which
accounts for its active sagacity. Recollection is unnecessary because
the faculty by which the soul knew before is still intact.
More, like the other Camb
r
idge Platonists, had substituted the
theory of illumination for recollection and if we now set these two
theories side by side we can see the true signifcance of the diferences
between them. In proposing recollection in the Meno and the Phaedo,
Plato attempted to explain human learning by appealing to facts
about the soul's past, but making no appeal to the presence of any
t2
Morc, Tie Second Lash of Ala;ollmastix (Cambridge, t6SI). Sec reprint in Immortality, p. 209.
Reason, recollection and the Cambridge Platonists
1 47
divine agent. Conversely, More explicitly excludes reference to the
soul's previous history in explaining human learning and instead
appeals to the continuing presence of the divine light. In as much as
recollection makes no m
e
ntion of a divine agent working in man, it is
unacceptable to the Cambridge Platonists. For them, to overlook the
presence of light is almost to deny the presence of God in man, and yet
God's continued and continual illumination is at the core of their
thought. Indeed, one of the most important aspects of the appeal to
light as a metaphor is that it directs us to the notion of divine presence.
Recollection as the sole source of our knowledge, on the other hand,
would imply that God has left man to his own devices. This is
something that all the Cambridge Platonists would have strongly
denied. Whichcote, for instance, often talks of God dwelling in man,
or man as the 'mansion' of God (Sermons, IV, 74; III, 2 1 2) , and
Cudworth's sermon to the House of Commons talks of the divine light
as a living spirit."
These grounds for the rejection of recollection are important for
our comparison between Plato and the Platonists because they rest on
an opposition between recollection and an inescapable tenet of
Cambridge Platonism - divine illumination and divine presence.
None of their other objections to recollection rest on a point so crucial
to the Cambridge movement as this. Cudworth's argument against
pre-existence, for instance, was disputed by More, his own colleague.
But while they could tolerate friendly disagreement on this issue, it is
difcult to see how they could have remained in the same movement if
one had denied the perpetual presence of the divine light in man.
Thus it is here that we fnd a fundamental disagreement between
Plato and the Platonists, one which stems from the theological
signifcance of their catch-phrase, 'candle of the Lord' 14.
I NWARDNESS OF LEARNI NG
At this point i t might be tempting to conclude that as far as recollection
is concerned the diferences between Plato and the Cambridge
Platonists are considerably more signifcant than the similarities. Butit
would be a mistake to let Plato's theory drop out of the picture
altogether because from another angle there is a parallel between the
' Cudworth Sermon, in Camhridge Plalonisls, cd. Patrides, p. 108.
1 4 This disagreement is specifcally with the author of the Meno and the Plaedo, When we come
to the Republic and its analogy between the form of the good and the sun, there is greater scope
for agreement between Plato and the Cambridge Platonists.
DOMINIC S COTT
twotheoriesthattouchesbothphilosophiesattheirsource.Cousider
thebackgrouudtoPlato'stheoryasitissetoutiutheMeno. Mosto| the
expositiouo|recollectiouiscouceutratedintotheexamiuatiouo|the
slave-boyiuwhichSocratestriestoshow that whattheboyleans
comes|romwithiu.wekuowthathehasueverhadtheopportuuityto
learuthesethiugsbe|ore,audwewituessthatSocratesisuotteachiug
him,i.e. uotgiviughim the auswersoriustilliugopiuiousiutohim.
Heisplayiugtheparto|thecatalystaudgettiugtheslaveboytomake
useo| hisowuresourcesaudtodrawthekuowledgeout|romwithiu.I u
mauyrespectstheexamiuatiouisademoustratiouo| whatshouldhave
beeuhappeuiugbetweeuMeuoaudSocrateswheutheydiscussedthe
uatureo| virtueiuthehrstparto|thedialogue|;oa-8od).Iudeed,the
dialoguebetweeuSocratesaudslave-boyseemstomirrortheearlier
oue betweeu Socrates aud Meuo. questious are asked, auswers
couhdeutlygiveu, theu astateo|puzzlemeuteusues.
ButSocratesis uot simply euactiuga re-ruu o|hiscouversatiou
with Meuo wheu he examiues the slave-boy. he is oeriug some
advicetoboth.Theslave-boy,heclaims,isdrawiugkuowledgerom
withiu aud providedhe coutiuues todo this|orhimsel|will attaiu
geuuiueuuderstaudiug|8d).Butwhattheslave-boyhasjustdoueis
iu sharp coutrast to what we are told |implicitly) about Meuo's
previous iutellectual history. Meuo, it trauspires, is a pupil o|the
sophistGorgias,audiuhisbrashse!|-couhdeucehasclaimedtohave
learut the uature o|virtue |rom his master. (Meno 7I C, ;c, ;6b,
g8d)'Socratesuses themethodo|cross-examiuatioutoexposethe
shallowuess o|Meuo'slearuiugaud, iu doiugso, alsoexposes the
barreuuesso|themethod by whichhewas taught.The method iu
questiou was thato|memorisiugwhat the masterhassaid:audit
seemsthatMeuo'steacherGorgiaswasakeeuadvocateo| it.'Now
coutrastthiswithSocrates're!uctaucetotakeoutheroleo|teacher
rather thau that o|questiouer. Aware o|this diereuce betweeu
himsel|audGorgias,heimplies- lessaud!esssubtlyasthedialogue
progresses - that Meuo has uot attempted to uuderstaud what
Gorgiassaid,butmerelyaccepteduucriticallytheprououucemeutso|
a|amousuame,audattemptedtorecitethemupoudemaud. What
1 3 It should be noted that what Gorgias was profesing to pas on to Meno was an answer to the
question 'what i virtue?' Meno 95c shows that Gorgias did not claim to teach virtue itself.
I6
For evidence ofGorgias' teaching methods, see Aristotle, Sophistid tnchi la3b.
l7
On this see my 'Innatism and the Stoa') Proceedings ofthe Cambridge Philological Socie9, 3rd
series 34 (J989), 1 31-2, especially note 20.
Reason, recollection and the Cambridge Platonits r o
he|ailed todo wastodrawknowledge|rom within, what Gorgias
|ailedtodowastoactasacatalysttohelphischargelearn|orhimsel|.
Insteadhetookontheroleo|theonewhosimplypourswaterintoa
vessel.
AlthoughtheseideasabouteducationwereoriginallySocraticin
charactertheyremainedhrmlyentrenchedinPlato'sownthought,
and not simply as a convenient stepping-stone to the theory o|
recollection.Heiskeentoinsistuponthehrstthemequiteindependently
o|thesecond.Agoodexamplecomes|romthePhaedruswhich |eatures
aparadoxicalattackon
ouriuwarduotious. He
coutiuues.
And therefore it is many times observed that over-much reading and hearing
of other men's disourses, though leared and elaborate, doth not only
distract the mind, but also debilitates the intellectual powers, and makes the
mind passive and sluggish, by calling it too much outwards. Fr which cause
that wise philosopher Socrates altogether shunned that dogmatical and
dictating way of teaching used by the Sophisters of that Age and chose rather
an Aporetical and Obstreticious method; because knowledge was not to be
poured into the soul like liquor but rather to be invited and gently drawn
forth from it; nor the mind so much to be flled therewith from without, like a
vessel, as to be kindled and awakened. ( Treatie, p. 1 37)
Cudworthisrea||yspeakiug|orhisco||eaguesaswe||here.itisiu
exact|y the same spirit that More rebukes the euthusiast aud
WhichcotetheBible-cautiugCalviuist.Theymayhaverejectedthe
Theoryo|Reco||ectiouiuits|itera|versiou,buttheydidespousethe
ideasthatgaverisetoitaudthatweremaiutaiuedeveuiudialogues
|romwhichitis abseut, aud, i|it is true that|or P|ato himse||the
iuwarduessollearuiugismorebasicthaurecollectiouitsell,thispoiut
o| agreemeut betweeu P|ato aud the Cambridge P|atouists is
u|timate|ymoresiguincaut thau their diereuces.
CHAPTER : |
Platonic ascents and descents zn Milton
Anna Baldwin
Itisusual|orcriticstonndevidenceo|PlatonicinuenceonMilton
mainlyinhisearlypoetry,notablyinComus | , 63|) , whereItoowill
start. Here Miltonseemstousea'dualist'view olnature, inwhich
spirit, which is good, is contaminated by matter, which is bad.
Although I will argue that he discards this view in Paradise Lst
|written about t 68-6), I willshow thathereplacesit notby an
orthodoxChristianviewo|nature,butbyanotherkindo|Platonism,
the'emanationist'viewassociatedwithPlotinus,andthatthisvivihes
his understanding ol nature and ol man. Though both uses o|
Platonismcanbesetinthecontextoltheactualseventeenth-century
debatesabouttherelationshipbetween themindand thebody,we
should see Milton's use o| them as largely metaphoric, ways o|
approaching the mysteries o|natureand man, rather thanoering
philosophical explanations. For as Madsen reminds us. 'The only
relevantquetioniswhat|unctiondotheseideashaveinthepoemitsel|.
COMUS
P|ato'sdualismiseasyenoughtohnd.ThePhaedo, theRepublic, and
the Timaeus |all o|whichMilton knew),describe thesoul as being
imprisonedinabodydrivenbyitsownimper|ectpassions,andwhich
mustberejectedilthereasonandintellectinherentinthesoulareto
survive.Thebodycannothelpitsimper|ection,becauseitismadeo|
matter,whichisultimatelysubjecttoan'ErrantCause'outsideGod's
1 W.G Madsen e Qt., Three Studies ill the Renaissance (New Haven, 1958), p. 233. Studies of
Milton's Platonism include: M. Agar, Millon 01 Plolo (Princeton. 1 928) Ch. 2; R.B.
Levinson, 'Milton and Plato', Modem Language Noles, 46 (1931), 85-91 ; D. Saurat, Millon,
Man alld T. r (London, 1944). pp. 1 13f; I. Samuel, Platoaud Miltoll (Cornell, 1947); E.C.
Baldwin, 'Milton and Plato's Timaeus', PMLA, 35 ( 1 920), 21 0-1 7; S, Fallon, Millon amongihe
Plilosophe (Columbia, 1991), pp. 79-89, setting the poct in context.
ANNA BALDWIN
control.Fol|owingtheleadgivenbycriticssuchas]ayne,wecan
usethesephilosophicaltenetstoexplainthesymbolismo|Comus. The
Ladywanders'Intheb|indmazeso|thistangledwood'||. : 8o)like
theprisonersPlatodescribesintheRepublic. TheAttendantSpirit,on
theotherhand,hasescaped'thispin|old' |l.;),andis|reetoinhabit
the aether which hlls thespace above the moon. The Lady can
inhabitthispurerrealminhermind,butnotiuherbody,andthough
shemaywintheverbalbattlewithComus,hehaspowertomakeher
immobi|e. Hethere|oreseemstorepresentthe'Errant
r
ause'which
controls matter, though not the incorporeal upper world o|ideas
whichthemindcaninhabitthroughreasonandvirtue.TheLady's
stead|astnessinthesequa!itiespreventsComusfromturningherhead
intoananimal'sandsolosing'theexpressresemblanceo|theGods'
|I.0o),that 'round shapeo|theuniverse'whichthecreativegodsin
the Timaeus hadcopiedintormingthehumanhead|d) .Hermind
remains|ree,then,butherbodyissti|limprisoned,andsheneedsthe
graceo|Sabrinatoreleaseher|romimmobility|andindeed|romthe
play-worlditsel|).
YetSabrinaherse||seemsto suggesta goodness in thematerial
world, as 'Goddess o|the silver lake' |l.80). And even Comus'
animal-likeattendantsseemtohaveretainedtheabilityto'recognise
the harmonies and revolutions o| the world' which Socrates
recommendedasthehttestobjectso|study( Timaeus god).ForComus
claimsthat:
We tha t are of purer fre
Imitate the starry quire,
Who in their nightly watchful spheres,
Lead i n swift round the months nd years.
(1l. 1 1 I-14)
The quickeningrhythm o|thisenchantingpassagecertain|yseems
trueimitation o|that 'swi|i round' o|the planets. I|Comus does
representthedangerousdemandsandpowerso|matter, heisalsoa
beingwhocanrecogniseandbeaectedbytruth|ll.e6t-,;oo-8o),
andcanbeleduptoitbythehigherinuenceo|theLady.I|Comus
hasagoodside,andacapacitytochange,doesthisnotcontradictthe
2 See Republic, 507-21 (similes of sun, line and cave); Phaedo plsim.; Timaeus 48a-e (the Errant
Cause). Quotations from the Timels are taken from the translation by J. Warrington
(London, 1963).
S.Jayne, 'The Subject of Milton's Ludlow Masque', PMLA 74 ( 1 959), 533-43 and reference
given note I above.
` Quotations from Milton's poems are from The Poems ojMil Qn, ed. J. Carey and A. Fowler
(London, 1968), p. 5.
Platonic ascents and descents in Milton
i
:
ttendant Spirit's unequivocal rejection o|theearth in |avour o|
someincorporealmarriage betweenPsycheandtheCelestial Cupid
(II. I 002-I OI O)? The alternatives o| earth and heaven which the
masque |orm wou!d separate, are in eect |used by Milton's own
imagination,whichvalued thecreativityo|Comus'musicaswel!as
therationalityo|theLady'spentameters.Heneededamoreexible
philosophythandualism tosatis|y his idealswithoutsacrincinghis
tastes. And he needed one which was more compatible with
Christianity,inwhichGodcanbeincarnate,andthebodyresurrected
inheaven.
PARADI SE LOST
Thea!ternativeMiltonchoseinabout1 656 |orDe Doclrina Christiana
and |or Paradise Lost was derived |rom Plotinus' identihcation o|
goodness not with spirit |wholly incorporeal), but with being
|including bothcorporealandincorporeal being) . Only God truly
exists,andsoallthingsmustemanate|romandouto|God,andwi!!
eventually return to Him again. This conception o|creatio ex deo
|creationouto|God) impliesthatthematerialworldis goodinits
nature,andnotunderthedegradationo|an'ErrantCause'.Plotinus
explainsthisatseveralplacesintheEnneads, oienhal|-metaphorically.
[Intellect] reports that he has seen a god in labour with a beautiful offspring,
all of which he has brought to birth within him, and keeping the children of
his painless birth-pangs within himself . . . one son alone of all, has appeared
outside . . . But he says that it was not without purpose that he came forth
from his father; for his other universe [the material world] nustexist, which
has come into being beautiful, since it is an image of beauty . . . [and] since it
comes from that higher beauty. (Ennead v.8.I 2)5
This essentiallymonistphilosophycompr
.
hendsevil asthedep-
rivationo|beingorForm|sothatmatterwouldbeevi!onlyi|itwere
|orm!ess.I.8. IO). Iwillbeturningtothequestiono|evilattheendo|
thispaper,butnowIwanttolookat theCreationinParadise Losl asa
kind o|emanationist account. Forinordertodescribean un|al!en
world,awor!dasGodintendedittobe,Mi!tonneededaphilosophy
whichwould notlead inevitablytotheFalland theAtonement. It
waspreciselybecauseNeoplatonismdoesnotaccommodateideaso|
Original Sin and God's Atonement that Augustine, in his later
" Plotinus, cd. and trans. A.H. Armstrong, 7 vols (Locb Classical Library) (Cambridge, Mass.,
1966-88).
'
54 ANNA BALDWIN
writiugs,haddirectedChristiautheologyaway|romit.|seeColemau,
abovepp.e;-;). IutheCir qGod, herejectstheoptimisticPlatonic
accouuto| Creation|oradoctrineo| Creationouto|uothiug(creatio ex
nihilo), which is both closer to Genesisaud moreillustrative o|the
poweraud|reedomo| God.Iualluatureoulymauappearstohavethe
capacity |or good, and he loses this almosteutirely ater the Fall,
becomiugevenmoredependentouGod'sgrace.Inchoosinganolder
andlessorthodoxCreatioutheory|orhispoem,Miltouasevidently
settiugthesceue|orapossiblealteruativedestiuy|ormankiud, not
dependeutupontheRedemption,butuponthenaturalgooduesso|a
worldaudahumauitywhichhadcome|rom Godratherthau|rom
nothiuguess,andwasallmeauttoreturntoHim.Onlythenwouldthe
Fall o|Man comeasatragedywhichcouldhave beenavoided.
Milton ueed not have read Plotiuus |though Ficiuo's Latin
translatiou was widely available) tohave|ound theseideas. They
were Christiauised early ou by Byzautiue thiukers like Gregory o|
Nyssa, Dionysius the Areopagite aud Maximus, who had been
assimilated iuto the Latin West largely through ]ohn Scotus
Eriugenaintheniuthcentury.Hissystematised accouuto|Nature,
thePeriphyseon, opeuswithan'emanationist'explauatiouo|howall
Creationowsout|romGod,andisdestinedtoasceudbacktoHim.
Adamsouhasdemoustrated,albeitbriey, thatMilton'saccounto|
uature sometimes |ollows Eriugeua so closely as to suggest direct
iuueuce. Miltou also appears to use Hermetic ideas about the
creativityo:matter, which he may well have got through Robert
Fludd,whoseMosaicall Philosophy ( 1 638 in Latin, 1 659 iuEnglish)
wasauotherattempt torecoucileGeuesis withpagau philosphy.*
AthrstMilton's descriptiono|CreatiouinParadise Lost VII seems
tooanthropomorphic tobegenuiuely philosophical.
And thou my Word, begotten Son, by Thee
This I perform, speak thou, and be it done.
6 Sec in particular Augustine GgoJGd, xI.6; Cofessions, VIl (quarrel with Platonism). XL5-6
(creation); rejected by Milton, De Doc/rina 1.7.
7 Milton's Creation is particularly discussed in P.A. Fiore, Milton andAugusline (Pennsylvania,
1921), ch. I; D. Saurat. Milton, pp. I [3f
'
.; A.S.P. Woodhouse, 'Notes on Milton's Views on
the Creation: The Initial Phases', Philological Quarterl. 28 ( 1 949), ZI 1-3S;j.H. Adamson,
Milton and the Creation', JEGP, 61 ( l g62), 756-78; J.M. Evans, Milton and the Genesis
Traditio1l (Oxford, Ig68);J.H. Adamson, 'The Creation' in BrightEssence, cd. W.B. Hunter e
al. (Utah, 1973), pp. 8 1-1 02.
Other studies of Milton's Neoplatonic source include M.H. Nicolson, 'The Spirit World of
Milton and Morc', Studiesin Philology, 22 (1925), 433-52; Woodhouse, 'Milton's Vicws of the
Creation' (citing Fludd and Morc). Milton may also have known Philo, De Opijcie Mundi.
Platonic ascents and descents in Milton
My overshadowing spirit and might with thee
I send along, ride forth, and bid the deep
Within appointed bounds be heaven and earth,
Boundless the deep, because Iam who |l
Iunuitude,nor vacuous the space.
Though I uncircumscribed myself retire,
And put not forth my goodness.
(VII, 1 63-7 I )
1 55
Thisis ueither the creatiou out o|pre-existeut chaos|ouud iu the
( Timaeus 52d53d) , uorthecreatio ex nihilo |ouudiuStAugustiue.But
Mi|tou is uot beiug vague, he is iu |act deuiug two kiuds ot
emauatiou|romGodiuordertosupporthiscreatio ex deo theory.First
God creates matter |whichsharesHis substauce but has as yet uo
|orm), aud theu He begets His sou |who shares his esseuce) aud
commaudshimtomakematterparticipateiu|orm. Kelley,iu The
Great Argument, distiuguishesbetweeuCreatiouaudGeueratiouvery
caretu|ly,audpoiutsoutthattheSouismadeclearlysecoudaryasa
Cause:
Generation concerns the begetting of the Son; creation, the making of
highest heaven and the material universe . . . Thus the Son [by whom all
things were made) signifed only a delegated power, a secondary efcient
cause. Oulythe Father himself is the primary efcient cause, and only the
Father, embracing all causes is the material cause of the Universe.9
Bydigui|yiugthesubstauce o|Creatiou, aud reduciugthestatuso|
Christ,Miltouhaspreparedtheway|orhisaualysiso|the|reedomo|
uotoulymau,buto|allcreatiou.Nothiugcouldbe|urther|rom the
imperialistrolesometimesassiguedtoMi|tou'sGod.A|lthiugscome
|romHimaudsoallhavevalueaud,iusomeseuse,thecapacitytoact
|or themselves.
Miltou mayhave|ouud thisdoctriue,whichheworked outmore
explicitlyiuDe Doctrina, 1. 7, iuEriugeua'sPeriphyseon, BookI, where
Godisarguedtobetheembodimeuto|a|lthecauses,iucludiugthe
material oue, actiug through Christ.
Do not be surprised that bodies are created from incorporeal causes . . . while
the causes themselves are created by) and proceed from, one and the same
Cause that is creative of allthiugs.Forfrom the Form of all things, namely,
the only-begotten Word of the Father, every form is created. (I, 5D2A)
10
1 M. Kelley, The Great Argument (Gloucester, Mass., 1962), pp. 93-4'
' Tle Periphyseon, Books and .cd. and trans. I.P. ShcldonWilljams (Scriptores Latini Hibcriae,
VII and IX, Dublin, 968 and (972). On Eriugcna, sec]. Marcnbon, Early Medieval Philosophy
(Routledge, 1983), pp.
58-70.
ANNA B ALDWI N
Havingproceededdirectly|romGod,chaoticmatteristhrownoutto
itsgreatestdistance|romGod,lackingeven|orm. Itsdistance|rom
Godlendsit|reedom|asDanielsonhasargued) , ' anditsorigin|rom
Godmeansithasthecapacitytousethat|reedomtoreturntoGod
throughgenerating|orms |onceitisassistedinthisbyChrist) .The
naturalgoodnesso|ChaosisclearlydennedintheDe DoctTina,
It was a substance, and derivable from no other source than from the
fountain of every substance, though at first confused and formless, being
afterwards adorned and digested into order by the hand of God.l:
So also does Eriugena introduce in|antmatteras 'the hulko|the
earthlybody. . . notyetdeckedout(orata) withthediversgeneraand
specieso|buds,|ruitsand animals' (II, 8C).
ThenrstactwhichChristper|ormstoinitiatethereturno| Chaos
toGod,istogivetoparto|thismaterialhisDivineattributeso||orm
and creativity. He does this bysendinghis Spirit to warm and to
incubate the waters:
on the watery calm
His brooding wings the spirit of God outspread,
And vital virtue infused, and vital warmth
Throughout the fuid mass, but downward purged
The black tartareous cold infernal dregs
Adverse to life . . .
.vtt, aao)
From thispointontheelements themselves participateit: creation,
and this serves as a wonder|ulopening proo|that God's creatures
havethe|reedomtocreateandtoascend,aswellastodestroyandto
|al|. I t is as i|Milton were anticipating the Darwinian vision o|
sel|-propelled evolution, and that Christ is like Charles Kingsley's
characterMotherCarey,whocanmakethecreaturesmakethemselve
( The Water Babies, ch.;).Toenrichthemetaphor,Miltonintroduces
some Hermetic ideas, which he could have read either directly in
Ficino's Latin translation or Everard's English translation |see
Hutton.;above)or|oundinFludd.UsingthePlatonicconception
o|creationasaLivingCreature,theHermetica sawcreativepowerin
the Universe |orKosmos) itselt in the sun, andinwater.
Il n
.R. Danielson, Millon's Good God (Cambridge, 1982), p. 48.
' J. Milton, OfChristiaT Doctrine, Book I in Prose Works, cd. and trans. C.R. Sumner, 5 vols
(London, [953), IV, p. 1 79.
Platonic ascents and descents in Milton r ;
The Kosmos i s t o the things within it as a father to his children in that i t i s the
author of their generation and nutrition, but it has received from God the
supply of good . .
"
For God's Word, which is all-accomplishing and fecund
and creative, went forth, and finging himself upon the water, which was a
thing of fecund nature, made the water pregnant.13
F|udddevelopsthisprincip|eandtriestoreconci|eitwiththeBib|e.
Heamrms thata|though thesun contains thespirito|God which
vivihesthewor|dandcarriesthesou|downintoii,themateria|parto|
theuniversein|actderives|romthewaters|whichareoneo|thethree
primarye|ements, theothersbeing|ightanddarkness).
But the world is composed only of heaven and earth, and therefore it
followeth that the whole world is made and existeth of the waters . . . and the
compound-Creatures . . . namely Animal, vegetable or minerall, must in
respect of their materiall part or existence proceed from waters.14
Milton uses both principles, the |ecundity o| water, and the
supportiveandgenerativepowero|thesun|eacho|whichhecou|d
haveacceptedona purelymetaphorica||eve|) , tosuggest that the
Son on|y has to release this creative potentia| |or the p|ants and
anima|sto burst|rom theprimarye|ements. Waterwasmadenrst,
and|rom itsprings|ight |e-) and earth:
The earth was formed, but in the womb as yet
Of waters, embryon immature involved . . .
|vu, a;0;)
Havingbeen|ermentedbythe'warmjPro|inchumour' |ll.e;o-8o)
o| the waters, the earth begins 'to conceive' |l. e8r ) not on|y
mountainsandrivers,butp|antstoadornthem|l.r )and,intime,
anima|stoenjoy them.
The earth obeyed, and straight
Opening her fertile womb teemed at birth
Innumerous living creatures, perfect forms . . .
|||.-
Christ makes the |ights o|heaven Himsel, though retaining the
|ecundimagery |'And sowedwithstarstheheaventhickasane|d',
l.8),buttheirwarmthand'sweetinuence' |l.;)|urthervivi|y
l Hermelico, cd. and trans. W. Scott (Oxford, 1924), I pp. r8g, 545. cited pp. 331-2 in W.B.
Hunter, 'Milton and the ThriccGrcat Hermes', JEGP, 45 ( 1 946), 327-36; sec also Timaeus
30-1 , and Carey's note to Paradise Lost, VIl.233.
'` R. Fludd, Mosaicall Philosophy: Grounded upon lhe Essmliail Truth or Eteral Sapimce (London,
1659), p. 48, quoted in A.G. Debus, Robert Fludd and his Philosophical Ke (Science History
Publications, New York, 1979), pp. 12-13. see also pp. 78-9 in that treatise, and W.H.
Huffman, Robert Fludd olld l End of Ike Renaissallce (Routledge, 1988), pp. 1 05-to.
ANNA BALDWI N
thelowerelements. The watersgeneratensh |l.88) and the 'tepid
caves,and|ensandshores[Theirbroodasnumeroushatch'|l.i ;-8)
o| reptilesandbirds.Formseemstobeborno|matter,notimposedon
it,andwhenGodhnallymakesman'alivingsoul' |l.e8),thisisa
phrasewhichhasbeenusedbe|oreo|thehsh|l.88) .Manisspecialin
being breathed on by God, which gives him an internal and an
external resemblance to his maker, butheis not special in being
composedo|bothmaterialandimmaterialparts,norinbeing|ruit|ul
andable toparticipateinthecreationo|others |wi|ea:
,
dc
j
ildren),
norin being|ree todevelop his capacities.
I t isimportanttorealisethatthebirtho||orm|romoriginalmatter
isparto|thereturno|mattertoGod.ForEriugenatheoriginalchaos
shouldbedescribedas'mutable|ormlessness'whichbeginstoascend
whenitbeginstoparticipatein'adornmentand|ormandspecies'(I,
50I B) passing|romakindo|insubstantial matteronlyrecognisable
by themind, intorealand tangiblematter. Attheotherend o|its
journeyitwillpassagainintospirit,and this Eriugenadescribesin
mysticallanguageatthebeginningo|histreatise.
the sound intellect must hold that after the end cf this world every nature,
whether corporeal or incorporeal, will seem to be only God, while preserving
the integrity of its nature, so that even God, Who in Himselfis incomprehensible,
is after a certain mode comprehended in the creature, while the creature
itself by an ineffable miracle ischanged into God. (I, 451B)
Itseemsto
epreciselythishopewhichRaphaeloerstoAdamin
Book v, in a crucial passage describing an alternative ending to
Paradise Lost:
o Adam, onc almighty is, from whom
All things proceed, and up to him return,
If not depraved from good, created all
Such to perfection, one frst matter all,
Indued with various forms, various degrees
Of substance, and in things that live, of lifej
Butmore refned, more spiritous, and pure,
Asnearer to him placed or nearer tending
Each in their several active spheres assigned,
Till body up to spirit work, in bounds
Proportioned to each kind.
' Man as 'living soul' is discussed D, Saurat, Milton, p. I t8;J.M. Hanford, A Millon Handbook
(New York, 1926), p. 232,
Platonic ascents and descents in Milton 159
Th
e
re are also analogues to this passage in Plato's Symposium, in
Plotinus, and in Ficino's confation of the two, where the ascended
soul is rewarded, as Raphael promised Adam, by heavenly food."
Centred as it is on an act of eating, Paradise Lost makes much of the
metaphor of digestion, and Milton seems to use Eriugena again to
describe how the normal process of digestion is from the material to
the incorporeal:
Man's nourishment, by gradual scale sublimed,
To vital spiriq aspire, to animal,
To intellectual, give both life and sense,
Fancy and understanding, whence the soul
Reason receives, and reason is her being.
(v, 483-7)
But whereas for Milton this is a natural process with a continuation
at least for unfallen man -into the supernatural world, for Eriugena it
is only the elect who are so transformed. Quoting Gregory of
N azianzen he afrms
the bodies of the saints shall be changed into reason, their reason into
intellect, their intellect into God; and thus the whole of their nature shall be
changed into Very God. (I, 45IA)
Raphael ofers the same transformation, but to all men - so long as
Adam keeps God's one condition:
Your bodies may at last turn all to spirit
Improved by tract of time, and winged ascend . . .
If ye be found obedient . . .
(v, 497-501 )
But of course man is not found obedient, and at the moment of Fall
Milton must abandon this Platonic vision of the ascent of nature, for
Augustine 'reality' of a ruined world, where man seems destined to
choose evil ways until finally rescued by Christ.
I t seems clear then that Milton used a Neoplatonic line of
argument, taken from some such source as Eriugena's Periphyseon to
establish the fundamental goodness and freedom of nature and man
by showing them to be part of the free and good God. But what then
can we say about evil and Satan? Milton is still Platonic, but in a
much more orthodox way, for Augustine had taken over wholesale
t6
Symposium :Wgc-2t2C; Plotinus, lllUeods 111.8. 1 . B; F. Jayne, 'Ficino's Commentary O11 the
Symposium', VIiversi! of Missouri Studies, 19 ( 1 944), 120-80, pp. 161-2 (eh. VI); El'iugcna
discuses the Rcturn at length in Periplyseol N.
i 6o ANNA BALDWIN
|romPlotinustheargument thatevilis adeprivationo|being, the
absence o|existence a wellas the absence o|good. Plotinus had
argued this in Enneads 1.8 (On What are and Whence come Evils)
explaining the non-existence o|evil dynamically as a |allingaway
|rom Authentic Existence |God) , towards |ormlessness, li|elessness,
anddarkness.TheTractate abounds inrhapsodiccontradictions.
So if evil consists in privation, it will exist in the thing deprived of form and
have no independent existence . . . But . . . if the privation ,in the soul is
privation of good . . . soul then has no good in it, so then it has no life in it . . .
So then soul willbe soulless. (1.8. I I)
Augustineworksoutthemoralandhistoricalimplicationso|thisin
theCir rifGod |particularlyBooksXI andXII) , buttheargumentrests
on the same premises. All nature is good, and there|ore evil is a
turningaway|romthegoodwhichisthetrueendo|natures.Headds
|urtherthatitisaturningtowardsitsel|,itsownwill,andsosel|-created.
The evil will therefore cause evil works, but nothing caused the evil will . . .
For the will turning from the superior to the inferior [Le. from the love of God
to the love ofseH], becomes bad, not because the thing whereunto it turns is
bad, but because the turning is bad and perverse. (xII.6)17
Miltonnotonlydevelopsthemoralimplicationso| theseNeoplatonic
premises,butalsoembodiesthempoetically.I|evilisacontradiction
o|being,thenHellshouldbedescribedinoxymoronicterms,perhaps
suggested by Plotinus' dehnition o|absolute evil as 'the place o|
Unlikeness'- aphrasetaken|romPlatoandrepeatedbyAugustine -
wherethesoulsinksintothe'mudo| darkness'(Enneads I.8. I 3) . " I|it
issel|-created, then Satan may beshown as the kind o|opposite
creatortoGod,makingnon-existentsubstances |a!legoricalpersoni-
hcationslikeSinandDeath) outo|hisownsel|-will.Thetwoeects
canbeseenoperatingtogetherin thisdescriptiono|thebirtho|Sin
|ratherimplausiblydescribed byhersel|).
All on a sudden miserable pain
Surprised thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzy swum
I n darkness, while thy head fames thick and fast
Threw forth, till on the left side opening wide,
Likest to thee in shape and countenance bright,
T
The City ojGod in John Healey'S Translation, edited by R.V.O. 'l'asker (LondoD, 1945; reprinted
1967), p. 349 (xu.6); see Fiore, Mitlon and Augutine, pp.
I
Be.
1
8
See Armstrong's note to Enneads, 1.8. 1 3 (pp. 308-9) referring to Plato'sStalesman, 273d-e and
Augustine's Confessions, VU.IO.I6. 'The mud of darkness' is also discussed by Moody in this
volume, pp. 31 1 -1 2 below.
Platonic ascents and descents in Milton
Then shining heavenly fair, a goddess armed
Outof thy head I sprung.
(
n
,
752-8)
1 61
Satan'sownthoughtso| conspiracycreate'miserablepain',blindness,
both'darkness'and'ames',andaruptureonthelettsideo|hishead
which anticipates the end o|the war in Heaven, when the
crystal wall of heaven . . . opening wide
Rolled inward, and a spacious gap disclosed
Into the wasteful deep.
(VI, 860-2)
Thebadangelsthrowthemselvesintoa'placeo|Unlikeness'where
that 'miserable' paiuis embodied within the hamingdarkness.
No light, but rather darkness visible . . .
Regions of sorrow) doleful shades . . .
a how unlike the place from whence they fell!
(I, 63, 65, 75)
Moreover this 'p|ace o|Unlikeness' is verbally sel|-destructive, its
adjectivesdenyingwhathasjustbeenamrmed |howcandarknessbe
visible?) , and its nouns suggesting the |abulous, the unreal, the
creatures o|thecorrupted mind.
Auniverse of death, which God by curse
Created evil, for evil only good,
Whereall life dies, death lives, and nature breeds,
Perverse, all monstrous, all pernicious things . . .
Gorgons and Hydras, and Chimeras dire.
(n, 622-8)
Itisnotsomuch'Godbycurse'|surelyamista
[
en phrase?)butSatan
himsel|, who has created Hell, just a he has created Death by
becomingperverselyenamouredo|Sin,hisownimageandcreature.
Milton is allegorising the developmeut otevil as a series otsel|-
reective images, each looking back to itseltrather than looking
|orward to thetrueascentotbeing towards God.
The natures o| the |allen angels, as Augustine |still |ollowing
Plotinus) insisted, remaingood,though theybecomecorruptedby
theevil willinhabitingthemandso graduallyloseexistence.
Good therefore may exist alone, but so cannot evil; because the natures that
an evil will has corrupted, though in so far as they be polluted they are evil,
yet inso far as they are natures they are good. (Ci oJGod xn.s)
ANNA B ALDWIN
Theirdegenerationisshowninthepoemasareversalo|theascento|
Nature|romthecorporeal totheincorporealwhichisdescribed by
RaphaelinBookv. Thedevilsareshownbecominglessdivine,less
rational,metamorphosedintoanimals,andevenintothesubstanceo|
Hell itself At hrst their nature preserves its innate goodness, and
consequentlysuers|romthepresenceo|itscontrareityinHell,but
gradually they become entirely athomein thelocation they had
invented,so that they are hnally what Satanhad always amrmed
theywere- genuinelysel|-created.Thisprogressionisac
[
uallyhoped
|orbyBelial.
OUf torments also may in length of time
Become oarelements, these piercing fres
As soft as now severe, our temper changed
Into their temper; which must needs remove
The sensible of pain.
.u,.;a
-
,
Ultimatelytheywilllosereason,|reedom,evenvoiceinaprophetic
trans|ormationintosnakes (x, o).And surelyMiltonwantsusto
noticethechoicebetweenBelial'swasteo|'thelengtho|time'|ii,e;)
whichwillleadonlytoloss,andRaphael'shopethatmanwoulduse
'the tracto|time' |v, o8) to ascend toGod.
