Response for 9-12-11

The guardians for Plato's Republic must not, under any circumstances (according to Plato), be influenced by any type of story, poem, or song that glorifies unjust, illiberal, cowardly, and deceitful actions. At the same time, the guardians are not to be exposed to any such influences that invoke a sense of mourning, weakness, or lamentation. Nor are they to be afraid of Hades, so that they will choose to die in battle instead of being defeated or becoming slaves. Plato believes that all types of poetry, storytelling, and singing leads one to imitate the type of actions the poems, stories, and songs are focused on. He also believes that this type of imitation while a person is young will lead to the young person taking on the traits he has imitated. Therefore, the guardians must not be exposed to any poems, stories, or songs that will lead to the young guardians taking on negative or weak traits, whether the subject matter be of the gods or of a goatherd. I found this concept to be slightly confusing. First of all, at 397e and 398b, the characterization of Socrates states that since everyone in their republic has one job and one job only, the poets and storytellers must be austere and less pleasant in order to fit the patterns of the laws of the republic. Yet, at 412a, Socrates states that "it is the person who makes the best blend of musical and physical training and applies them in the most perfect proportion to his soul" who would be best to train the young guardians in music, which violates their laws of a person having only one job. So I'm a bit confused, because it feels as if we've only read halfway through the argument.