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1882
Volume 71, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 0017-0461
  • E-ISSN: 2507-0401

Abstract

Abstract

This paper explores a crucial, if neglected, point of comparison between Plato’s Socrates and the , namely their shared relationship with the Greek tradition of poetic initiations. The combined study of how Socrates and Aesop fit into that tradition provides an invaluable vantage point to explore the generic boundaries of Socratic dialogues and Aesopic fables. Aesop’s initiation as described in version G of the , with its emphasis on Aesop’s newly acquired ability to speak, proves crucially connected with a defining feature of Aesopic fables, namely the major role of animals. Moreover, the scene closely recalls a number of passages in Plato’s dialogues, in which Socrates echoes the tradition in terms of both poetic inspiration resulting in the ‘invention’ of dialogue and conversion to writing. Combined together, the passages under examination from Plato and from the amount to a literary manifesto pointing to the canonisation of prose genres, revolving, respectively, around the gift of and . They also suggest that an early and version of the might have provided Plato a foil to emphasise Socrates’ Apollonian piety in opposition to Aesop’s impiety in the .

Abstract

Il saggio prende in esame un parallelo, cruciale quanto inesplorato, fra il Socrate platonico e la , ossia la comune appartenenza alla tradizione greca delle iniziazioni poetiche. Uno studio in parallelo di come Socrate ed Esopo si pongono rispetto a tale tradizione offre un punto d’osservazione privilegiato per indagare i generi del dialogo e della favola e i loro confini. L’iniziazione di Esopo tramandata nella versione G della insiste sul dono della parola che permette a Esopo di parlare, e si dimostra così intimamente connessa con un tratto distintivo della favola, popolata da animali . Inoltre, la scena richiama da vicino alcuni passi platonici nei quali Socrate si colloca nel solco della in termini di ispirazione poetica, che conduce all’‘invenzione’ del dialogo, e di conversione alla scrittura. Presi congiuntamente in esame, i passi di Platone e della costituiscono una sorta di manifesto letterario che ha per oggetto la canonizzazione dei generi in prosa, centrati rispettivamente su e . Questi passi suggeriscono inoltre che una versione antica della possa aver offerto a Platone uno sfondo di contrasto per mettere in luce la pietà apollinea di Socrate in opposizione all’empietà di Esopo nella .

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2019-01-01
2025-12-05

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