121.2

In this paper we argue that Plato construes the image of Socrates on the poetic archetype of the divinely inspired, infallible bard of the epic and lyric traditions. We begin with an examination of the Homeric misquotations in the Ion, that, we argue, place Socrates firmly within that tradition and proceed to show that by further casting Socrates in the role of the poet, e.g. in the Symposium and the Phaedrus, Plato fashions a new poetic hero as it were, to be revered as such in the Academy, thus aligning him to the long-standing cultic tradition that includes earlier composers and storytellers such as Archilochus and Homeric Odysseus himself.

Scholars have long noted Promethean themes and allusions in dRN, especially in the anthropological narrative of Book 5. This short study goes beyond identifying allusions and reveals a program of wordplay that Lucretius employs to invoke the fire-thief’s name. With these oblique intonations, Prometheus becomes a cipher for the illuminating labors of both the poet and his hero, Epicurus.

Roman senators relied on brokers from lower social strata to foster their reputation—existimatio or fama, in Latin. Existimatio was a major consideration for candidates and for politicians deciding whom to support in elections and at court. Well-connected information brokers among Rome’s non-elite thus gained considerable power by spreading the reputations of politicians. The need for constant positive existimatio and the need to maintain the Senate as the central organ in civic life thus created opposing forces as the Senate policed the way senators interacted with brokers and regulated organizations through which brokerage occurred while requiring the brokerage to grow their reputations.