An Analysis of Lord Byron in the Context of Plato’s Hostility to Poet

Abstract

It is an established view that there is considerable interaction between literature/poetry and society/politics but there has been a remarkable dearth of academic study on the subject in Turkey albeit it being an attractive area of research in the field of political science across the world. Indeed, as long ago as in ancient Greece the great philosopher Plato thought it an important matter for societies and he produced books in which he certainly looked into the subject quite closely. A cursory look at his writings seems to suggest that Plato does acknowledge the influence that poet and poetry would have over the society and politics. However, it is hardly possible to maintain that he ever condoned this interaction and the influence it produces. Simply put, according to him, a poet would impact people’s characters as well as their emotions in uncontrollable ways and manners, and he would even keep people from facing up to the reality. Plato’s criticism of poets and poetry was such that he thought that the emotions would become laws in certain circumstances. In an ideal state of his own there would be no room for a poet. The point here to be borne in mind is that Plato forms his opinion of a poet from those he had known all along in his lifetime, therefore his hostility is directed at his contemporaries. Taking into account the fact that Plato’s animosity to those poets of his time did not stem from anything personal but revolved around the influence they had on the society, we could infer from what he extensively wrote about that interaction and supposed influence that we could come across the kind of poet and poetry at any time. And could we apply this method to Lord Byron who lived in the nineteenth century? This article will make a case of Lord Byron within that framework and try to come up with an explanation and answer to the question: had they been contemporaries, could Plato have criticized Lord Byron? And if so, how?

Keywords

• Plato
• Lord Byron
• poem
• poet
• literature
• politics

Platon’un Şair ile Husumeti Bağlamında Lord Byron Analizi

Abstract

Edebiyat/şiir ile toplum/siyaset arasında etkileşim olduğu yerleşik bir görüştür, ancak dünya genelinde siyaset bilimi alanında ilgi çekici bir araştırma alanı olmasına rağmen, Türkiye'de bu konuda akademik çalışma eksikliği dikkat çekicidir. Nitekim, edebiyat/şiir ile toplum/siyaset arasındaki etkileşim üzerindeki tartışmaların Antik Yunan’a kadar geri gittiği Platon’un şairin toplum/siyaset üzerine etkisine dair düşünmüş ve yazmış olmasından anlaşılmaktadır. Yazılarına genel bir bakış, Platon'un şairin ve şiirin toplum ile politika üzerinde sahip olabileceği etkiyi kabul ettiğini göstermektedir. Ancak Platon şairin toplum ve siyaset üzerine etkisinden hiç hoşlanmamaktadır. Platon’a göre şair, insanların karakterlerini ve duygularını etkilemekte, insanları gerçeklikten uzaklaştırmakta, duyguların kanunların yerini almasına sebep olmaktadır. Bu nedenle şairin Platon’un ideal devletinde yeri yoktur. Burada dikkat edilmesi gereken nokta, Platon'un şair hakkındaki kanaatini yaşamı boyunca tanıdığı, bildiği şairler üzerinden oluşturduğu, dolayısıyla düşmanlığının çağdaşlarına yönelik olduğudur. Ancak Platon’un şair ile husumetinin kaynağı şairin kişiliği değil, toplum/siyaset üzerine etkisi olunca, Platon’un eleştirdiği şair her dönem karşımıza çıkabilir. Bu makale Platon’un perspektifinden Lord Byron'ı analiz edecek ve şu soruya bir açıklama ve cevap getirmeye çalışacaktır: Onlar çağdaş olsalardı, Platon Lord Byron'ı eleştirebilir miydi? Eğer öyleyse, nasıl?

Keywords

• Platon
• Lord Byron
• şiir
• şair
• edebiyat
• siyaset

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