Sadly, Adam and Eve |ollow Satan's path, and learn to love
reectionso| themselvesmorethanimageso|God,andtobelievethat
byeatingprivileged |ood theywillriseimmediatelytoGod'slevel,
ratherthanthetruth,whichisthatbyslowlyascendingthroughthe
levelso|beingtheywillonedayshareangels'|ood.Theyare|orgiven
partlybecause theyrepent,and partlybecause theywere taughtby
another, but surely also because they had attempted only to
anticipate their natural destiny, which wasto attain the Platonic
visiono|aReturn to theAuthoro|theirbeing.
.
CHAPTER 1 5
Platonism in some Metaphysical Poets: Marvell,
Vaughan and Trahere
Sarah Hutton
ThereisaPlatonicelementinmuchMetaphysicalpoetry.Indeed,it
isarguablethatitismostmetaphysical, inthephilosophicalsense,
whenitismostPlatonic. Inwhat|ollowsIshalldiscussthisaspecto|
Metaphysical poetry in relation to three poets, Andrew Marvell
| i 6ei-i 6;8),HenryVaughan | i 6ee-i6o) andThomasTraherne
| i 6;-;).However,be|oredoingso,itmustbeacknowledgedthat
Platonismiso|tenpresentinMetaphysicalpoetryonlytobeattacked.
much Metaphysical love poetry contains a strong anti-Platonic
streak. Notonlyislibertinerepudiationo|Platonicloveamoti|in
Donne'sSongs and Sonds, buttheterm'Platonic'isusedpejoratively,
commonly as a synonym |or 'chaste' i| not '|rigid' |Cleveland,
'Antiplatonick', Cartwright, 'No Platonique Love'). Such ridicule
canbeexplainedinpartasareactiontothevogue|orPlatoniclovein
Elizabethan love poetry and to the courtly cult o|Platonic love
promoted under Queen Henrietta Maria atCharles I's court |see
above,p. ;e) . ' Oneexceptionto theruleo|ridiculeo|P|atonismin
lovepoetryisEdwardLordHerberto|Cherburywho,inhisseveral
poemsentitled'PlatonicLove'andin'Idea'preservestheconstructo|
Platoniclovewithoutsacrincing thelicentiousintento|thepoems.
Bycontrastwiththesecularpoetso|theseventeenthcentury,the
religious poets o|the period o|ten |ound a natural amnity with
Platonism.Theemphasishereisnoton Platoniclove butonthose
aspectso|PlatonicandNeoplatonicthoughtwhichappearedtomen
o|theRenaissancetomakeitcompatiblewith,i|nota|oreshadowing
of Christianity. InparticulartheydrawonPlato'steachingsonthe
immortality o|the soul. The syncretic Christian Platonism o|the
Renaissancendsitsstrongestliteraryexpressioninreligiouspoetry.
1
K. Sharpe, Criticism and Compliment: tie Politics of Literature in the England oj Charies 1
(Cambridge, '984).
SARAH HUTTON
]ustasi nmid-centuryCambridgemenolmoderatepuritantemper
andeirenicdispositionturned toNeoplatonismas thephilosophical
handmaid (ancila) oltheirliberal theologv |see Scott, pp. r o-o
above), so also in the poetry olMarvell, Vaughan and Traherne,
Neoplatonismisanimportantvehiclelorexpressingpersonalspirituality
thattranscendsthedoctrinaldivisionsoltheday.Whilethewritings
olPlatoandPlotinusoered arichsource olimages toconvey the
personalspiritualityoleach,theirPlatonisingaccountsolthesoulare
alltingedwithheterodoxy.Ishallillustratetheconnectionbetween
heterodoxy and Platonism in the reworking ol the doctrine o
RecollectionbyMarvellandVaughan.Ishallthengoontoexamine
therichwebolPlatonicallusionwhichunderliesTraherne'sextreme
theologicaloptimism.
MARVELL
Amongthoseol his poemsconcernedwiththesoul, Marvell's'The
Garden'ishismostenigmatic.Thewitandword-playolthepoem
belieitsseriousmetaphysicalcontent.Theonebiblicalrelerence |to
Eden-stanza8)comessecondtotheinverte
Ovidianmetamorphoses
olstanza4 and the evocation olRqouissance naturalisminstanza5.
Thewithdrawallromtheworldintothevegetableparadisedescribed
hereis alsoa withdrawal olthesoullrombody and olthehighest
lacultyolthesoul,themind|ornous) intoitsowntranscendentworld
olintelligiblelorms. The progress olthesoulawaylrom themany
|'busycompaniesolmen',1.4) totheone |'delicioussolitude',I. r b) ,
the discarding olbody |'casting the body's vest aside', l.e) in
preparation lor the next stage olthis spiritual journey, suggests
Plotinus' account olthe re-ascent olthe soul through the various
hypostases to be re-united with the One (Enneads ::r.8. r ) . This
preparation lor ascent is not explicitly described as a return to a
lormerstate, although, byrelerenceto Plotinus, itcanbereadasa
re-ascent.Ilreadinthiswayitwouldsuggestthepre-existenceolthe
soul.
Plotinus'cycleoldescentandreturnisalsoevokedin'ADropol
Dew'.Buthereitismadeclearthattheanticipated|ourneyolthesoul
isareturntoalormerstate.TheideathatthesoulhascomelromGod
andwillreturntoHim,isnot,byitselfunorthodox.Butthereturnis
" Quotations from Marvell are from Andrew Marvel, ed. Frank Kermode and Keith Walker
(Oford, 1990).
Platonism in some Metaphysical Poets
p|acedhrmlywithiua|rameworko|pre-existeuceo|thesoulby the
strikiugdoublere|ereucetotheTheoryo| Recollectiouiutheaccouut
o|thesoul, which,
Remembering sti|litsformer height,
Shuns the swart leaves and blossoms green,
And recollecting its own light.
(II.22-4)
'Rememberiug' aud 'recollectiug' combiue with other allusious to
Platouism|therestlessuesso|thesoul,themetaphoro|lighttobriug
out uot simply the Christiauised Platouism o|the poem, but the
heterodox doctriueo|the pre-existeuceo|souls.
VAUGHAN
The Theory o| Recollectiou aud the coguate doctriue o| the
Pre-existeuce o| the soul is also importaut |or Vaughau's 'The
Retreat'.Thispoemmakesuodirectre|ereucetoPlatouicanamnesis:
ratherthewholepoemiscastasauacto|recollectiou- iu thiscaseo|
childhood iuuoceuce. It does make specihc meutiou o|the soul's
pre-existeuce iu the domiuaut theme o|lougiug to returu to the
|ormerstateo| thesoul,represeutedbychildhood|'augeliu|aucy',l.e),
o how I long to travel back
And tread again that ancient track!
That I might once more reach that plain,
Where frst I left my glorious train.
(II.2 1-4)'
Theseliuesiudicatethatthe'augel-iu|aucy'|orwhichhelougsisuot
actuallychildhoodbutauaugelic|ormerexisteuce,thecelestialcity,
'shady city o|palm trees', meutioued two liues |urther ou |l.e0.
Furthermore,asLouisMartzhasuoted,theimageo| thedruukeuuess
todescribe the embodied soul, thesoul iu its 'secoud race' iu next
liues, alluded to Phaedo ;oc-d.
But (ah!) my soul with too much stay
Is drunk and staggers in the way.
(11.27-28)
Quotations from Vaughan are from George Herbert and Hem) Varlg/wll. ed. Louis Martz
(Oxford, 1986) .
. Louis Martz, The Paradise Wilhin (New Haven and London, '964), pp. 29-30. The analogy is
made clearer inJowctt's translation to which Martz refers, sinceJowett uses the simile 'like a
drunkard' Cf Boethius, Consolalio III. pro ii.
i 66 SARAH HUTTDN
ToMartz'sobservatiouitmightbeaddedthatiuboth'TheRetreat'
audPhaedo thisimageo|thedruukeusoulimmediatelyleadsoutoau
accouuto|immortalcouditiouo|thesoulseparated|romthebody.
Platodescribeshowthesoul,'passesiutotherealmo|thepureaud
everlastiugaudimmortalaudchaugeless. . . audstraysuolouger,but
remaius, iu that realm o|the absolute, coustaut aud iuvariable,
throughcoutactwithbeiugso|asimilaruature' (Phaedo ;od-e) .For
Vaughau, thesoul'srelease|romthebodyisdeath, butdeathisthe
returu toits|ormercouditiou.
And when this dust falls to the urn
In that state I came return.
(11.31-2)
ThePlatouismo|thesepoemscauuotbedescribedasthesiuglekey
totheiriuterpretatiou,becauseitisbleudedwithotherelemeutsiua
patiuao|allusiou to express au esseutially Christiau spirituality-
albeitaspirituality thatisgeueralised,persoualaud uou-dogmatic,
eveu heterodox iu its implicatious. This |usiou o|Platouism with
Christiau pietyis made possible by the |act that the Platouism ou
whichthepoetsdrawhadalreadybeeuChristiauised.I t istheeclectic
Platouismpromoted by Ficiuo |seeHuttou,pp.6o-;oabove) aud
propouuded by the Cambridge Platouists |see Scott, pp. i o-o
above).Selectiveiuthe doctriues it emphasises, it takes|orgrauted
thesyuthesiso|PlatouismwithNeoplatouism.WhetherMarvell'sor
Vaughau's use o| Platouic themes was the result o| a broad
assimilatiou |rom a geueral stock-iu-trade o| P|atouic topoi, or
whether it was the result o| study, is impossible to say. The
well-documeuted Hermeticism o| his brother, Thomas, suggests
Heury Vaughau may have direct coutact with specihc sources.
Besides,eveui|Aristoteliauismheldswayiutheuuiversitycurricula
wheuMarvellaudVaughauwereuudergraduates,Platouismhadits
iuueutial propoueuts iu both uuiversities, as the examples oI
Thomas]acksouaud theCambridgePlatouistsshow. Iusomecases,
iuterestiuPlatouismaccompauiedarevivalo|iuterestiuOrigeu,the
Christiau|atherwhoarguediu|av
ouro|thepre-existeuceo|thesoul
|seeBa|dw
;
uaudLouth,pp. e aud6i-eabove) .Eveui|Origeuist
I am mindful here of Frank Kcrmodc's caveats against distorting the Platonic dimension of
Marvell by focusing OW that at the expense of other clements in the makcup oCthe poetry. Sec
'The Argument of Marvell's "Garden" ', Esaysin Criticism, 2 ( 1 952), reprinted in M. Wilding
(cd.L Marvel. Modem ]udl:emellis (London, 1969).
" A.E. White, The Workr ojThomas Vauhan (London, 1 919).
Platonism in some Metaphysical Poets
teachinsnevergainedacceptancewiththere|igiousauthorities,the
interesto|HenryMoreandGeorgeRustcertain|ygavethemwider
currency. Marve||andVaughan'spoemso|meditativewithdrawa|
mirrortheirauthors'po|itica|disengagement|romtheturmoi|o| civi|
war,andtheircoming-to-termswiththeroya|istde|eat.Theirsis an
unwor|d|y, non-denominationa| spirituality. It is no accident that
they gave expression to it by recourse to a doctrine o|spiritua|
nostalgia|ora'happy|ormerstate',adoctrinewhichspe||edthehope
o|return to|ormerinnocence.
TRAHERNE
A simi|ar combinationo|e|ements is to be |ound i nthe poetry o|
anotherroya|istsympathiser,ThomasTraherne.Adominanttheme
o|his poetryis nosta|gia|ora|ormerstateo|innocenceandpurity
expressedthroughimageso|natureandchi|dhood,reco||ectionand
pre-existence.The P|atonism o|Traherne,|ike thato|Marve|| and
Vaughan, is not se||-advertising, but transmuted by the Christian
spiritua|ityitserv
,
stoexpress,andthesur|acequa|ityo|thepoems
doesnotimmediate|ysuggestadeep|ystudiedP|atonism.Butun|ike
thecases o|Vaughan and Marve||, i|we|ookatTraherne's prose
writingwecanseetheextensiveheritageo|RenaissanceP|atonism
thatunder|ieshis poems.
The rapturous|y rhapsodic character o|Traherne'swriting, his
visionaryaccounto|themundaneandhisrepeateduseo|dominant
images,particu|ar|yo||ightandsight,inviteamystica|interpretation.
Images o||ight and sight are certain|y to be|ound in accounts o|
mystica| experience, especia||y those inuenced by Dionysius the
Aereopagite.Nonethe|ess,theyarea|so|eatureso|thesystematised
Neop|atonic theo|ogy o|Marsi|ioFicino. Traherne'spoetryis not
overt|yP|atonicinthesensethathenameshismentors,orexpounds
the|rameworkthatunder|ieshisconcepto|thesou|. Hisaccounto|
reco||ection, |or examp|e, o|ten seems to owe more to his own
experiencethattoNeop|atonicmetaphysics.Thisisparticu|ar|y the
case with his account o| chi|dhood experience which seems to
anticipateWordsworth's.In'ShadowsintheWater'herecountshow
'inunexperienc'dIn|ancy'hesaw'AnotherWor|d' reectedin'som
1 See, for example, Ficino, TQ/ogia platonica, Vl.ii and iii; N1I, xiii (TMologie platonicienne de
['immoTlaLiti de; ames, ed. and trans. Raymond Marcel, 3 vols (Paris, 1964-70), I, pp. 229-37.
297-8, 321-2).
1 68 SARAH HUTTON
Puddle' uext towhere he happeued to beplayiug. Viewiug the
reectiouso|peopleappareutlyliviugaud moviugiuthewater, he
commeuts, ' Twasstrauge. . . '
And yet I could uethear them talk:
That throu a little watry Chink,
Which one dry Ox or Horse might drink,
We other Worlds should see
Yet not admitted be;
And other Confnes there behold
Of Light and Darkness, Heat and Cold.'
The poem is oue o|mauy that celebrate visible creatiou as the
outward maui|estatiou o|spiritual reality, as, |or example, 'The
Recovery',wherehesaysolGod'sworks,
In all his Works, in all his Ways,
We must his Glory see and Prais.
.|. a r-a)
Oriu '1he Improvemeut',
His Wisdom Shines in Spreading forth the Skie,
His Power's Great in Ordering'the Sun,
His Goodess very Marvellous and High
Appears, in evry Work his Hand hath done.
(11. r a-i)
Suchstatemeutsareo|coursethestaple|areo|Christiauprayeraud
praise, with obvious parallel iu the Psalms. I uTraherue's prose
writiugs their Platouic uudertoues are made more explicit. I uthe
Centuries, Traherueobserves,'NothiugcaubebutitexhibitsaDeity'
(Centuries, II. a) or, more Platouically. 'TheWorld isa Mirroro|
IuhuiteBeauty' (ibi. , 1.31 ) .
Althoughhece|ebrates the beauty audharmouy o|the uatural
world,thiugsiuthemselveshaveuovalue.'1 Things asShades esteem'
|'TheReview', ll. r o) -
Things are but dead: they can't dispense
Or Joy or Grief.
(,The Inference', |!.r ;-r)
Physicalob|ectshavevalueoulyiuso|arastheymaui|estthediviue.
'You uever Eujoy the World aright, tiIl you see how a Saud
'Shadows in the Water', 11.7-32. Thomas Trahernc, Poems, Centuries and Three Thanksgivings,
ed. Anne Ridler (Oxford, 1966). Unless otherwise indicated alquotations from Traherne's
poems and Centures arc from this edition.
Platonism in some Metaphysical Poets 1 69
ExhibiteththeWisdomaudPowero|God' (Centuries, 1. 27). Itisthe
iuterual, spiritua|world thatTraherueregardsas real.
Thought! Surely Thoughts are tru:
They pleas as much as Things can do:
NayThiugs are dead,
And in themselvs are severed
From Souls; nor can they fll the Head
Without our Thoughts. Thoughts are the RealI thiugs
From whence all Joy, from whence all Sorrow springs.
('Dreams', 11.50-6).
ThisvividlysuggestsaPlatouicturuiugaway|romthematerialtothe
iutelligibleworld.
Eveu iu his most rapturous outbursts, Traherue's writiug is
remarkable |or its cousisteut |ramework o|ideas. Far |rom beiug
whollyiutuitioualaudsub|ective,itbespeaksathoroughkuowledge
o|ReuaissauceNeoplatouism.Hisuotebooksshowjusthowstudiously
thatkuowledgewasacquired.AsCarolMarkshasshowu,Traherue
wassteepediucoutemporaryPlatouism.hisCommouplaceBookisa
collectiou o|exerpts |rom Thomas]acksou, Theophi|us Gale aud
HeuryMore,aswellasFiciuo.Hisso-called'FiciuoNotebook'isa
compilatiou|romtheargumenta accompauyiugFiciuo'strauslatiouso|
Plato,HermesTrismegistusaudPlotiuus. 'Healsomadeexteusive
useo| ]ohu Everard's trauslatiou otHermes,Divine Pymander.' ,
I|welookatTraherue'suotebookswecauseeevideuceo|aclose
liuk betweeu Traherue's exteusive uote-takiug aud his writiug o|
poetry. The most receutly discovered Traherue mauuscript, the
'Commeutaries o| Heaveu', uow iu the British Library,! is au
alphabetically arrauged collectiou o|quotatious, commeuts aud
poems,iuwhichthesub|ectmattero|thepoemsisdirectlyliukedto
Oxford, Bodleian Library MS, Eng. Poet. C.42. Carol Marks, 'Thomas Traherne's
Commonplace Book'. Papers ofthe Bibliographical Societ o America, 58 ( 1964). Sec also Marks,
'Thomas Trahcrnc and Cambridge Platonism', PMLA, 8t (lg66), 52t-34.
London, British Library MS Burney 126, on which see Carol Marks Sicherman, 'Trahere's
Fieino Notebook', Papers t the BihliograpMcal Socie t America, 63 ( Ig6g), 73-81.
.. Carol Marks, 'ThomasTraherneand Herme Trismegistus' , Rmairsance.Nes, 19 ( 1966). 1 18-31 .
?
'Commentaries of Heaven. Wherein the Mysteries ofFelicitic arc opened, and All Things
Discovered to be Objects of Happines', London, British Library MS Additional 63054. I am
grateful to the British Library Board for permision to quote from this manuscript. See Alan
Pritchard, 'Traherne's "Commentarie of Heaven'' ', Universi oj Toronto Qlarler!. 53
( l g83), 1-35;JJ. Smith, 'Thomas Traherne from his Unpublished Manuscripts\ in A.M.
Allchin et al., Proftable Wonders: Aspects oj Thomas Trahere (Oxford, 1989). Commentaries oj
Heaven. The Poems, e. D.D.C. Chambers (Salzburg, 1989) prints the poems from the
manuscript, but, unfortunately, without the prose into which they are embedded in the
manuscript.
SARAH HUTTON
thecouteuto| theprosepassages.A|thoughthereisuoeutryouP|ato
because ou|y the eutries |or |etter A aud some o|B survive, it is
possib|etoextractagooddea|o|iu|ormatiououP|ato|romeutriesou
othersub|ects, especia||y the eutry ouAristot|e,which iuc|udes 'A
Comparisouo| Aristot|eaudP|ato'.Mucho| thisisexerpted|romoue
o|Traherue's|avouritesources,Theophi|usGa|e'sCourt ofthe Gentiles.
O|course, the uotebooks by themse|ves are uot uecessari|y a sure
guidetoTraherue'sacceptauceo|theircouteut,'especia||ysiuceiu
Christian Ethicks heexhibitsameasureo|cautiouabou
theheatheu
phi|osophy. Heuotes that 'The Heatheus who iuveuted the uame
Ethicks,wereveryshortiutheKuow|edgeo|MausEud' ( Christian
Ethicks, p. 14) audamrms that, 'Thebestactiouso|theprophauer
Heatheu|e||uudertheuotiouo| Dead Works'(Christian Ethicks, p.6i ) .
Eveu the writiugs attributed to HermesTrismegistus, |rom which
Traheruedrewiuboth Christian Ethicks aud Centuries, areuotabove
criticism.Traheruecoujectures,iuthe|ormer,thatouthemattero|
theimmorta|ityo|thesou|,Trismegistus'diduotuuderstaudtheeud
|orat|eastuotc|ear|y)|orwhichitwasimp|auted`. (Christian Ethicks,
p. ee6) .Thiskiudo|reserveabouttheva|ueo|pagauphi|osophyiu
geuera|audo|P|atouismiuparticu|ar,isto be|ouudamougother
Eng|ishP|atouists, uotab|y]acksou aud Ga|e. I t hasitsrootsiuthe
ear|yChristiaudebatesaboutthecompatibi|ityo|P|ato'steachiugs
with those o| the church |see Co|emau aud Ba|dwiu, pp.e r-;
above) , adebatewhichwasreopeuediutheh|teeuthceuturywiththe
humauistiuterestiu P|ato |seeabove, pp. 68aud ;;) .
These reservatious about pagau phi|osophy uotwithstaudiug,
Traherueappearstoho|dP|atohimse||iuhighesteem.A|thoughhe
does uot uame P|ato amoug 'the more Kuowiug aud Learued'
heatheuswhomhecommeuds|ortheir'Couscieuceo|Siu' ( Christian
Ethicks, p. i e6) , ueitherdoes he uameP|ato iu his stricturesabout
heatheuphi|osophy.Traherue'shighva|uatiouo| P|atocaubeseeuiu
his'Commeutarieso|Heaveu',iuspiteo|theirbeiuguoextauteutry
ouP|ato.BoththeeutryouAristot|eaudtheaccompauyiugpoemare
remarkab|e |or their ackuow|edgemeut o|Aristot|e a a uatura|
phi|osopher,'yGreatestPhi|osopheriuuature'||o|.I ej`).Traherue
praises Aristot|e as the |ouuder o|mauy brauches o|phi|osophy.
I Notetaking can, after all, indicate a negative intenL There i the added problem that a good
number of the notes are made in the hand of an amanuensis, which means one must be
cautious about inferring Traherne's acceptance of the passages recorded.
Platonism in some Metaphsical Poets : ; i
'lather ol Ethicks, Oecouomicks, Po|iticks, Rhetorick, Logick,
Arithmetick, Astrouomy,Astrologie, Geographiec.',the'Beueht'
olwhich'isuuspeakab|eaudeud|ess'.AlthoughAristotleistherelore
|ikethesuu toa||uatiou
, 'diusedasaB|essiug',Traherueuotes his
greatest lailiug as beiug his ueg|ect ol diviuity. 'Learuiug is',
Traherueiusists
A Sacred Heavenly Flame
That shining for us upon Earth by Night
Restores the World unto its Ancient Light
The native characters of Bliss) t
h
at were
Engraven in the Soul.
(ll.6-IO) 1 4
Although uselul, the compass olAristote|iau phi|osophy lails to
iuc|ude'Diviuitie'.
Transcendent Metaphysicks soar, abov
The reach of Physicks, to Eternal Lov,
Discovers GOD, and brings the Angels down
Makes known the Soul, and what it shews doth crown.
It walks among Invisibles.
(1l45-9)
This'Poetica|I Reectiou'ouAristot|e'sphi|osophywhichaccompauies
theprose eutrydoes uot meutiou P|ato. Eveu so his prelereucelor
P|atoisimp|icitiu hisrelereuceto thedoctriueolIuuateIdeaswheu
hedescribesthekeytohappiuessasiuuate,'eugraveuiutheSou|'.His
admiratiouolP|atoismadeexp|icitiuthe'ComparisouolAristot|e
audPlato`whichprecedesthepoem.Thismakesc|earthat'compariug
y"iuMetaphysicksDiviueCoutemp|atious,' tisevideuty
'
Aristotle
was lar iulerior to P|ato'. From his acquaiutauce with 1ewish
traditious |here Traherueis lo||owiug Ga|e), P|ato 'obtaiued great
NoticesolDiviueMysteries,especia|ysuchasRe|atedtoyOrigeue
olyU uivers,ySpiritua|NaturePerlectiouolGOD, y' Immorta|ity
ol y Sou| c.' |lo|. r eo`) Iudeed TraheruecoudemusAristotlelor
haviug repudiated or adu|terated 'y more sublime Diviue ol
P|ato's Trad\tious' |lo|. i e8`). Furthermore, iu au ear|ier eutry,
'Ameudmeut', Traherue siug|es out lor
eo`).Butthesunisa|soa
metaphysica| metaphor o| the sou|, 'Its Beams are Accidents o|
anotherKind.even|ivingRays&FeelingAppearanceswthothey
ShinenotWlh Materia|Lustre|ikeSp|endortoEy,areMoreNob|e&
Invisib|e, Carrying y Beneht o|other, h||ing y Spiritua| Wor|d,
seatingitsG|ories,yG|orieso|ySuninySou|'|' Commentaries',
|o|. eo`).
9
d
9!
o
1 utt5estartis tooearlyaud<to_lat Fr!lato' sojouru
iu thesIaows cam:
HansJonas, Tlu Gnostic Religion: The Message ojtie Aliell God and rl,t begillllings rCh:tistianity
(Boston, 1958), p. 42.
' Ibid" pp. 43-4'
10 Blake} COleridge, Wordswort/l, Lamb, Etc: BeillgSelectiolsJro1l lie Remai/soJHmrCrabbeRobinso/l,
cd. Edith J. Morley (Manchester, 1922), p. 23.
19 Joseph Priestley, All History ofEarly Opilliolls COllcering Jesus Clrist, 4 vols (Birmingham,
1 786), I, 166-7;J.L. Mosheim, Al Eclesiastical Histor. Am:ienl and Moder, trans. Archibald
Maclail1c, 2 vols (London, 1765), I 1 1 3-16.
2( Thomas Taylor, TIle Crarylus, Parmellides Alld Timaels OJPlaia. With Noles O,r tle Crarylus, Alld
All Explallatory Itltroduction 10 Eacl Dialogue (London, 1 793). p. 402.
2:
Harper, Neoplatollism, p. 35.
Blake and Platonim 1 95
!y:hagoras Socrates Plato' (E67 jK246). Palamabron is in |act
transmittingthislaw|romUrizen.Wemayin|erthatUrizenis'the
jupitero|theGreeks,aniron-hearted tyrant', andthatPlatonismis
atleastimplicated in the ruino|Greecebecauseo|'abstract Law'.
ArtandimaginationareBlake'schie|subjects.Theruino|Greece
wasitsartisticruin.! t isthere|oreimportanttorealisethatonemay
associatethisPlatonicabstraction withBlake'slaterthoughtsabout
'Grecian'Form.Thus,inOn Virgil (c. 1 820) henotes.'Mathematic
FormisternalintheReasoningMemory. LivingFormisternal
xistence. j GrecianisMathematicForm j GothicisLivingForm'
(E270jK778); andin |The Laocon| (c. 1 820) heasserts that'The
Godso|Greece gyptwereMathematicalDiagramsSeePlato's
Works'(E274jK 776). !tmustberealised,however,thatthedistinction
between Grecian and Gothic Form, so dined, is a |eature only o|
Blake'slaterwork. His hrst known re|erence toGreek artis more
equ.vocal. WritingtoDrTrusler, on 1 6 August 1 799, Blake avows
that'thepurpose|orwhichalone!live'is'torenewthelostArto|the
Greeks' (E70I jK792). Whatdoeshemean by'lost?Itisquitelikely
thatheimaginesthatthebestGreekartisnolongerextant,ossibly
becauseithasbeen ruined byworshipo|']upiter'.Onecanseehow
this might be|rom Blake's Descriptive Catalogue ( , 809) in which he
claims that'stupendousoriginals now lost', butonce tobe|oundin
Asia, were copied by Greek artists (E5
3
0jK565). Butin any case,
Blake'sideasaboutthediFerencebetweengoodandbadart,however
expressed,haveacertainconsistency,earlyandlate.Thereare,aswe
haveseen,twohguresinBlake'smythologywhoowesomethingtothe
hgureo| theDemiurge:Urizen,thereasoner,andLos,theimaginative
prophet.Oneo|themostimportantthingstheydoistodiherentiate
goodandbadartandthetwoopposednotionso|artistic|ormwhich
encourage them: the Mathematic and the Living. Blake's more
discursive treatmentso|these two notions, as ! shall now go onto
show, also owe somethingtoPlatonism.
ART AND TRUTH
Urizen'sname,whichcomprisestheideao|'settingbounds',provides
ause|ul wayintoBlake'stheoryo|art. The'bounded'|orhimisan
ambiguousconceptwhichmaybeassociatedeitherwithnegativeor
withpositivenotions. 'The boundedisloathed by its possessor' isa
charcteristic assaultonlimitation, |rom There is No Natural Religion
EDWARD LARRISSY
|e/Kg;). But equa||y characteristic is the epigram 'Truth has
bounds. rror none' |rom The Book of Los |p|ate 4:30; gejKe8).
Theboundso|Truthare not|imiting,andneitherarethosewhich
thegoodartistimposes- orperhapsoneshouldsay,sees.Becauseo|
histrainingasanengraverB|akewasa|waysconsciouso|theva|ueo|
outline,whatheca||s 'the bounding|ine'inhisDescriptive Catalogue:
The great and golden rule of art, as well as o||i|e, is this: That the more
distinct, sharp, and wirey the bounding line, the more perfect the work of art;
and the less keen and sharp, tbe greater is the evidence of weak imitation,
plagiarism, and bungling . . . The want of this determinate and bounding
form evidences the want of idea in the artist's mind, and the pretence of the
plagiary in all its branches. How do we distinguish the oak from the beech,
the horse from the ox,but by the bounding outline? How do we distinguish
one face or countenance from another, but by the bounding line and its
infnite infexions and movements? (E550/K585)
Thebounding-|inehastwo|unctionshere.itisadistinguishing|ine
imposedbyastrongartistwithclearconceptions,anditisthemeans
bywhichanindividua|identityexpressesitse||.Butinboththesecases
the |ine is devoid o|the negative connotations o|a |imit. B|ake's
pre|erence accords with the |ashionab|e Iomantic Neoc|assicism.
withtheworko|his|riends|axmananduse|i,andtbetheorieso|
Wincke|mann, whom use|i trans|ated. Wincke|mann asserts that
Nature,
never could bestow the precision of Contour, that characteristic distinction
of the ancients.
The noblest Contour unites or circumscribes every part of the most perfect
Nature, and the ideal beauties of the Greeks; or rather, contains them both.22
Itseems|ike|ythatB|akewou|dhaveassociatedsuchdescriptionso|
out|inein Creekartwithwhathehad read about theInte||igib|e
Wor|dinTay|or'seditionso|P|otinus.ThusTay|orre|ers to 'those
regionso|mind,wherea||thingsarebounded ininte||ectua|measure,
where every thingis permanentand beauti|u|,eterna| and divine'
|emphasis added). This paradoxica| co-existence o|boundedness
and in6nity in the Inte||igib|e Wor|d is pro|ound|y inuentia| on
B|ake.R.T.Wa||isascribesP|otinus'conceptionstotheprob|em'o|
reconci|ingthemystica|desiretotranscend|ormand|imitwiththe
C|assica| Creekviewo|themastheessenceo|per|ection'. Itwasa
U.J.] Winekclmann, Reections 01 tIle Painting arid Sculpture of tle Grees, trIl. Henry Fuscli
(London, t 765), p. '2.
" Plolinus, An Essay ol/ lle Beautiful, [trails. Thomas Taylor] (London, 1 792), p. i.
"` R.T. Wallis, NeoJ)/alonism (Londoll, 1972), p. 6.
Blake and Platonism i g
:
prob|en),andaso|ution,whichB|akecou|dunderstand.Yet,to|ook
nowabove theInte||igibleWor|d,hehad no time!oraconception
ana|ogoustotheOne. B|akenevcra||owedthes|ightestva|uetothe
ineFab|eorinconceivab|e. Ontheotherhand,descendingbeneath
theInte||igib|eWor|d,heregardedtheideathatinthiswor|dorms
supervened upon matter as based on an i||usion: the i||usion that
matter existed. B|ake may use the word 'Non-ntity', but un|ike
P|otinus he means this abso|ute|y, as respects anything outside a
mind.theideao!matterissimp|yade|usion!orB|ake.Sohisterna|,
orLiving,ormsare bothbounded,andatthesametimeexistina
modeo!inhnity,|ikethoseintheP|otinian!nte||igib|eWor|d.Andas
insomanyartists'versionso!P|atonism|i!thiscanindeedbeca||ed
such) B|ake'sterna|ormsarcperceivedinvision,sothatwhenhe
speaksinhis|aterworko! perceivingthembymeanso!'!nte||ect',we
must qua|i!y that unexpected word with another usage o! his.
'inte||ectua|vision'||ettertoHay|ey,eOctoberi 8o:;;[K8e) .
Theaestheticimp|icationso!suchapositionarewe||putbyPaterin
hisessayonWincke|mannin The Renaissance: 'Themindbeginsand
endswiththe 6niteimage,yet|osesnoparto!thespiritua|motive.
Thatmotiveisnot|oose|yor|ight|yattachedtothesensuous!orm. . .
butsaturatesandisidentica|withit'|seeVarty,pp.e;-6;be|ow).
Whatever one's opinion o! the phi|osophica| coherence o!B|ake's
position, itwou|dbeunderstandab|etothinko!himasamonistin
respecto! whathetakestobethetruecharactero!experience.Yethe
spendssomuchtimedescribingandana|ysingthepowerandthreat
o!those who perceive wrong|y, that i||usion comes to take on the
so|idityo!!act. Urizenmaybese|!-de|uded,butheo|\enseemstohave
most o!the batta|ions. Pondering this, one may !ee| that B|ake is
betterdescribedasakindo!dua|istdespitehimse||.Oneisspeaking
herenotmere|yo!thespeci6cquestiono!thcmindbodydistinction,
buto!B|ake'sapparent|ydepictingama|ignprincip|ewhichcreates
thisdistinction.Somucho!hisworkdepictsthecon||icto!visionary
experiencewithitsimmemoria|andpersistent antagonist.A Leopo|d
Damrosch says, 'B|ake'smonismwars with his dua|ism because he
strivesunceasing|ytoreconci|ethedesireso!theheartwiththe!actso!
experience'.
In view o!Blake's ce|ebrated trenchancy, combativeness, and
insistenceonorigina|ity, itmayseem strange thatheshou|dadopt
t Walter Pater, Tle Rellaissance (New YOI'k, 1959), pp. ' 39-40.
26
Leopold Damrosch, Jr, Symbol alld Trulh ill Blake's Myth (Princeton, 'gno), p. 243.
EDWARD LARRISSY
anyo|thetermsandideaso| PlatoandPlotinuswhenitisclearthat
hesawPlatonismashaving|ostered error.Yetthe|actthathedoes
borrowsuchtermsmayserve,6nally,toillustrateageneralcondition
o|hiswork. that,believingerrortobeaconcealmentormisappre-
hension o|the truth, rather thanits negation, he wrenches notions
|rom their original contexts in the works o|his antagonists, and
attemptstorestoretothemthevisionarymeaningwhichhebelieves
theyoncepossessed.Thishedoes,|orinstance,withNewton's'Ratio'
and with Descartes' '\ortexes'. He had a phrase |or this tactic.
'Striving with Systems to deliver individuals |rom those Systems'
(Jerualem, plate ii , |.,i [KGo)Thereisacharacteristically
brilliantshrewdness ahouttheendeavour.
Itmaytieupa|ewlooseendstosuggesthowthetacticisdeployed
in the present case. What Blake dislikes about Platonism can be
broadlysummedupintheword'abstraction'.Inhisearlyworkshe
usesPlatonicmoti|storepresenthisownconceptiono| howtheworld
o|illusorylimitationneverthelessseemsreal toun|ortunatessuchas
TheI. Inhis|aterworkshecontinuestodramatisethepower|ulworld
o|illusionandemploysaPlatonicvocabularytodescribeit,withthe
understandingthatonlydeceivedstateso|inindarebeingdescribed.
As|orhisownsenseo|whatistrue: he|eelsabletotaketheworkso|
theNeoplatonists,inparticularPlotinus,andsi|t outboththeOne
andMatter,andmuchelsethatgoeswiththem,asrepresentingthe
malignprincipleo|'abstraction'andthedividedconsciousnesswhich
Blake |eels thisencourages. What isle|: is avisionaryversion o|the
IntelIigible WorId capable o|being perceived here and now by
ImaginationandnotbyMemory.I|itbeNeoplatonictobelievesuch
things, thenBlakeisaNeoplatonist.
77 Cr Sleven Shavil'o, "Striving with Systems" ; Blake and the Politics ofDiJcrcncc'. Eselltial
Ar/icles, cd. Hillon, pp. 271-99.
