Plato's Use of Quotations and Other Illustrative Material

Abstract

Plato's use of illustrative material, in the widest sense, is very varied. Parts of the field have had some study—his use of metaphor and simile (still capable, no doubt, of yielding more meaning in relation to his thought) and his use of proverbs, at least as regards subject-matter and sources. The object of the present article is to consider in general what may already have been catalogued somewhere—his quotations from other writers (mainly from poets) and his references to myths and to other stories.