Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-rkxrd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-18T11:07:00.926Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

De la bigarrure en politique (Platon République 8.557C4–61e7)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2010

Noémie Villacèque
Noémie Villacèque
Affiliation:
Université Toulouse II – le Mirail
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper deals with Plato's use of poikilos and cognates to describe democracy. It does not argue that Plato's Republic contains empirical analyses of some contemporary event, but supposes that an historical reading of the book is possible and legitimate. Post Peloponnesian War Athenian society experienced profound socio-economic changes. Echoing the aristocratic élite's circumspect anxiety when faced with the nouveaux riches, Plato clearly regards obsessive greediness as one of the root causes of the corruption of any political system. Referring to democracy, the philosopher invents the himation poikilon or ‘embroidered coat of many colours' metaphor. By materializing the multifaceted concept of poikilia, this metaphor gives a single and palpable form to the principal topoi of anti-democratic rhetoric: the himation poikilon evokes the motley constitution of the Athenian regime, the tyrant's ostentatious opulence, aped by the demos turannos, the inconstancy of the demos, the deceitful character of democracy and, last but not least, its penchant for spectacles.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 130 , November 2010 , pp. 137 - 152
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bibliographie

Adam, J. (1963) The Republic of Plato (2 vols) (Cambridge)Google Scholar
Annas, J. (1994) Introduction à la République de Platon (Paris)Google Scholar
Austin, M. et Vidal-Naquet, P. (1972) Économies et sociétés en Grèce ancienne (Paris)Google Scholar
Balot, R.K. (2004) ‘Free speech, courage, and democratic deliberation’, in Sluiter, I. et Rosen, R.M. (éds), Free Speech in Classical Antiquity (Leiden) 233–59CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benvéniste, É. (1969) Le vocabulaire des institutions indo-européennes, vol. 2, Pouvoir, droit, religion (Paris)Google Scholar
Bers, V. (1985) ‘Dikastic Thorubos’, in Cartledge, P.A. et Harvey, F.D. (éds), CRUX. Essays in Greek History presented to G.E.M. de Ste Croix on his 75th birthday (Londres) 1–15Google Scholar
Boulogne, J. (1995) ‘La leçon de Protée’, Uranie 5, 9–32Google Scholar
Brisson, L. et Pradeau, J.-Fr. (2006) Platon. Les Lois (2 vols) (Paris)Google Scholar
Burke, E.M. (1992) ‘The economy of Athens in the Classical era. Some adjustements to the primitivist model’, TAPhA 122, 199–226Google Scholar
Burnyeat, M.F. (1999) ‘Culture and society in Plato's Republic’, The Tanner Lectures on Human Values 20, 215–324Google Scholar
Chanteur, J. (1980). Platon, le désir et la cité (Paris)Google Scholar
Connor, W.R. (1971) The New Politicians of Fifth-Century Athens (Princeton)Google Scholar
Davies, J.K. (1984) Wealth and the Power of Wealth in Classical Athens (Salem)Google Scholar
Desclos, M.-L. (2000) ‘Idoles, icônes et phantasmes dans les dialogues de Platon’, RMM 3, 301–28Google Scholar
Detienne, M. et Vernant, J.-P. (1974) Les ruses de l'intelligence. La mètis des Grecs (Paris)Google Scholar
Detienne, M., Loraux, N., Mossé, CI. et Vidal-Naquet, P. (éds) (1987) Poikilia. Études offertes à JeanPierre Vernant (Paris)Google Scholar
Dodds, E.R. (1959) Plato, Gorgias. A Revised Text with Introduction and Commentary (Oxford)Google Scholar
Edmond, M.-P. (1991) Le philosophe-roi. Platon et la politique (Paris)Google Scholar
Finley, M.I. (1976) Démocratie antique et démocratie moderne (Paris)Google Scholar
Gentili, B. (1972) ‘Lirica greca arcaica e tardo arcaica’, in Della Corte, F. (éd.), Introduzione allo Studio della Cultura Classica, vol. 1 (Milan) 57–105Google Scholar
Gentili, B. et Cerri, G. (1988) History and Biography in Ancient Thought (Amsterdam)Google Scholar
Gigante, M. (1993) Nomos Basileus (Naples)Google Scholar
Griffin, J. (1998) ‘The social function of Attic tragedy’, CQ 48, 39–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, E. (2006) ‘Lawcourts dramas. Acting and performance in legal oratory’, in Hall, E. (éd.), The Theatrical Cast of Athens. Interactions between Ancient Greek Drama and Society (Oxford) 353–92 (précedemment publié in BICS 40 (1995) 39–58)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heiden, B. (1993) ‘Emotion, acting, and the Athenian ethos’, in Sommerstein, A.H. (éd.), Tragedy, Comedy and the Polis: Papers from the Greek Drama Conference. Nottingham, 18–20 July 1990 (Bari) 145–66Google Scholar
Janaway, Ch. (1995) Images of Excellence. Plato's Critique of the Arts (Oxford)Google Scholar
Jaulin, A. (1994) ‘La critique politique du théâtre dans la philosophie grecque classique’, in Menu, M. (éd.), Théâtre et Cité. Séminaire du CRATA 1992–1994 (Toulouse) 43–52Google Scholar
Kelley, W.G. (1973) ‘Rhetoric as seduction’, Ph&Rh 6, 69–80Google Scholar
Lanza, D. (1997) Le tyran et son public (Paris)Google Scholar
Laroche, E. (1949) Histoire de la racine *ν∈μ - en grec ancien (Paris)Google Scholar