PART V
h ntn/n/h cn/u
I
CHAPTER 1 8
Introduction
Richard Jenkyns
'Aristot|eisdead,butPlatoisa|ive'- socnjamin1owett| : 8i ;-g)
usedtosay. 'Amanisnotonoathinanepigram,butitmaysti||be
worth asking why ]owett shou|d have said it and his pupils
rememberedit.HecannothavcmeantthatOx|ord undergraduates
ignoredAristot|e |mostofthem,throughoutthenineteenthcentury,
studiedtheEthics) , orthatscholarswereneg|ectinghim |onemight
thinko|CroteandAlexanderCrant) , anditisunlike|ythat1owett
thoughthimo!smal| intrinsicvalue.Ratherhe!e|t|asonecansee
|romhisprivatenotebooks)thatP|atocou|dstillaidthemoral|i!eo|a
Christian inthenineteenthcenturyand,moregeuera|ly,thatP|ato
wasacreativeinuenceonthecultura|andintellcctua| |i|eo!theage.
Thatbe|ie!seemsjusti6ed. Orote'sPlato and the Other Companions if
Socrates | t 8G) wasasigno|thetimes, notablein thataradica|and
uti|itarian,hostileto much o!Plato's thought, be|ieved itworthhis
whiletoengagewith the phi|osopher,si!tingthose partso!hiswork
whichheconsideredo!permanentva|ue|romthosewhichweretobe
rejected.1owett|orhisparttrans|atedallPlato'sdia|ogues,providing
themwith extended introductionswhichsoughttobringouttheir
use|ulness |or the modern wor|d, his own work not on|y re6ected
P|ato'scontinuinginuencebuthe|ped to sustainit.
Ithad not been ever thus. As PatRogers indicates |see above,
pp.r 8i-), |or much o|the eighteenth century P|ato was rather
neg|ected|Aristot|etoo,!orthatmatter) .Butbetween t ;gand t ;8o
F|oyer Sydenham tried togive him wider currency by trans|ating
nine P|atonic |or pseudo-Platonic) dialogues, and in i ;ge the
industriousThomasTaylorbegantrans|atingtherest,withmorezeal
thanski|l;hepublished the hrstcomp|ete ng|ish version o!P|ato's
I E. Abbott and L. Campbell, TIle lieand LeffeTs ojBelyamill Jowell (London, 1897), I, p. 261 .
` William Whcwdl's nit Plaiolic Di(/o,tllcs Jor t'"glisl Readers ( 1859-61 ) , of no scholarly
importance, is perhaps llnothcr sign of the times in its concern to reach a wider audience.
eoi
coc
R[ CHARD JENKYNS
works,incorporating8ydenham'strans|ations,i ni 8o.Thesesigns
o|a quickenInginterest were not immediate|y rebected In nglIsh
universities.Thebelie|o|F.D.Maurice | t 8o-;c)thatCambridge
in theear|iernineteenth century had a P|atonistavour |and was
there|ore superior to Ox|ord,with its undi|uted Aristotelianism)
seemsaha||-truthatbest.AtOx|ordAristot|ewasInvariablystudied
byundergraduatcsreadingLiteraeHumaniores at|east|rom t 8o;,
Wi||iam8ewel|beganlecturingonP|atointhe thirties,itissaidto
|argeaudiences,butintheear|yyearso|thecenturyhcdoesseemto
havebeenncg|ected.'Must!careaboutAristot|e?'theundergraduate
8he||eyaskedhistutor.'WhatI|!donotmindArIstot|e?' His|rIend
T.1. Hoggobservedin[ 821 , 'P|atoisun|ortunate|y|itt|ereadevenby
scho|ars'.Peacock,threeyearsbe|ore,hadsaidthatP|ato'certain|y
wantspatronageinthesedays,whenphI|osophys|eepsandc|assica|
|iteratureseemsdestinedtoparticIpateInitsrepose.'Ortoturn|rom
|i|eto6ction,DrFo||iott,inPeacock'sCrotchet Castle | t 8t ) , dec|ares,
'Youmustrememberthat,inourUniversIties,P|atoIshe|dtobe|itt|e
betterthanamis|eadero| youth,andtheyhaveshowntheircontempt
|orhim,notonlybyneverreadinghim|amodeo|contemptinwhich
theydea|very|arge|y) butevenbyneverprintingacompleteedition
o|him'.Butthrougha||theseremarkswecatchthecondescending
toneo|se||-con6dentyouth,assuredthatithasthe|utureonitsside.
8he||ey's revo|t against Aristotle was part and parcel o| his
Platonism. Buti|weshare theview o|P|ato and Aristotleas polar
opposites,wemaybe|a||ingiutoanIneteenth-centurytrap.Co|eridge
| t ;;c-r8),the |eadingInuenceindisseminatingtranscendental
andidea|istphi|osophyinng|and,maintaIned,'verymanisborn
anAristotelianora P|atonist. ! don'tthInkItpossIb|ethatany one
bornanAristote|iancan becomeaPlatonist,and! amsurenoborn
P|atonist can ever change into an Aristote|ian. They are the two
c|asses o|men beside which it is next to impossib|e toconceive a
third' |ThoughhisimmediateinspirationwasKant,therecou|dbe
M.L Clarke, Greek Studies in England 177Q1830 (Cambridge, 1945), p. 244-
4 D. Newsome, Two Classes ojMen (London, 1974), p. 8 etc.
F. Turner, Tie Greek Heritage in Viclorion Britaill (New H
a
ven and London, I g81), p. 373.
T.J. Hogg etc, TIle Li ofShelle, cd. H. 'Wolfe (London, 1933). I. 70, .
Dane Lady Shelley]. Shelley aJd Mar, 4 vals ([London], 1882), 1 642.
" Peacock to Shelley, go Aug. 1818, in Tu: WorksojTllOflas Love Peacoc, cd. H.F.B. Brett-Smith
and C.E. Jones, 10 vols (London, 1924-34), Vllt, p. 203.
9 T.L. Peacock, Cro/clet Ca.tle, eh. 7.
I( Coleridge, Table Talk, 2July 1830, cd. C. Wooding, 2 vols (Princeton, 1990), p. 1 18. (Tie
Collected Worh ofSamlel Taylor Colerid.e, 14.)
Introduction: the nineteellth centur
nodoub
iu
whi
ch
classhep|acedhimse|!)Thisout|ookmaynothave
been otigiua
|
to C
o|etidge, but it d
'
es appeat to have a specia||y
nineteenth-
ceut
utychatactet|ouem
i
ghtconttast
Raphae|'s
|tescoo|
theSchoo|so|
Athe
us|s
.
e|toutispiece), whetePlatoandtheyounget
Atistot|estaud
toge
thet
i
uthecentteo|thepictute,a||iesattheapex
o|c|assica|thou
gh
t ) . Co|etidgewaswtong.P|atoandAtistot|eateno
doubtthegtea
test
Gteekphi|osophets,aswe||astheon|ytwo|tom
thec|assical
pe
tio
dtohavesutvivedinbu|k,buttheonewasthepupi|
o|theothet
aud
|ot a|| thcitdi
Ierences, theyweteagteed on the
scopeandm
eth
odo|philosophy,onwhatquestionsshouldbeasked,
aud sometim
es
ou the answets too |both, |ot examp|e, give an
inte||ectua|ist
exp
|auatiouo|mota| weakness) . In radica| conttast
wasthematet
ia|ismo|Epicutus,whote+ectedmetaphysicsa|togethet
andatgucd
that
P
hilos
ph
ca|theory,ethicsinc|uded,shou|ddetive
|rom ascieuti
cmvc
st
But
She||ey mirrored P|ato's arguments more close|ythanSidney,and
madeadirect|inkbetweenthepoet'simaginationandP|ato'sreason.
Heattemptedtocitetheob|ecto|imaginationnoti nthepoet'sown
createdwor|d,asSidneyhaddone, butinanexterna|rea|itywhich
thepoetenteredthroughaP|atonicascento|thesoul.WhereasPlato
hadarguedintheRepublic thatthemindwasen|ightenedbymoving
|romareasonedcontemplationo|particularthingstoabstractideas,
in the Symposium hehad depicted this progression in terms o|love.
'Loveisindeeduniversa||ya||thatearnestdesire|orthepossessiono|
happiness and that which is good' |eod,Defence, p. ) . She|ley
' All quotations from lhe /01 and the SymjJosilim arc from Shelley'S transl.ttions in Notopoulos,
Tie Plafo/,;sm oJS/telle. Original Platonic pagination and page numbers from Notopoulos arc
given in the texl.
l6
Sir Philip Sidney, A DifclIce ojPoetr, cd.J.A. Van Dorstcll (Oxford, (966), p, 23. Sec Roc,
pp. 103-7 above. Shelley wmi reading Sidney at the time ofwriling his own Difelice ojPoetr.
See Mar Shelle's JOllral, . and 12 March 1821; alld endp"pcr, p. 426.
JENNI FER WALLACE
pickedupthe|anguageo| |ovewhenhetrans|erredthe|orcebehind
thisen|ightenmenttoimagination.'Poetryenlargesthecircum|erence
o|the imagination by rep|enishing it with thoughts o|ever new
de|ight,whichhavethepowero|attractingandassimi|atingtotheir
own nature a|| other thoughts, and which |orm new interva|s and
intersticeswhosevoid |or ever craves |resh |ood' (Dience, p. 88).
Oncethepoet,throughhisimagination,hasrisenbeyondthenarrow
circum|erence o|quotidian existence, hc also participates in 'the
eterna|,theinhnite,andtheone' (Dience, p.8) . ThisistheworId
inhabited bythe true philosopherintheRepublic: 'the phi|osophers
are those who can apprehend the eterna| and unchanging, while
thosewhocannotdoso,butare|ostinthemasseso|multip|icityand
change, are notphi|osophers' |8b) .
ShelleydoesnotonlycoincidewithP|atoontheascento| thesou|
and the existence o| two worlds, but a|so, most important|y, on
turning such ideas to politica| use. P|ato's phi|osopher had a
responsibility to society.
It is for us, then, as founders ora commonwealth, to bring compulsion to bear
on the noblest natures. They must be made to climb the asLent tothe vision
of Goodness, which we called the highest object of knowledge; and when
they have looked upon it long enough . . . [they 1 must go down, then, each in
his tur, to live with the rese. (5I 9C, 520C)
For She|ley too, once the phi|osopher-poet had experienced 'the
Good', which inc|udes the true and thc beauti|u|, it was his
responsibi|ity to communicate this to the benighted peop|e o|his
society.Oncethe poet had stripped 'theveil o||ami|iarity|rom the
wor|d' (Dience, p.o),hecouldrecognisetheu|timategood in the
universeandrevea|ittohisreaders.Thus|ora||o|society'thegreat
instrumento|mora|goodis theimagination' (Dience, p. 88).
Sowhi|ethemethodso|P|atoandShelleydiered,oneproceeding
byreasonandtheotherbyimagination,theiraimsweresimi|ar.Both
sawpolitica|changeoccuringasaresu|to|achangco|perception.As
aresult,She||ey'sclaimsabouttheimportanceotthepoetresonate
withtheclaimso|Platoaboutthephi|osopher. Since|orShel|eythe
poet possesses the heightened sensitivity to the unchanging wor|d
beyondthiswor|d,sinceheisgi|iedwiththeimaginationwhichcan
apprehendtheGoodwhichmustbebroughtbacktosociety,heisthe
mostimportantpersoninsociety. 'Butpoets,orthosewhoimagine
and express this indestructib|e order, are not on|y the authors o|
Shelley, Plato and the political imagination
e;
|a
nguage ando|music . . . they ate theinstitutotso||awsand the
|oundetso|civilsocietyand the inventotso|theattso||i|eandthe
teachets'(Dfence, p.8e).P|ato'sphilosophetmustbeking,Shelley's
poetsate the 'unacknowledgedlegis|atotso|thewotld' (Dience, p.
o8). Indeed She||ey's atgument about the poet's abi|ity to see
beyondthecottuptiono|thiswot|dtoaputetundetstandingo|how
thewot|dcou|dbeotdeted|eadshimeventoc|aimthesupetiotmota|
hbteo|thepoet.'thegteatestpoetshavebeenmeno|themostspot|ess
vittue' (Dience, p. o6).
Sotheapoca|ypticvisionwhichShelleybestowsuponthepoet,the
abilitytowitness'veila!ietvei|'o|thiswotld 'withdtawn',becomes,
thtough the tesonances |rom P|ato, tevolutionaty. P|ato is not
intetestedintheptisonet'sascent|tomthecave|otitsownsake,but
|otwhatitcanmean|ottheotdetingo|thetepub|ic, theeducation
andgovetnmento|itscitizens.AndShe||ey'sana|ysiso|thepoweto|
poettyhasoneaim.theawakeningo|thepeop|e|tomopptessionand
misety.Anewpo|itica|voiceis|ound,notinthescepticalte|ectiono|
theoties,butinthevisiono|abtightet|ututeandintheundetstanding
o|the contingencyo|thedai|ywor|d o|divisionand conhict.
PROMETHEUS UNBOUND
Buthowwas the newpo|itica|voice used?Howcould the theoties
abouttheptopheticot|egislativepowetso|the poeticvoicebe put
intoptactice?Themosttevolutionatyo|Shelley'spoemsisPrometheus
Unbound | r 8r o) , whichdtamatisesthe |ibetationo|Ptometheusand
withittheescape|toma||manneto|opptession.Inthecoutseo|this
change, the poem chatts avittua| P|atonicAscent to the wotld o|
Rea|ityand univetsality.Thegtadualteplacemento|Aeschy|us by
Platoasthemainsoutceo|thepoemistecognisedwide|ybyctitics.
Even acontempotaty teviewet, wtitingin Gold's London Magazine,
described the poem in P|atonic tetms.
The subject is sotreated, that we lose sight of persons in principles, and soon
feel that all the splendid machinery around us is but the shadow of things
unseen+ theoutward panop|y of btight expectations and theories, which
appear to the author's mind instinct with eternal and eternally progressive
biessings, I 7
Theteviewetheteisadmitingtheineab|e,unwot|d|yassociationso|
l7
Gold's London Magazine, II (October 1 820), in T. Redpath, Tle Young Romantics alld Critical
Opinion 1807-1824 (London, 1973), p. 355.
JENNI FER WALLACE
P|ato. I wou|dcontend thati t is|orhis po|itica|vision thatP|atois
appropriated|orthisrevo|utionarypoem.Therevo|utioncanbeseen
takingp|acepart|yinthehgureo|Prometheushimse||andpart|yin
theconstitutiono|thewor|daroundhimandinthe|anguageo|the
poem. At hrst Prometheus is a |one|y rebe|, |ocked into his
unremitting conict with 1upiter and his own state ol P|atonic
i||usion,inwhichheworriesaboutindividua|divisionandisunable
totakeawiderperspective,|ikethemanwhoisobsessed withon|yone
beautilu|womaniutheSymposium. Butthehrstchangeinhisattitude
comesabouta|ierhehasheardthecursehehadshoutedat]upiter
repeated back to him, hethen rea|iseshis error. Onceherep|aces
hatredwiththebond-breakingpowero|pity,'Iwishno|ivingthing
to suer pain', the imprisoning due| with ]upiter is ended.
- the Republic aud Phaedrus, together with hve ear|y works, the
Menexenus, Lysis, Greater Hippias*, Lesser Hippias, audIon.' AsAruo|d's
hrst vo|ume o|poetry appeared iu r 8o, there shou|d have beeu
p|eutyo|time|ortheP|atouiciuueucetohlterthroughtohisverse.
The |act that it did uot, suggests that Aruold's imagiuative
preoccupatiousat the time cou|d uot makeuseo|P|ato, audi|we
cousiderthephi|osophica|out|ooko| hispoetryitisuotdimcu|ttosee
why.
Aruo|dishesupremepoeto|iso|atiou,|ossauda|ieuatiou.uature
isco|daudiudiereut|it'hathrea||yueither|oy,uor|ove,uor|ight
. . . uorhe|p |or paiu' (Poems, p. 0),persoua| re|atiouships ou|y
iucreaseoue'sseuseo| iso|atiou|'wemortalmi||ious|ivealone' (Poems,
p. r o)) , aud society, with 'its sick hurry, its divided aims' (Poems,
p.00)isasource mere|yo|auxietyaudeuervatiou.Ou|y'hejwho
nuds himse|t |oses his misery', aud the desire to 'be thyse||' is
associated with ase||-poisediudiereuce to theexterua|wor|d.|ike
the stars we shou|d uot 'piue with uotiug j a|| the
|ever o|some
dieriugsou|' butbe'bouuded by 'our|se|ves, auduuregard|u| jiu
what state God's otherworks may be' (Poems, p. ro). The drive
towards se||-kuow|edge is g|oomi|y iutrospective |'there rises au
uuspeakab|edesireja|terthekuow|edgeo|ourburiedli|e')auda|so,
u|timate|y, doomed to|ai|ure. 'aud mauyamau iu his owubreast
theude|ves,[butdeepeuough,a|as!uoueevermiues. . . hard|yhave
we,|oroue|itt|ehour,. . . beeuourse|ves') (Poems, pp.e8o-oo). Itis
impossib|e uot to|ee|that, atthisstageo|hisdevelopmeut,Aruo|d
cou|d uot assimi|ate P|ato's iuueuce because P|ato's phi|osophy,
eveuiuits|iterary|orm,ispre-emiueut|ysocial,pub|icaudpo|itica|.
itiscoucerued,especia||yiutheear|ydia|ogues,withpareuts,|rieuds,
educatiou,|ove, thegoodcitizeu, thepolis. Aruo|dou|yapproaches
eveu the most persoua| o|these omces aud re|atiouships through
death, |ai|ureorestraugemeut.
Thepre|ace tothecollectiouo|poemsAruo|dpub|ishediu r 8
reectstheseuseo|aridityaudsel|-disgusthisiutrospectivesearch|or
se||-kuow|edgecaused,byexp|icit|ycoudemuiugexact|ythekiudo|
poetryatwhichheexce||ed.Nopoetica|eu|oymeut,hete||sus,caube
derived|rompoems'iuwhichthesueriugnudsuoveutiuactiou,iu
whichacoutiuuousstateo|meuta|distressispro|ouged,uure|ieved
) Kenneth Allott, 'Malthew Arnold's Reading Lists in Three Eary Diatcs" Viclorian Studies, II
(1 959), 254-66.
M. W. ROWE
by iucideut, hopeorresistauce,iuwhich thereis everythiugtobe
euduredauduothiugtobedoue.I usuchsituatiousthereisiuevitab|y
somethiugmorbid. . . ' (Prose, I, pp.z-).1heso|utiouproposedwas
towriteob|ectivec|assica|poemso|actiouaudiucideut,audiuthree
o|hisuextma|orpoeticproductiousheattemptedto|o||owhisowu
precepts.1heresu|tswereuoteucouragiug.Sohrab and Rustum issaved
by the sub|ective coucerus o|its magihceut coda, butBalder Dead
makesdu||readiug, aud the 'c|assica|' drama Merope wasreceived
|romthe hrst as a |rigid |ai|ure. 1hatsuccess did uotatteud these
pro|ectswasdue, as1ri||iug puts it, to 'Aruo|d's|ai|uretosee that
subjectivism iuromauticpoetryhaditsrootsiuhistorica|rea|ity,that
itcou|duotbedismissed by turuiugawaytoitsseemiugopposite,
c|assica|ob|ectivity. . . Aruo|ddoeslitt|emorethaudirectourtaste
|romtheromautictothec|assic,theprob|emgoesbeyoudmeretaste'.
It is strikiug that at|east three o|the major geuera|isiug essays
which |ol|owed the r 8j pre|ace have, as oueo|their themes, the
iutimatere|atioushipawriterhas,audmusthave,withhissociety.Iu
'TheFuuctiouo|CriticismatthePreseutTime',|orexample,Aruo|d
arguesthat,'theexerciseo|thecreativepower. . . isuotata||epochs
aud uudera|| couditious possib|e' (Prose, III, p. z0o). The Eug|ish
Romauticsproduced uomorethaumomeutso|sporadicbri||iauce,
hecoutiuues,becausesocietyatthattimewasuotsumcieutlysuused
byideasaud|acked'auatioua|g|owo|li|e,'whereas'iutheEug|aud
o|Shakespearethepoet|ivediuacurreuto|ideas. . . societywasiu
the|u||estmeasure,permeatedby|reshthought,iutel|igeutauda|ive'
(Prose, III, p.z0z). BythetimeCulture and Anarcl waswritteu,about
|our years |ater, the right kiud o|socia| couditious are uot ou|y
uecessary |orgreatcreativeepochs but |or thevery existeuce o|a
cu|tivatediudividua|.
Perfection as culture conceives it, is not possible while the individual remains
isolated. The individual is required) under pain of being stunted and
enfeebled " " " to carry others along with him in his march towards
perfection. (Prose, v, p. 294)
I|itis impossible toiguore coutemporary 'historica| rea|ities' aud
writeobjectivec|assica|poetry,audi|thesubjectivepoetryo|e|egiac
withdrawa| ou|y |eads to iuertia aud se||-disgust, theu these ear|y
prosewritiugs urge the ou|y other course. They uo|ouger try aud
iguore society, iudeed thesocia| uatureo|iudividua| cu|ture aud
Lionel Trilling, Matthew ATfld (Oxford. 1982), p. 156.
Arold, Plato, Socrates
e
cteativitycou|dnotbemotesttonglyacknow|edged,andtheymatk
thebeginningo|an eotttochangethenatute o|societyitse||that
wou|doccupy thetemaindeto|Atno|d's|ife.
SOCRATES
Iti sonlywhenAtno|d begins to thinkserious|yaboutsociety that
Soctatesmakeshishtstimpottantappeatance,andthisisintheessay
'Democtacy' pub|ished in r 80r . Hete, Soctates is as much a
symptom,aneect,o|thekindo| societyAtnoldwished|otasheisa
causeandcteatoto|it.
I twas the maT [in Athens 1 who relished those arts, who were not satisfed
with less than those monuments. In the conversations recorded by Plato, or
even by the matter-of-fact Xenophon, which for the free yet refned
discussion of ideas have set the tone for the whole cultivated world,
shopkeepers and tradesmen of Athens mingle as speakers . . . this is why a
handful of Athenians of two thousand years ago are more interesting than
the millions of most nations of our contemporaries. (Prose, 1) p. a)
Intetestingly, the te|etence to P|ato tutns out to be a mistake.
A|thoughtheconvetsationstecotdedbyPlatoo|tentakep|aceinthe
matketotoutsidethe|awcoutts,hedoesnotshowSoctatesta|kingto
'shopkeepetsandttadesmen`,this,asWattenAndetsonointsout,is
on|y to be |ound in Xenophon. The Soctates o| Xenophon's
Memorabilia isas|ight|yptosaicpopu|atist.heshowscta|ismenhow
theycanimptovetheitwotkbyundetstandingthepteciseputposeo|
theittask,heemphasisestheimpottanceo|se||-conttolandacquited
ski||s,heoetshome|ybutshtewdmota|advice.TheSoctates|ound
inP|ato'seat|ydia|oguesistecognisab|ythesamehgute|asAtno|d's
s|ightcon|usion wou|dsuggest) butis a|togethetshatpetandmote
e|usive.Heisamuchgteatetdia|ectician, hepte|etsto advanceby
te|utingothetstathetthanoetingtheotieshimse||andheismote
ptonetocon|essionso|ignotanceandtheuseo|itony.P|ato,un|ike
Xenophon, does not geneta||y c|aim to be tecotding what the
histotica| Soctates actua||y sa.d, but the natute ofXenophon's
inte||igencewasptactica|tathetthanphi|osophica|anditthete|ote
seems quite|ike|ythatP|ato'simaginativeteconsttuctionsbtingus
c|oset to the histotica| Soctates than Xenophon's not a|ways
comptehending attempts at |iteta|ness. Atno|d had been |ami|iat
' Warren Anderson, 'Matthew Arnold and the Classics', in K. Allott (ed.), Matthew Amold,
'Writers and their Background' (London, 1975), p. 281.
M. W. ROWE
withXenophon'sworkssincehisschooldays,andi t isnotablethathis
earlydiariesshow him concentrating- apart |rom theRepublic and
Phaedrus whichwereo|constantinterestthroughouthisli|e-onnve
early Platonicdialogues.
The character called 'Socrates` who speaks in the dialogues o|
Plato`s late and middle periods continues to exhibit many o|the
amenities o| the earlier character, but hediers |rom the earlier
hgureinatleastthe|ollowingrespects.heisnotexclusivelyamoral
philosopher, he holds elaborate theories o|the |orms, recollection,
and the soul, he has mastered mathematics, he seeks deductive
knowledgeand, whenhe |eelshehas|ound it,is quiteprepared to
expound it to others. Most importantly |or our purposes, he is
emphaticallyelitist ratherthanpopularistinhisviewo|philosophy,
and he has a complex theory o|government in which democracy
ranksverylow. Becauseo|thesemarkeddierences,generationso|
scholars have identined this 'Socrates` with Plato himsel|. I shall
|ollowthemin thispractice.
Arnold`s interest in Socrates and Plato reects his own central
concern. what relationship should a man devoted to disinterested
thought and contemplation have with his society which must, o|
necessity,belargelypracticalandcommercial?Althoughhechanged
hismindseveral times about the exactrelationshipbetween Plato,
Socrates and Xenophon, thegeneral progression o|hisinterestis
clearenough.Inwhat|ollows,IshallshowArnoldmovingaway|rom
an identihcation with the popularist Socrates towards the more
embittered,aristocratic,andreactionaryPlato.Upto,andculminating
in, Culture and Anarci in r 80o, Arnold is largely |ascinated by
Socrates' personality. In Culture and Anarchy, however, he is also
inhuencedbythepoliticaltheorieso|theRepublic, anda|terthisdate
onecanseehimgrowincreasinglydisillusioned,elitistandPlatonicin
his attitude towards thesocietyaround him.
I|welookatArnold'sreadinglistswhichexist,withoddgaps,|rom
r 8jeuntiltheendo|hisli|e,wecanseethatalthoughhereadagood
dealo|philosophy, no Plato is recorded between i8e and r 80;.
However, hedidnotedown Xenophon's Memorabilia as oneo|his
'books|orthesummer`in r80o.Aswemightexpect|romthis,Plato
Here I rely on Gregot) Vlastos, Socrates: lronisl a11d Moral PMlosopher (Cambrdge, 1991), pp.
45-131
9 Tie No'eBooks o Matthew Arrw/d, edited by Howard Foster Lowry, Karl Young, and Waldo
Hilary Dunn (London, 1952).
Arnold, Plato, Socrates
e;
exctted littlein6uenceonthewtitingseventuallypublishedasEssays
in Criticism in r80j;inlact,heisdiscussedonlyonce,and thatisinthe
r 801oubettessay.AlthoughAtnoldoetsqualihedptase,whathe
hastosayaboutPlato`s
actualdocttines|ptesumablythoseloundin
theRepublic andPhaedrus) is nothatteting:
Joubert was all his life a passionate lover of Plato; I hope other lovers of Plato
will forgive me for saying that their adored object has never been more truly
described than he is here:-
'Plato shows us nothing, bU,t he brings brightness with him; he puts light into
our eyes and fUs us with a clearness by which all objects afterwards become
illuminated. He teaches us nothing; but he prepares us, fashions us, and
makes us ready to know all. Somehow or other, the habit of reading him
augments in us the capacity|otdiscerning and entertaining whatever fne
truths may afterwards present themselves. Like mountain air, it sharpens
our organs, and gives us an appetite for wholesome food.' (Prose, III, p. 203)
CULTURE AND ANARCHY
InCulture and Anarchy, AtnoldisstilldtawntoXenophon'sSoctates.
'The best man is he who most tries to perfect himself, and the happiest man is
he who feels that he is perfecting himself', - this account of the matter by
Socrates, the true Socrates of the Memorabilia, has something so simple,
spontaneous and unsophisticated about it, that it seems to fll us with
clearness and hope when we hear it. (Prose, v, p. 1 67-8) .
Butbythisstagetheinuenceol Platoiscomingtobele|t.Weknow
ltomhisteadingliststhatAtnoldreadthePhacdo, Symposium, Theages*
andErastae' inr 808,andsevetaloltheseatequotedanddiscussedin
the book. Atnold nevet had any time lot metaphysics, and the
atgumentsin thePhaedo lot thesoul'simmottalityatedismissed as
'stetile'(Prose, v,p. r ; I ) , butmanyolthemostimpottantphtasesin
Culture and Anarchy andtheatgumentativeweightplacedonphtases
is aleatuteolAtnold'sthought- havetheitotigininPlato. 'Seeing
thingsastheyteal|yatc'and 'thehtmintelligiblelawo|things'ate
explicitlyacknowledgedasP|atonic (Prose, v, p. r ;8) but'bestsell'
alsoseemstocomeltomtheRepublic joi . 'Doingasonelikes'alludes
toRoebuck's,'IsnotevetymaninEnglandabletosaywhathelikes?'
butitisusedin theRepublic'S ctiticismoldemoctacy |'And has not
evetymanlicensetodoashelikes?'jj; b)andAtnoldwouldcettainly
have heatd Roebuck's tematks thtown into itonic teliel by the
Platonic backgtound.
M. W. ROWE
P|ato'sdoctrina|inuence, however,is|arge|ysubterraneanand
notovert|ysigna||ed.W.DavidShawhaspointedoutthatArno|d,
|ikeP|ato,isattractedbyana|ogiesbetweense|landstate,andthat
the three c|asses olthe idea| repub|ic,each with its characteristic
virtue,aresimi|artoArno|d'sBarbarians,Phi|istinesandPopu|ace.
1 0
Thisistrue,butP|ato'sdamningdescriptionoldemocraticsocietyin
dec|ineis even c|oserin spirit to Arno|d's ana|ysis. ForP|ato, the
democratic man is utter|y |acking in depth, direction and hxed
principles.
.
And frequently he goes in for politics and bounces up and says and does
whatever enters his head . . . and there is no order Of compulsion in his
existence, but he calls this life of his the life of pleasure and freedom and
happiness and cleaves to it to the end. (Republic 56rd)
Themainspringolactioninademocracyisacravinglorunrestricted
|iberty |j0ecandd) and thepursuitolwealth |j0e) .Theresu|tis
'anarchy' |j0e). no aweis lc|t lorestab|ished authority, no chi|d
respectshislather, teachers lawn on theirpupi|s and pupi|s ignore
their teachers |j0).
P|atoa|sodividesadegeneratingdemocracyintothreeclasses.hrst-
|y,'thedominatingclass. . . thehercestparto|itmakesspeechesand
transactsbusiness. . . theremainderkeepupa buzzing. . . ' |j0d).
Second|y, the'capita|istic c|ass' who are 'order|y and thrilty' and
therelorebecomethewea|thiest|j0e) .Last|y,'thepeop|e',whoown
no property but are 'the |argest and most potent group in the
democracywhenitmeetsinassemb|y'|j0j).A|thoughthisisnotthe
samec|assihcationasArno|d's- onecou|dhard|y expectthatintwo
suchdistantsocieties- itispossib|etorecogniseinthesedescriptions
near|ya||olthecharacteristicsolVictorianEng|andwhichArno|d
sing|edoutlorcriticism.thedesireloruntramme||ed|ibertyandthe
pursuitol happiness,acravinglormateria|wea|ththatob|iteratesa||
othervalues,anoisy,hurrying,thri!iy,speechilyingmidd|eclass,and
athreatolanarchylromanunder|yingpopu|acewhich,atthetime
Arno|dwrote,wasbeginningtomakeitspowerle|tinminorriotsand
huge pub|icmeetings.
ForArno|daslorP|atotheremedyisthesame.Thestatemustbe
strong and centra|ised, it must dea| hrm|y with disobedience and
|aw|essness,itmustanswertothebestse|lineacholitscitizens,andit
1
0
W. David Shaw, The Ltltid Veil; Poetic Truth in tlte Victorial! Age (London, 1987), p. 219.
Anderson, in Matthew Arold, draws altention to the similarity between Arnold and Plato's
criticisms of democracy. Sec p. VV.
Arold, Plato, Socrates
mustmode|each otitstututecitizensbymeansotastate-contto||ed
education. This education was to be achieved by teeding the sou|
upon thenneattsbecause,'noonecou|d evetbecomeagoodman
un|esstromchiIdhoodhisp|ayand a|| his pursuitsweteconcetned
withthingstaitandgood'|8b),andama|otptopottionot BooksII
andIII ot theRepublic isgivenovettodiscussingexact|ywhichkindsot
|itetatuteandmusicatesuitab|etotthisputpose.Whenthepolitica|
vision is achieved then P|ato`s 'divinegovetningptincip|e' |ood)
andAtno|ds'teasonandthewi||otGod'(Prose, v,p.oI ) wi||ptevai|.
ThusP|atounites|itetatyctiticism,education,po|itics,audeventoa
cettainextentte|igion, inexact|y thesamewayasAtno|d.
Butitison|yatthevetyendotCulture and Anarchy thatthetea||y
impottant|inkwithP|ato`swotkisestab|ished,andthishasnothing
todowith P|atonicdocttineand evetything todowithidentitying
withthechatactetandsocia|to|eotSoctates.SidgwickandHattison
hadbothnotedAtno|d'sSoctaticptetensionsinthemid- I 80os,` ` now
Atno|d makes theidentincation exp|icit.
Socrates has drunk his hemlock and is dead; but in his own breast does not
every man carry about with him a possible Socrates, in that power o
disinterested play of consciousness upon his stock notions and habits, of
which this wise and admirable man gave all through his lifetime the great
example, and which isthe secretothis incomparable infuence? And he who
leads men to call forth and exercise in themselves this power, and who busily
calls it forth and exercises it in himself is at the present moment, perhaps, as
Socrates was in his time, more in concert with the vital workings of men's
minds, and more efectuaIly signifcant, than any House of Commons'
orator, or practical operator in politics. (Prose, v, pp. 228-9)
Culture and Anarchy isnotcentta||yconcetnedwithptoposinga|istol
po|itica|imptovements, ot withsuggestinga methodwhich wou|d
a||owsucha|isttobeattivedat,tathet,itswho|etoneandmannet
giveseachteadetanexamp|eotanidea||ysupp|eamenityonwhich
hecanmode|himse|t.1ustasAtno|dtotmedhis|itetatypetsonaby
meditatingon the chatactet otSoctates, so each teadet can now
mode|himse|tonAtno|d,anditisintheintetactionotsuchidea||y
teasonab|epetsons thatthepettectsocietyconsists. Asa pte|udeto
tea|isingthisvision,eachmanmustask,'Howshou|daman|ive?'and
to||owthein|unction,'Knowthyse||,hemustbring adisintetested
I I
Henry Sidgwiek" 'The Prophet of Culture', MacMil/'s MagfiT:, 16 (August 1867),
271-80j Frederic Harrison, 'Culture: A Dialogue', Fortllig/ltl Review, I I (November 1 867),
603-14. Both reprinted in Matthew Amold: Prose Writings, edited by Carl Dawson and John
Pfordrcshcr (London, 1979), P
l
' 209-37.
M. W. ROWE
playo| consciousnesstobeatonhisstocknotiousandhabits,hemust
btiughispowetso|mind- theloveo|iudustty,o|thiugso|themind,
and o|beauti|ul ob+ects - into hatmouious co-opetatiou, he must
cultivatesweetuess,light,audexibility, and avoid noise,dogmas,
disputatiousnessandthetotic,hually,hemustaimatahatmonious
expansiou o| his powets, avoid all ouesideduess, be willing to
tecoguisehisowuignotauce,andtealisethatcultuteisnota'haviug
andagettingbutagtowiugandbecoming'. (Prose, v, 9.4)' Atnold's
impottautlegacy,likeSoctates',isnotabodyo|docttiuebutastyle
andmauneto|thought.
X
LATER WRI TINGS
Culture and Anarchy matks the high-point o|Atuold's identihcation
withSoctates.Inthewtitiugsa|tet[870, wecaudiscetuadiminishiug
intetestinthenguteo|Soctatesandauincteasinginvolvementwith
themotaloutlooko|Plato.InLiterature and Dogma, publishediu [ 873
audhismostimpottantwotkouteligiou,wecauseethebeginningo|
thisptocess.'PlatosophisticatessomewhatthegenuineSoctates,but
itisvetydoubt|ulwhethetthecultuteaudmeutalenetgyo|Platodid
uot give him a mote adequate vision o|the ttue Soctates than
Xenophonhad.'(Prose, VI, pp. 372-3) BythetimeweteachGod and
the Bible in[ 875, Platohasbecomean'idealisiugiuventot'(Prose, VII,
p.307) withtegatdtoSoctates.PlatoaudSoctatesateas|atapattas
theyweteinCulture and Anarchy butthistimeitistoPlato'sadvantage.
