Plato and Sidney's Defence of Poesie

Abstract

STUDENTS of the literary criticism of the Renaissance have long disagreed among themselves about the precise balance of derived from various sources in Sir Philip Sidney's Defence of Poesie. The current view most widely held would seem to be expressed by Atkins in his recent study of Renaissance English criticism. Atkins points out that, while Sidney's main doctrine... is coloured throughout by Platonic teaching, same doctrine, namely that poetry is essentially an art of 'imitation,' accords with Aristotelian theory; and Sidney's conception of the purpose of poetry-to teach and delight-is derived ultimately from Horace.1 Atkins says, more conclusively, in the central section of the Defence Sidney fused together ideas drawn from various quarters, from Plato and Aristotle chiefly, but from Horace, Cicero, and Plutarch, from patristic writings, from Italian and other sources as well.2