Overview

Plato is well known both for the harsh condemnations of images and image-making poets that appear in his dialogues and for the vivid and intense imagery that he himself uses in his matchless prose. Through their resemblance to true reality, images have the power to move their viewers to action and to change themselves, but because of their distance from true reality, that power always remains problematic. Two recurrent problems addressed here are how an image resembles what it represents and how to avoid mistaking that image for what it represents. Plato and the Power of Images comprises twelve chapters on the ways Plato has used images, and the ways we could, or should, understand their status as images.

Full Product Details

Author:   Radcliffe G. Edmonds III ,  Pierre Destrée
Publisher:   Brill
Imprint:   Brill
Volume:   405
Weight:   0.532kg
ISBN:  

9789004345003

ISBN 10:   9004345000
Pages:   244
Publication Date:   03 August 2017
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors Introduction: The Power—and the Problems—of Plato’s Images  Pierre Destrée and Radcliffe Edmonds Alcibiades’ Eikôn of Socrates and the Platonic Text: Symp. 215a–222d  Andrew Ford The Image of Achilles in Plato’s Symposium  Elizabeth Belfiore The Power of a Beautiful Image in Plato and the Poets: Infatuation or Transcendence?  Francisco Gonzalez Putting Him on a Pedestal: (Re)collection and the Use of Images in Plato’s Phaedrus  Radcliffe Edmonds Images of Oneself in Plato  Christopher Moore Perspectivism in Plato’s Views of the Gods  Gerd Van Riel The Power of Plato’s Cave  Grace Ledbetter Political Images of the Soul  Olivier Renaut The Ship of State and the Subordination of Socrates  A.G. Long Plato’s Goat-Stags and the Uses of Comparison  Kathryn Morgan Poetry and the Image of the Tyrant in Plato’s Republic  Penelope Murray The Tripartite Soul as Metaphor  Douglas Cairns Index

Reviews

This book is a very worthy successor to the previous two volumes of the series and a valuable addition to the bookshelf of anyone interested in exploring Plato's expert use of images despite his ambivalence toward them. While the chapters of the volume can be read for profit individually, it is clear that its authors were given the opportunity to read and cross- reference each other's essays before submitting their final drafts, which most of them took advantage of, thus enhancing the collaborative feel of the book without sacrificing the self-sufficiency of each contribution. Brett Robbins, San Diego State University, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2018.05.20

Author Information

Radcliffe G. Edmonds III, PhD (1999) University of Chicago, is the Paul Shorey Professor of Greek at Bryn Mawr College. He has published on Greek religion, myth, and philosophy, including Myths of the Underworld Journey (Cambridge, 2004) and Redefining Ancient Orphism (Cambridge, 2013). Pierre Destrée is Associate Research Professor at the University of Louvain where he teaches ancient philosophy. He has published widely on Greek ethics and aesthetics, and has co-edited numerous volumes, such as Plato and the Poets (Brill, 2011), Plato and Myth (Brill, 2012), and The Blackwell Companion to Ancient Aesthetics (Wiley, 2015). Contributors are: Elizabeth Belfiore, Douglas Cairns, Radcliffe Edmonds, Andrew Ford, Francisco Gonzalez, Grace Ledbetter, Alex Long, Christopher Moore, Kathryn Morgan, Penelope Murray, Olivier Renaut, Gerd Van Riel.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions