Timeless Literary Wisdom For Writers: What We Can Learn From Ancient Philosophers And Theorists

Have you ever wondered who made the rules guiding how literature should work? Who established the conventions that poems should be written in lines and stanzas, prose in sentences and paragraphs, and play text using dialogues and characters? Interestingly, most of these writing conventions were developed by Greek philosophers and literary practitioners. Recently, I started reading about literary theories by philosophers, and I got to know some interesting things about literature that I thought to share with the Hive book club community. Among the people who have contributed to literary theory and literature at large are Plato, Horace, Longinus, and Aristotle. Ever since my high school years, the names Plato and Aristotle have been ringing bells, coming up in different fields. I was not surprised when I learnt that Plato and Aristotle are some of the “forefathers” of literature.

Plato is a Greek philosopher who is considered to be a significant figure in the literary world. In his book, The Republic, he made significant statements that are important to literary theory. In the republic, Plato outlined his vision for an ideal society. He banned literary practitioners because he considered them liars. Meaning, Plato was the first to argue that literary fabulation is the same as lying. For instance, when you read a fictional work, the characters, events, and dialogue are not real. They never happened. Hence, Plato tagged fictional works as lying. In his Republic, Plato also argued that literature is inherently immoral and not ideal for society.

There are so many literary works out there that glorify vices in place of virtues. Plato argued that literary works where you have characters hurting people or behaving immorally are bad for society. He had no regard for literature as he considered it useless in itself and just a tool for achieving patriotic individuals. One positive aspect of Plato’s Republic is that he argued that writers should write in such a way that alleviates the society so children can learn from them.

While I agree with some of the issues raised in Plato’s poetics, most of the issues do not resonate with me. For example, Plato argues that literature is deceptive. While I consider his point valid, I do not agree with him. While I agree that fictional works are fubulation and unreal, their aim is not to deceive the audience, but to enjoy the beauty of literature. Also, some fictional works have elements of realism. I also agree with Plato that writers should write in a way that alleviates society so people, especially children can learn from them. Great point!

Now, Aristotle. Aristotle was a student of Plato. Aristotle is another philosopher who made statements, especially in his Poetics that are important to literary theory. Aristotle regarded and respected literature. He is the first person to give literature the prestige it had never had. In his definition of who a tragic hero is, he argues that a tragic hero must be a good person, but with a tragic flaw. Characters should not be presented as perfect, because humans are not perfect. Through this, Aristotle emphasized that literature must be realistic.

Moving on, unlike Aristotle and Plato, Horace is a literary practitioner. Thanks to Horace, we got a perspective about literature from a person who practiced it first-hand. Horace combined the arguments of Aristotle and Plato. He argues that literature should be sweet (aesthetically pleasing) and useful (used as a tool to change society.)

In summary, Plato, Aristotle, Horace, and Longinus made significant contributions to literature. Although I disagree with some of their views, I believe that most of them remain valid. Thanks to them, we can appreciate the many beautiful aspects of literature.

Thanks for reading.