Lévêque, P. (1993) ‘Répartition et démocratie. À propos de la racine *da.’, Esprit 197, 34–39Google Scholar
Loraux, N. (1993) L'Invention d'Athènes. Histoire de l'oraison funèbre dans la ‘cité classique’ (Paris)Google Scholar
Loraux, N. (1997) La cité divisée. L'oubli dans la mémoire d'Athènes (Paris)Google Scholar
Millett, P. (1991) Lending and Borrowing in Ancient Athens (Cambridge)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, B. et Lucas, J.R. (2003) An Engagement with Plato's Republic. A Companion to the Republic (Aldershot)Google Scholar
Monoson, S.S. (2000) Plato's Democratic Entanglements. Athenian Politics and the Practice of Philosophy (Princeton)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moss, J. (2007) ‘What is imitative poetry and why is it bad?’, in Ferrari, G.R.F. (éd.), The Cambridge Companion to Plato's Republic (Cambridge) 415–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mossé, CI. (1962) La fin de la démocratie athénienne. Aspects sociaux et politiques du déclin de la Cité grecque au IVe siècle avant J.-C. (Paris)Google Scholar
Ober, J. (1989). Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens. Rhetoric, Ideology and the Power of the People (Princeton)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ober, J. (1993) ‘Public speech and the power of the people in democratic Athens’, Political Science and Politics 26, 481–86CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ober, J. (1996) The Athenian Revolution. Essays on Ancient Greek Democracy and Political Theory (Princeton)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ober, J. (1999) Political Dissent in Democratic Athens. Intellectual Critics of Popular Rule (Princeton)Google Scholar
Orfanos, Ch. (2006) Les Sauvageons d'Athènes ou la didactique du rire chez Aristophane (Paris)Google Scholar
Ostwald, M. (1965) ‘Pindar, Nomos, and Heracles (Pindar, frg. 169 [Snell2] POxy. no. 2450, frg. 1’, HSPh 69, 109–38Google Scholar
Ostwald, M. (1986) From Popular Sovereignty to the Sovereignty of Law. Law, Society, and Politics in Fifth-Century Athens (Berkeley)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Payen, P. (1997) Les Îles Nomades. Conquérir et résister dans l'Enquête d'Hérodote (Paris)Google Scholar
Pini, G. (1974) ‘Sul di Pindaro’, SIFC 46, 185–210Google Scholar
Pontier, P. (2006) Trouble et ordre chez Platon et Xénophon (Paris)Google Scholar
Pradeau, J.-Fr. (2001) Platon. Ion (Paris)Google Scholar
Pradeau, J.-Fr. (2004) ‘L'ébriété démocratique. La critique platonicienne de la démocratie dans les Lois’, JHS 124, 108–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rinaudo, M. (1994) Ποικíλος e derivati, da Omero ad Aristotele (dottorato di ricerca in filosofia e cultura Greca e Latina, VI ciclo, sous la direction de S. Nicosia, Universitá degli studi di Palermo)Google Scholar
Robin, L. (1940–1942) Platon. Œuvres complètes (2 vols) (Paris)Google Scholar
Roisman, J. (2004) ‘Speaker-audience interaction in Athens. Apower struggle’, in Sluiter, I. et Rosen, R.M. (éds), Free Speech in Classical Antiquity (Leiden) 261–78CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenstock, B. (1994) ‘Athena's cloak. Plato's critique of the democratic city in the Republic’, Political Theory 22, 363–90CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruzé, Fr. (1984) ‘Plèthos, aux origines de la majorité politique’, in Glotz, Centre Gustave (éd.), Aux origines de l'hellénisme: la Crète et la Grèce. Hommage à Henri van Effenterre (présenté par le Centre Gustave Glotz) (Paris) 247–63Google Scholar
Ruzé, Fr. (1997) Délibération et pouvoir dans la cité grecque de Nestor à Socrate (Paris)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schofield, M. (2006) Plato. Political Philosophy (Oxford)Google Scholar
Shipton, K.M.W. (1997) ‘The private banks in fourth-century B.C. Athens: a reappraisal’, CQ 47, 396–422CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Svenbro, J. (1988) Phrasikleia. Anthropologie de la lecture en Grèce ancienne (Paris)Google Scholar
Taillardat, J. (1965) Les images d'Aristophane. Études de langue et de style (Paris)Google Scholar
Trevett, J. (1992) Apollodoros the Son of Pasion (Oxford)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuplin, Ch. (1985) ‘Imperial tyranny. Some reflections on a Classical Greek political metaphor’, in Cartledge, P.A. et Harvey, F.D. (éds), CRUX. Essays in Greek History presented to G.E.M. de Ste Croix on his 75th birthday (Londres) 348–75Google Scholar
Vernant, J.-P. (1999) L'Univers, les Dieux, les Hommes. Récits grecs des origines (Paris)Google Scholar
Villacèque, N. (2008) ‘Histoire de la Ποικιλíα, un mode de reconnaissance sociale dans la démocratie athénienne’, REA 110/2, 443–59CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallace, R.W. (1997) ‘Poet, public, and theatrocracy: audience performance in Classical Athens’, in Edmunds, L. et Wallace, R.W. (éds), Poet, Public, and Performance in Ancient Greece (Baltimore) 97–111Google Scholar
Wallace, R.W. (2004) ‘The power to speak – and not to listen – in ancient Athens’, in Sluiter, I. et Rosen, R.M. (éds), Free Speech in Classical Antiquity (Leiden) 221–32CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, U. von (1920) Platon. II, Beilagen und Textkritik (Berlin)Google Scholar