This shi|i in attitude is pattly to be explained by a genetal
datkeuingo|Atnold'spetsonality as hegtew oldet. Twoo|hissous
diediu[ 868 |ollowedbyathitd,his|avoutite,iu[ 871 . Thissetieso|
petsonalttagediesiuitiatedamotepto|ouudintetestinteligiouthan
hehadshowuhithettoandanotablehebtaisiugo|hischatactet.Iu
Culture and Anarchy, theHelleuicidealo|' spontaneityo|cousciousuess'
audtheHebtaicidealo|'sttictnesso|conscience'arebothheldupas
thetwiupoleso| humauethicalaspitatious,butthencanbenodoubt
that Atnold, iu Collini's wotds, would tathet have 'Ioll| ed| ou
Patuassusthanctawl| ed| upCalvaty', althoughAtnoldwouldno
doubtde|endhistteatmentbyatguingthattheBtitishpublicstoodin
gtcatetneedo|theHellenicideal.Butbythe1870S theemphasisisless
12
This paragraph is only the barest sketch. I shortly hope to complete a paper examining the
influence of Socrates' character on Arnold's literary persona and style.
13 Stephan Collini, Amold (Oxford, 1987), p. 84.
Arold, Plato, Socrates
25
1
ou
moremystica|,authoritariaue|emeutso|
the Republic. Aruo|d kuew both these approaches. he |requeut|y
meutious1owett'scommeutariesaudtraus|atiousiu|ateryears,aud
hecertaiu|yreadCaird's|ougarticleouGrote'sP|atoiutheNorth
British Review the year a|terit was published. ' Faced with achoice
betweeu Grote's uti|itariau radica|ism aud his |rieud 1owett's
traditioua|ismwhichde|eudedwhatCo|eridgetermed the'P|atouic
o|dEug|aud'agaiustthe'uewcommercia|Britaiu','therecaubeuo
doubtwhereAruo|d's|oya|ties|ay.
However, thepowero|Grote'sscho|arshipwasuottobedeuied.
FraukTuruerhasdescribedGrote'sbookas'|ouger,morethorough,
aud moredeep|y iuueuced bygeuera| Europeau scho|arshipthau
auyotherstudyo|P|atoiuEug|ish,audremaiuedso|oroverha|!a
ceutury'. Whateverhis opiuiouo|Grote'spo|itics,Aruoldcauuot
|ai|tohavebeeuimpressedbyaportraito|thehistorica|Socrateshe
E. Caird, 'A Review of G. Grote: Plato, and llie Ollur CompalliDls ojSocrates" }ortl British
Review,43 ( 1865). 351-84. A star by the 18G6 Notebook entry indicates that Arold fulfilled
his intention to read this review. He indicates his familiarity with Grote's earlier History o
Greece (where Socrates is also discussed) in the first instalment of his review of Curti us's Tie
Histor oJGrette (Prose, N, p. 59).
1 s:r. Coleridge, Anima Poetac, edited by E.H. Coleridge (Boston, (895), p. t28. Quoted in
Frank M. Turner, The Greek Heritage in Victorian Britain (Yale, Ig81). p. 2I .
Turner, TIle Greek Heritage, p. 384.
eje M. W. ROWE
wou|dhave|oundintense|yunsympathetic.Socrates,lorGrote,was
an ardent rationa|ist who was driven to question a|| estab|ished
custom,re|igionandauthority,andyethewasmotivatedinthistask
byare|igious|anaticismwhichu|timate|y |ed him toseek his own
death. Given Arno|d's opinion o| both rationa|ism and re|igious
|anaticism,itisnowonderthatthehgureolSocratesp|aysamuch|ess
commandingro|ein his |ater writings.
Thesecond|actorrequiredtoexp|aintheSocrates-P|atoshi|twas
Arno|d's reading olCurtius' The Histor q Greece. Arno|d wrote a
substantia| hve-part review o|this work which appeared between
r 808andr 8;0inthePall Mall Gazelle, thelastparto| whichdiscusses
Curtius' portraya| olthe character and inhuence olP|ato. Arno|d
quoteswithapprova| Curtius' remark.
In proportion as Plato in his ideal demands rose above the data of the
circumstances and principles around him, it became impossibleto expect
that |ewould exercise a transforming infuence upon the body of the people.
He was by his whole nature far more aristocratic than Socrates, the simple
man of the people; and his teachings and aims could only become the
possession of a circle of elect. (Prose, v, pp. 292-3)
Curtius'portraya|olP|ato'soppositiontoanoutward|ythriving
butactua||ycorruptand p|easure|ovingAthensexercisedadecisive
inhuenceonArnold, aswecansee|romhisexplicitdiscussionolthe
Getmanhistorianin 'Numbers', writtensevenyears|ater (Prose, x,
p. r0). 1he reasonisnothard to see. Inthe r 80o'sArnold hada
touching |aith that, eventua||y, clear disinterested thought wou|d
prevail overcommercia|ism and c|ap-trap. I|thought wou|d on|y
disavowimmediatepractica|purposes,hewrotein'TheFunctionol
Criticism'then' |criticism|mayperhapsonedaymakeitsbenehtle|t
|eveninthesphereol practice]. . . inanaturalandthenceirresistib|e
manner'.(Prose, rrr,p.e;j). Simi|ary,distinction,inc|udingdistinction
olthought, is a qua|ity o|which 'the wor|d is impatient, itchales
againstit,rai|s atit,mocksit,hatesit,- |but|itendsbyreceivingits
inhuence, by undergoingits|aw' (Prose, 111, p. r o0) . Atthe end o|
Culture and Anarchy, Arno|d had de|iberate|y set himse|l up in
competitionwithmorepragmatic,rhetorical,po|itica|contemporaries,
andc|aimedthathe,theSocratesolhistime,wou|d u|timate|yexert
the greater inhuence
But in Arno|d's |ater work there is c|ear
evidencethathewas disappointedin his expectations. Hisprotests
against Lowe's Revised Code in education, and his criticisms ol
governmentpo|icyinIre|andhadnotbeeneective,anditishardto
Arold, Plato, Socrates ej
heatanoteo| itonywhen,inDiscourses in America, hetematks,' Ihave
ptoducedso|itt|eeecton |mycounttymen|
,
(Prose, x,pp. r-) .
The pte|ace to Irish Essays containsoneo|his |ewgenuine|y bittet
passagesashecontemp|ates,with|ive|ysatis|action,howhe|p|essthe
ptagmatic,ptactica|man|ee|swhen|acedbyu|timatephi|osophica|
issues.TakingupP|ato's accounto|themattetinthe Theaetetus, he
quotes,withsomete|ish, the|o||owing.
'Then, indeed', says Plato, 'when that narrow, vain, little practical mind is
called to account, above all this, he gives the philosopher his revenge. For
dizzied by the height at whi
c
h he is hanging, when he looks into space, which
is a strange experience to him, he being dismayed and lost and stammering
out broken words is laughed at, not by Thracian handmaidens such as
laughed at Thales, or by any other uneducated persons, for they have no eye
for the situation, but by every man who has been brought up a true free
man', (Prose, IX, p. :
Atno|d'sidentication withP|ato at this pointissignicant. In
'Democtacy',Atno|dhadhe|duptheAthensinwhichXenophon's
Soctates outished as the idea| society. In r 80o, in an attempt to
|utthet thecauseo|disintetestedthought,hemadeabidtobecome
theSoctates o|his own time despite the appatent|y unptopitious
citcumstances.Hebegan tobeawateo|thispto+ect's|ai|uteatthe
sametimeasCuttiuswasshowinghim that P|ato'spositionin his
societywasana|ogoustohisownsituationinVictotianEng|and,and
bothGtoteand Cuttiuswetedemonsttatingthathisidea|Soctates
wasahistotica||yinva|idi||usion. Consequent|y,bythetimehecame
topub|ishIrish Essays in i88e,hehadcometoidenti|ywiththe|atet
P|ato's|one|yendutanceo|society'ssupethcia|ity,wot|d|iness, and
cottuption.
It is in the i 8;os and 8os that P|ato's wtitings become most
impottant to Atno|d. The Protagoras, Gorgias, Meno, Ion, Phaedrus,
Parmenides, Republic, Philebus andStatesman, ate a||mentionedon his
teading|ists,anditiswotthtematkingthatmosto|these,inconttast
totheP|ato hetecotded teadingin the i8os, ate|ateand midd|e
petiod wotks.The in
Plato was . . . one of the great scholars of the world . . . possessed of the inborn
genius ... a certain defance of rule, of the intellectual habits of others, he
acquires, by way of habit and rule, all that can be taught and learned; what
is thus derived from others by docility and discipline, what is range, comes to
have in him,and in his work, an equivalent weight with what is unique,
impulsive, underivable. (pp. '46-7)
Thisc|assihcatiouol P|atoas'scho|ar'isPater'shighestacco|ade,aud
isremiuisceutol thetermsiuwhichCar|y|e's'HeroasMauolLetters'
aud Fichte's re|ated |ectures ou Der Gele"rte |The Scho|ar) iulorm
'Diaphaueit'withtheirversiousolP|ato'sphi|osopher-kiugwhosees
beyoud theshadowp|ayolephemera| appearauces aud is the type
mostht togoveru.Pater'sportraya|olthescho|ar|ytype, capab|eol
e`ectiug 'the regeueratiou olthe wor|d' iu 'Diaphaueit' maya|so
have beeu iuspired, apt|y, by 1owett's view olP|ato |poteutia||y
amougst the hrst thiugs Pater heard ou his arriva| iu Oxlord) .
1owett'stermiuo|ogyrecursi u'TheGeuiusolP|ato' .
All writers are under the infuence of their age; no one is exempt from this
natural law of the human mind. But great genius has the privilege offreeing
itself from the more superfcial tendencies of an age to embrace the deeper
ones; of creating anew & casting in a mould the elements which serve its use
= . + Itis this sort of transmutation which the previous philosophies have
undergone at the hands of Plato.'
P|ato'sideas,audcoutemporaryOxlord teachiugabouthimprovide
thesubstauceol'Diaphaueit',whi|ethemauhimse|lexemp|ihedthe
idea| type. Yet both were to remaiu uuideutined lor thirtyyears.
Pater's htst pub|ished essay, 'Co|eridge's Writiugs' ( Westminster
Review, 1 866) disp|ays,however,amorecoutradictoryviewolP|ato.
HerePatermakeshishrststatemeutoltheva|ueolthere|ativespirit,
which we have a|ready seeu to be imp|icit iu1owett's teachiug.'
Herac|itusaudDarwiucombiuetomakePaterdismissauyattemptto
'appreheud the abso|ute' as au 'e`ort olsick|y thought'.'
Q Jowett Papers, Box B (iii], Bk. 5, p. 85. When, as in most cases,Jowelt has not dated his notes,
the papers are nearly impossible to date accurately. In my view, however, this statement was
written for delivery dUl'ing the autumn of 1858.
Ionian-E|eatic|Herac|itean-Parmenidean)divisioninPater'seva|u-
ationolP|atoisdramatisedagaininthecompanionpottraittotIis,
'Sebastian van Storck' | r 886) . ' 'Wincke|mann' | i 86;), his next
pub|ishedessayalter'Co|eridge'sWtitings',betraysthelactthathis
' 'Coleridge's Writings', Te Westmit/ster Review, n.s. 29 ( 1 86G), lOS.
13 'Coleridge's Writings' p. I I I . Revised and replaced ill Appreciatiolls, p. 69.
14 Plaionism, p. 143; Morius, I
I
, p. 22.
l Sec for example, Richard H. Hutton's review Spectator (April, 1 893). in Criticl Heritage, p. 265.
' imaginar Portraits ( 1 887), pp. 32-4. 11 Imaginar Portrails, 1 1 0; Appreciatiolls, p. 104.
Flux, rest, and number: Pater's Plto
hostlitytowardstheimmutablerealmo|Ideasisgeneratedinpartby
att
ractiontowardsit. Itis in searcho|somethinghxed where all is
m
ovin
g that Pater turns
WI NCKELMANN
]oh
an]oachim Winckelmann | r ; r ;r ;08) provided Pater with a
his
toricalexamplebywhichhomoeroticdesirewasre|ractedthrough
an
enthusiasm |or thewritingso|Plato to aestheticappreciation o|
ancientGreeksculpture. As hewrote in The Renaissance,
Ent
husiasm - that, in the broad Platonic sense of the Phaedrus, was the secret
of
his
divinatory power over the Hellenic world. This enthusiasm,
dependent as it is to a great degree on bodily temperament, has the power of
reinforcing the purer motions of the intellect with an almost physical
excitement. (Renaissance, p. 152)
Win
ckelmannispresentedasakindo|casestudyi|lustrationo|the
Platonicascent|rom loveo|beauti|ulmaleyouthtoloveo|Beauty
and the Good which does not neglect the means once the end is
reach
ed, and which ascent is possible in virtue o| the soul's
remi
niscenceo|itsorigin.Hebeginshisascentbyaserieso||ervent
|riendshipswithmen,settingthepattern|oranumbero||riendships
inPater'shction,suchasMariusandCorneliusinMarius the Epicurean
orPrior]ohnandApollyonin'ApolloinPicardy'| r 8o),allo|which
lead tohigherenlightenment. HerePlato's |Pythagorean) Doctrine
o|Reminiscenceisincorporatedasa|eelingo|temperamentalamnity
with theculture o|ancient Greece, and explains Pater'sinsistence
thattheRenaissanceisnottobeunderstoodasadehnablehistorical
period but as a habit o| mind. Winckelmann's amnity with the
ancientartwhichhestudiesissostrongthat,'heisen rapport withit,it
penetrates him, and becomes part o| his temperament'. ' The
provocativesexualimageryhereassertstheenablingparticipationo|
ErosinWinckelmann'sendeavour,whilePaterisquick topointout
thatWinckelmann'sunionwithhisob|ecto|studyrestoreshimtoa
stateo|primal,i|pagan,innocence. 'hehngersthosepaganmarbles
withunsingedhands,withnosenseo| shameorloss'(Renaissance, p.r;;).
TheDoctrineo| Reminiscenceshades,inPater'shands,intothato|
imitation. It borders on theriskygroundo|Plato'sbanishmento|
representationalormimeticartistsintheRepublic. ButWinckelmann's
'Winckclmann', The Westminster Review, D.S. 3f ( 1 867), 88. Revised in Renaissance. p. '54.
ANNE VARTY
recovery o|a state o| un|a||en innocence i n re|ation to ancient
statuaryindicatesas|east theinuentia|importanceo|theworko|
art,andsuggeststhatPaterwou|drevisetheartists'expu|sion,Pater's
account o|P|ato's theoryo|imitation, as heexp|ains it in the |ast
chapter o|Plato and Platonism, was taken by some contemporary
reviewersasaconcessiontoRuskin'smora|aesthetic.'Artcannever
bea mora||y indierent thing i!, as Ruskin says a|ter P|ato, every
worko|arttendstoreproduceinthebeholderthestateo|mindand
temper that brought it |orth', wrote one reviewer.' But Pater's
interpretation otPlato's theory was more radica| than anything
oered byRuskin.
PaterneverquotesWincke|mann's|amousparadox,'theon|yway
|orus tobecomegreat and, i|possib|e, eveninimitab|e, is through
imitationo|theancients',buthistechniqueasacritico|theartswas
|earned |rom what Wincke|mann meant by this. The German
neoc|assicist was an exponent o|an emotive |orm o|art criticism,
which did not seek to describe, but to evoke |ee|ing akin to the
projected 'inte||ectual and spiritua| ideas sunk by |the artist| in
sensuous |orm', thereby creating a |resh work o|art (Renaissance,
p. i ;0) . Winckelmann there|ore imparted not knowledge but
technique. Pater cites with approva| Goethe's statement about
Wincke|mann,'|o|nelearnsnothing|romhim. . . butonebecomes
something' which had anticipated]owett's summary o|what one
|earns|romP|ato,'|h|issystemis. . . amovementtowardstruebeing
- not a book but a conversation, not a resu|t but aprocess . . . he
disputes with us . . . creating rather than imparting'. The
regenerative technique o| Wincke|mann's criticism, imitated by
Pater'sownsty|e,anticipatesthethemeo|'TheChi|dintheHouse'
| i 8;8),Pater'sautobiographica|a||egoryo|thedeve|opmento|the
sou|inthebodyinwhich,' thesenseo|harmonybetweenhissouland
itsphysicalenvironmentbecame. . . |ikeper|ect|yplayedmusic'.In
Plato and Platonism Pater attributes human susceptibi|ity to the
physica|environmentnottosomea|ientheoryo| ancientmetaphysics,
buttoup-to-the-minutedeterminism,' |||ikethoseinsects. . . o| which
natura|istste||us,takingco|our|romthep|antsthey|odgeon,they
wi||cometomatchwithmuchservi|itytheaspectso|thewor|dabout
them' |. e;e) . And because o|this habitua| servi|ity, Pater, |ike
19 Paul Shorey, Tie Dial (189S) in Critical Heritage, p. 261.
" Renaissance, p. 147. Jowett Papers, Box B[ml, Bk. I, p. S8.
" Miscellalleous Studies ( 1 895), p . ao.
Flux, rest, and number: Pater's Plato
P|ato,wishes todisctiminateamongst the atts. 'Letus bewatehow
menattainthevetyttutho|whattheyimitate'|p.z;z) . Themusica|
imagety ptovides the analogy by which Patet unines his uneasy
dua|ismo|bodyandsoul,|otmandcontent.LikePlatowhosoughtto
|otgepet|ecrindividua|sbyeducationingymnasticsandmusicinhis
idea|isedSpattanstateo|Lacedaemon, Patetdeclates,'attcomesto
youptoposing|tanklytogivenothingbutthehighestqua|itytoyout
momentsas theypass'.
HethusincotpotatesaPatmenideanqua|ityin hisaestheticism.
7eno'spatadox,abouttbeyingattowthatmystetious|ymoves|tom
A toB whileatevetyinstantthatwettytomeasuteitsptogtessis
stationaty, and which thete|ote ptoves that 'petpetual motion is
petpetual test', was one o|the populat tenets o|Eleatic thinking
(Platonism, p. o) . Patetatguessimi|atlythatthevanishingpointo|
theptesentmoment,theimpetceptib|ewatetshedbetweenpastand
|utute, can be hxed, byaestheticcontemp|ation. Hete the inhnite
touches the nite, and contemplativesensibility is tegenetated ot
penettatedbythewotko|att.PatetleatnedtotutnHetacliteanux
intoPatmenideanstasis,asevetymomentwasexpansive|ysttuctuted
by theimitativetesponseto att.
Inr8;Patetplaced 'Winckelmann' asthe closingessayo|The
Renaissance. Thebookasawhole,withthishnale,calls|otthetebitth
otpalingenesis o|the Gteek spitit in modetn cultute, and oets
simultaneouslyevidenceo|its tebitth. Inthe lighto|disintegtating
Chtistian|aith,andadvancingempitica|sciences,Patetbegantosee
thistenaissanceasatea|possibility|otthe|utute.'Hetmionemelts
|tom het stony postute, and the lost ptopottions o| li|e tight
themselves',hedec|ates,intheptesenttense,extendingthedesctiption
o|Wincke|mann's sentiments to an assettion about the potentia|
awakeningo|contempotaty cultute |p. r ;) . The wintet's tale o|
medieva| putitanism was ovet, Hetmione, sensuous petception
incatnatedbytheattistinthewotko|att,li|ettansgutedtoattand
tevivihed by the spectatot's mimetic tesponsiveness into a new,
chastened otdet, teptesentsthe
metempsychosiso|the Gteekspitit
itse|| into the modetn wotld. He tecast this notion o| cu|tutal
pa|ingenesis as ction in the Imaginaty Potttait, 'Duke Catl o|
Rosenmold' | r 88;) . Appendedto'Wincke|mann'asa'Conc|usion'
to thebook, came thesecondpatto|thenototious r 808 teview o|
2?
'Conclusion', Renaissance, p. 190.
ANNE VARTY
'PoemsbyWi||iamMorris',inwhichnotHermionebut'a||'me|ts
'underourleet' (Renaissance, p. i 8c) . Herethep|angentbutstrict|y
materia|istevocationolHeracliteanuxmakesthearrestingpower
oltheaestheticsensibi|ityan urgentnecessity.
In thechapteronwhat P|ato tooklromPythagorasin Plato and
Platonism, 'TheDoctrineolNumber',Paterexp|ainshowthetheories
olmetempsychosisandreminiscenceretaintheirexp|anatoryva|uein
an age olunbe|iel, when Christianity was overshadowed by the
teaching ol Hege| and Darwin. He rehearses arguments lrom
'Co|eridge'sWritings',butsetsthemnowinpropercontext. Citing
Wordsworth's 'Odeon the Intimations olImmorta|ity', he argues
thatwe do indeed come 'notin nakedness', nor, however, trai|ing
c|oudsolg|ory,but|inagrimparody)'lata||yshrouded'bythelorces
olnatura|istdeterminism.geneticinheritance,|anguageandcu|ture
a|| shape the |ives we |ead |p. ;e) . These lorces constitute the
transmigratingsou|olthespecies,whichuses,anddoesnotrespect,
the individua|. Again, Pater |ooks to artistic creativityas the on|y
possib|eformolpersona|sa|vationwithin thisb|eakscheme.
To create, to live, perhaps, a little while beyond the allotted hours) if it were
but in a fragment of perfect expression:- it was thus his (Marius'] longing
defned itself for something to hold by amid the 'perpetual fux'. (Marus, I,
p. 1 55)
Forindoingthistheartistaddstothe|anguagethatispassedlrom
generationtogeneration,andbyinvestingsomepersona|connotation
intheheritageol words,turnsdeterminismintocontro|.Language,as
Wi|dehad argued, is theparent not thechi|d olthought. Pater, a
'|overolwordslortheirownsake'treats|anguageasthoughitwerea
|ivingthing,asindeeditis,inhismetempsychoticview.Hischoice
olvocabu|ary reects his interest in semantic transmigration and
contro|.Hislavouritewords parade theiretymo|ogica|origins, but
a|sodisp|ayaknowingmischievousnessabouthowtheirmeaninghas
changed. The use olwords |ike 'virtua|', 'insane', 'ob|iterate', or
'method'tocarrysimu|taneous|ytheirrootandcurrentmeaningsis
awayolthrowing|inguisticuxintosharpre|ie|itistheartolthe
pa|impsestat the miniature|eve| oltheword,asghostsolmeaning
c|usteraroundthenewcoinagewhichisrea||yo|d.ThemostP|atonic
" 'Style'. Appreciations, p. 20.
24 For an interesting account of Pater's etymological understanding and use of the word
'method' in Plato and Platonism, sec William F. Shutter, 'Pater's Reshufed Text', ,ineteenth
Centur Literature, 43 ( t988-), 518.
Flux, rest, and number: Pater's Plato
ot thesecoinages is Pater's tavoured use ot the words 'charm' or
'charming',whichareresonantwiththeLatincarmen and theMidd|e
Englishnotionot'occu|tspe||', bothotwhichpointbackto P|ato's
Lacedaemoniansignihcance otmusic.
The means by which Pater idea|ised the hgure otP|ato, as a
scho|ar,ormaster,otasignihcantbodyotthoughtwhichpreceded
him,whoyethadatranstormingcontributiontomake,tashionP|ato
asa precursortor theModernist movementwhoseexponentswere
burdened by their sense ot be|atedness in the tradition. Behind
Pound's batt|e cry ot 'make it new' stands Pater's P|ato whose
achievementwasinthedebonairhand|ingottradition.Andduring
thehrsttenyearsotPater'spub|ishingcareerhehadtormu|atedthe
extensiveresponsestoP|ato'sthoughtandsty|ewhichwou|d co|our
hisownwork, trom the po|yphonic qua|ityottheessaysty|e, to the
contemporary signihcation ot the great myths, the way was a|so
preparedtorthedebtsot ]oyce,Woo|!, T.S. E|iotandYeatsto this
transmigratingngure.
PART VI
1h /un/t/h cn/ur
C HAPTER 2 4
Introduction
Angela Eliott
P|atonisminthe twentiethcenturyhasundergonemanycha||enges
and trans|ormations whi|e continuing as a major reservoir o|the
imaginationin Eng|ish|etters. Though attitudeshaverun acourse
|romLateRomanticenthusiasmtoPostmodernistdetachment,many
|eadingwritersandthinkershavesteadi|yacknow|edgedtheP|atonic
tradition as an important heritage - one not easi|y denned, yet
perhaps the more compe||ing on that account.' The attraction o|
P|atonism|orsuchwriterssprings|romtheva|uetheyattachto the
ro|eolreason and spiritinaperiod whenevents o|Westernhistory
haveposedaserious threat tothesurviva|olhumanism.Thequest
|orthejustsocietyhas|oundered,andphi|osophyhasrebe||edagainst
rationa|ism. Yetin the|ace o|socia| |ragmentation, many modern
P|atonists be|ieve thateterna| rea|itiessuch as the Good, |ove and
truthsti||givemeaningandva|uetohuman|i|e- eveni|'Things|a||
apart', asW.B.Yeats perceived in 'The Second Coming', or'The
scientistsareinterror',asEzraPounddec|aredinThe Cantos ( tr/;o).
Since tooo,c|assica|studieshaveadvancedgreat|y,resu|tinginthe
estab|ishment o| the canon o| P|ato's writings and new Eng|ish
trans|ationso|theP|atoniccorpus.ThestandardGreektexto|P|ato
dates |rom the turn o|the century, being the edition o|Ioannes
|1ohn) Burnet, Platonis Opea, vo|s. | i ooo-;, reprinted i o;).
Benjamin1owett's Eng|ish trans|ationo|the majorworks |vo|s.,
i 8;i ) is sti||, in its |atest revisions, high|y esteemed. A|| o|P|ato's
writings,constitutingthecanoninGreekandEng|ish,areavaiab|e
in the Loeb C|assica| Library. The many modern trans|ations o|
P|ato's works inc|ude the se|ection o|dia|ogues pub|ished in the
Penguin C|assics and the comp|ete co||ection edited by Edith
Hami|tonandHuntington Cairnsin theBo||ingenSeries.
I For extended defnitions of 'Moderism' and 'Postmodcrnism' based on English and
American literary history, sec David Perkins, ; History if Modem Poelry, 2 vols, vol. II,
Modemism alld After (Cambridge, Mass. and London, !987), especially pp. 331-4.
e;r
z;z ANGELA E LLI OTT
A |ew wotksbyNeop|atonists have been ttans|ated intoEng|ish
dutingthiscentuty.StephenMacKenna'sttans|ationo|The Enneads
ojPlotinus | i or ;-i o) inhuencedBtitishandAmeticaninte||ectua|s,
inc|uding the phi|osophets A||ted Notth Whitehead and Geotge
Santayana, as we|| as the poets W.B. Yeats and Ezta Pound.
MacKenua'stextwastevisedbyB.S.Page| r oi ;-o,i o0;ro0e)and
thensupetsededbyA.H. Atmsttong'snew ttans|ation|ottheLoeb
Libtaty|;o|s.,i o00-88) . WotksbyPtoc|us,]u|ianusandIamb|ichus
have a|so appeated. Cuttentscho|atshipshows that theteviva| o|
Neop|atonisminthe|asttwocentutieshasowedagteatdea|tothe
ttans|ationsandpagancommentatieso|thepto|ihcThomasTay|ot,
ca||ed'theP|atonist'| i ;8-I 8),whoptesentedtheRomanticsand
themodetnswithhisvetsionsotP|ato,Atistot|e,P|otinus,Potphyty,
Iamb|ichus and othets. Like Co|etidge and She||ey, W.B. Yeats
owned copies o| Tay|ot's wotks, which wete ptomoted by the
Theosophica|Society.He|enaP.B|avatsky| r 8r-oI ), theotacu|at
toundet o|the society, and Geotge R.S. Mead | r 80-r o), its
scho|at sectetaty, a|so conttibuted to the |ive|y |itetatute o|
Neop|atonismthatwasasoutceotHetmeticimagesandsymbo|s|ot
the ModetnistpoetsW.B.Yeats, Ezta Pound andT.S. E|iot.
P|ato'swotkswete taughtand ptomoted eat|y in the twentieth
centuty bydistinguishedBtitishscho|ats such as G.R. Levy, A.E.
Tay|otandF.M. Cotn|otd. P|atonicthemeso| |itetatysignihcance
since then have been the govetnment otthe se||and o|the state,
ana|ogica||yconceivedinte|ationtoeachothet(Republic) ; thetheoty
ottheFotms,withknow|edgeasvittueandteco||ection(Phaedo) and
with the sou| composed o|teason, appetite and wi|| |ot spitit) as
distinctpatts(Republic); theascento|thesou|toavisiono|theGood,
thtoughhuman|oveandthedesite|otbeauty(Phaedrus, Symposium);
theuseotmyths,imagesandsymbo|so|theptocesseso| cteationand
thecyc|eso|thesou|,detivedttomthepte-Soctaticsoteat|yteligion
(Symposium, Timaeus, Parmenides, Republic), especia||ythemetaphoto|
thesunastheGood, a|ongwiththemytho|theCave(Republic) ; and
the notion o|att and poetty as mimesis- as imitation o|natute`s
imitatiouo|aFotm (Republic) .
Distinguishing P|ato |tom Soctates has been anothet |ocus o|
intetest. Gtegoty V|astos has tentative|y iso|ated an histotica|
Soctates,an'itonistandmota|phi|osophet'|otwhomtea|ity'isinthe
2 Kathleen Raine and George Mills Harper {ed$} , Thomas Taylor lhe Platonist; Stletled Writings
(Princeton, Ig6g), pp. 10-1 1 , 296, 322-42.
The twentieth centur e;
wotldinwhichhelives'.Ontheothethand,Plato,knowntoVlastos
thtough the 'Soctates` olthe middle aud |atet dialogues plus the
witness olAtistotle and Xeuophou, appeats a 'ptoloundly othet-
wotldly'philosophetol'Fotm-mysticism'aud'ecstaticcontemplation'.
Tothisday,accotdiugtoVlastos, the hallmatkolthePlatonisthas
temained'thepostulationol auetetnalsell-existeutwot|d,ttanscending
evetythingin outs, exempt ltom the vagaties aud vicissitudes that
amictallcteat
,
:tesin thewotldoltime'.
ThescepticalsideolPlato,howevet,temainsinview.Scholatsstill
speculateaboutthesignicanceoltheParmenides, whetethetheotyol
Fotms is questioned by taising the ptoblem ol the telationship
betweenapatticulatthingandaFotm.how,exactly,dotheMauy
'shate'in the One Anothetpetenuialdebatecoucetns the Seventh
Leiter. Ilthe lettet is genuine as most scholats believe, then Plato
deniesphilosophical validity to wtitten wotks, endotsingonlylive
couvetsation as the ptopet vehicle lot philosophy.' Wete thete
uuwtitten teachingsolan otal ttadition lot a ptivileged elite? Did
PlatodiscoutseontheMystetytitestowhichheoccasionallyalludes?
AmbiguitiesintheGorgias atealsoteceivingattention.Althoughthis
wotkhas ttaditionallybeeutakenasablatautattackonthetotic,it
has tecently been tead as a sophisticated dialogue thtough which
Platoemphasisesthetotic's impottance, patticulatlylot 'its tole iu
telutation' tathet than 'its utility in ptagmatic discoutse`. Many
suchpatadoxicalleatutesolPlato'swotkatebeiugviewedbylitetaty
theotistsassubtletiesol anagileintellectcapableol variouspetspectives.
Inthe twentieth ceututy, Platonic thought has laced challenges
ttaceabletoFteud,Matx,andthedemotalisingimpactoltwowotld
wats.Fteud,inspitedbyclassicalstudies,explotedthecomplextole
oleros asanineluctablelotceintheunconsciousandincultute.His
viewsateimplicatedinnewiutetptetationsolPlatouiceros audlove
bymodetuwtitets.Matx'sctitiqueolimpetialismhasbeenextended,
in modetn litetatute, to a genetal ctitique oltepublicauism that
includestheteassessmentolPlato'sidealstateiulightoltwentieth-
centuty totalitatianismand militatistic technoctacy.
3 Gregory Vlastos, Socrates: lronisl and Moral Philosopher (Ithaca, NY, 1991), pp. 78-80.
4 G,R. Levy and A.E. Taylor, among others, inferred the authenticity of the Seventh Letter . .
According to I.M. Crombie, it has come to be 'almost universally thought genuine' An
Eamination of Plato-'s Doctrines (London, 1962), p. 14.
Sec James L. Kaste1y, 'In Defense of Plato's Gargias', PMLA, 106 (1 99l ), 96-19.
, For some newly posed problems ill rcading Plato, sec Charles L. Griswold,Jr. (cd.), Platonic
Writings, Platolie Readings (New York, 1988).
e; ANGELA ELLI OTT
European existentia|ists and phi|osophers o|language, notab|y
SartreandWittgenstein,haveinstigatedrenewedcritica|scrutinyo|
dua|isticrationa|ism,basingobjectionstoitontheirconvictiono|the
inseparabi|ityo|thought|rom|ee|ing,mind|rombody,ordiscourse
|rom its presumed re|erent, the wor|d. The French phi|osopher o|
Deconstruction,]acquesDerrida,pointedoutthatWestern thought
tendstorelyonbinaryoppositions||ightjdark,mascu|ine[|eminine)
tointerprettextssuchasP|ato'sPhaedrus, whichheconsideredtode|y
|ogic's|awo|non-contradiction.Recent|y,|eministand|ibera|critics
have been deconstructing P|atonic texts to revea| androcentric,
authoritarianva|uespasseddown throughthegenerations.'
On the who|e, however, the appea| and re|evanceo|P|atonism
havebeenenhancedinprospectsgained|romanthropo|ogy,psycho|ogy,
and mytho|ogy.].G. Frazer's study o|pagan culture, The Golden
Bough ( [ 890-[ 9[
5
) , was instructive toT.S. E|iot and EzraPound.
Frazer's ana|ysis o|theprima|mind |ormed a bridgeback to the
ambienceo|pre-ChristianEuropewithits|erti|ityrites,dyinggods
and E|eusinian Mysteries. Car| 1ung and other students o|depth
psycho|ogyandsymbo|ogydescribedthero|eo|mythandarchetype
intheunconsciousandincu|ture.Inaddition,scho|arshipinre|igion,
inc|udingthediscoveryo|theDead SeaScro||s,hasheightened the
pertinence o|P|atonism by inviting a broader view o|the rise o|
Christianity|rom amorecomp|excu|tura|matrix thanwasvisib|e
ear|ier. In thatview, Christianityandpaganismdrawc|osertoone
another,tendingtomergeinsomeareas,sothatNeoplatonicstudies
become crucia| |or reconstructing the history o| re|igious and
phi|osophica|thoughtinEuropean cu|ture.
In this mi|ieu, 'ku|chur' - as Ezra Pound ca||ed it - becomes
increasing|y internationa| and interdiscip|inary. Many writers |ive
cross-cu|tura||yinatimeo|unprecedentedtrave|andcommunications.
The Eng|ish |anguage is more wide|y used than ever be|ore.
Consequent|y,British,IrishandAmericanwritersshareacommuna|ity
o|cu|ture thatis rehectedin the heightenedintertextua|ity o|their
Eng|ishworks. Suchinternationa|nguresas America'sEzraPound
and T.S. E|iot, and Ire|and's W.B. Yeats and Iris Murdoch have
' Dcrrida, Writing and Diference, trans. Alan Bass (London, Ig8!). Luce Irigaray views
Platonism as 'malc theory' in Speculum oJfluOther Woman, trans. Gillian C. Gill (Ithaca, NY,
1985). Natalie Harris Blucstoneoffers aCrllique of feminist readings of Plato in WomWalld the
Ideal Societ: Plalo's <Republic' and Modem Myths rifGender (Amherst, Mass., 1987).
Sec Angela Elliott, 'The Word Comprehensive: Gnostic Light in The Canlos', Paideuma, 18.3
(
l g8g), 7-5
7
L
The twentieth centur
e;
participated in a |iterary 'tradition' that, as T.S. E|iot averred,
'cannotbeinherited' ,since'youmustobtainitbygreat|abour'.An
essentia|partotthat|abourhaso!ten been thestudy o!P|atonism.
A centre o! inte||ectua| tradition and change was London's
B|oomsburyGroup,whichwasinhuencedbytheyoungphi|osophers
BertrandRusse||andG.E.Moore.MooreinhuencedRusse||inthe
direction o!a P|atonic rea|ism, which ho|ds thatin addition to the
physica|wor|d there are abstract domains o!numbers and va|ues,
which constitute the sub|ect-matter o!mathematics and ethics.
