The City and the Stage : Performance, Genre, and Gender in Plato's Laws

What role did poetry, music, song, and dance play in the social and political life of the ancient Greek city? How did philosophy respond to, position itself against, and articulate its own ambitions in relation to the poetic tradition? How did ancient philosophers theorize and envision alternatives to fourth-century Athenian democracy? The City and the Stage poses such questions in a study of the Laws, Plato's last, longest, and unfinished philosophical dialogue. Reading the Laws in its literary, historical, and philosophical contexts, this book offers a new interpretation of Plato's final dialogue with the Greek poetic tradition and an exploration of the dialectic between philosophy and mimetic art. Although Plato is often thought hostile to poetry and famously banishes mimetic art from the ideal city of the Republic, The City and the Stage shows that in his final work Plato made a striking about-face, proposing to rehabilitate Athenian performance culture and envisaging a city, Magnesia, in which poetry, music, song, and dance are instrumental in the cultivation of philosophical virtues. Plato's views of the performative properties of music, dance, and poetic language, and the psychological underpinnings of aesthetic experience receive systematic treatment in this book for the first time. The social role of literary criticism, the power of genres to influence a society and lead to specific kinds of constitutions, performance as a mechanism of gender construction, and the position of women in ancient Greek performance culture are central themes throughout this study. A wide-ranging examination of ancient Greek philosophy and fourth-century intellectual culture, The City and the Stage will be of significance to anyone interested in ancient Greek literature, performance, and Platonic philosophy in its historical contexts. Cover 1 The City and the Stage 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction: Performance and the Second-Best City 16 I.1 Introduction 16 I.2 An Ancient Quarrel Revisited: Poetry and the Polis, the City and the Stage 25 I.3 The Laws, Its City, and Its Scope 38 I.4 Paradigmatism and the Second-Best Politeia 47 I.5 The Correct Method (orthê methodos) of Cultural Criticism 52 I.6 Conclusions 57 Part I Performance 62 1. Marionettes of the Soul: Performance and the Psychology of Mousikê in Plato’s Laws 64 1.1 Introduction 64 1.2 Theoretical Orientations: Performance, Performativity, and Political Dissent 72 1.3 Of Puppets and Passions: The Moral Psychology of Performance in Plato’s Laws 86 1.4 The Consonant Soul: Virtue and Education in Plato’s Laws 95 1.5 Virtue, Education, and Aesthetic Response: A Model of Performativity 102 1.6 Inscription and the Making of a Philosophical Performance Culture 113 1.7 Conclusions 126 2. The Chorus and the Critic: Literary Criticism, Theatrocracy, and the Performance of Philosophy 128 2.1 Introduction 128 2.2 Critical Errors: Genre, Theatrocracy, and the Unideal City 132 2.3 Setting the Stage: Pleasure, Judgment, and the Performance of Philosophy 146 2.4 Beyond the Choral Muse: The Chorus of Dionysos and the Metaphysics of Literary Criticism 151 2.5 Conclusions 165 Part II Genre 168 3. Law’s Genres: Hymns, Encomia, and the Remaking of Lament 170 3.1 Introduction 170 3.2 The Laws’ Genres: Hymns, Encomia, and the Politics of Euphêmia 175 3.3 The Laws in Praise and Blame 183 3.4 Funerary Regained 189 3.5 Conclusions 200 4. Unideal Genres and the Ideal City: Comedy, Threnody, Tragedy, and the Limits of the City Dancing 202 4.1 Introduction 202 4.2 Comedy, Threnody, and the Performance of Alterity 204 4.3 From Antithesis to Identity: Comedic and Iambic Invective 217 4.4 Plato’s Tragic Muse 220 4.5 Beyond the Politics of Performance: ta bakkheia and the Genres of Ecstasy 230 4.6 Conclusions 234 Part III Gender 238 5. Women’s Statuses in Plato’s Laws: Nature, Gender, Law, and the Performance of Citizenship 240 5.1 Introduction 240 5.2 ‘Natural’ Heterosexuality 244 5.3 Transgendered Virtues and the Social Contract 254 5.4 Natural Correction: Feasting, Warfare, Schooling, and the ‘Trope of Life’ (tropos tou biou) 257 5.5 Unnatural Limitations: The Political Lives of Women in Magnesia 268 5.6 Conclusions 277 6. Engendering Harmony: Women’s Songs in Plato’s Laws 280 6.1 Introduction 280 6.2 Veils of Silence: Women, Theater, and Performance in Athens and Magnesia 282 6.3 Performance, Performativity, and the Making of Citizen Women 289 6.4 ‘Cultic Citizenship’ Revisited: Lament and the Female Voice 301 6.5 Conclusions 308 Epilogue: Plato’s Last Song: A Postlude on Law and the Preludes 314 Notes 330 Bibliography 366 Index 388 What role did the performance of poetry, music, song, and dance play in the political life of the ancient city? How has philosophy positioned itself and articulated its own ambitions in relation to the poet tradition? The Polis and the Stage poses such questions through a reading of Plato last, longest, and unfinished work, the Laws. Plato's engagement with the Greek poetic tradition has long been recognized as foundational in the history of literary criticism, but the broader critical and philosophical significance of the Laws has been largely ignored. Although Plato is often thought hostile to mimetic art, famously banishing poets from the ideal city of the Republic, this book shows that in his final dialogue Plato made a striking about-face, proposing to rehabilitate Athenian performance culture and envisioning a city, in which poetry, music, song, and dance are instrumental in the cultivation of philosophical virtues. The psychological underpinnings of aesthetic experience and the power of mimetic art to predispose a society to specific kinds of constitutions are central themes throughout this study.0 What Role Did The Performance Of Poetry, Music, Song, And Dance Play In The Political Life Of The Ancient City? How Has Philosophy Positioned Itself And Articulated Its Own Ambitions In Relation To The Poet Tradition? This Book Poses Such Questions Through A Reading Of Plato's Last, Longest, And Unfinished Work, The Laws. Marcus Folch. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The Polis and the Stage provides an exploration of Plato's final engagement with the poetic tradition. Special attention is given to the dialogue between philosophy and poetry, the performative properties of language, the psychology of aesthetic response, genre, gender, and the status of women in the ideal city envisaged in the Laws.