Living Poets

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M = reading of the whole MS tradition
m = reading of part of the MS tradition
P = reading on a papyrus
 

ἼΩΝ. καὶ μὴν ἄξιόν γε ἀκοῦσαι, ὦ Σώκρατες, ὡς εὖ κεκόσμηκα τὸν Ὅμηρον· ὥστε οἶμαι ὑπὸ Ὁμηριδῶν ἄξιος εἶναι χρυσῶι στεφάνωι στεφανωθῆναι.
ΣΩ. καὶ μὴν ἐγὼ ἔτι ποιήσομαι σχολὴν ἀκροάσασθαί σου ἀκροάσασθαί σου m: ἀκροᾶσθαί σου m, νῦν δέ μοι τοσόνδε ἀπόκριναι· πότερον περὶ Ὁμήρου μόνον δεινὸς εἶ ἢ καὶ περὶ Ἡσιόδου καὶ Ἀρχιλόχου;
ἼΩΝ. οὐδαμῶς, ἀλλὰ περὶ Ὁμήρου μόνον· ἱκανὸν γάρ μοι δοκεῖ εἶναι. […]
ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν σὺ φῂς καὶ Ὅμηρον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ποιητάς, ἐν οἷς καὶ Ἡσίοδος καὶ Ἀρχίλοχός ἐστιν, περί γε τῶν αὐτῶν λέγειν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὁμοίως, ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν εὖ γε, τοὺς δὲ χεῖρον;
ἼΩΝ. καὶ ἀληθῆ λέγω.

Ion: It’s worth hearing, Socrates, how well I have adorned Homer. So well that I believe I deserve to be presented with a golden crown by the Homeridae.
Socrates: I’ll make some time to listen to you for a bit, but for now answer this question: are you skilled at speaking about just Homer, or about Hesiod and Archilochus too?
Ion: No, just Homer. I think that’s enough for me […]
Socrates: So you claim Homer and other poets, which include Hesiod and Archilochus, speak about the same subjects, but not in the same way? Some speak about these subjects well, others badly?
Ion: And I say the truth!

Relevant guides	Archilochus