These views were !amous|y propounded in a pair o!works, both
pub|ished
e
ModernistandPostmodernistpoets.SincetheI oos,theBritishpoet
Phi|ipLarkin, Georey Hi|| and Char|esTom|inson, and theIrish
poetSeamusHeaney,havesoughttoavoidentire|ythegrandiosity
associatedwithHighModernism, restrictingthemse|vesbyuncom-
promisingrea|ismandsevereintrospection.Neverthe|ess,themora|ist
traditionintrinsic to theirworkengagesidea|s and themesthatare
re|atedtoP|ato.W. H. Auden,contrasting|y,invo|vedP|atodirect|y.
Bysuchpreoccupationsdoourauthorsrevea|thatP|atonisminthe
twentiethcenturycontinuestobealorceintheEng|ishimaginaton- -
a steady current, translormative, interacting with the rea|ities ol
historica|change.
I' Tie Art ofT, S. Elot (New York, 1 950), pp. 1 67J.
C HAPTER 2 5
Yeats and Platonism
Brian Arkins
WhileYeatsrefusestobecategorised,itisclearthatP|atonismis the
phi|osophica| tradition with which he is most c|osely a|igned,' as
RobertsonDavieshassaid,reviewingabookonYeats and1ung, ' If
wedonotagreethatYeatsand]ungarewhol|yP|atonists,wemust
agree that they ht better into that honorab|e assemb|y than any
other'. For P|atonism provided Yeats with three key doctrines in
whichhehimselfbelieved.atranscendentrea|ity, theimmortalityof
thesou|,and reincarnation. And whi|eYeatsis thesortofP|atonist
whostrong|yendorsesthemateria|world,histheismissimultaneously
ameansof counteringreductiveempiricism,ofwhichheseesLockeas
thearchetypalexponent.Soinhisphilosophicalcorrespondencewith
T. Sturge Moore, Yeats asserts in May i oe0 that, 'the three
provincia|centuries'ofreductive,mechanica|thoughtengineeredby
Lockeandothershavecome toanendand thatour task nowisto
'deducea|| fromthepremises known to Plato'.
YeatswasattractedtoP|atonismfromthebeginning
.
forwhi|esti||
atschoo|he'stoodwithP|atoandwithSocrates'.ButYeatscameto
P|atonism, as itwere, backwards, beginningwith |ate-nineteenth-
centuryversions,proceedingtotheCambridgePlatonists|seeScott,
pp. r o-joabove)aboutt or ,andreachingPlatoandP|otinus,pure
andunadu|terated,on|yinthe|asttwodecadesofhislife, the r oeos
and os. So in Yeats's early |ife P|atonism presented itse|fto him
` For Platonism in Yeats sec the seminal article by K. R<dne, 'Yeats and Platonism', Dublin
Magazine, 7 (1968), 38-63; F.A.C. Wilson, W.B. rcatsand Tradition (London, 1968);J. Olney,
The R/lizome alld tluFlower: TIltPewmial Plilosoplr- reals and JUllg (Berkeley, 1980); B. Arkins,
Buildcrs of My Soul; Greek and Romall Theme ill reals (Gcrrards Cross, 1990), 24-69.
2 R. Davies, reviewing Olney, Rlh,ome, 'lung, Yeats and the Inner Journey', Quen's Omrler!,
8g ( lg8,
) , 4
)6.
W.B. reals Qlld T. Sturge Moorc- Tllei, Corspondence 191-1937, cd. U. Bridge (Westport, Can,
1 9
)
8), pp. 9
'-3.
W.B, Yeats, Memoirs, edited by D. Donoghue (London, 1972), p. 65.
e;o
e8o B RI AN ARKINS
through curious channe|s such as the theosophy o| Madame
B|avatsky,whichwassothorough|ysyncretisticthat,bydehnition,it
hadtocontainagooddea|o|popu|arP|atonisn:,andtheOrdero|the
Go|denDawn,whichcanbeviewedasanextreme|y|atereviva|o|
RenaissanceP|atonism.
A|erYeatscomp|etedthehrstversiono| A Vision inr oej,hebegan
toread ane|aborate |isto|bookson phi|osophy, twoo|thecentra|
hguresinwhichwereP|atoandP|otinus.SoYeatsto|dSturgeMoore
ina|ettero|March r oe0. 'I read |cr monthseveryday P|ato and
P|otinus',and,intheintroductiontothesecondversiono|A Vision,
e|aborated upon this in connection with his wi|e's reading in
phi|osophy. 'I read a|| MacKenna's incomparab|e trans|ation o|
P|otinus, some o|it severa| times, and went |rom P|otinus to his
predecessorsandsuccessorswhetheronher|istornot.And|or|our
yearsnowIhavereadnothinge|seexceptnowandthensomestoryo|
the|tandmurdertoc|earmyheadatnight'.C|ear|y,Yeatshadnow
reached backto the|oundationso|P|atonismand therichharvest
|romthiscanbe|oundinthesecondr o;versiono|A Vision andinthe
vo|umeso|poetry|rom The Tower o|r oe8onwards.
PLQTI NUS
The centra| P|atonic pb|osopheri nYeats is P|otinus.' ForYeats,
P|otinusprovidedthesorto|metaphysicalexpositionhelonged|or,as
Kath|eenRainehaswritten,'YeatscametoP|otinusbecauseinhim
more than in anyotherphi|osopherhediscovered a cosmo|ogy, a
metaphysics,consistentwith the natureo|man a hehadcome to
understandit'.*Whichisnotsurprising,givenYeats'be|ie|sthatthe
con|usion o|modern phi|osophy derives|romthe|actthatwehave
renounced 'the ancienthierarchyo|beings|romman up toOne',
thatthereis'Nothinginmind thathasnotcome|romsenseexcept
mind', andthat'We,whoarebe|ievers,cannotseerea|ityanywhere
butin thesou| itse||'.'
reals and Slurge Moore, p. 8s. 6 A Vision (London, 1 962), p. 20.
7 Three doctoral theses deal with Yents and Plotinus: J.D. Easterly, 'Yeats, Plotinus, and
Symbolic Perception' (Cambridge, 1972); M.R. Motes' "Plotinus fora Friend"; MacKcnna's
Translation of Plot in us and W.B. Yeats' ('A VisionH and Later Poetry' (Miami, 1973); R.P.
Ritvo, IPlotinistic Elements in Yeats' Prose Works' (Fordham, 1973).
K. Raine, DeatJlin-Li alld Lif-it-Death: tCuclulail1 Comforted' and (NewsJor the Delphic Oracle
(Dublin, 1974), p. 20.
9 The Lellers ojW.B. Yea/s, ed. A. Wade (London, 1954), p. 74.
t0
W.B. Yeats, Essays and Illtroductions (London, 1 991 ), pp. 414-15.
I\
W.B. Yeats, Exploratio1ls (London) 196'), p. 170.
Yeats and Platonism
So in the i o; version o| A Vision, Yeats emp|oys P|otinus'
hierarchica|system to enunciatehis own metaphysica| be|ie|s and
app|ieshisownspecia| termino|ogytoit. Sointhemetaphysica|or
Inte||igib|e Wor|d, P|otinus' Hypostases are trans|ated into Yeats'
Princip|es as |o||ows. P|otinus' One becomes Yeats' U|timate
Rea|ity,whichis 'symbo|ised asthe Sphere' (A Vision, p. r 8;) , an
imageo|per|ection.Hisnous orInte||igencebecomes,whenconsidered
asBeing,Yeats' Ce|estia|Body,and,when considered asAct,Yeats'
Spirit,andhispsyche, Sou|oranima mundi, becomesYeats'sPassionate
Body. Fo||owing P|otinus (Enneads v. 1 . 10) , Yeats predicatesRea|
Being - which he ca||s |a|ter Stephen MacKenna) Authentic
Existence- o|Ce|estia|body,Spirit,andPassionatebody,whichare
hisequiva|entso|thesecondandthirdhypostases, Inte||igenceand
Sou|.Rea|Being,|ikeeverythinge|se,cannotbepredicatedo|thehrst
hypostasis. Yeats' |ourth Princip|e Husk cannot be |u||yidentined
withP|otinus'hypostasis,butmustrepresentthe|owerparto|Sou|
which P|otinus ca||s physi or Nature and which operates as an
immanentprincip|eo||i|e.
Yeats' view o| Matteris a|so indebted to P|otinus. Ina crucia|
|ettero|e;May ioe0,toSturgeMoore,Yeatsemphatica||yrejects
themechanistic mode|o|thewor|dand endorsesP|otinus' doctrine
that matter is a non-entity, 'a phantom' (Enneads II. .
, that it
possesses 'neither co|our, scent, nor magnitude' and that it is
'indeterminate',requiringtobeshapedbythepowero|Sou|(Enneads
rr. .0) . ItissignihcantthatYeatsconc|udeshisattackon'thethree
provincia| centuries', which have succeeded to such a remarkab|e
extentinpersuadingEuropeanmanthatMatterandtheob|ectso| sense-
perception are a|one rea|, by advising Sturge Moore to go to the
P|atonists|ortheoppositeview,toP|ato, P|otinus,andthatmodern
P|atonist,A||redWhitehead.'ReadWhitehead,and|rom thatgoto
StephenMacKenna'sPlotinus andtothe Timaeus. WhatWhitehead
ca||s 'the three provincia| centuries' are over. Wisdom and poetry
return'.
I
' Mind, notMatter, ru|esthewor|d.
THE PLATONIC WORLDHVIEW
Yeats'proseusua||yendorsestheP|atonicwor|d-viewasput|orward
byP|otinusandotherP|atonists,hispoetryismuchmoreambivalent,
t7
R.P, RilVO, 'A Vision B: the Plotinian Mctap_hysical Basis', ReIiew o Elislt Slrldies, 26 (
,-,,38.
13 reat ald Surge Moore, pp. ,
--
Ibid., p. 93.
B RI AN ARKI NS
accepting,re|ecting,modi|ying,vaci||ating.Webeginwithacceptance.
What|iesbehindthepoem'AMeditationinTimeo|War','written
|usta|tertheFirstWor|dWarbrokeoutini or ,isP|otinus`doctrine
that at the pinnac|e o|the two-wor|d system is the One, u|timate
source o| a|| Being. As Yeats sits in one o| the deso|ate p|aces
conducivetomystica|inspiration,|oronemoment,B|ake's'pu|sation
o|theartery', heis granted theknow|edgethattheso|eanimating
|orceinthekosmos istheOne,that,incomparison,humanbeings|ack
sou|oranima andso be|ongto awor|do|unrea|ity,ph
a
ntasia:
For one throb of the artery,
While on that old grey stone I sat,
Under the old wind-broken tree,
I knew that One is animate,
Mankind inanimate fantasy.
Itis,however,thepoem'UnderBenBu|ben' |NCP,pp.e
e8),
writtentowardstheendo| Yeats'|i|einio8andnowtheinitialpoem
in thevolumeLast Poems, whichencapsu|atesYeats'P|atonism.As
Kath|eenRainehasright|ysaid,itis'hismostP|atonico| a||poems' . "
And this, I be|ieve, aords us a proper entry to the poem Yeats
entitled origina||y 'His Convictions',|or,i|readasP|atonic,'Under
BenBu|ben'becomesmuchmoresatis|actoryanditsapparentrant,
meaninglu|. The spiritua| authority invoked in the 6rst stanza is
P|atonicbecauseear|yChristianityinEgyptwasconscious|y!|atonising,
because She||ey, whose Witch o|At|as is re|erred to, was deep|y
inbued with P|atonism, and because the spirits who ride on the
mountainBenBu|benandsomediatebetweenheavenandearthare
thedaimones |ong knownto the P|atonictradition, and especia||yto
|aterNeop|atonists|ikeIamb|ichusandto theCambridgeP|atonist,
Henry More. To this authorityis |ater added another P|atonising
Romantic, B|ake, and Miche|ange|o, deep|y inuenced by the
F|orentineP|atonistso|the Renaissance.
Intheremainingnvesectionso|thepoemYeatsgivesus'thegisto|
whattheymean':reincarnation,constantstri|einthismateria|wor|d,
thenecessity|orartists ingenera|and Irishartists in particularto
mirror thebeautyo|theInte||igible wor|d, and, inconsequenceo|
that, the triumphant acceptance o||i|e and death by Yeats, the
P|atonist who has provided this wor|d with so much beauty. In
' " Collecled Poems ofW,B. Yeats (London, 1950) (hereafter CPl. p. 214. W.E Tats, The Poems-A
}ew Edition, edited by RJ. Finneran (London, 1984) (hereafter NCP), p. 190.
:8
Raine, 'Yeats and Platonism', p. 14.
Yeats and Platonism
tollowingthePlatonictradition,IrishpoetsmustsingottheMarriage
otHeavenandEarthasexemplinedbyho|ymonkswhoseekGodin
heavenandce|ebrateHimonearth,bypeasantsdevotedbothtothe
landand to the unwritten traditionotthespirit, byaristocratswho
ridehorses to thetull, bymengiven tosexand drink. Forwhatall
these disparate groups have in common is a devotion to beauty,
whethersacredorprotane,andastheycultivatevarioustormsotEros
inseexing that beauty, they, un|ike'theunrememberingheartsand
heads' ot the modern wor|d, preserve the P|atonic memory or
anamnesis ottheIntel|igibIeworld.InkeepingtotheseP|atonicthemes
whichwerehonouredinthepast,Irishpoetswillensurethattheytake
theirproperplace in the great European tradition. And the Irish,
treedtromtheravagesotBritishempiricism,wi|lbe,liketheGreeks,
'indomitable'. So in the na| analysis Yeats cannot accept the
orthodoxChristianviewottheresurrectionotthebodyandsou|,and
consequently re|ects those eighteenth-century epitaphs that en|oin
thetravellertostopand contemp|atehis morta|ity. Instead,Yeats
optstorP|atonic reincarnation, nototspiritonly, nototbodyon|y,
butotthe two eternally intertwined. theprocess otlite, deathand
rebirthwindingcontinuallyandcontinuouslyonits|ourney.Thus,
thehumanaristocratichorsemanot sectionVI, whomirrors,otcourse,
thedivinedaimones, mustpassYeats'tombregardless,asheseekstor-
ever theBeautyotthe IntelligiLleworld through Eros.
Castacold eye
On li|e, on death,
Horseman, pass by!
PLATONI SM MODIFIED
Yeats' P|atonism is not always so c|ear-cut and can be severe|y
modined. What o|ten happens is that Yeats exploits the tensions
within P|atonism - how tar does the materia| world resemble the
Inte|ligibleworld, how tar hasit tallentrom it?- toset uphisown
tensions,between body and sou|, heaven and earth, eitherwithina
groupotpoemssuchasWords for Music PerhajJs orwithinindividual
poems such as 'The Tower'. In thus exploring P|atonic dualism,
Yeatsisconductingadebateaboutwhatinanear|yessayheca||s'the
onlycontroversyinwhichitisgreat|yworthtakingsides,and. . . the
on|ycontroversywhich mayneverbedecided' . ' '
\ !
Yeats,
Essays alld IlIlradueliolls, p. 152.
BRI AN ARKI NS
Themostlamousexamp|eol Yeats'vaci||ationaboutandre|ection
olP|atonismcomesinthegreatpoem'TheTower',writtenin r oej.
Nowsixtyandragingagainsto|dage,Yeatsconsidershowtocope.In
SectionI, oneapparentpossibi|ityistodevotehimse|ltothestudyol
P|atoandPlotinus,conceivedolashosti|eto theimaginationolthe
Romanticpoetbecausetheyareconstructorsolabstractsystems.But
inSectionIll, Yeatsdecidestooptinsteadlortheimaginationandthe
concrete, andsoassertsin hisswan-song.
I mock Plotinus' thought
And cry in Plato's teeth
(II. r-;)
WhatYeatsisattacking,withP|atoandP|otinusasscapegoats,isa
view ol the Inte|ligib|e wor|d that ascribes to it an extreme
transcendence,tota||yandutterlyindependentolthisirredeemab|e,
materialwor|d.Fromonepointolviewthisis,olcourse,astrandol
thoughtinPlatonism,butitcanbeconsiderab|ymodi6ed,depending
onhow much emphas isputonthedoctrinethatthiswor|dderiveslrom
theIntelligib|ewor|d.Thenuancesherearedelicate,asindicatedby
Yeatshimse|linhiswe||-knownnotetothispoem,writtenthreeyeats
|aterandquotingP|otinus,Enneadsv. I .2, toshowthatthephilosopher
doesinlactendorsecreatedmatter|CP,p.jjNCP,p.o0).'When
Iwrotethe|inesaboutP|atoandP|otinusIlorgotthatitissomething
nourowneyes thatmakesusseethemasa|| transcendence'.
Alessacutelorm olthis tensionisloundin anothergreatpoem
lrom The Tower, 'Among Schoo| Children' .CP, pp. zz-jjNCP,
pp.z r j-r ;) . Writtenayear |aterthan'TheTower'in r oz0,'Among
SchoolChi|dren`continuesthethemeol o|dage,butnowmovesonto
dwcl|onthe|actthatgreatphilosophersa|sogtowo|dandbecome -
likeYeats- scarecrows: 'Oldclothesupono|dstickstoscareabird'.
And yet these men have constructed marve||ous systems which
remain indispensab|e to the human condition. The resu|t is that
a|thoughP|atonism|togetherwithothersystems)isexpounded,only
to be denigrated, in stanza VI, it isa|souti|ised invariouswaysin
stanzasII, v and VII.
ThenatureolP|atonicdualismolthewor|dolFormsandtheworld
olBecomingisbri|liant|ysummedupinthersttwo|inesolstanzaVI:
Plato thought naturebutaspume that plays
Upon a ghostly paradigm of things
(II. 3 1-2)
` Compare Olney, RhiZQme, p. 285.
reats and Platonism
Thekosmosison|yamode|orcopyo|whatisrea|,'things'thatexist
inthe Inte||igib|eWor|d,andconsequent|yhason|y an attenuated
|ormolexistence|ikeaghost,whi|e themateria|worldo|everyday
sense-perception, 'nature', is cven more attenuated, mere|y an
ad|uncttothekosmosas|oamis to thesea. Theomcia| doctrineo|
stanzaVI isthatP|ato- togetherwithAristot|eandPythagoras- are
tobedismissedasscarecrows. Butboth previous|yandsubsequent|y
inthepoemP|atonicdoctrineisinvoked.Tobeginwith,instanzaII
Yeatswantstoindicatetheunitythatattimesexistedbetweenhimse|l
and MaudGonne,conceivedo|asLeda'sdaughter,He|eno|Troy.
Todosoheusesnoton|ytheP|atonicsymbo|o|thesphere,buta|so-
inexp|icit|ynamingP|ato- adaptsAristophanes'|ab|einSymposium
i8ce-i ooc|orhisownpurposes.WhereasinP|atoeachhumanbeing
wasorigina||yaroundedwho|eand7eusthencuttheminha|||ike
eggswhicharecutwithahair,Yeatsputsactosshisideao||overs'
unitybyaddingthevivid,concretedetai|o|'theyo|kandwhiteo|the
one she||'. This neat|y encapsu|ates the view in P|ato that '|ove is
simp|ythename|or thedesireand pursuito|the who|e' (Symposium
ioee)andgainsadded |orce|romthe|actthat He|enjMaudGonne
herse||cameouto|an egg.
Instanza v, Yeats again manipu|ates P|atonic materia| - here
Porphyry'sOn the Cave of the Nmphs, Ii. 1 6-1 7, aNeop|atonicexegesis
o|Oqsse XlII - todea| withthepainlu|natureo|human|i|e.Forthe
new born baby boy must |eave behind pre-nata| b|iss and what
betrays him into this is sexua| intercourse, in particu|ar semen,
termed'honeyo|generation'becauseintercourseissweetandhoney
'indicative o| the p|easure which draws sou|s downwards into
generation'. I| the baby possesses anamnesis |reco||ection) o| his
previousstate,hewi||ob|ectstrenuous|ytobeingborn,buti|hedoes
not, he wi|| acquiesce- and itis in the assertion that 'thedrug' or
'honey o|generation' causes such acquiescence that Yeats deviates
|tomPorphyry, as hehimse||admitted.
I have taken the <honey of generation' from Porphyry's essay 'On the Cave of
the Nymphs', but fnd no warrant in Porphyry for considering it the 'drug'
that destroys the 'recollection' of pre-natal freedom. He blamed a cup of
oblivion given in the zodiacal sign of Cancer. (CP, p. 535/NCP, p. 597)
Thesetwoexamp|esshowYeatsusingP|atonicdoctrineasa|rameo|
re|erenceinarathercava|ierway.ButtheP|atonismo|stanzaVII is
bothc|ear-cutandorthodox. the'Presences' worshippedby|overs,
BRIAN ARKI NS
nuns and mothers are c|ear|y akin to P|atonic Forms, Forms that,
un|ike human beings, arese||-begotten, thatsymbo|ise theFormo|
theGoodinthetranscendentwor|d,andthatconsequent|yderidethe
entirehumanenterprise.P|atomaygrowo|d,butP|atonismremains
immutab|e.
P|atonism is a dynamic |orce in the twenty-hve poems that
constitutethesequenceWordsJor Music Perhaps, writtenbetweenrozo
and r oz,anddescribedbyYeats as sometimescoming'outo|the
greatest menta| excitement I amcapab|eo|'. ` The opening o|the
sequence is dominated by the marve||ous, extravagant hgure o|
Crazy 1ane,who|eaturesinthehrstsevenpoems,andwhoiso| course
not'crazy'ata||.Hervisiono||i|eiscomp|ex,grantingap|acetosou|
andGod,andsoavoidingareductivemateria|ism, butitis|airtosay
that Crazy 1ane is essentia||y a champion o| the se|| or body,
especia||y as exemp|ihed in sexua|ity and comp|ete|y opposed to
'that sweet extremity opride [ That's ca||ed p|atonic |ove' |CP,
p. z;;[NCP, p. zz8) . At the end o| the sequence we have the
counter-hgureo|O|dTomwho|eaturesdirect|yinpoemsXXII-XXIV,
these beingbracketedbytwootherpoemswithasimi|arvision,XXI
ca||ed 'The Dancerat Cruachan and CroPatrick' and xxvca||ed
'TheDe|phicOrac|eUponPlotinus'.Thoughca||eda|unatic, O|d
Tomisnomorea'|unatic'thanCrazy1aneis'crazy'.Heisequa||y
extravagant,andhisvisiono||i|eisa|socomp|exandnotreductive.
ButwhereasCrazy]anestressesthebody,O|dTomstressesthesou|
CP, pp. o-c;[NCP,pp. z08-;o).
Neverthe|ess,O|dTomisthesorto|P|atonistwhohasnoprob|em
inendorsingthiscreatedwor|dandinthepoem'TomtheLunatic'is
c|ear|ywe||versedinthepassageso|P|otinusthat do thesame, |ike
Enneads v. r . z, |or in the |ace o| apparent change and death he
sp|cndid|yamrmsthepermanencebotho|Godandhiscreation.O|d
Tom'sre|ationship to the Moon o|mutabi|ity is ther|ore comp|ex.
Labe||eda|unatic ||rom LatinLuna), inhis|ast|ineheechoesVi||on
andsobecomesoneo|these|ectband|ikeVi||onandVer|ainewho,
Yeatste||sus,'withimpedimentsp|aintoa||. . . singso||i|ewiththe
ancientsimp|icity'.Andhedoessobyreconci|ingthecentra|paradox
o|P|atonismwhichcanbe,ashere,turnedintoitscentra|g|ory.The
materia|wor|d,whatYeatsca||s'thecirc|eo|themoon[Thatpitches
common things about' |CP, p. z[NCP, p. zc;) is sanctihed
Yeats and Platonism
precise|y because it 'Stands in God's unchanging eye'. O|d Tom
yie|dsto noonein his abi|ity tosavethephenomena.
Inthepoem'O|dTomAgain'Tom|ooksatthings|romtheother
ang|e, thato|the Inte||igib|eWotId.
Things out of perfection sail,
And all their swelling canvas wear,
Nor shall the self-begotten fail
Though fantastic men suppose
Buildingyard and stormy shore,
Winding_sheet and swaddling-clothes.
(II. 1 -6)
From thewor|d o|P|atonicFormsand P|otinianhypostaseswhich
constitute per|ection, created, materia| things sai| down a|ong the
seao|generation in the |u|| g|ory that natura||y be|ongs to their
exa|tedorigin.But thatInte||igib|eWor|disnotitse||createdandis
there!oresomethingabsoIute|ypermanentandunchanging.Asina
sensehuman beings must be, because they possess immorta| sou|s
whichderive|rom the third hypostasis, Sou|, and wi|| return to it.
Sincethatisso,humanbirthanddeathhavenorea|existence.The
de|uded empiricistswho thinktheydohaverea|existenceen+oy,in
P|ato's terms (Sophist e0d), neither know|edge |Greek dianoia) nor
evenopinion|Greekdoxa) , butarereducedtowhatison|ythepurest
i||usion |Greek phantasia) and can there|ore be proper|y ca||ed
'|antastic'.
Thepoem 'The De|phicOrac|e Upon P|otinus', whichends the
series, bri||iant|yencapsu|ates the body/sou| tensionexemp|ihed by
Crazy]ane and O|dTom. This is aparaphraseo|the verse orac|e
giventoP|otinus'discip|eAme|iuswhoconsu|tedDe|phitohndout
whereP|otinus'sou|hadgonea|terhisdeath,presetvedinPorphyry's
Life ofPlotinus ee,itisdescribedbyYeatsas 'thelastgreatorac|eat
De|phi commemorating the dead P|otinus' and as one o| his
'|avouritequotations'.Inthehrststanzao|Yeats'poemP|otinusis
c|ear|y on the way across the sea o|generation to the Inte||igib|e
Wor|d,buthisjourneyisverydimcu|tashestrugg|eswiththewaves
that symbo|ise the ux and conhicts o||i|e. He is summoned to
Heaven by the |udge o|the dead, Rhadamanthus - described as
'b|and',whichseemstohoverbetweenmeaning'coaxing' |c|Latin
70
Essays and Introductiolls, pp. 278 and 409.
' This stress maydcrivc rrom Henry Morc's poem about the oracle on Plotinus, 'ThcOraclc' in
Philosophical Poems ojHem)' Mor, edited by C. Bullough (Manchester. 1931), 159-62.
e88 BRIAN ARKI NS
blandus) and 'unsu||ied'. But P|otinus i s ab|e to perceive the
inhabitantsthere,'theGo|denRace',on|yinaveryimper|ectway,
sincehiseyesareb|ockedbythesa|twatero|thesea,termed'b|ood'
toindicatethatit|unctionsasasymbo|o|human|i|e. Furthermore
and crucia||y, the poem |ai|s to estab|ish that P|otinus actua||y
reachedheavenandis thus|ar|romPorphyry'sassertionthat'you
enteratonce theheaven|y consort`. So thestress isa|mostentire|y
on P|otinus' strugg|ewith 'the bitterwaveso|thisb|ood-drenched
|i|e' ( Life if Plolinus, ee).
Inthesecondstanza,ontheotherhand, theentirestressisonthe
idy||ic, pastora|landscapeo|theInte||igib|eWor|d.Thisispeop|ed
bythethreecategorieso|menP|otinuste||sus(Enneads r.. r-)are
most capab|e o|cu|tivating the Inte||ectua| Li|e and arriving at
visionaryexperience.themetaphysician'takestothepathbyinstinct'
and is represented here by P|ato. The musician and |over 'need
guidance'andarerepresentedherebyPythagorasand'theChoiro|
Love' respective|y. Theyare|oinedinHeaven bythe|udgeso|the
dead, RhadamanthusandMinos,describedby theorac|eas'great
brethreno|thegoldenraceo|mighty7eus'.Theywere,in|act,the
sonso|7eusand themorta|womanEurope,and theirexa|tedro|e
herecontrastswith thescornpoured on EuropabyCrazy]ane in
Poemuo|thesequence.Forthewhee|hascome|u||circ|eandweend
withLovethatdoes,precise|y,'takethewho|ejBodyandSou|',when
Timeisgone.
Butwewi||not|eaveYeats'P|atonismthere.Ahna|,crucia|poem
remains,'WhatThen?'|CP,pp.;-8jNCP,p.oe),writtentowards
theendo|his|i|eini o0andnowparto|theNew Poems | r o8).Here
Yeatsrecountsin simp|e |anguage the achievements o|his|i|e and
work.hisunceasingeorts|ortheIrishLiteraryRenaissanceandthe
Abbey Theatre, his happy marriage, his unequa||ed co||ection o|
|riends - 'myg|orywasIhadsuch|riends`|CP,p.;o[NCP,p.er ) -
hisparadigmaticp|ays,hisbri||iant|ye|oquentprose,and,abovea||,
thegreatestbodyo| poetrywritteninEng|ishinthiscentury.Tru|y,he
had,a muchasanyman,'somethingtoper|ectionbrought`.Andyet,
ashe|iststheseachievements,Yeatsiscon|ronted,inevitab|y,withthe
spirito|P|ato.anexemp|aro|unre|entingdevotiontohiswork,the
manwhohasdoneso muchtoinspire,invariousguises,subsequent
European phi|osophy andart, theman who, aswehaveseen, |ies
71 For the meaning of 'bland' sec W.C. Barnwell) 'The Blandnes of Yeats's Rhadamanthus',
Eglish Language Noles, 14 (I977). :W6lO.
Yeats and Platonism
beniudYeats'li|elougattachmeuttoP|atouism.It isesseutialto the
humaucouditiouthattheteisa|wayssomethiugmotetosttive|or,and
soYeats is hauuted by the te|taiuwhich couc|udes theitst thtee
stauzaso|thepoem. 'Wh
a
t Then?' Sang Plato's Ghost. ' What Then?'. Aud
this eveumote,wheu pet|ectiou isobtaiuediuo|d age.
'The work is done" grown old he thought,
(According to my boyish plan'
Let the fools rage, I swerved in naught,
Something to perfection brought';
But louder sang that ghost, ' What then?'
(II. 1 6-20)
Itis,theu,thespitit,thedaimon o|P|atothatptesidesovettheetetua|
hauketiug|otmote,becauseYeats,iuthehualaua|ysis,doeschoose
P|ato |ota |tieud aud so eudotses the seutimeutso|his |e||ow Ce|t
EdwiuMuitiuthepoem'Ihavebeeutaught',the|asto|hisCollected
Poems audoueo|the|astpoemshewtotetowatdstheeudo|his|i|eiu
1959:
And now that time grows shorter, I perceive
That Plato's is the truest poetry,
And that these shadows
Are cast by the true.23
Edwin Muir, Colected Poell s (London, 1963), p. 302.
CHAPTER 2 6
Virginia Wool and Plato: The Platonic background
of 1aceb'sReem
Brenda Lyons
VirginiaWool|wasaseriousPlatonicscholarandherwritingsallude
t Plato and the dialogues, but to callhera Platonistwould be a
mistake.Woolsworkdoesnotcon|ormtoany'-ism',andPlatonism
isnoexception,herphilosophyiso|the'rag-bag'sort,notadoptingor
promotinganysystem,buttrans|erringphilosophicalmetaphorsand
ideasintothecontextso| realandnctiveexperiences. ' Herwritingsdo
not engage with P|atonic arvuments, but rather draw |rom the
dialoguestoinspire,complicate,andsupportherownaestheticends.
Wools poetic expresses a neoclassical delight in |ormal unities o|
design,rhythm,andimaginativehumanpurpose,alludingparodically
to Plato and subsequent academic pursuits o| philosophy, while
metaphors o| the cave, darknessjillumination, and mimesis, |or
example, reimagine Platonic moti|s in twentieth-century contexts.
Shewasawareo|thecomplexreligioustraditionssuggestedbythese
allusions, but her own anti-religious sentiment was closer to the
Heretic Society than to doctrinal, especially Christian, Platonism.
ThisessaywillexplorewhatexactlyPlatomeanttoWool|andhow
her Platonic allusions operate, particularly in the context o|non-
realisticparodichction.
ItisclearthatWool||elttheimportanceo|Platoverystrongly.In
theessay'IsThis Poetry?` shedeclared thattheworkso|Hogarth
Presswere'addressedtonopublicsavethatwhichhasinittheghosts
o|Plato.` Seveno|herninenovels,alongwithshortstoriesandtwo
volumeso|essays,wereincludedinthemorethan400 titlesHogarth
I T.S. Eliot, 'IntroducliOll', G. Wilson Knight, Tie Wllee! ojFire: InterpretatiQns of Shakespearian
Traged (London, t956), p. xiii.
2 Virginia Woolf, Tie EssaysofVirginia Woolf ed. Andrew McNcillic, 3 vols. (London, Ig86-8),
M, J91!124 p. 54
Virginia Woolf and Plato
p
,
ib|ished during her |i|etime, and her haunting remark invites
readers to ponderwhatsherea||ymeant. ForWoo|t thedia|ogues
inspirea|oveo|know|edge,ontheconstructiono|P|ato'sarguments,
she wrote, it is 'notso much the end we reach as our manner o|
reachingit.Thata||can|ee| - theindomitab|ehonesty,thecourage,
the |ove o|truth which draw Socrates and us in his wake to the
summitwhere,i|we toomay stand |oramoment, itis toen|oythe
greatest|e|icityo|whichwe arecapab|e.'
Buttruth, shearguedinA Room '0ne's Own, wasama|edomain
unti| the birtho|nction.Her imaginative pto|ection o|a |eminine
aestheticwasexpressedinP|atonictropes. 'Fori|Ch|oe|ikesO|ivia
andMaryCarmichae|knowshowtoexpressitshewi|||ightatorchin
thatvastchamberwherenobodyhasyetbeen.Itisa||ha|||ightsand
pro|oundshadows|ikethoseserpentinecaveswhereonegoeswitha
cand|epeeringupand down, notknowingwhereoneisstepping.`
Ftom her border|ine position as an upper-midd|e-c|ass Victorian
womanideo|ogica||ywithinandoutsidetheOxbridgeandApostolic
'inte||ectua| aristocracy', Woo||sought to inspire and empower
women,andsheemp|oyedP|atonica||usionasasupportiveresource.
ShecreditedP|ato'shighregard|orSapphoasevidenceo|women's
superiotity in '1he Inte||ectua| Status o|Women', an argument
de|iberate|y countering Arno|d Bennett's denigrating attack on
|ema|einte||ectua|capacityin theNew Statesman.'
InWoo||'sdayP|atowastheparagono|e|evatedheights,marking
adivisiveboundaryo||owerandupperinte||ectua|spheres.Her|ate
workcontinuedtoaccordhimthisstatus,used to|eministpurposes.
The imaginaryspeech by Nicho|as in her nove| The Years and its
precursive speech to the London Nationa| Society |or Women's
Service | ei ]anuary r o r ) imp|icit|y ca|| |or a humanist utopia
reminiscento|P|ato'sRepublic.' She is, however, under no i||usion
abouttheimpractica|ityo|ega|itarianisminherday,andimagines
the master's horrined reaction to nnding his kitchen maid in the
|ibraryreadingP|ato.9 Wool|'sargument|inkspattiarcha|essentialism,
J. Howard Woolmer, A Clucklist oftie Hogartl Press (London, 1976).
Virginia Woolf, 'On Not Knowing Greek', The Commoll Reader ( 1 925; London, 1933), p. 51 .
, Virginia Woolf, A Room ofOm's OWI (1 929; New York, 1957), p. 88.
Jane Marcus, 'Liberty, Sorority, Misogyny', Virgi1lia Wool alld the Lmguages ofPatriarchy
(Bloomington, Indiana, 1987), p. 92.
' Virginia Woolf, 'The Intellectual Status of Women" The Diar o Virginia Wool ed. Anne
Olivier Bell (London, 1988), II 192024, pp. 339-42.
John Batchelor, Virginia Woolf: The Major Nouels (Cambridge, 1991 ), p. 144.
, Virginia Woolf, The Pargilers: The NouelEsay Portio" ojTle rears (London, 1 978), p. xlii.
BRENDA LYONS
orthe argument that manis natura||y superior to woman, to the
modern prob|ems o|economics and education. She counse|s that
a|thoughthisparticu|armanconsiderstheeducationo| servantsand
womenworsethanunnatura| - indeedsin|u| - generousandhumane
men exist with whom women can |ive in 'per|ect |reedom', her
conc|udingadvice|ora|ust andgoodsocietyis thatpatience and
humour over anger are pre|erred strategies in the campaign to
|iberatewomenthrougheducationandeconomicaccomp|ishment.
Woo||proered thenotionthataroomwhereP|atocou|dbe|ree|y
read had been paid |or, the door was open to a |uture o|exciting
dia|ogues.Herconcernsarea|ignedwithSocraticgoa|s|oranidea|
state,butherp|anemphasizestheeducationa|andeconomicsuccess
o| women, ignoring such contradictions as that between sexua|
equa|ity and po|itica|jphi|osophica|hegemonyin theRepublic.
