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Proverbs, Gnômai, and the Reformation of Discourse

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Proverbs, Gnômai, and the Reformation of Discourse UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Proverbial Plato: Proverbs, Gnômai, and the Reformation of Discourse in Plato’s Republic A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Classics by John Roger Tennant Jr. 2019 © Copyright by John Roger Tennant Jr. 2019 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Proverbial Plato: Proverbs, Gnômai, and the Reformation of Discourse in Plato’s Republic by John Roger Tennant Jr. Doctor of Philosophy in Classics University of California, Los Angeles, 2019 Professor Kathryn Anne Morgan, Chair This dissertation frames Plato’s Republic as an attempt to reform the state of discourse in a politico-discursive crisis that occurred toward the end of the fifth and beginning of the fourth century BCE in Athens, by focusing on the previously unexplored role that proverbs and gnômai play in Plato’s creation of the ideal polis. Plato uses such commonplaces not solely for the purpose of lending his dialogue a more authentic character. Rather, they both elucidate the dynamics of power that inhere in the prevailing modes of Athenian discourse and provide a locus for Plato’s critique of the improper use of language. Plato reveals how discursive reform is inseparable from social and political reform. Proverbs, gnômai, and other rhetorical topoi serve collectively as one of the building blocks of a just society. Put simply, wordcraft is statecraft. Plato’s effort at discursive reform in the context of proverbial expressions that are themselves part of the larger Greek wisdom tradition parallels, in turn, the critique against poetry ii in the Republic. This is because many proverbs can be traced back to a particular poem and its poet. Condemnation of specific excerpted verses reflects, thus, not simply an objection to the purportedly immoral message Plato’s text attributes to such passages but, in addition, a recognition of the double life enjoyed by many of the verses as eminently quotable proverbs and gnômai. The “quotability” of poetry in a culture with a rich tradition of excerpting lines and compiling anthologies – part of the larger Greek educational and rhetorical framework that emphasized the memorization of poetry for use in argument, conversation and public speaking – poses an obstacle to any attempt to improve a society gone awry. Modern paroemiology has revealed that a key element of any proverb is the ease with which it can be recalled. Thus, to the extent that memorized lines of poetry are in fact proverbs and gnômai, such versified wisdom expressions must figure prominently in any effort at reform. I proceed book by book through the Republic, analyzing Plato’s use of proverbs and gnômai. Book 1 can be viewed as an evolutionary “progression of proverbs” that ultimately leads to the first of what will be several definitions of “justice” which Socrates and his interlocutors consider. I re-frame the attacks against poetry in Books 2 and 3 as an exposition of the contest among competing “sayings” (legomena) which are themselves part of the linguistic behavior that constitutes a society’s discursive practices or “vocabularies.” In my reading of Books 3-7, I examine the relationship between proverbial sayings and the theoretical construction of the ideal polis as we witness Socrates and his interlocutors draw time after time from the pre-existing reservoir of traditional proverbs. Lastly, I analyze Plato’s increasing self-reflexivity in the use of proverbs in Republic 8-10, which provides a meta-commentary on the task of communicating Plato’s philosophy through the medium of language. iii The dissertation of John Roger Tennant Jr. is approved. Alex C. Purves Andrea Nightingale Giulia Sissa Kathryn Anne Morgan, Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2019 iv For Wendi. δῖα γυναικῶν v TABLE OF CONTENTS A Note on the Text ....................................................................................................................... viii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ ix Biographical Sketch ........................................................................................................................ xi 1. Plato, Proverbs, and Reform ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Defining Proverbs and Gnômai ............................................................................................. 19 1.3. Proverbs and Plato’s Republic ............................................................................................... 30 2. Republic 1: Proverb’s Progress .................................................................................................. 34 2.1. Questioning Language’s Adequacy ........................................................................................ 34 2.2. Cephalus and Socrates: Proverb Versus Proverb ................................................................... 38 2.3. Proverbs, Elenchus, and the Question of Truth ...................................................................... 62 2.4. Elenchus Meets Proverb: Socrates and Polemarchus ............................................................. 67 2.5. Riddling Gnômai and “Complex Irony” ................................................................................. 73 2.6. “Talking Trash” and Telling Old Wives’ Tales with Thrasymachus ..................................... 87 3. Republic 2-3: The Use and Abuse of Proverbs ....................................................................... 112 3.1. Contemplating “Release” from Logos .................................................................................. 112 3.2. The Abuse of Proverb ........................................................................................................... 117 3.3. Tales of Two Gyges: Plato’s Proverbs versus Herodotus’ ................................................... 138 3.4. Finding and Crafting Better Legomena ................................................................................ 151 4. Republic 3-7: Proverbs and the Construction of the Ideal State ........................................... 170 4.1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 170 4.2. Proverbial Reform ................................................................................................................ 174 4.3. “Cities upon Cities but No City!” – Colloquial Proverb and Ironic Longing ...................... 180 vi 4.4. Sharing the “Small Stuff” (ta smikra) – The Transformative Potential of the “ Common” (ta koina) .............................................................................................................................. 187 4.5. Socrates Hoist with His Own Proverbial Petard ................................................................... 196 4.6. Radical Proverbs and Ridicule ............................................................................................. 210 4.7. Proverbs and the Metaphysical Framework for Philosopher Kings ..................................... 225 4.7.1. Education, Logos, and the Divine .............................................................................. 228 4.7.2. The Hard Way to the Good, Up and Out of the Cave ................................................ 235 5. Republic 8-10: Proverbs and the Discourse of the Ideal State .............................................. 247 5.1. Communicating the Incommunicable with Proverbs ........................................................... 247 5.2. The Discourse of the Ideal State ........................................................................................... 257 5.2.1. The Ethical Reception of Legomena .......................................................................... 261 5.2.2. Kompsoi and the “Language Game” .......................................................................... 266 5.2.3. Refusing to Banish Discourse with the Power to Charm (κηλεῖν, ἐπᾷδειν) .............. 282 5.3. Epilogue ................................................................................................................................ 298 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................... 303 vii A NOTE ON THE TEXT For convenience, the Greek text used throughout this text for Plato’s Republic (as well as the other dialogues) is from the Oxford Classical Text edition of Plato by John Burnet. All translations are my own, unless noted otherwise. viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to thank the members of my dissertation committee for all of their guidance and support during this project, in all of its phases. The idea for reading Plato by way of his use of proverbs first arose out of conversations that my director and primary advisor, Kathryn Morgan, and I had over the course of reading the Republic as part of a Graduate Research Mentorship, generously funded by the UCLA Graduate Division. Without Kathryn’s mentorship, advice, and steadfast encouragement, this dissertation, not to mention completion of the UCLA Classics PhD program in general, would have been impossible. The other half of my academic heartbeat is Andrea Nightingale. It
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