Plato's attack on poetry

Classical Literary Criticism paved the way for Modern western Criticism. Plato, Aristotle, Longinus and Horace are known as the four pillars of Classical Criticism. Among these, Plato (427BC to 348 BC) is the most celebrated disciple of Socrates. The fourth century BC was an age of critical inquiry and analysis. Plato had given a systematic shape to the Literary Criticism. Plato's ideas are expressed in several books. Cheif among them are Dialogues, The Republic, Ion, Crio.

Plato’s attack on poetry

In his Republic, Plato attacked poetry and poets. He is banished poetry and poets in his ideal city of Republic. His attack is mainly on the basis of moral, intellectual and emotional ground of poetry. 

They main charges or objections  made by Plato against poetry in his Republic are the following :

* poetry is twice removed from reality. That's it is the copy of copy. It's mere imitation. 

* Poet writes poem with sudden inspiration not of deep thought. 

* Poetry affects only emotion not reason. It rises emotions. It's not an intellectual process. 

* poetry  does not inspire virtue. Poetry doest have any moral sense. It corrupts human beings because it treats virtue and vice alike.

According to Plato, poets are liars and poetry is the mother of all lies. For Plato, the highest truth is strict, mathematical and  intellectual, but poetry does not deal in such truth and may distract reader from truth. For Plato, poets depend on inspiration, which is a form of madness instead of reason and knowledge. He  concludes that such literature corrupt both citizen  and nation.