Theknow|edgeo|Greekthatherc|assicistcousin1.K.Stephenhad
identihedasakeyto|raterna|powerwasdeniedtomostwomen,` ` so
choosing P|ato signa|ed the acquisition o|cu|tura| power, an act
rep|ete with associated bio|ogica|, economic and pedagogica|
controversies. Virginia Woo||herse||was|ami|iarwith mosto|the
dia|oguesandherstudynoteson theEuthyphro, Phaedrus, Symposium,
andRepublic, 'thoughcursoryout|ines,indicatespecia|attentionto
questionso|creativity,|ove,andtruth.Shepre|acedhersummaryo|
Symposium with a |isto|various Greekterms|or|oving:
'
epeOr
be|oved.epcrr a|over.epaw to|ove.epw!Bvr thebe|oved
woman.epaor be|oved. ''However,whereasSocrateswasa|ways
searching |or truth in discourse, and P|ato wrote myths which
postu|ateitsrea|existence,toWoo||truthwasa|wayssub|ective.This
be|ie|invadestheverystructureo|herwork,part|yexp|icatedinthe
argument o|A Room i One's Own, which states the controversia|,
impossib|e purpose o|a |ecture as the contribution o|an eterna|
'nuggeto|puretruth',inthiscaseonthe'truenatureo|woman. . .
andnction.'Thes|ipperyprob|emo|truthisparodica||yextendedas
thesub|ectiveob|ecto|herdiscourse,sherecountsthedisappearance
o|assumptions|oundedon|ostknow|edgeand|ai|edattemptstohnd
authentic|actsaboutwomeninhistory,conc|udingthat'aspotthe
1
0
Woolf, TIle Pargiters, p. xliv.
I
Jane Marcus, 'Liberty, Sorority, Misogyny', Virginia Wool and the Language ofPatriarcl!
(Bloomington, Indiana, 1987), p- 92-
l1
Brenda R. Silver, Virginia Wool's Reading Notebooks (Princeton, Ig83).
I
Virginia Woolf, 'Plato. Symposium!', Monks House Papers (Oxford, Bodleian Library Films
1425, reel I, A21, p. 53). Quoted by kind permission of the Bodleian Library.
Virginia Woolf and Plato eo
.
sizeota shi||ing at the back otthe head' must bedescribed by a
woman betore a 'true picture otman as a whole can 'ever' be
painted. ' ' Re|ations ot truth to torms ot |oving are centra|,
interre|atedprob|emsexp|oredinmostot Woo|t'snctionthroughthe
imaginaryexperiencesotcharacters. Anear|y|ourna| entry, which
statesherbe|ietinanintegrateduniversa|unconscious,thatis,'how
any |ive mind today is . . otthe very same stuas P|ato's' , ' is
metaphorica||yrepeatedinthehction,servingtoconstructag|oba|,
eterna|idea|
'mind'that|inksantiquitytomodernity.Thepotentia|
otreco||ectionexists,theninanintimated,immorta|unconsciousness,
buthistorica|amnesiainhibitstruth,equa|ity,andhumandeve|opment.
NowhereisWoo|s|ongingtor,yetmistrustottheP|atonicverities
morevisib|e than in the third nove|,Jacob's Room, whosestructure
questionstraditiona|,torma| assumptions. HereWoo|taimstorthe
nrsttimetopresent'characterwithoutrea|ism',
1
6
recognisedbymost
critics as an important moment in teminist/modernist avant-garde
nction, it shou|d a|so be seen, however, as a watershed in Woo||s
attitude to the P|atonic past. Written between Apri|, r oeo, and
November,roe r , I ' itsshadowtextsarePhaedrus and,indirect|y,other
dia|oguesthataddressprob|emso||ove,idea|ism,body/spiritdua|ity,
andthesou|.]acob'sghost|ypresencewaspart|yareincarnationot
Thoby Stephen, her brother and rst c|assics mentor who died
unexpected|year|ytrom typhoidtevercontractedinGreece.Jacob's
Room is aradica| departure in torm and contenttrom her rst two
nove|s, The Voyage Out ( r or ) andNight and D' ( r or o) , which treat
phi|osophica|inquiriesingenera|andP|atonicsub+ectsinparticu|ar
withamuchsimp|erridicu|e,torexamp|e,toexpressdisenchantment
withG.E.Moore'squasi-P|atonicphi|osophy.Thequeststortruth,
goodness,beauty,andtriendshipthatcharactersngurative|yundertake
intheseear|ynove|sindicatetheirdieringpositionsonthe|adderot
P|atonicscho|arship,ama|edomaintowhichwomenaspire.InThe
VJage Out, an emotive, Mrs. C|arissa Da||owaydebuts as angure
desiring 'P|ato', dreaming ot an anthropomorphic androgynous
a|phabetwhoseGreek|etterssta|kaboutandpass'tromonebrainto
' Virginia Woolf, A Room a/One's Own ( [ 929; New YOI'k, 1957). p. 94-
Virginia Woolf, 'The Country in London', Brenda R. Silver, Virginia Wool's Reading
Notebooks (Princeton, I983), p. 5.
16 Virginia Woolf to 'David Garett, 20 October 1922, The Qestion oJTfings Happening: The
LeUers of Virginia Wool, cds. Nigel Nicolson and Joanne Trautmann, 6 vals. (London,
1975-82), vol. 2, '912-22 ( 1 976), p. 57
1
.
11
Virginia Woolf, Diary, II, 192024, 30, 141.
eo BRENDA LYONS
another'.Here,asi nJacob's Room, theuseo|P|atothroughdirectand
indirecta||usiondoesnotproduceaP|atonicscheme, there|erences
are, rather, a way o|comp|icating the hctive texture to question
contemporaryissuesata timewhen,ontheonehand,c|assica|and
phi|osophica| studiesweresti|| denied to mostwomen and, on the
otherhand, P|atowasasigno|u|timateinte||ectua| achievement,
whi|e c|assica| studies were under hreas representingan e|iteand
socia||yirre|evantpedagogica|discip|ine.
Jacob's Room is adeeper,poetica|exp|orationo|P|atonicnssures,
into the gaps within |anguage, nation, and cu|tura| po|itics Woo||
insertsthePhaedrus asametaphorica|touchstonebywhichtomeasure
twentieth-centurydennitionso| |ove, thesou|, know|edge,identity,
andidea|ism.InJacob's Room theparodyisnotoperatingsimp|yin
thesenseo|ridicu|e, butrather thato|intimate re|ations, orwhat
Linda Hutcheon has ca||ed 'a bitextua| synthesis', 'a |orma| or
structura| re|ation between two texts' app|icab|e to any codihed
discourse. Aswithirony,Hutcheonexp|ains,parodyoperatesonat
|east two |eve|s, the primaty sur|ace, or |oreground, and the
secondary, imp|ied background. The patodic edges o|P|atonic
experienceinJacob's Room resideambiguous|yinaspacia|distance
betweenP|ato's Greece and the|ightso|London and Cambridge,
whichWoo||re|erredtoasacavewhenshewaswritingJacob's Room:
'I|ayinthesha||ow|ight,whichshou|dbewrittendark. . . Perhaps
Cambridgcis too mucho|a cave. ' '
Her commemoration o| Thoby is neither autobiographica||y
rea|isticnoreu|ogising,and P|atois no moresanctined than (acob
portrayedasascho|ar.Initia||y, (acobre|ects'c|oistersandc|assics',
|rustratedbythetrapo|abodyharnessedtoabrain,acontemporary
restatemento|theancientP|atonicdua|ismbetweenbodyandmind.
Since1acobhimse||,|ora||hismistrusto| ideas,isdead,aknow|edge
o|whathisexistencemeansisironica||yon|ypossib|ethroughideas -
in thememorieso|others. In |act, thereisa kind o|parodyo|the
P|atonicascent|rombodytomind,as1acobistrans|ormedduringthe
course o| the nove| |rom experience to idea. A sha||ow bedo|
know|edge,GreekorP|atonic,wastheun|ike|ygroundprecedinghis
pi|grimage to the Acropo|is, at its peak he embraced a so|itary
I0
Linda HUlcheon, A Tlcfry ofParod: Tie TeacMlIgs ofTweJliel/jCcntllry Art Forms (New York,
Ig8S), pp. 22-33.
1 Vit'gini:., 'oolf, Diary, n, 49. Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room (1922; London, [991), p. 93.
Virginia Wool and Plaia
eo
.
momentot greathappiness,anemotiona|andspiritua|breakthrough
associaied with theabi|ity to experiencemorta||ove.
The transitiouin]acob'sconsciousnessoccursa|eradayat the
British Museum, where P|ato, readers are intormed, has been
presetved as partotthe 'enormous mind . . . hoarded beyond the
powerotanysing|emind topossess it.' ThatnighthereadP|ato,
whocontinued'imperturbab|y';theP|atonicdia|ogueistoregrounded
asanundisturbedtorceagainstwhichmoretransientrea|itiesottain,
cabwhist|es, and the criesota drunken woman |ocked out other
housetadeinto thebackground. Meanwhi|e,]acobcontemp|ates.
The Phaedru is very difcult. And so, when at length one reads straight
ahead, falling into step, marching on, becoming (so it seems) momentarily
part of this rolling, imperturbable energy, which has driven darkness before
it since Plato walked the Acropolis, it is i mpossible to see the fre.
The dialogue draws to its close. Plato's argument is done. Plato's
argument is stowed away in Jacob's mind, and for fve rinutesJacob's mind
continues alone, onwards, into the darkness. Then, getting up, he parted the
curtains, and saw, with astonishing clearness.21
Woo|sironyderivespart|yttomtheknow|edgethat]acob'snew,
extraordinaryvisionotordinaryrea|ityisproducedttomconditions
otexi|eandso|itude.His'presence'isthatotaghost|yprotagonistin
ane|egiacanti-warnove|,rea|isedon|ythroughamu|tivoca|weave
otmemoriesinwhichexistenceasincorporea|rea|itymergeswiththe
vestigia|P|atonicsubjecthebecomesintantasy,intimatingcomp|ex
questions about the nature otthe human and divine sou|. In the
Phaedru the exp|ication otimmorta| sou| a ever-changingtorm is
part otthe Socratic detence otpassion as |ove's b|essed madness,
divine|yinspiredcreativity,and thepowerothea|ing 'ea-e0d) .
]acobenactsinction theprob|emot|non) existenceasa Platonic
trope,thatis,hisidenticationwithP|atoa||udestoaninterna|ized
Socraticunconscious,imp|yingtheinterrogationot'immorta|ity'as
tancy.ThusengenderedasaSocraticjP|atonicsubject,]acobjThoby
a|soenactsthetourthandbesttormotdivinepossession,themadness
ota|overotwor|d|ybeauty,reca||ingwhatSocratesdescribedasthe
'b|essed vision' otwho|eness and pure |ight, 'without taint otthat
prisonhousewhichnowweareencompassedwith,andca||abody'
(Phaedru eoc).
A||tLatremainsotthebodyarememoriesreco||ectedin'Tacob's
20
Woolf, Jacobls Room, p. 93.
2I
Woolf, Jacob's Room, p. 95.
eo6 BRENDA LYONS
room',aneoc|assica|chamberthatservesasanal|usivedoub|etorthe
cave,containinginitsdarknessquestionsot morta|ityandimmorta|ity.
Therethesourceottrue|ight,a|beitironised,comestromtheGreek,
science,andphi|osophy,where'the|ampot|earning'is'notsimp|e,or
pure, orwho||ysp|endid'.
Woo|fs reterences toP|atoinJacob's Room toreground acentra|
'character'astheghostotanaverageOxbridgec|assicsstudent,the
episodic movements ot]acob's transtormation inc|ude an imp|ied
rangeotcontemporary controversies, the status otc|assicalstudies
andwomen'sinte||ectaswe|lasmorecomplexaesthetica|andethica|
questions in the texture otWestern philosophica|j|iterary hstory.
']acob'expressesanaccordwithCliveBe|l'shypothesisot' signihcant
torm', which S.P. Rosenbaum has exp|icated as a synthesis ot
Moore'sidea|ismandPlatoniclove.Be||assertsanaestheticessence,
a common qua|iher in the visua| arts, or signihcant torm, whch
means an emotive combination ot |ines and co|ours that are
apprehendedthroughamystica|,spiritua|,orre|igiousexperience.
Theso|utiontothedilemmathatWoo|tconsideredin|iterarycritica|
termstobeoneotconveying'characterwithoutrea|ism'waseected
as an allusive P|atonic ridd|e otidea|ity and love. Jacob's Room
sketchesidea|itya an|in)(di)visib|espiritjbody,h||edwithproblems
ota priori know|edgeversus dehntionsot |ove and truth.
ButJacob's Room alsoundercutsthePlatoniccertaintiesbyitsvery
structure, its destruction otthetami|iarnotionsotcharacter |sou|)
and rea|ism. Woo|s hctive representation otacob' as relations
between tempora|ity and non-identity are in line with Price's
dehnition ot the P|atonic 'mind' as 'a bund|e otepisodes and
dispositions', episodes being synonymous with 'mental stages'.
Whi|e Woo|l's 6ction does not engage with argument, it sets a
phi|osophica| stage resonant with P|atonic texts as its parodic
unconscious. Theghostot]acob Flanders as a P|atonic scholaris
deep|yironic.heisrea| andnotrea|,heis not rea||y ascho|ar,heis
andisnotP|ato.]acob'segotisticalc|aimstoknow|edgeottheGreeks
counteredWoo|l`s own that:
2' Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room (London, 1991), p. 3( .
" S.P. Rosenbaum, ViciITian Bloomsbur. The Er{ Literary History o the Bloomsbury Group
(London, 1987), I, 235.
2. Clive Bell, Art, ed. J.B. Bullen (Oxford, 1987), pp. 3-37. '
2 A.W. PrCe, Love and Friedship Ul Plato and Aristotle (Oxford. 1990), pp. 21-3.
Virginia Woolf and Plato
297
,
it isvain and foolish to talk of knowing Greek . . . since we do not know how
the words sounded, or where precisely we ought to laugh . . . and between
this foreign people and ourselves there is not only diference of race and
tongue but a tre
m
endous breach of tradition.2
6
His rudimentaryabi|ityto read Greekwould havesumced on|yto
'stumb|e'throughthePhaedrus andheb|amedgovernesses|orstarting
'theGreekmyth',consideringthee|evationot'Greekthis,that,and
theother'overShakespearean i||usion. 1heendotthenove|isits
beginning,however.adramaticemptynna|e,whichhasoccasioned
the critica| pursuit o| an answer to the incorporea| ridd|e o| a
'characterwithoutrea|ism',|eavesreaderswiththememoryo| 1acob,
perceivedthroughtheauthor'sandreaders'creativevision.On|ythe
Room remains, ]acob himse|| disappears, |eaving on|y a Form,
reca||ingP|atoin thePhaedrus,
There let i t rest then, our tribute to amemory that has stirred us to linger
awhile on those former joys for which we yearn. Now beauty, as we said,
shone bright amidst these visions, and in this world below we apprehend it
through the clearest of our senses, clear and resplendent. (Phaedrus 250d)
Virginia Woolf, 'On Not Knowing Greek', The Common Reader (London, 1933), p. 39.
CHAPTER 2 7
Plato and Eliot's earlier verse
Denni Brown
Critics o| T.S. Eliot's poetry have |requently cited a Platonic
inuence.' This is scarcely surprising since Eliot not only studied
Plato,inthe Greek, atHarvard, but a|sowroteessays on Platonic
thought while commencing his doctoral work on F.H. Bradley at
Ox|ord. Overall, Eliot's poetic career strangely replicates Plato's
own progression |romdramatised dialogue to a more monological
commitmenttotheReal. theearliervei dialogicalandsceptical,
Four Qartets i rmatoranu
-
drc|arative. Ineecthe earlier
, hicillethemain|ocushere,callsintoquestion
the nature o| P|atonism itsel| I t queries whether Plato's own
philosophicalcontributionshould beregardedasanelaborationo|
idea|truths|asNeoplatonismo|tenrepresentsit)ora aquasi-sceptica|*
|ourney into ultimate mystery. E|iot's earlier poetry suggest.i1
.
1 Sec, for instance, Kristian Smidt, Poetr and Belief in the Work ofT.S. Eliot (London, 1967. p.
158: Eric Thompson. 7.S. Eliot: The Mall and his Works (Toronto, 1969), p. 8[ ; A.D. Moody,
Thomas Steams Eliot: Poet (Cambridge, 1979), p. 1 31 .
Eliot toJ.H. Woods, 28 January 1915; Eliot to Professor L.B. R. Briggs, 28January 1915;
Eliot to Professor L.B.R. Briggs, IOJuly 1915; Eliot toJ.H. Woods, 28 December 1915. in The
LueoT.S. Eliot, cd. Valerie Eliot, vol. 1 -, conlinuing {London, 1988), 1, JJ922, pp. 84.
85, 109. 1 24.
3 I am drawing partly on distinctions between monology and dialogy elaborated by Mikhail
Bakhtin in Problems ojDostoevsky's Paetics, ed. and trans. Caryl Emerson (Mancheter, 1984)
and The Dialogic Imagination, cd. Michael Holquist and trans. Caryl Emeron and Michael
Holquist (Austin, Texas, (981). For PlatonicinOuence in Four (artets, sec Maud Ellman, The
Poetics q lmpersonali!: T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound (Brighton, 1987), pp. 1 1 9-20.
'If Platonism from age to age has meant, for some, a doctrine of "being", or the nearest
attainable approach to or substitution for that: for others, Platonism has been in fact only
another name for scepticism, in a recognisable philosophical tradition': Walter Pater, PlaiD
and Platonism (New York, 1969), p. 194 On Pater and Plato, see Anne Varty, pp. 257-67,
above. In his essay of 1930, 'Arnold and Pater', Eliot shows himself familiar with Pater's text
sec T.S. Eliot, Selected Essays (London, 1958), p. 440. I am gratcful to my colleague Beverley
Southgate, for information that both Montaigne and Hegel entertained the notion of Plato's
possible scepticism.
Plato and Eliot's earlier verse
29
9
lattet.Theexetciseo|questioningwil|beasttongthemeinthisessay.
Socrates,P|atoandE|iotarealikeindeemingthe'unexamined |i|e'
cItura|
histoty, Eliot's areer can easi|y be consttued as an end-ditected
pilgrimagetowards Christian|aith |whete bothPlatoandAtistotle
make a conttibution), his inquity was always tooted in Soctatic
humility|'"IcanconnectjNothingwithnot')andSoctates'
unceasingintertoganssi|nedge'Atetheseideas
tightorwrong?'
It is well known that the loundation o|Eliot's poetic style was
|ormedthtoughanabsorptionintheverseo|]ulesLa|otguebetween
theyeats [908 and [ 9 [ 2. Eliotwou|d laterdiscussLa|orgue |a|ong
withTristan Cotbite) asa 'metaphysica|' poet, because his verse
'acquitesemotionalcoloutingbyentettainingmetaphysicalbelie|s'.'
Stylistica|ly, howevet, it is the itonic tteatment o| intellectual
absttactions tathet than any entettainment o|belie|which E|iot
appropriated |rom the Ftench symbo|ist. By adapting the mock-
sceptica|stanceand !i|tingly itonic tone, Eliot wasable to trans|et
La|orgue's suburban cabaret |with its Piertotsand Shakespeatian
poseurs) intoanurban,intetiotisedsymposiumwherewhatis atissue,
hnally,isalwaysaquasi-Socraticinterrogationo|teality.In'Poems
Written in Ear|y Youth' a Socratic sel|-consciousness emerges
abruptly |rom the La|orguean pastiche - 'Logica mationette's a||
wrong j O| premises' |'Humoutesque'), 'Yout shadow leaping
behindthenteagainstthetedtock'|'TheDeatho|SaintNarcissus'),
'Onthedootstepo|theAbsolute' |'Spleen') .*
Intheeatliest-wtitteno|thepoemspublishedinPrufrock and Other
Observations ( [ 9[ 7) theimage-tea|mo|urbana|ienationissubjected
to thotough-going metaphysicalquestioning. 'Pteludes' is initially
consttuctedouto| aplethotao|metonymicutbandetailschatactetised
as 'masquetades'. Eliot's questioning concetns what the day's
'consciousness'consistsin,whethetthe'sou|' hereisanythingmote
ih_ordidimages'andwhaT'otion` onhneget:utie
_
-
an
suerin:muhman.Thepoemendswithadismissive|aughandan
, The Waste Land, 11. 301-2, The Complele Pocmsalld Plays ofT.S. Eliot (London, 1969), p. 70. All
reference will be to this volume. 'Portrait of a Lady', ibid., p. 20.
, Quoted from Eliot's eighth Clark Leclure in Ronald Bush, T.S. Eliot: A Study ill Charaeler alld
SVlc (Oxford, Ig8S), pp.
'
73
-
4. " Complete Poems and Plays, pp. 587-606.
Ibid., pp. 22-3.
oo DENNI S BROWN
evocationo| endcs:cosmicT:x.yetalreadyherethemethodo|P|ato
as the seach |or higher :vti:t a rea|m of
.
mman:izI
phenomena-isgiven haungrea|isationasaninitiation .opocti
n T rguean irony has enab|ed liot to estab|h a sel|-
questioning phi|osophica| verse akin to P|atonic dia|ogue. As
R.Peacockhassuggested.' [|iot's 1 theoryo| voicescou|da|sobesaid
to be inuenced by P|ato's basic poetic |orms. P|ato distinguished
|orms accordingto the'direct' or'indirect'addresso|thepoet . . .
|iot'saddressistohimse|fneitherdirectnorindirectbutneutra|.'
nd,justa
mp rtot|y, P|ato'swritingsprovd tg
vision
oe`demotic,sensuaIwa \
g
o|r
sh_
C
|
|igt
\ou|tat=|it'oethe
withanideal,intheormo|theAbso|ute,towardswhichtheear|ier
r
o
rspin aaie
contentim ` ``
PRUFROCK
Themostaccomp|ishedo||iot'sear|iestpoemsis'TheLoveSongo|
]. A||red Pru|rock'.1
2 !t is in the |orm o| a modi6ed dramatic
mono|ogue,setagainstanepigraph|romtheIr(sme,andisreminiscent
o|aShakespearianso|i|oquy,aswe||asBrowning'sstudieso|'action
incharacter' .However,itisamorephilosophica|Iydialogicalpoem
thanprecedentswouldsuggest. ora||itsear|y-modernsettingand
thepsycho|ogicalcuriosityo|itsspokesman,theinte||ectualspeci6city
o|the poem_ prcdued by |iot's 'address to himse|I which is
e|a
ratd
asaixoticcollatio:
o|hyptheses,rhetorica|questions
and artia|declaions,a|waysunderthesbadowo|someSocratw
er|ulrea|isation.'JoJeadyou toa
rmtnz
question'||. io). AsinP|ato's ear|ier dia|ogues,wehaveadrnised
debatewhere,int!e mannerofbcdranatic u a csons_es
areimagirroththa'ca,voiced- ' ''Thatis not whatI
-
...,., ,.+
I9
R. Peacock, <Eliot's Contribution to Cricism of Drama, in The Literar Crilicim rT.S. Eliot:
New Essas (London, 1977), p. J01.
I
I See 'Falls the Shadow', in Dennis Brown, The Moderist Sel in Twentieth-Centu English
Literature: A Stud.J in SelFragmentalion (London, 1989). pp. '49-58. For 'shaft' ,sccRepublic61 6e.
l2
C(mpletc Poems and Plays, pp. 13-17.
'" ' ''Elenchus'' in the wide sensc means examining a person with regard to a statement hc has
made, by putting to him questions calling for further statements, in the hope that they will
determine the meaning and the truth-value of his frt statement'; 'he elenchus changes
ignorant man from the state orfalscly supposing that they know to the state ofreeognising
that they do not know.' Richard Robinson, Plato's Earlier Dialectic, 2nd cdn (Oxford, 1953),
pp. 7 and I I .
Plato and Eliot's earlier verse
or
meaut at a||' ' ' . ||. o;) Tcpo
exres ai
iute||ectua|'sraica!aienatiouiutheagora o|coutempo
yclty|\|e.
Aud(wo ams i-, she cicdpa6mtit|(l,
aud the 'magic |auteru' throwiug patterued uerves 'ou a screeu'
|p. ro)- remiud us power|u||yo|the couditiou
| Plato'schaiued
prisouersiutheParab|eof the Ca-+||::5f{sq: ' "
Ai thecoreo|thepoemisathirst|oru|timateRea|ity- |orsome
hgh: iooageswhich
30 )1Ieoiccs o|othe-s`
-
characterised typical|y as womeu's voices - utter the words o|
Sophistry as opposed to iuquiry. 'hx you iu a |ormu|ated phrase'
(I. 0).Atthesametime, asiuP|ato'sdia|ogues, theissuecoucerus
virtue as we|| as truth. Se||-uuderstaudiugis a matter o|how oue
shou|dbeaudwhatoueshou|ddo. 'Audwou|dithavebeeuworthit,
a|tera|| . . .?' |!. oo).Thch:
tcuchof|\eSocraiic '
i|cp::a:-6s-| it:vestigatiou,therehearsa|o| tauulisingquestious
au
m,
e
.
" is, esse'iHaU ' r'"
P|atou.31e young i|osophy studeutwho thc oeu)a:
ti|i
dthedia|ogica|methodo|the|ouudiug|athero|the'miudo|
Europe''toexpressaudassessahua||y-persoua||audmoderu)quest
|ortheRea|.
ThesomewhatuucharacteristicquatraiupoemswhichE|iotwrote
betweeuPrufrock audThe Waste Land | r oee) 'areuotverydirect|yiu
pursuito|'v' |beiug) despiteirouicevocatiouo|theNeop|atouic
'Word'.Throughthe|ikeso|BurbaukaudB|eiusteiu,Pipitaudthe
|ow-|i|eSweeuey,theyaremaiu|ycouceruedtosatirisetheiucreasiug|y
democratised wor|do|'themauy'- whereappetite,proh tauds|oth
arethemaiumotives.TheP|atouic impu|sehere,asiusomeo|E|iot's
po|itica|
commeutary 1ater,ce
.
|om th
'risoti i
i:
theui|i :n uwhichi::ormssuchkeytextsase
_
1" 'Whatever he says in any place has an element of the provisional already built into it';
C.J. Rowe, Plalo (Brighton) 1 984). p. 53.
1 Eliot's phrase in 'Tradition and the Individual Talen
t
', Stice/cd Esays, p. 16.
6
See Dennis Brown, /nleriexlu(/ Dynamics Within the Literary Group-Joyce, uwis, POlmd and Eliot:
The Men t 1914 (London, 1990), pp. 73-7.
' 'Mr Eliot's Sunday Morning Service', 1.6, Complete Poems and Plq), p. 54.
oe DENNI S BROWN
Re+Uadihr
samesou|inneat-tetmiua|bteakdowu.
<:- .. . *^`
THE WASTE LAND
Thechie|c|uetoaP|atouiciuteutiuThe Waste Land sut|aces|tomthe
mauusctipt dtas ptiot to Ezta Pouud's editing o|the poem. Iu
sectiouIII, 'TheFiteSetmou',betweeutheappatitiouo|the'demotic'
Mt. Eugeuidesinthe'Uutea|City' audTitesias'sotdidvisiono|a
subutban seductiou, thete is a c|eat te|eteuce to the eective
couc|usiono|P|ato'satgumentiutheReel/i:.'Nothete,0 G|aucou,
butiuauothetwot|d'."Thiscauce||ed |iueisimp|icit|ycouuected
withtheteitetated'butuing'metaphot|tomAugustiue'sConfessions,
siuce the passage iu the Rllic he|ped iuspite The Cir oj God. 21
Howevet,i utheeat|ytwentiesE|iotwas|at|tomcommittedtothe
Chtistiau|aithaudthesatiticvisiono|contempotatyIoudouinThe
Waste Land, as a who|e, is geuuiue|y P|atouic iu its depictiou o|
'democtatic'manho' teemswith . . . p|easutesaudappetites,aud
hisgovetuedby his uuuecessaty desites'(8:llico) ua. wor|d.
o(5ere appenrance and ux. Anothet passage |tomI/e RepUblic
concerns
.
'
,
.
,
.,
'
"
'
'-
"
'--
"
.
dea|,|otIthiuk
at
!
|!9
e
99.!"
'|R:llicoe)
\4
Wyndham Lewis's term, sec my Illterlexillal Dynamics, p. 76. 19 Rowe, Plato, p. 47.
Sec T. S. Eliot, The Waste Llnd: a Facsimile alld Trallscript ojthe Original Drafs Includi"g Ike
AlIllOlatioTs ojE{ra POUId, cd. Valere Eliot (London, '971 ) , p. 128.
`` See the discussions in Grover Smith, The Waste Land (London, 1983), pp. 52-3 and Erik
Svary, The Men of1914: T.S. Eliot and Ear! Moderism (Milton Keynes. 1988), pp. 198f.
Plo/e ooEe/'searlifT verse
The remotenesso|theidea|citv!rom t coiteuporarymetropolisis
prccslv
-
wlmt
Ido
not think that I know what I do not know'. The authorised and
pub|ishedtexto| E|iot'spoemretainsthcstanceotthecancel|ed|ine,it
is |ul|o|dec|arations o|ignorance. ''and I knewnothing'' (1. 40);
''DoI Youknownothing?'' ',(II, r 2r -2) ; ''IcanconnectI Nothing
withnothing'' (II, 300-r ) ; 'These|ragmentsIhaveshoredagainstmy
ruin' (1. 430), IncommentingonhisownessaysonP|ato,E|iothad
contessed his'|ataldisposition towardscepticism'. v
e
+,_usin
'Pru|rock`,scep
ticisnJkehost!ooisbased onaSoctaticoues:v
O enquirandi|t:llyP|atonicin so1arasis petsistent|
yin
pursuito|
ythanis evidentin theimagewor|d otthemundane
-retm w1.Eistheoem`sHi
!
-
:bectmaitev.h
e persne
itiihc
poemare ah'chainedpriso)tts' i\iaucedbyshdows- butthetext
showsthis to be thecaseandsoit presupposessome 'heart ot|ight'
(1. r4) wheretrueawarenessmightoccur. The Waste Looisinpursuit
otthis a|though it tails to hnd it. It constitutes radical|y dialogic
heterog|ossia and concludes, like somc otP|ato's earlierdialogues,
|eavingthekeyissuesverymuchopen.Initsquesttormeaning,two
P|atonic precedent texts seem especia||y re|evant. the Republic, as
suggested,withitspro|ongeddebateaboutthepossibi|ityotestab|ishing
a|ustcitywithintheactua|wor|d,anda|sotheP/oe,thedramatised
interrogationo|thena.ureo|thesou|intheimmediateshadowot death.
TheR]ellicopenswithabrietdisquisitionbytheageingCepha|us,
who quotes Sophocles to the eIJect thatsexua| desire is a torm ot
savagetyranny.ThisisamajorthemeotThe Waste Lootoo,withits
publichouseinnuendoandsordidseduction sceneandwithTiresias
" Stephen Spender, Eliot (London, 1975), pp. 901 19.
thedistancebetweenthetwolovestomore
comic |engths. 'Jhe Love Feast' (eSp, p. r o) , a tit|e ironica||y
evoking Ficino's Symposium as we|| as P|ato's, sets up an extreme
contrastbetweendivine|oveand sexua|ity ata drunken NewYork
party.
In an upper room at midnight,
See us gathered on behalf
Of love according to the gospel
Of the radio-phonograph.
(II. t-)
The tit|e suggests the Christian eucharist ' In an upper room at
midnight' reminds us olthe Last Supper, when the eucharist was
instituted, according to thegospe|' isthe|anguageol|iturgy. Then
the stanza p|unges into bathos. The extreme |inguistic contrasts
continue.'TheLovethatru|esthesunandstars'andthe'enthusiastic
eyes'which'F|ickera|tertitsandbaskets'(II. t o-t t ) . Thecontrastis
both comic and indicative olthe extreme distance between them.
However, he manages to keep the two |oves so c|ose in 'The
Prophets(eSp, pp.t ;-8), thatitcanbereadbothasare|igiousand
asa|ovepoem. Itis apoem about theg|impsesoltheGoodP|ace
whichachi|dhadthroughhispassionlormachinesand|ead-mines,
andends,
And now I have an answer re the face
T|at never will go back in any book
But asks for all ylife
Hewrote it at the timewhen he returned to the church and met
ChesterKa||man. God'slaceor Chester's?Fina||y, themuchmore
1 <Poems t927-1931', 7\. EA, p. 31 .
1 3 Ibid., I t p. 21 , and 'Poems 1931-1936', XVII, EA, p. '45.
DAPHNE TURNER
comp|ex'Iu||aby' |6SP, pp. ro0-;),oneo|thegreatpoemsonthe
Vision o| Eros, combines both the antithesis between and the
c|osenesso|thehumananddivine.TheP|atonicwords'vision'and
'beauty'arerepeatedasthe|overcontemp|ates his'grave'visiono|
'theentire|y beauti|u|'. Yet the hermit and the |overs, vision and
sexua|ityarerhetorica||ysetinopposition and heaccepts thatthe
visionistransient,subjectiveon|y,andthatVenus's|opeis'enchanted`
an ambiguous va|ue. The poem is Neop|atonic in that the erotic
experience|eadstothere|igiousvision |theknowingpost-Freudian
Audenaddsthatthereversehappenstothehermit,whoexperiences
sensua|ecstacy),butqua|ihedin thatthereisnosuggestionthatthe
|oversmustriseabovebeing'human'and'morta|`.Theprayeratthe
endto'hndthemorta|wor|denough'wishestopreservethehumanas
we|l as the divineEros.
Thesepoemsseeromantic|oveasamani|estationo|our|onging|or
a |ost and absolute Good, a |act that |eads Auden to write that
'somethinglikewhatwemeanbyromantic|ove'is|oundinP|ato.'
YetAudenisa|soscepticalaboutwhethersuch|ongingisananamnesis
o|theGood.Heknowsthatitisusua||yregressive,achi|d`swish|or
the |ost Eden o|the mother. the 'promiscuous pastures where the
minotauro|authorityis|ustaro|y-po|yruminantandnothingisat
stake'. 'Oneo|hisbestpoems,'InPraiseo| Limestone'|CSP,p.e8),
owesitscomp|exmixtureo|tonestoacombinationo|thisscepticism
and |onging. With amusement and wit, the voice describes a
back-to-the-womb|andscapewhoseinhabitantsneverhavetogrow
up,thensober|yadmitsthatneither thegreat|ybadnorthegreat|y
goodareathomethere.Fina||y,itaddressesalover,admittingthatits
|oveisinadequateand thata'|au|t|ess|ove'isunimaginab|e,except
bymeanso|thehumanlandscapethatisbothcomica||yawedand
muchdesired.Hissenseo|theabsurdityo|awedhumandesirewith
itsparodyo|anamnesis andhiscompassiontowardsit|ue|thecomp|ex
verseand are typicalo|Auden's |ove poetry.
THE J UST CI TY
Auden`ssad awarenesso|theaws and se|hshnesso|persona||ove
|eadshimtoacknowledgethatitcannotbui|dthe]ustCity.Itistoo
concernedwithitse||anditsob|ect,toolitt|econcernedwiththerest
I 'The Greeks and Us', FA, p. 22.
1
'Cali ban to the Audience', in 'The Sea and the Mirror', eLP, p. 243.
Platonism in Auden
of the world: (' . . . business shivered in a banker's winter I While we
were kissing') - But theJust City is one of his central concerns. Again,
he attacks Plato. His Republic is a tyranny: 'We have seen with our
own eyes the theory . . . pu t in to practice, and the spectacle is
anything but Utopian' . ! ' Throughout his career, he attacks the
closed and authoritarian society in both comic and horrific terms in
such poems as 'The Unknown Citizen' ( 1 939) and 'City without
Walls' ( 1 967) .
Here again Auden defines himself against Plato and is farthest from
him. Auden was as interested in the historical formation of society as
of the individual: 'we arc conscripts to our age' Although he agrees
that Plato's proposed population of 5040 is 'about right', I ' conditions
in the twentieth century are such that we know about other cultures
and are faced with a whole world that must be transformed. The war
in China is a 'local variant'.' The scale of his historical and cultural
survey is necessarily much greater than Plato's. Further, Auden all
through his career insisted on the unique value of every individual
and on the necessity of free will. (He comments that choice is the
weakest part of Greek ethics) . '1 These are Christian values, and
opposed to
Plato's lie of intellect
That all are weak but the Elect.
22
Now, everyone has to be a hero, even the Chinese soldier who died
ignorant of the Good." Finally, he is aware that demands for law and
order may spring from dubious motives,24 and he would certainly
disagree with Laws 797 that 'change - except when it is change from
what is bad - is always highly perilous'.
Yet there is common ground: they both see the necessity for law:
Auden recognises that man is a social being. The question is how to
reconcile private and public, law and freedom. Auden's solution is to
propose the law oflove, a paradox commonplace in Christianity but
quite diferent from Plato's literal idea oflaw. A early as 1 932, long
before he returned to the Christian church, he was writing of
'disciplined love'" as a solution to social injustice, though the phrase
\6
'Poems 1931-1936', 7Vf+ EA, p. tj2.
!J
'The Greeks and Us', FA, p. 29.
I
'New Year Letter', elP, p. 1 '5.
IQ 'Reading', DH, p. 7.
20
'In Time ofWar': " Commcntary\ EA, p. 264.
2I
'The Greeks and Us', FA, p. 28.
22
'New Year Letter', eLP, p. 1 21 .
2
Ibid., p. 126; ' I n Time of War', 7V EA, p. 258.
24 Also 'Letter to Lord Byron" part 2, EA, p. 1 81 .
2
'Poems 1931-1936', 7V+ EA, p. '4.
DAPHNE TURNER
is a vague one. 'September I, 1 939' diagnoses the cause of war as
warped, selfish love. The Christian Auden proposes a 'Law like Love'
( 1 939) . At the end of 'Vespers' ( 1 954) freedom and order are
reconciled by Christ: 'For without a cement of blood (it must be
human, it must be innocent) no secular wall will safely stand' (eSp, p.
333). Auden's Just City is by now both an image of the perfection
which man should strive towards and use to judge actuality, and a
perfection not to be gained through human activity, a state of grace,
Augustine's City of God.
By 1 933, Auden, like Plato, was struggling to reconcile his vision of
love with practical realities. Auden included part of Letter Seven in his
selection from Plato. Plato was brave -and rash -enough to suggest a
system. At least, Auden, after real experience of fascism, took it
seriously as a system, though he admitted that The Republic can be
read as 'playful'." He himsclfinvented systems only in play ('Under
which Lyre'; 'Vespers'; 'Reading': DH, p.6). His Edens - perhaps he
is cocking a snook at Plato? - are emphatically not places oflaw and
order. He has serious objections to the law that is not love, but he
knows that his Eden is regressive and comic. However, the difculty is
seriously treated in 'A Summer Night' ( 1 933). The opening stanzas of
the poem describe an experience of love shared by a group. Auden
calls it 'the Vision of Agape' in his prose account of it (FA, p. 69), and
it was one of the formative moments of his life. Yet most of the poem is
about private joy ignoring what is going on in the world, where the
food is preparing to break over Europe and destroy it, and it is
vulnerable to criticisms of its liberal guilt and wish to retain selfsh
cosiness. Auden's dilemma is that the vision may need 'excuse', and
the poem ends with a prayer, a wish, not an assertion, that the vision
of Agape may be part of a new 'strength' after the world has fallen in
pieces and begun to grow again.
New rear Letter also tackles the problem of building the Just City
'now' at the point of time to which our history and cultural
development has brought us. Again, his solution is Eros - he uses
Plato's word. - whose 'legislative will' is to build it. Since the poem
sketches the development of Western culture from the Renaissance to
the present and outlines various philosophical and theological
positions, it is necessarily analytic and discursive, the short couplets
often epigrammatic. Yet repeatedly the sentences slip on and on for
2v '
The Greeks and Us', FA, p. 29-
Platonism in Auden
long paagraphs, accumulating association and suggestion, until at
the end less has been defined than a vision suggested, and the poem
ends with an invocation of God. Again, the complexity of the poem
comes from the tension between Agape and the material world.
THE ROLE OF THE ARTIST
I would like to end with Auden specifically exploring how the tension
between material and transcendent afects poetry. Auden did not
share Plato's conviction that poetry is necessarily dangerous: 'Poetry
makes nothing happen'" was his conclusion by 1 939. Like Plato,
however, he thought that the demands of truth and good were
paramount. Plato sacrifced poets to the Republic; Auden wrote: 'To
a Christian, unfortunately, both art and science are secular activities,
that is to say, small beer'. ,. They share concern about the truthfulness
of art. 'The Sea and the Mirror' is the poem in which Auden examines
the dilemma of the Christian artist. It is subtitled 'A Commentary on
Shakespeare's The Tempest' . In it, one character from the play after
another speaks: Prospero is the poet, Ariel his imagination, and
Caliban his carnal being. Auden's concerns here are also Plato's:
poetry as magic (Republic 601 ) , without serious claims to truth
(Republic 608); language as inadequate to express the nature of reality
(Letter Seven 342-343).
Auden questions the truth of poetry on these same three grounds.
First, it is a kind of magic. Poets, in this poem, are conjurers (Preface):
that is, they entertain with deceptions and illusions and so are morally
suspect. The source of this desire for illusion, sharcd by writer and
reader, is the wish to deny reality and create a world suited to the self.
Auden draws on metaphors from dream and fairy story to suggest a
childish world rather than an adult grip on reality. Children fantasise
to 'ride away from a father's imperfect justice' (Prospero) , adults to
hold their fear of mortality at bay. Desirable as the magic is, it is a
source of sin: childish dreams ('where each believed all wishes wear a
crown' (Sebastian) ) survive in the murderous adult Sebastian and
make his brother seem so unreal that he is prepared to murder him.
Further, the 'autonomous, completed state(s)
,
" that a poem is
makes it totally diferent from human experience. Ariel is 'unanxious';
he and Auden's poem sing 'lightly'. To Auden the human condition is
17 'Ill Memory ofW.B. Yeats', II, esp, p. Ip.
29
'The Shield of Perseus' ( ' Postscript'), DH, p, 456.
2
9 'New Year Letter', GLP, p. 81 .
DAPHNE TURNER
characterised by necessary freedom and necessary anxiety. Music
(and poetry) can 'only play'30 and consequently 'Art is not life and
cannot be I A midwife to society'." In the Epilogue, Ariel, 'Elegance,
art, fascination', longs to be completed by Cali ban, the fesh, 'drab
mortality'. By playing with the syntax, which makes the word
ambiguous, Auden unites them in the 'I' of the refrain. But this
reconciliation happens only in the poem, not in the real world."
Finally, poetry falsifes. It cannot express the unassimilable.
( Caliban represents this, but is paradoxically assimila
t
ed into the
pattern of the poem.) Language itself falsifies: 'In whose booming
eloquence I Honesty became untrue' (Gonzalo) (CLP, p. 21 5
)
. ' I
never suspected the way of truth I Was a way of silence' , says Prospero
(CLP, p. 209). It is at the moment when 'there is nothing to say' that
we glimpse the 'real Word' ( Caliban) (CLP, p. 249) . That ultimate
truth cannot be spoken is familiar from the mystics, and is the central
dilemma of the Christian poet.
However, faced with these Platonic doubts, Auden does not banish
the poets. He preserves them both as a mirror in which we see the
distance between what we are and what we should be, and as an
inadequate refection of the real, an extension of the Platonic Eros.
The honesty of art is to acknowledge that it is 'tall tales' only and that
truth is found in silence:
What but tall tales, the luck of verbal playing,
Can trick his lying nature into saying
That love, or truth in any serious sense,
Like orthodoxy, is a reticence33
This provides ajustifcation for Auden's playfulness and inventiveness,
and is where for him the moral and aesthetic combine. 'The Sea and
the Mirror' exemplifes what it says. It is teasingly about another
work of art ( The Tempest) about art; it playfully modernises Prospero;
Cali ban's monologue is absurdly inappropriate: an extraordinarily
elaborate parody of late Henry James; it handles one difcult lyric
form after another; it puns and plays with the material of language.
And it asks
Can I learn to suffer
Without saying something ironic or funny
On sufering?
(Prospera, eLP, p. 209)
( 'Anthem for St. Cecilia's Day', II, esp, p. I74. " 'New Year Letter', eLF, p. Sf.
n 'The Virgin and the Dynamo', Df, p. 71 .
33 'The Truest Poetry is the Most Feigning" esp, p. 31 7.
Platonism in Auden
I w
ouldlikc to suggest that in this fine poem about poetry the struggle
between Platonist and poet in Auden leads to some of his most
characteristic poctry: a playful, witty display of technical mastery,
which actually produces haunting sadness, because it emphasises the
gap between its own surface and the painful longing for an elusive and
perfect truth.
CHAPTER 3 0
Platonism in Iris Murdoch
Peter Conradi
Iris Murdoch poses two questions that link her intimately to Plato:
what is goodness or what is a good man like? And what is the place of
love and desire within the quest for goodness? These questions recur
throughout her twenty-four (to date) novels and her few, sometimes
slender and yet very infuential works of moral philosophy. The
nature of goodness and its relationship with love: these are
preoccupations in her philosophy and her fction alike.
The West owes to Plato the invention of the soul, and thus also the
idea of morality as aspiration. Just as Plato's picture of man as
possessing a soul was a revolutionary one,' so to argue for the soul
today has once again become a radical move. Unlike Plato, Murdoch
certainly does not wish to argue for the soul's immortality: rather she
wishes to insist that human life concerns a mysterious battle between
good and evil, and that we are essentially spiritual beings.
This distinguishes her from other twentieth-century writers who
are Plato-haunted. The Modernists- Eliot, Pound, Yeats -often turn
to Plato for an aesthetic rationale. They variously find in Plato ways of
under-writing the authority of the separate and other-worldly realm
of art. Art is to occupy a zone beyond either history, contingency or
messy individuality, and beyond, indeed, democracy too. The
Modernists and Symbolists 'refuse to conceive of perfection in human
terms';' which is to say that they seek to redeem the horrors of
contingency - of chance and necessity, or, as a Neoplatonist might
put it, of multiplicity - through a resort to myth and symbol. They
attempt a literature of the 'metaphysical task',' to whose stylistic
self-consciousness and narcissism, and whose tendencies towards
abstraction and integration, Murdoch's early essays are hostile.
1 Sec F.M. Cornford. Beore and After Socrates (Cambridge, 1932).
2 Iris Murdoch, 'The Sublime and the Beautiful Revisited', Yale Review, 49
(
1959), 247-71 .
3 Murdoch, SaTlrt, Romol/lie Ratiol/olist (London, 1953), p. 30.
330
Platonism in Iris Murdoch
331
Modernism is marked by an apocalyptic hatred of the present and a
disdain for ordinary consciousness; and by a conception of the artist
borrowed from Romanticism as an aristocrat doomed to exile in an
inhospitable age. Eliot's
'
work, for example, is marked alike by a fear
of sexuality and an elegiac mistrust of the contemporary. joyce
simultaneously exalts and demeans the characters of Ulysses through
his mock-epic, mock-heroic and essentially comedic Homeric corre
spondences. Woolf holds out a distant promise that the fux in which
we are immersed might be redeemed by symbol, by art, and by love.
Murdoch, by contrast - and perhaps in this echoing Auden - argues
for a greater patience with this flux, with the difculties of knowing
other people, which can happen only through the agencies oflove and
attention. Art is for her an imperfect realm, even at best. Yet it is
precisely because art is necessarily wounded, in her view, that it can
help to heal the imperfect human world it must refect and serve.
Perhaps this is to say that there have always been two Platos, not
one. The authoritarian Plato feared by Popper never constituted the
whole story.' In 1 866 Walter Pater attacked Coleridge's 'lust for the
Absolute' and chose a more relaxed and sceptical position (see Anne
Varty, pp. 261-2 above). Against Coleridge's remorseless idealism
with its coercion of human diference, Pater argued for a liberal
Platonism, and for the habit of 'tentative thinking and suspended
judgement'.' For this Platonism the novel has always been an apt
vehicle, as D.H. Lawrence pointed out, mercifully incapable of the
Absolute.julia Kristeva has noted the resemblance between Socratic
dialogue and the ambivalent word of the novel;' and Bakhtin too saw
how the Dialogues subvert any claims to ready-made truth, a
subversion he admires in fction too.' As Iris Murdoch has put this
herself, the novel is 'the most imperfect of art-forms'.'
In her own fction, the idea of provisionality itself has always had
some special power. In her frst novel Under the Net ( 1 954) with its
rapidly changing and collapsing scenery, the artist-narrator jake,
who 'hates contingency" is taught by the plot and by his foil Hugo
Belfounder, to move towards some healing surrender to the picaresque
K. Popper, Tie Opell Society and its Enemies, Vvols (London, 1 962) , vol. 1 'The Spell of Plato' .
Patcr'sarticlcin Westminster Reuiew, 8S (1866), 49-5()WlS published anonymously. Sec also his
Plato and Platonism (Londoll, 1893), and Anne VarlY's essay in this volume.
Julia Kl'istcva, Desire in /anglge, lrans. L. Roudicz et af. (Oxford, Ig80), pp. 80n:
Mikhail Bakhtin, ProhlemsoJDostotvsky's Poetics, trAns. and c. C. i':mcrson (Manchester, 1984).
Murdoch, 'I'oree Fields', New S/(tesmal, 3 Nov.
1
978, p. 586.
Murdoch, UI/der tlu .Net (Harmondsworth) 1954), p. 24
332 PETER CONRADI
sea of contingency i n which he, like everyone, is immersed. Hugo has
the instructive gift of being able to love and honour particulars, as
well as to renounce a selfsh love. The diferent modes of being and
seeing embodied by Jake and Hugo mark the frst of Murdoch's
recurrent oppositions between artist and saint. 10 Her rapid supercession
of one novel by another, her throw-away imagery and migrating
themes and motifs, pick up this aspect of Platonism. In the Theatetus
Plato dismisses one of his own arguments. In the Parmenides and Sophist
he dismantles earlier imagery to replace it with new imagery in the
Timaeus where, however, he warns his readers against looking for
more than a likely story. Since the Good itself is indefnable and
cannot be inscribed, her work, like Plato's, is in pursuit of imperfection,
I1
'an investigation that never ends, rather than a means of resolving
anything', " as she has put it.
THE MORAL ENQUI RY
As for the nature of this enquiry, itis ofcourse a moral one. Two ofIris
Murdoch's early lovers were, one directly in ' 944, the other indirectly
in 1952, victims of Hitler and died young." Moreover Murdoch spent
the period ' 944-6 working as Administrative Ofcer with the United
Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration in England,
Belgium and Austria, working with victims of concentration camps
and deportations. Yet philosophy, in the very period of Hitler and
Stalin, had emasculated itself and become the whore ofa Rationalism
at once 'scientistic' and romantic, incapable ofinterestingly addressing
the moral. Existentialism had then at least the apparent attraction of
continuing to speak of consciousness and of value at a time when
Anglo-Saxon philosophy was bankrupt of ability to speak interestingly
of either. Murdoch explored Existentialism and wrote a notable early
book on Sartre.14 Yet both Existentialism and Anglo-Saxon philosophy
came, in the end, to seem equally facile. Both evacuated inwardness
through dignifying a romantic voluntarism or cult of the will. Both
falsely divided man between an image of total freedom and
determinism. Indeed Murdoch came to see the Anglo-Saxon tradition
as crypto-Existentialist.
!9
Sec Peter J. Conradi, Iris Murdoch: Te Saint and the Artist, 2nd cdn (London, tg8g), passim,
{i'om which the present essay borrows f'cely.
I I
Sec Lorna Sage, 'The Pursuit ofimpcr[cction'. Critical Qparler{, 19 ( 1 977). 67-87.
11
J. Barrows, 'Living Writers, 7'. John o'London\ 4 May 1961, p. 495.
13 S. Summers and F. Hauplfuhrcr, 'The Lost Loves ofirish Murdoch', Mail or: Sulay: You
Maga:nc, s june J988, pp. '7-21. 14 Sec note 3.
Platonim in Iis Murdoch
333
Murdoch's philosophy and fiction alike are thereafter in strong
revolt against this world-view and of the popular 'hero-of-the-will' to
whom Existentialism hac! given birth in mid-century fiction." In the
1 950S she found a valuable ally in this battle in the work of Simone
Wei!, whose thought helped deepen her moral address, and also
enabled her the better to understand Plato, whom she had been
routinely taught at Oxford, and was herself teaching. At Oxford
'there was no wide consideration of [Plato], he was simply
misunderstood. I learnt nothing of value about him as an undergraduate
(he was regarded as 'literature') . . . Simone Wei! helped me very
much'. Having read 'Greats' herself as a student, Murdoch was able
to return to him in the original Greek - 'his voice sounds in Greek'.
Weil, drawing on Plato, on the Christian mystics and on Buddhism,
saw morality as a form of un-selfng through the discipline of
attention. What this comes to mean, in Murdoch's reinterpretation,
is that human beings inhabit a cloud of egoistic fantasy, designed to
protect the psyche from pain. Such fantasy is not neutral but highly
consequcntial - the 'grayity' in Weil's famous phrase, that prevents
'grace' . " The power ofimaginativc attention alone can - albeit with
difculty - cut through this fantastic reverie and start to reveal the
world and its inhabitants more accurately. Real freedom is not in this
view ajumping-about of the will but the total absence of concern for
Self, the energy of which is burnt up in its strenuous effort to proceed
towards the Good, which is to say the Real. Murdoch uses two myths
as explanatory devices to describe this pilgrimage away from fantasy
and towards the Real. Crucial to this enquiry is the Platonic myth of
the Fire and the Sun. (To her use of myth of Apollo and Marsyas, I
return later).
The Sovereignt oJGood ( 1 970) leads up slowly to an exposition of the
frst of these myths. Its austere project is to rescue a religious picture of
man from the necessary and in some ways welcome collapse of all
dogma, to attack all forms of false consolation, romanticism, and
self-consciousness, and to address the degeneration of Good within
morals. The disappearance of God is not for her an excuse for the
intense metaphysical sel/:pity of so many twentieth-century writers.
On the contrary, it poses an essential challenge. Without the childish
bribes of 'God-the-Father' and the after-life, religion - if it neither
disappears nor becomes demonic - could at last come into its own.
' Sec Murdoch's 'Existentialists and My:lics' in W. Rohson (cd.), Esaysalld Poems Presented /0
Lord David Cecil (London, 1970).
I6
Lettel' to the author, January 1992.
I7
S. Weil, Groviry llId Grace, trauslated by E. Craufurd (London, 1952).
PETER CONRAD!
Man could at last, i n a famous phrase, be good]or nothing. ` The idea
of a reward for virtue appears to her, as to other mystics, blasphemous,
and to call into question the idea of goodness itself in the frst place.
She is sustained in this quest to reinvent the spirit of morality and
truth by Plato's discovery of the Form of the Good, and the
'ontological proof' which supports it."
In The Sovereignty rifGood Murdoch memorably reinterprets Plato's
great myth of the Fire and the Sun, to make room for Freud and
Existentialism within it. This myth shows the moral pilgrim progressing
through a series of states of consciousness, each of which turns out to
seem provisional, obsolescent, illusory, as it is seen through and
discarded. The prisoners who manage to turn round at look at the fre
are seen as having achieved the feat, of which so much fuss has been
made in contemporary thinking, of selawareness. The Fire, in other
words, is seen as something like the Freudian Ego: a source of real heat
and light which we may falsely mistake for that of the Sun. The
victory of psychoanalysis (and perhaps Existentialism) is to teach us
to turn round sufficiently to confront this energetic heat-and-light
source. But this is a dangerous discovery by which we may be further
distracted, fascinated, and delayed. Freud in other words gives us
among the best and most 'up-to-date' pictures we have of life in the
Cave, and of the Fallen man who lives there, enslaved to fantasy and
therefore doomed to relive the patterns of mechanical desire. He says
nothing, on the other hand, about life in the Sun. Freud wanted to
make men workable: Plato wanted to make men good.
Although I shall address Murdoch's fiction later on, its treatment
of psychoanalysts and psychiatrists could be mentioned here, a
treatment often satirical, if not hostile. Palmer Anderson in A Severed
Head ( 1 96! ) is typical in his pronouncements about the psyche being
largely mechanical, 'and mechanical models are tl,e best to understand
it by'." Palmer thus gives the best available description of the
mechanics of the novel's plot, which was widely misunderstood by
critics, and which turns upon a series of compensatory promiscuous
love-afairs, each energised by individual life-myths. But Palmer is
also a demon, and expresses this dangerous half-truth about the
\6
The phrase is oddly given to the demonic priest Carel Fisher in The Time oj fhe Angels (Sl
Albans, 1978), p. 1 65.
' Murdoch fully discusses this dificuil idea in Metaphysics as a Guide fo Morals (London, 1992),
eh. 13, 'The Ontological Proor.
?9
Murdoch, A Severed Head (Hal'mondsworth, 1963), p. 31 .
Platonism in Iris Murdoch
335
psyche-in-the-Cave in order to further his own interests in terms of
lovc and power. Psychoanalysis 'generates self-concern, it degrades
Eros, it lacks and so cannot account for spiritual purpose, it is too
abstract and crude to c
a
pture the complex thereness ofpersons' .'l In
The Black Prince ( 1 97
3
) the author campaigns against and equates
Freudians and rcductionists, and in the Dostoevskian failure and
buffoon Francis Marloe, fnds cxactly such a fatuous misinterpreter of
the novel's events. In the next novel The Sacred and Profance Love
Machine ( 1974), Blaise Gavender is a psychiatrist who is also a
temporiser, a sexual cheat and a poor listener who reduces all
experience to formula. Only in The Good AIJlmntice ( 1 985) is there a
'good' psychiatrist in Thomas McCaskcrville, and his virtue is in
exact proportion to his disillusion with psychiatry and his adoption of
a quasi-Buddhist philosophy of dying-into-life in its place.
'Freud more than once labels himself as a Platonist'," Murdoch
tells us; and wherc shc admircs Freud, it is oftcn when Freud's
indebtedness to Plato can be elicited. The discovery of the unconscious
can be related back both to the Cave and to doctrine of anamnesis, for
example. But, above all, Freud vouchsafed that 'the enlarged
sexuality of psycho-analysis coincides with the Eros of the divine
Plato'." Eros, to the Greeks, is a divine power driving us towards the
world and linking us with others. Socrates speaks of love as the on!
thing he understands (Symposium 1 77d). And Weil, asking rhetorically
for the name of the force that enslaves the prisoners within the Cave,
and for the name of the force that liberates, gives the same answer to
each question: Eros, or the doctrine of the continuity of apparently
disparate and unlike desires." Low Eros (blind, obsessive, mechanical
desire) enslaves; High Eros (desire educated or purified) liberates.
Like Plato and Freud, Murdoch gives to sexual love and to
transformed sexual energy the central place in her thinking. The
Erotic dialogues (Symposium; Phaedrus) complete the myth of the Fire
and the Sun, by evoking the processes by which we learn to purify and
educate this desire-stream. 'A purified sexual desirc, the good Eros,
could lead us to Enlightenment':" that is, could help start to move us
away from fantasy toward a more accurate apprehension of the
2\
D
avid GOI'don, 'Iris Murdoch's Comedies of Unsdfing', Twmtietl Centur Literatute, 36
(1990), 123.
` Mm'doch, ,He/asics as a G/lide 0 Momls, eh. I.
" Freud, Three Esays 0R l/e Theor ofStxllaliry (London, 1977), p. 1.3-
Simone Weil, Notebooks, vol. V trails. A. Wills (London, 1956), PI'. 383-4'
" MUI'doch, 'Art is the Imitlltion orNatlrc', CaMers dll Cenlre de Reclurclltssur les Pays dlt Nord ct
du .NordOllest ( 1 978). 60.
PETER CONRADI
contingency and variety of the world and of the uniqueness of the
individuals it contains.
Love and goodness, in other words, are at the centre of Murdoch's
thought and relate her moral philosophy to her fction, if not always
simply. Both her ethics and her fction concern the understanding of
individuals; and individuals have a way of cutting through theory,
particularly in a good novel.
THE AESTHETIC ENQUI R Y
As I have suggested, Murdoch refuses to separate the ideal, the
transcendent, from the flux of actual life. Philosophy and art must
have experiential dimensions for her, rather than act as an access to
any other realm than the one we already share but fail, in her view, to
see. Transcendence, in other words, means transcendence of the ego,
not of the sublunary world itself. Like another recent Platonist,
Hans-Georg Gadamer, Murdoch takes the Platonic myths not as an
ecstacy that transports us to another world, but as ironic counter
images ofthe.process by which we attain a more accurate perception
of this one. Love and its purification provide one means to this end;
the other -as for all Neoplatonists -is of course art. Love and art are
paths towards the Good, which is to say that they may provide a
means towards un-selfing.
In The Fire and the Sun ( 1977) she lucidly explicates Plato's distrust of
art, contesting that distrust as if to a commentator on the contemporary
scene, connecting Plato's objections to those other humblers of art,
Kant and Freud. Plato wrote poetry which he later destroyed, and is
himself a great artist so far as his invention and supercession of his own
imagery is concerned. The fgure of an anti-art artist who fears or
suspects his own talent recurs in her early novels, in Hugo from Under
the Net and B1edyard in The Sandcastle. Yet Plato 'never did justice to the
unique truth-conveying capacities of art'." She rejects the classic
Neoplatonicsleight-of-hand by which art C(-opts the Forms themselves,
a view untruthful about the degree to which even great art is on terms
not just with contingency but with muddle. Art is, on the other hand,
'at least more valuable to the moralist as an auxiliary than it is
dangerous as an enemy'." It is indeed the greatest of what Weil terms
our metaxu or intermediaries, those messengers that either lead us
towards the spiritual or point in its direction.
" Murdoch, The Fire and lhe Sun (Oxford, (977). p. 85. " Ibid., p. 77.
Platonism in Ir Murdoch
337
In Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals ( [ 992), loosely based on her [ 982
Giford lectures, Plato i s described as aware of current twentieth
century problems. This is partly because, for her, we still live in a
Greek light, partly because she fnds in Plato an acute commentator
on such contemporary issues as doubts about the empirical self, as
well as doubts about the ontological and moral ambiguity of art,
which makes of Plato a forerunner of the structuralists. Plato's interest
in iconoclasm, demythologisation and morality takes on a special
force since Plato, like us, inhabits an age in which our entire
world-view, religion included, is undergoing systematic 'demythologisa
tion' (a key word in this study) , and the 'Noble Lies' by which we live
become problematic. Plato is her hero because he champions
transcendence and sees demythologisation as a route towards it (as in
the Allegory of Fire and Sun). Structuralism is the enemy because it
demythologises transcendence itself This touches both religion and
art. Christianity is to survive through being demythologised: Christ
becomes the Buddha-of-the-West, a human not a divine figure whose
life is in itselfa kind of showing. And what is shown by a good life is the
pilgrimage towards the sun, itself a process of demythologisation or
discarding of specious and illusory goods. So far as art goes, a
triumphalist view of grea t art is again rehearsed, through which the
mysteries of good and evil can be re-explained in each generation.
Though much of this book is detailed and technical and directed
towar
d
s the professional philosopher, there is none the less some
interesting literary criticism, notably of Shakespearian tragedy.
The most accessible account of Murdoch's conversation with Plato
is to be found in Acastos, the two Platonic dialogues she published in
[986. In that each contains a group of characters, they recall the
Symposium. But they are also imaginative treatises, within which Plato
is depicted as an unbalanced twenty-year-old whose moral absolutism
needs to be tempered by Socrates' wisdom. Both Plato and Socrates
here are aspects ofa single truth, and form two halves of the dualism I
earlier noted. They may also be said to represent two aspects of Iris
Murdoch herself
These dialogues are to be performed in either 'period' or modern
dress, with only one episode (concerning slavery) requiring adaptation
in the former case. I t is striking that an author should use the dialogue
form successfully today, and the 'platform' performances (so-called)
of Art and Eros at the National Theatre in [ 982 were memorable and
well-received. Both work not just as pastiche but are also flled with a
ferce and contemporary moral urgency. Murdoch's Platonism has
33
8 PETER CONRADI
always been open to currents of contemporary thought. Rather than
using him to levitate out of our condition, she has sought with his help
the more zealously to engage with her time. Her Plato is our
contemporary since he pioneers a way of thinking about the fate of
spirituality, and the fate of art, in a post-religious age. The first
dialogue Art and Eros - centres on art; the second, Above the Gods, on
religion. But the fate of spirituality figures in both. Both see the
present age as a dangerous interim, with the survival of religion
beyond mere superstition and magic in question. Both debate the
need for a re-invention of religion, for its continual remaking into
something we can believe. Both concern the place of Eros, in life and
in art:
Art comes from the deep soul where a great force lives, and this force is sex
and love and desire -desire f01 power, desire for knowledge, desire for God -
what makes us good or bad - and without this force there is no art, and no
science either and no, no man-without Eros man is a ghost. But with Eros he
can be - either a demon or - Socrates.28
EROS IN THE NOVE' LS
Murdoch's philosophy, on the one hand, points towards a 'higher'
and more sublimated consciousness, associated with virtue. Her
tragi-comic plots, on the other hand, are frequently chronicles of
desublimation and of the punishment and even annihilation of
puritans. The idea-play enjoins a slow unselfng ('We cannot
suddenly change ourselves');" the action warns us, as does Weil in her
study The Need for Roots, against a fast unselfing.
The depiction of Eros is necessarily complicated by the fact that art
has its own roots in the unconscious, which is to say in the Cave, the
realm of substitution and repetition; and, despite some priggish
interpretations, Murdoch's fictional treatments of Eros are not
narrowly moralistic but, at their best, generous, humane and above
all comic. "ith these provisos, certain Platonic themes recur: the view
of human life as a pilgrimage away from fantasy and towards
imagination; the concern, from Hugo in Under the Net to Stuart in The
Good Apprentice to depict a good person who is always -like Socrates in
the Symposium a particular good person, one whose idiosyncrasies and
virtues necessarily interpenetrate; the confict of saint and artist
which I have discussed elsewhere.
28 Murdoch, Acaslos: Two Platollic Dialogues (London, 1987), p. 53.
29 Murdoch, The SOlJereigllg ofGood (London, 1970), p. 39.
Platonism in Iris Murdoch
339
Murdoch's fction may be crudely divided into three phases: the
early novels of the 1 950s, in which she rehearses with great assurance
diferent sub-genres of romance; a middle period d
;
'ring the 1 960s
during which she struggl
e
s with, and against, her own Platonism; and
a mature phase starting in 1 970 with A Fairl Honourable Dieat, where
her desire to explore character, as well as tell an ingenious story,
comes into its own. I shall look briefly at each phase.
In The Bell, her most achieved early novel, a background
Platonism is already visible. I t is the frst in what is to become a series
of novels that take a leading character with a spoiled religious
vocation - a spoiled priest (Henr and Cato; The Philosopher's Pupil),
monk ( The Nice and the Good) , or nun (Nuns and Soldiers). The novels
witness her interest in the purifying of Eros. Michael Meade, failed
priest and failed schoolmaster, gives up his family home, Imber
Court, to become a place of religious retreat. There is a motto on the
old house AMOR VITA MEA which echoes the inscription on the
other-worldly bell of the title EGO vox AMORIS SUM: Amor, or Eros,
rules everywhere. Michael is typical of many of Murdoch's fctional
ascetics and would-be seekers who wish to levitate prematurely out of
their condition and leave it behind: to be better than they should be.
The way up, however, as for Heraclitus, turns out to be the way
down. The actual plot forces Michael, like other aspirants, into a
deeper and humbler apprehension of the energies that have shaped
his life as it alread is, an education that characteristically resembles a
kalabasis or descent into chaos or contingency. The chastening he
movingly sufers is an encounter with the sublime, a purging descent
into particulars.
The middle phase that followed The Bell could be termed her most
'mythological' . It coincided with the I 960s, that decade ofa general
rediscovery of Eros by so many in the West, for which her work can be
read both as prophecy and as map. It now seems that she was, during
the I 960s, struggling to transmute her Platonism into an intelligible
public rhetoric. Reviewers were sometimes left unconvinced and she
may temporarily have lost readers also. Her chief ambition as a
novelist - to allow the expansion of character to occur against the
'myth' of the novel -was in this decade sometimes left half-realised. If
there is a key to understanding a Murdoch plot of this vintage, it is
given variously by Palmer Anderson when he pronounces on the
essentially mechanical nature of the psyche;" by the yet more
30 Murdoch, Severed Head. p. St .
PETER CONRADI
demonic Julius King when he sneers that, 'Human beings are
essentially fnders of substitutes . . . Anyone will do to play the roles;'"
and by Bradley Pearson's insight that, 'the
'
unconscious delights in
identifying people with each other. It has only a few characters to
play with.'''
.
We could translate this into Platonic-Freudian language by saying
that human beings inhabit the Cave where, in being victims of blind
and unconscious need, they repeat certain relationships, whose victims
they then become. Many novels at this period employ
'
a repeating
plot, and show their characters as slaves or casualties of repetition or
substitution. This 'insight' sometimes reads stylishly, sometimes
schematically. As for 'goodness', and the chances of seeing and
celebrating human 'otherness', many Murdoch characters undergo a
crash-course in maturity and are inducted into the mysteries of our
communal enslavement in ways which may - although the endings
are ofen equivocal - augur slightly better for their future chances of
transcending slavery.
One important enemy to goodness often lies in the power of the
past. Among the most successful novels of the 1 960s are The Nice and
the Good ( 1 968) and Bruno's Dream ( 1 969). Plato is recalled in each
title. The Nice and the Good pain ts to what separates ordinary hedonism
from virtue, taking a whole cast of character variously and comically
haunted by past misfortune, and exploring the ways very diferent
temperaments move variously towards love, forgiveness, and recon
ciliation. As for Bruno's 'dream', it is also his eikasia, the lowest stage of
Platonic illusion. The very elderly Bruno also wishes to make his
peace with the past, and his dying is lovingly set against a symbolic
city-scape of Fulham, Baron's Court and Battersea, between the Lots
Road power-station, fguring the naked energies of Eros - and the
Brompton Road cemetery (death), while the river Thames runs
redemptively (or not) nearby. These Neoplatonic themes oflove and
death are worked out with a characteristic nerve and inventiveness
and 'worked' also through the dance of the lovers that, as often,
occupies the foreground. 'One isn't anything, and yet one loves
people', is Diana's very moving anagnorisis, nursing the dying Bruno
at the end, awoken to a vision of love purifed or purged that echoes
Bruno's own dying wisdom.
Such playful schematism, however, begins to look crude when set
' Murdoch, A Fairly HDIDurable Defeat (Harmondsworth, (972), p. 233.
32 The Back Prince (Harmondsworth, 1 975). p. 195.
Platonism in Iris Murdoch
34[
by the side of the best work of her latest phase, from [ 970 onwards.
Although A FairlY Honourable Difeat ( [ 970), which inaugurates this
mature phase, makes use of allegory, it is an enabling, not a
determining use; and the
escape from allegory is the rule from now on.
The shape of her career has been towards a use of myth that is
consciously disposable and provisional, subordinated to character. As
she becomes surer of her own moral psychology and philosophy, she
becomes less absolute, more dialectical and playful, patient and
relaxed. Her explorations during the [ 960s look like a necessary
prelude to her mature phase, where she is able to combine
atmospheric intensity and poetry, with a newly powerful grasp of
character. And her best work from this date also often recalls
Shakespeare, who ofers a model to her desire to marry the pleasures
of an unusual tale and a naturalistic use of character.
This mature phase begins, with triumphant confidence, with the
superbly assured A FairlY Honourable Difeat, a Mozartian novel set in
South Kensington, involving a psycllOmachia between a Christ-fgure
and a Satan-fgure, and the destruction of the blandly optimistic
Platonist Rupert Foster. He is destroyed not becau
s
e his ethic is false
'cosy Platonic uplift'" as the devilish Julius puts i t - but because he is
unable fully to inhabit it.
In The Black Prince ( ( 973) the question of whether this philosophy is
fully habitable by anyone gets addressed. If one had to single out one
novel that, more than any other, bears the marks of Murdoch's
absorption in Platonic thought, it would have to be The Black Prince
( ( 973). A gripping thriller, a black book about marriage and about
authorial rivalry, it is also a reflective book about the Platonic Eros, in
all its darkness and ambiguous power. It is sub-titled 'A celebration of
love', since, 'man's creative struggle, his search for wisdom and truth,
is a love story' (p. 9) . The novel is narrated by Bradley Pearson, but
framed by Bradley's prison-friend 'Loxias' - one name of Apollo -
and there are allusions, some jokey, throughout, to that greatest of
Neoplatonic myths of ascesis, the flaying of Marsyas by Apollo."
Bradley is frst fayed by undergoing much that frightens him. He is
a spinsterish, puritanical, selfsh, blocked writer who fears women,
betrayal, emotion, loss of control. He is waiting for the right
conditions to write his masterpiece (the novel itself) : but it is precisely
Dial, p, 222.
` Sec Edgar Wind, Pagan Mysteries il tie Renaissance (London, 1968). eh. xi, 'The Flaying of
Marsyas', pp. 173f
342 PETER CONRADI
the 'wrong' ones which are to catalyse his wntmg. Despite his
attempts to keep contingency at bay, the horror of the world keeps
breaking in. His friend (who is also his rival) ; ArnolfBafn, embroils
him in his marriage difculties; his predatory ex-wife reappears after
years in America; his sister sufers the painful collapse of a disastrously
unhappy marriage. Above all, Bradley sufers first the partial ascesis
involved in falling desperately in love with Bafn's daughter, who is
much younger than him. He then is further 'unselfed' by losing her,
and by being falsely punished for a murder he may ha
'
e willed but
did not commit. He is obliged to make some healing surrender before
his own end. Eros is necessary to his quest: without it there would
have been no journey, and nothing learnt.
The myth of Apollo and Marsyas is partly a cautionary tale about
an artist who competes with the divine, partly a tale of divinely
inspired ascesis. Bradley is taught 'the pain and fnal joy gained from
loss of self and loving attention to the world'.35 He is flayed, ifnot into
the truth, at least into starting to see the direction in which truth
might lie, both as moral agent, and also as an artist. There are echoes
of Dostoevsky, like whose novels this is both acutely distressing and
wildly funny. There are allusions to Hamlet: a fast-paced story
alternates with Hamlet-like soliloquies on the relations between art,
consciousness, sufering and truth, meditations that often recall or
directly name Plato. Through such meditations Murdoch voices
more nakedly and movingly than elsewhere in her fiction (and by an
implicit analogy, the novel suggests, with Shakespeare's oratio recta in
Hamiel) her own concerns. Although the novel contains destruction, i t
also embodies a wise and moving and essentially comic vindication of
Murdoch's triumphalist view of good art which, in its final words, and
contra Plato, 'tells the only truth that ultimately matters. I t is the light
by which human things can be mended. And after art there is, let me
tell you, nothing'.
No other contemporary thinker has better tended the flame of
truth that Plato lit; and nor is the work of any other writer in our time
better illuminated by the light that flame continues to give out.
3 E. Dipple, Iris Murdoch: Workfr I/IC Spirit (London, Ig8o), p. 43. For an alternative view of
Murdoch's Platonism. sec W. Bronzwacr 'Images of Plato in Tie Fire QlId tleSlIlI and Acaslos',
in Encoll1lters with Iris Murdoch, c. R. Todd (Amsterdam, 1988) pp. 55-67'
Bibliography
The following abbreviations are used:
PMLA Publications of the Modem Languages Association ofAmerica
JEGP Joural of English and Gennanic Theolog
TRANSLATIONS OF GREEK AND LA TIN SOURCES
Unless otherwise indicated, the following translations of Plato and Plotinus
have been used by alt contributors:
Plato. The Collected Dialogues o Plato. Ed. E. Hamilton and H. CaiJl s.
Princeton, 1 961 ; second printing with corrections, 1 963. (Bollingcn
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Plotinus. Plotinus with an English TrallSlation. Ed. and trans. A.H. Armstrong.
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They are not necessarily those used by contributors, but represent those
which are most easily available.
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1 972
Augustine of Hippo, St. Cotssions. Trans. R.S. Pine-Cofn. Harmondsworth,
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Augustine of Hippo, St. Confessions. Trans. Henry Chadwick. Oxford, I ggl .
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Boethius. Ed. H.F. Stewart and E.K. Rand ( l gI 8), revised and trans. S.].
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Fieino, Marsilio. Marsilio Fieino and the Phaedran Charioteer. Trans. M.J .B.
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344
BI BLI OGRAPHY
Ficino, Marsilio. Masilio Ficino: the Philebus Commentary. Trans. M.J .B. Allen.
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Hermes Trismegistus. Hennetica: the Greek Corpu.s Hermeticum and the Latin
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FURTHER READ INC
This list of books is not a defnitive bibliography of Platonism and English
Literature, but is intended as a guide to further reading. Details of primary
sources are given in the notes of the studies in which they are discussed.
GENERAL
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Bolgar, R.R. , (ed.). Classical !if uences on Wester Thought, IjOo-1700.
Cambridge, 1976.
Bolgar, R.R., (ed.). Classical lnjuences on European Culture 16jo- I870. Cambridge,
1979
Casey, J. Pagan Virtue. Oxford, 1 991 .
Clarke, M. L. Classical Education in Britain 1500-1900. Cambridge, 1959.
Inge, William R. The Platonic Tradition in English Religious Thought. London,
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O'Meara, D.. (ed.). Neoplatonism and Christian Thought. Albany, N.Y., Ig82.
Panofsky, E. lea. A Concept in Art Theory. trans.J.J.S. Peake, Columbia, 1968.
L. D. Reynolds and N.G. Wilson. Scribes and Scholars. A Cuide to the
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Sandys, J .E. A Hitor ojClassical Scholarship. 3 vol,. Cambridge, 1 9o9-8.
Shorey, Paul. Platonism Ancient and Moder. Berkeley, 1 938.
BI BLI OGRAPHY
3
4
5
Tigerstedt, E.N. The Dedi,,, and Fail o the Neoillatonic Interpretation of Plato.
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Tigerstedt, E.N . . 'Interpreting Plato'. Stockholm Studies in the History oj
Literature, 1 7 (Stockholm 1974)
ANTI QUITY
Annas, Julia. An Introduction to Plato's Republic. Oxford, I 98! .
Bundy, M. W. The Theory of Imagination i Classical and Medieval Thought.
Urbana, 1 927.
Dillon, J. The Middle Platonists. London, 1977.
G.M.A. Gruber. Plato's Thought. London, 1935.
Guthrie, W.K.C. Histor of Greek Philosophy. vols 4 and 5 Cambridge, 1975,
1978.
Hare, R.M. Plato. Oxford, 1 982.
Irwin, T. Classical Thought. Oxford, 1 989.
Melling, DJ. Understanding Plato. Oxford, 1987.
Price, A.W. Love and Friendship in Plato and Aristotle. Oxford, 1 989.
Rist, ].M. Plotinus; the Road to Reality. Cambridge, 1967.
Rowe, C.]. Plato. Brighton, 1 984.
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Watson, G. Phantasia in Classical Thought. Galway, 1988.
LATER PLATONI SM AND THE EARLY CHRI STIAN PERI OD
Armstrong, A.H. (ed.). Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval
Philosophy. Cambridge, 1987.
Bundy, M.W. The Theory ofImagination in Classical and Medieval Thought.
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Dodds, E.R. Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxie!. Cambridge, 1965.
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Ivanka, E. von. Plato Christianus. Einsiedeln, 1 964.
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Louth, Andrew. The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition: fiom Plato to
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Markus, R.A. The End ofAncient Christini!. (Cambridge 1 990).
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Pepin, ]. Mythe et allegorie. 2nd edn. Paris, 1976.
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Wallis, R.T. Neoplatonism. London, 1 972.
Watson, G. Pantasia in Classical Thought. Galway, 1988.
BI BLI OGRAPHY
MI DDLE AGES
Burley,J .D. Chaucer's Language and the Philosophers' Tradition. Cambridge, 1979.
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Dronke, Peter. Fabula; Explorations into the uses if Myth in Medieval Platonim.
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Economou, George D. The Goddess Natura in Medieval Lterature. Cambridge,
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Minnis, A.. The Medieval Boethius. Studies in Veracular Translations i De
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Steadman,john M. Disembodied Laughter: 'Troilus' and the Apotheosis Tradition.
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Wetherbee, Winthrop. Platonism and Poetry in the Twelfth Centur. Princeton,
Ig72.
RENAISSANCE AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
Agar, M. Millon and Plato. Princeton, I g28.
Allen, M.J.B. The Platonism if Marsilio Fieino: A Stud oj his Phaedrus
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( 1 932), 46-80.
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347
Bieman,. Elizabeth. PlaIa Baplized; Towards lhe Inlerprelalion o Spenser's
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49
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Index
The following index lists names or historical figllrc) tranliators and scholars of Plato, literary
and philosophical movements, Plato's Dialogues, Platonic and Neoplatonic concepts and
themes.
Adams, John, 31 6
Aeschylus, 237
Aestheticism, 258-60, 265
Akcnsidc, l84
Alain of Lille, 24, 26, 45. 50r., 127. 133
Alcuin, 38
Alfred, King, 23. 38-44
Ambosc of Milan, 29
Amclius, 287
Anselm ofCantcl'bury, 309
Antiochus of Ascalon, 53
Antisthcncs, 91
Apollonius ofTyana. 15-16, gog. 315-17
Aquinas, 'l1lOmns. 1 21
Aristippus HC1lI'iclIS, 24, 39
Aristippus of Cyrcnc, 78
Aristophancs, 181
Aristotlc/Aristotclianism, 1, 5. 12, '5, 16,
23-5. 25. 32, 67. 73. 86, 122, 166,
qO-I, ,82, 201 , 202, 208, 273, 285,
299
Armstrong, A.B.. 272
Arnold, Matthew, 205, 242-56, 259
Arold. Thomas, t8t
Art. 15. 24, '95, 234. 262-5, 330-1 , 336-8,
342
Athenian Academy, 4, 53, 67, 233. 259
AtlicllS. 8
Atwood, Margaret. 276
Auden, Wystan Hugh, 278, 31 9-29, 331
Augustine of Hippo, St, 5, 24, 25, 27-37, 38,
39
,
40, 52, 55-8
,
68, 69
. 7 '
, 87, 9
0
, 94.
153. 158-61 , 1 76, 302
Bakhtin. Mikhail, 33'
Basil of Cacsarea, 29
Becket, Samuel, 31 9
Bell, Clive, 296
Bemho, Pietro, 72, 81-3
Castiglione'S Bcmbo, 100-2, 105, 106
Benivieni, Girolamo, 79
Bentham, Jeremy, 206
BCllllctt, Arold, 291
Bergson, Henri, 277
BentlC)l, Richnrd. ,82
Bc,kclcy, Gcorge, 21 5
Bernard ofClairvaux, 32, 45, 48, 58, 60,
62
Bcrardus Silvcstris, 24. 45, 127, 1 3SIl
Bcssadon, Cardinal Giovanni, 6, 75, 77, 78,
80, 82-3
Bible
,
33, '42, 157
Gemsis, 21, 154
Song of Songs/Solomon, 62, 77-8, 80, 83
St john, 22, 32 1
SI Luke, 51
Sl Mauhew, 89
Acts, 25
Romans, 34
Corinthians, 22, 91 0
Colossians, 22
Hebrews, 54
Blake, vVilliam, 184, 186-g8, 227, 276,
282
Blavatsky, Helena, 272, 276, 280
Boehme,jacob (Behmen), 187
Bocthius, Sevcrinus, 5, 23, 25, 26, 38-44. 45,
46, 17. 50, 1()3, 127
Bolingbroke, Hemy St john, First Viscount
Bolinghroke, 185
Bonaventure, 59. 60
Boylc, Sir Roben. 75
Bradley, {,.H., 278, 298, 306
B-!! ,..Ro.hc.oo
Bruni, Leonardo, 68, 69, 76
Bruno, Giordano, 8.1, 106, 127
35
1
352 I NDEX
Buruc John, 27 t
Buret, Thomas, 21 8
Butler {of Shrewsbury}, 1 81
Byron, George Gordoll, ''7
Cabbala, C:bbatism, 80, 84. 193 see also Kiss
(mars osculi)
Cairs, Huntington, 27
Calcidius, 24, 28, 38
Calvinism, 73. 143
Cambridge Platonist!, 9. 73-4. 1 21. 139-50,
166, 177, 1 81 , 24', 279. 282
Carlylc, Thomas, 261
Cartwr
i
ght, William, 162
Casaubon. Isaac, 69. 74
Case, John, 7 1
Castiglione, Baldasar, 71 , 83-4, 96, 1 00- 2,
105. 107, [ 1 2, 1 1 4, 1 1 7. 127
CatulJus, 105
Cavaicanti, Giovanni, 79. 31 3. 31 4
Chaldcan Oracles, 4, I I
Chapman, George, 72, 100, 107. 1 1 0-12,
1 1 6, 1 1 9-20
Charles I, King, 72
Chartrcs, School or, etc., 24. 38, 45. 48, 50-I,
13511
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 23. 2H 26, 43, 45-51 ,
127. 133
. Ch'cng Tang, 31 7
CheSler, Robert, I 1 9
Childhood, 167, 1 76-7. 221-5
Christ, 22, 31 , 32, 33, 34, 50, 5
1
, g
l
, 1 34,
'15. 150-7. 205. 309, 336 337
Chrysoloras, Manuel, 68
Chubb, Thomas, 183
Cicero, Marcus Tullius, 4. 28, 2g, 30, 33, 68,
93, 101, 159
Clarkson, Mrs, 225
Clement of Alexandria, 4, 22, 29
Clerke, Bartholomew, 71
Cleveland, John, 163
Cloud ojUnknowing, 25. 56-8, 62-4
Coleridge, Berkeley, 21 9
Coleridge, Hartley, 21 8, 21 9
Coleridge, S,lnlUel Taylor, 187. 202, 203.
206, 207-16, 21 7-22, 228, 251 , 262-3,
272, 331
Clel, John, 70, 88
Collier, Arthur, 183
Confucius, 31 7
Conrad, Joscph, 276, 304
Corbierc, Tristan, 299
Cornarius. Janus, 122
Cornford. F,M., 272
Corsi, Giovanni, 79n
Cudworth. Ralph, 73-5. '39, 140. 143-7.
149-50, '77
Culverwell, Nathaniel, 73. 75, '77
Dacicl', Andre, 182. 233
Dante Alighjeri, 49, 258, 260, 277. Sao, 305,
310, 31 3, 322
Darwin, Charlcs, 156, 261, 266
Davcnant, Sir William, 72, 1 1 9
Davics of Hcrcford, john, 7'
Deecmbrio, Pit-r Candido, 70, 87, 93
Denys se Dionysius
Dc Quincey, Thomas, 21 8
Dcn'ida, jacques, 274, 306
Descartes, Rene, 73, 75, '4 I, 98
d'Holbaeh, Baroll, 231
Diogcnes of Siuopc, 91
Diogcne -Lacrtius, 76, 78
Dionysius (Denys) thc Arcopagitc, 5. 22, 25,
52, 56-8, 60, 77, 88, 127. 154. 167
Dionysius of Syracuse, 96
D
,
onnc, Johu
L
100, 107, 1 1 2-16, 163
D
orp, Maartcll vall, 89
Dl'ayloll, Michael. 72
Drummond, William, 233
Du Bcllay, Joachim, 72
Duns SCOlUS, 204
d'Ul'fc, Honore, 1 19
Ebreo, Leone, 84. 1'17
Eckhart, Meister, 88
Education, 27, 31 , 3S. 34. 36, 149, 249, 252,
254, 292, 294, 296
paideia, 3 I, 35
Gl'cek Studies, 28, 68, 1 81 -2, 292, 298
Eliot, T,S" 262, 267, 272, 274-7, 298-308,
31 1 . 330-1
Elizabeth I, Queen, 39
Empiricism, 144, 1 90, 207. 210, 279
Epictehls, 91
Epicurus/Epicurcanism, 4, 203
El':Ismus, Dcsiderius, 7, 71 , 73, 86-gS, g8-g
Eriugena.John Scotus, 22, 25, 38, 47, 57,
154-9, 309
Esticnue, Henri (Slephanus), 70, 130n
Existcntialism, 274, 332-3
Everard, John, 74, 1 56, 169, 187
Fenwick, Isabella, 2'0, 221 , 224
Fcrrar, Nicholas, 74
Fichte, joG" 261
Ficino, Mal'Silio, 69-70, 74, 78-83, 85. 87,
88, 92. 93, 99-102, 1 06-10, t 12. 1 14.
1 1 8, 122-3. 127, 1 31 , 132, 134. 135.
154, 156, 158, 163, 166, t69. 1 72-5,
' 77, 21 7, 218-20, 309. 31 0. 315, 323
I NDEX
353
Fielding, Hcnry, 182
Filclfo, Fr
a
ncesco, 68
Fisher, Robert, 88
Flaxman,Jolm. 184, ,196
Fludd, Robert, 154, 156, 157
Forstcr (editor of PIlaedo), 2/ 7
Forster, E.M., 275
Fox, Richard, 7 1
Francis, St, 89
Freud, Sigmund, 273. 334-6
Frazer,J.G., 274, 304
Fuseli, Henry, Ig6
Gadamer, Hans-Georg, 336
Gallus, Thomas, 58
Gale, Theophilus, 75, 169-7 f
Gautier, Theophile, 259
George of Trcbizond, 68, 69, 75. 77
Gibbon, Edward, 1 8,
Gillis, Pictcr, 95, 97
Gladstone, William Ewart, 204
Glanvill. Joseph, 242
Gnosticism, 193-4
God, 22, 27, 29, 31 , 34, 35, 37, 39, 40, 44,
53, 54
. 56, 62, 79, '33. 137, 141
144,
154, I
SS. 156, 157, 159. 1 61 , '73, ' 76,
321 , 323, 333
Trinity, 24, 75, 135 see also Christ
Godwin, William, 231
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 264
Goncourt, Edmond and Jules dc, 259
Gonne, Maud, 285
Crant, Alexander, 201
Gray, Thomas, 184
Gregory the Great, 60
Gregory of Nazianzcn, 29, 159
Grcgory of Nyssa, 2g, 57, 62, 154
Grocyn, William, 94
Grosscteste, Robert, 309. 31 4
Grotc. George, 201, 251 , 258-9
Grotius, Hugo, 71
Halewijn, joris van, 9'
Hamilton, Edith, 27 l
Harris,james, 183
Harrison, Frederic, 249
Harrison, jane Ellen, 275
Hartley, David, 207
Hayley, William, ' 94
Heaney...camu,s, 278
Hegel, G.W.F., 266, 298n
Hellenism, 183, 250; 255
Henrietta Maria, Queen, 72, 163
Heraclitus, 258, 261, 265, 339
Herbert, Geol'ge, 74
Herbert ofCherbul'Y, Edward, Lord, 163
Hermes Trismegistus. 4. 67, 69, 70, 74. 1 69,
172, 173. 1 94
HermeticajHermelicism, 5, 69, 154, 156, 166,
187, '92, 276
Hermias, iOn
Herodotus, 21 8
Heydon, joho, 309
Hilduin of St-Denis, 57
Hill, Geoffrey, 278
Hilton, Walter, 25, 56) 61 , 63
Hobbes, Thomas, 73
Hoby, Thom?s, 72, 1 1 7
Hogg, Thomas jeOerson, 202
Homer, 12, '3, 16, ' 7, 45, 182-3, 189
Homosexuality, 76--81, 229, 257, 260) 275
homo-eroticism, 85, 260, 263
Hopkins, Gerard, Manley, 204
Hulme, T.E., 277
Humanism, 68, 70-1 , 77, 86-99, 138
Hume, David, 207, 21 0
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, 70
Huxley, Aldous, 276
Hyde-Lees, Georgie, 276
Iamblichus, 5, S, 59, 272, 309, 31 0
Imagination, 12-17. 195, 236, 241, 309
see also Platonic and Ncoplatonic
concepts and themes
Irigaray, Luee, 27411
Jackson, Thomas, 74, 75, 166, 169, 170
James Hcm-y, 328
jean de Meun, 39
Jefferson, Thomas. 31 6
john of Salisbury, 57
john Scotus Eriugcna see El'iugcna
john the Saracen, 57
Johnson, Samuel. 185
Jonson, Bell, 72. 1 18-20
Jowett. Benjamin, 201 , 205, 25t, 257-61 ,
264. 267
Joyce,James, 267, 331
Judaism. 27. 29, 33 sec also Philo of
Alexandria, Cabbala
Julia Domna, Empress, 31 7
Julian the Apostatt, 5. 272
julian of Norwich, 25, 60, 278, 304
Justinian, Emperor, 67
Jung. Karl, 274, 277. 279
Kabbalah see Cabbala
Kallman, Chester, 323
Kant. Immanuel, 202, 207-9. 336
Keats. John, 262
354
I NDEX
Kingsley. Charles, 156
Kiss (mors osclIli), 80, 83-'b 102, 105
Kristcva, Julia, 33'
Lafargue, Julcs, 299-300
Landino, Cristofaro, 93
Langland, William, 25
Language, 33, 34, 35.
21 5, 266
-
7
Larkin, Philip., 278
fi
vrcncc:rH., 33 I
Levy, C.R + 272
Lewis, Wyndham. 3020
Locke, John. 183. 207. 279
Longinu!, 309
Lucan, 45
Lucian of Samosata, 93. 94
Luther, Martio. 97
Macaulay, Thomas Babington, Fil'st Baron
Macaulay. 201. 206
MacKcnna, Stephen, 272, 276, 280-1
acrobius, 24. 26, S8, 45. 126
Manichcism, 28
Malcbranchc, Nicholas, 74
Mallock, W.H., 205
Malory, Sir Thomas, 107
Manutius, Aldus, 68, 87
Markland, Jeremiah, 182
Marsigli, Luigi, 68
Marston, John, 120
Martianus Capella, 24, 38, 45-7
Marvell, Andrew, 74. 163-7
Marx, Karl, 273
Maurice, F.D., 202
Maximus, 154
Mead, Georgc R,S., 272, 276
Medicis, lhe, 92
Medici, Csima dc', 31 6
Medici, Lorenzo dc', 81
Mcncius, 3' 7
Michelangelo, 282
:iddlc Platonists. 4. 21 . 53 see also
Neoplatonism
Mill. John Stuart, 204-5
Milton. John. 67, 74. 1 51-62
Momaignc, Michel de, 298n
Moore, G.E., 275, 293, 296
More, Henry, 73, 75, '
39, 140, '43
-
7. 1
49,
167, 169, 177. 282
More, Sir Thomas, 70, 71 , 86-8, 92-9, 184,
316
Momay, Philippe du Plessis. 70-1
Moshcim,J.L., 194
Muir, Edwin, 289
Murdoch, Iris, 274, 276, 330-42
Mysticism, 1 1 , 22, 25, 52-64, 321, 333
apophatic theOlogy, 57-8
Ncoplatonism, 3-18, 2 1-4. 27-9, 35-7. 39,
40, 41 , 45-51 , 53. 61, 67-71, 98, JOO,
1 06-g, 1 1 2-16, 120, 127. '34, 137-8,
153. 16S-4, 166, 167, 169. 177, 187,
Ig8, 282, S08-IO, 314, 3 [5, 31 9. 342 se
e
also Platonic and Ncoplatonic concepts
and thcme
Newton, Issac, Ig8
Niccoli, Niccolo. 68
Nicholas of Cusa, 68, 6g
Nobili, Flaminio, 8411
Norris, John, 74, 183
Numenius, 4
Ocellus, 308, 318
OlympiodorUl>, 19
Origen, 4, 22, 29, 30, 61 , 62, 87, 99, 145-6,
166
Orpheus, 67, 68, 70, Ison, 182
Orwell George, 276
Ovid, 45, 81 , 108, 1 10-12
Owen, John. 75
Panormita, Antonio, 77
Paraceisus, 187
Parmenides, 258, 260, 262, 265
Paracclsus, [87
Parker, Samuel, 75
Pater, Clara, 275
Pater, Walter, 'OS, 206, 220, 257-67, 331
Paul, St, 28, S3-5. go
Peacock. Thomas Love, 231, 234
Pearl, 25
Petrareh, Francis, 32, 68, 81 , 86, 106
Pctrcnius, 304
Phcidias, 14, 1 6
Philo of Alexandra, 4, 2[ , 22. 29. 57, 60, 154n
Philostratus, IS. 16, 31 7
Pica della Mirandola, Giovanni, 72, 80-2,
85. 92-3, 129. 132, 134. 176
Plato passim
'Attic Moses', 67
eosmologel" 24'
poet and aesthete, 206
moral philosopher, 71 , 86-7, 246
political philosophy, 96-, 204. 236-8) 241,
246-249
putative sexual depravity of, 77
and Scepticism, 232-3, 273, 2g8-307
style, 6, 87, 92, 306
supposed Trinitarianism, 24, 56, 69, 75,
134-5
see also Socrates
.
I NDEX
jj
Plato's dialogues (*indicates thoe of doubtful
attri
b
ution)
Alcihiadcs,
7
4
Apology, 3-4, 74, 233n, 303
AxioclUS", 7' , 126n
Charmides, 3
Crarylus, 89
Crito, 74
Eras/ae* q 247
Eryxias*, 243
Euthyphro, 122-4. 292
Gorgius, 253. 273
Hippias Major* q 243
Hippias Minor, 243
Ion, 3. 13. 16, 229. 230, 234. 235, 243. 253
Laches, 3
. 233
Laws, 8, 74. 97. 302, 325
Letter VII, 96, 273. 326, 327
Lysis, 243
Meno, 9. 24. 39. 139. 146, 148-9. 212, 219.
221, 253
Mentenus, 7on, 229, 243
Parmlllides, 3. 5. 39. 69, 1 1 8, 20g, 253. 272,
273, 332
Phatdo, 3, 8, 9, 24. 39, 54. 69. 74, 92, '39,
'46, 1 51 , 1 6S-6, 176, 1 82, 21 7. 2Ig,
221, 229. 233n, 247. 272, 303-5, 320
PhaedTs, !I J, '3. '4, 16, 62, 76, '40, '42,
149. t73. 210, 212, 21 g. 221 , 243.
246-7. 253, 260, 263, 272, 274. 275.
292 293-5. 297. 320, 322, 33.
Phi/cbus, 3, 253
Pro/agoras, 233n, 253
Republic, 3-6, 8, 9, 1 1-14, 16, 43, 1 7,
69-70, 90, 93-9, 1 03, 106, 107, I 18,
1 51-2, 1 72. 1 82, 212-16, 219, 221 , 229,
23'
, 233-6, 239. 243. 246-9, 251, -253,
255, 258, 259, 263. 272, 275. 291, 292,
301, 302-5, 31 6, 319. 325-7
Sophist, 3. 6, 7, 15. 59. 287, 332
StateSntall, 253
Symposium. 3. 10, I I , 13, '4, 54, 59. 62, 71 ,
73, 76-82, 8g, 109, 1 1 7, 1 19, 127, 2J8,
22g. 230, 231, 235, 238, 247, 254, 260,
272, 275, 2g2, 322, 335, 337
Tlltaelelus, 3, 6, 2og, 253, 332
Tleages. 247
Tmaells. 5, 7. 8, 15, 21 , 23-6, 28. 38, ,p
n,
45, 46, 1 51 . ISS, 176, 193-4. 213, 21 5,
272, 277, 281. 332
Platonic and Ncop!atonic concepts and
themes
anamnesis see Recollection
Art, 13-15, 24. 336
Beauty, 6, Ls '3. '4. 80. 1 01 . J09,
1 1 72, 1 36, 2,P . 2G3, 272, 282-g, 2g0.
307. 319
Cave, 1 1 , 43. 90. 93, lOG, 1 1 0, 1 1 7.
212-13, 21 5. 237. 272, 275, 26, 301.
305-6, 333, 3%
337-40
Charioteer (Pllaedrlls). 9, 322
City 5O Stale
cosmos, 23, 31 5. 157, 282, 31 5
daimoll, 59-60. 283
Demiurgc, 7. 8. 15. 21 . 194
Dualism. 8, 36. 89. ' 5' , '53, 262, 283.
284. 320, 321
Emanation. 53. 59, 132, '51. 155
Er, Myth of
,
203
Forms (Ideas), 4, 6, 8, 9. 10, 1 1 , '4, 54,
59. 97. 207. 246, 260. 262, 271, 172,
273. 281, 286-7, 308, 336
The Good. 6, I I . 23, 26, 17, 173, 236,
239-41 , 263, 271 . 272. 275, 307. 3' 9.
321. 322, 321, 332, 333, 336
fellads, 9
hypostases, 7, 8) 22, 24, 79, 127-8. 1 34, 164,
28', 287, 39, 313-14
Imitatioll (mimesis), {59-62, 2g0
Innate ideas, g, 141-2, '436, '49-So, ' 71
Intellect, 80 sec also 10US
Intelligible world, 171 30. 32, 33. 35.
196-8, 237, 240, 281-4, 287-8
Light, 21 , 90, 167, 1 72-4, 2751 29S. 30S-6.
31 0, 3'3-14
logos, 21-2, S
I., 135, 31 8
Love, 1 0, 13, 24, 45-50, 100-1, 109, 1 1 3,
I 1g, 126, 271 , 275. 313, 320. 322-5,
336, 338, 340: eros. 10. 18, 23. 59, 61 ,
260, 273, 283, 3'3-14. 319. 322-4, 326,
238, 335, 338-g; eros/ Venlts palldemos. 61 ,
1 09, 1 1 3i Platonic love, 72, 76-85. 109
Mind (mells), 7, 9 I I, 24, 32, 79
10llS, 7, 24, 50. 54. 127. 135. 1 36. 164. 1 76,
277.281, 308, 31 1-15, 31 8
The One. 5, 7-9. I I , 24, 30, 49, 5
0
, 53.
55. 59, 79, 127, 129-133, 136-7, 1 64.
197. 273, 282
plum/asia, 15-16, 287
Poets/poetry, 12-18: poetic inspiration, 13.
, 8
Recollection (anamnesis), 9. 10, 23. 39. 40,
42, 56, 73, 126. 1 39-50, 16+-5, 167.
204, 207, 208, 21 2-16, 221 , 223. 226,
246, 263. 272. 283, 285, 319, 321 , 335
Sdr-knowlcdgc. 20g-lO, 249
Soul, 6-10. 24, 30, 32, 33, 40. 42, 53-4,
62, 73. 75, 79-80, 96, g8, 127, 1 35, 137.
139, '45, 146, 157. 163-5, 167, ' 70,
1 72-6, 212-14. 219, 246-7, 277. 28,.
I NDEX
Platonic and Neoplatonic concepts and
themes (cont.)
287, 295. 306, 31 4, 322, 330: Ascent of
the soul, 10, I J, 18, 26. 30, 33, 39. 40,
42, 45. 48-g, 62, 78, 138, 164, 236, 241,
272, 294; Immortality of the Soul 10,
53, 69, 73. 86, 163, 170, 247, 330;
Innate ideas. 9, 141 -1, 1 71 ;
Pre-existence of the Soul, 40-1, 53, 73.
75, 145. 146, 164-5. 167, 212-13,
21 7-19, 221, 226; World sout, 7. 8, 74.
1 27-9, Ig6, 277. 281
State, 93-8. 246-9, 272, 2g1-2, 302, 319,
322, 324-6
Two Worlds, 53-6, 236
Womell in the Republic. 96: andocentricity,
.)
4
PIeiade, 72
Pletho (Plcthon), George Gemistus, 68, 70,
309, 31 5. 31 6
Plotinus, 4, 5, 7, 8, I 1 , 12, 14. 22, 23. 24,
28
-
0, 39, 54
.
55, 57. 59, 61 , 67, 69, 74,
77, 100, 1 21 126, 129. 1 31 , 135, 136,
1 51 , 153, 154, '
59-61 , 164, 16g,
1
73,
174, 176, IS2, 196, Ig8, 208, 272,
276-7, 279-81 , 284. 287-8, 30g-15. 318
Plutarch of Chaeronea, 4, 8
Poets, poetry, 12-18. 234-7. 254. 327-9 se
also Platonic and Neoplatonic concepts
and themes
Poole, Thomas, 208
Pope, Alexander, 183
Popper, Karl, 331
Porphyry, S, I I , 1 2, 22-4, 28, 29. 36, 57,
[32, IS2, 189, 192, 272, 285, 287-8,
309, 31 0
Porson, Richard, 182
Pound, Ezra, 267, 271-2, 274, 276-8, 302,
308-IS, 330
I)raxitcles. 1 6
l)riestiy, Joseph, 194
Primaudaye. Pierre de la, 7 I
Produs, 5, 9, 12, 14, 16-17. 22. 23, 4I n
, 57,
1 30n, 182, 2 1 7, 218. 272
Pythagoras, 195, 258-9, 266, 285. 288, 308,
31 0
Raphael, 67, 86, 203
Remigius of Auxerre, 47
Renaissance. 10, 33, 65-1 38, 260, 263, 282,
309. 31 6
Reynolds Sir Joshua, 185
Richard of 51 Victor, 309
Robinson, Henry Crabb. 19
Rolle, Richard, 60-3
Romantic movement, 207-41
Ruskin, John, 206. 264
Russell, Bertrand, 275
Rust, George. 167
Salusbury, Sir John, 1 1 9-20
Salutati, Coluccio, 68
Santayana, George, 272, 277
Sappho, 291
Sartre, JeanPaul. 274
Scepticism, 4. 93. 232, 240
, 273, 298, 303
Seneca, 25
Serres. Jean de (Serranus), 70, 74, 75, 1 1 8,
122
Sewell, William, 202
Shadwell, Thomas, 258
Shaflcsbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, third
Earl of, 183
Shakespeare, William, 100, 107-10, 1 1 7-[ 24,
343
Shelley, Percy Bysse, 202, 203, 229-41 ,
7
Sidgwiek,
'
Henry, 249
Sidney, Sir Philip, 72, 85, 100, 103-to, 1 12,
3
Sidney, Sir Robert, 104
Smith, John, 73, 177
Socrates, 3, la, I I , 13, 35, 54, 76, 77-80, 89.
91 . 92, 94
-6
, 98, 139, 1
4
8
-
5
0, ' 71 , 195,
205. 208, 210, 221, 233,
245-7, 249-53,
256, 259, 272, 292, 295. 298-9, 300-1,
303, 316, 335, 338
Xenophons's Socrates, 215-6, 250, 253.
55
Socrates as Silenus, 8g-91
Sophocles, 303, 3 1 1
Spens, Harry, 182
Spencer, Herbert, 206
Spender, Stephen, 303
Spenser, Edmund, 72, 100, 126-38
Speusippus, 4
Spinoza, Benedict dc, 73. 308
Statius, 45
Stephen, ].K., 292
Stephen, Thoby, 293-5
Slephanus see Est!cnne
Sterry, Peter, 73
SliRV0V0 81 , 106
Stoicism, 4. 15, 21 , 27, 53
Sturge Moore, T., 279-81
Swift, Jonathan, 184
Swinbure, Algernon Charles, 259
Sydenham, Floyer, 182, 201-2
Symonds, John Addington, 260
Syncsius, 1370
I NDEX
357
Tasso, Torquato, 1 27
Taylor, A.E., 272
Taylor, Jeremy, 1 77
Taylor, Thomas, 130n, 1 82, 1 !4, 1 86, 1 89.
196, 201 , 2 1 7, 272
Theobald, Lewis, ,82
Thirlwall, Connop, 205
Thueydides, :B
Toland, John, 183
Tomlinson, Charles, 278
Toup, Jonathan, 182
Trahcrne, Thoras, 74, r63-{, 167-78
Tl"aversari, Ambrogio, 76
Trevet, Nicholas, 39
Trusler, John, 195
Twisc, William, 75
Utopia, ideal city, 73, 93-8, 292, 299, 301,
306, 393 see also Platonic and
Neoplatonie concepts and themes
Vaughan, Henry, 74, 163-4, 166-7, 258
Vaughan, Thomas, 1 46, ,66
Verlaine, 286
Vespasian, 31 7
Vespueci, Amerigo, 97
ViIlon, FrallIois, 286, 3 ' {
Virgil, 45
Vives, Juan Luis. 70
Vlastos, Gregory, 272-3
Walpole, Robert, 185
Walton, John, 39
Weil, Simone, 333, 335, 336
Westcott, B.F., 205
Welton, Jessie L., 304
Whichc01C, Benjamin, 73, 139, 140-3,
1 45
-)
Whitehead, Alfred North, 272, 281
Wilde, Oscar, 259, 266
William of Conches, 24, 39, 45, 48
Winckclmann, Johnn Joachim, 196-7, 262-4
Wittgensteill, Ludwig, 274
Women, 96, 29'-2
Woolf, Virginia, 267. 275, 290-7, 331
Wordsworth, Christopher, 222
'Wordsworth Doroth). l8, 220
Wordsworth, William, 167. 192, 24, 2 1 3.
2 1 7-28, 266
XonocralCS, 4
Xenophon, 245-6, 250, 253, 255. 273
ats, William Butler, 1 81 , 187, 259, 267,
271-2, 274-,6, 279
8
9, 33
Zellct) Eduard, 258
Zello, 265
Zoroaster, 70