The Poetry Of Testing Eros:A Poetical Study Of Plato’s Dialogue

This paper argues that the question of eros is one of the central issues of Plato’s dialogues and one of the central issues of literature,which means that how we understand and confront eros will determine how we understand literature itself.The first thing to understand Plato’s dialogues is to realize that they are great poems written in a literary way,in other words,literature is the best way to understand Plato’s thought.Guided by Strauss’ s ideas,this paper proposes a theoretical framework of "soft poetry" as opposed to "hard poetry" through the analysis of Plato’s three dialogues,namely,"The Meeting," "The Ideal State," and "Phaedo," arguing that softness is the fundamental form of literature.In contrast,the "hard poetry" represented by Plato’s dialogues fundamentally rejects all the images and opinions of the cave-city-state,and is always trying to "disturb" them.In contrast,the "hard poetry" represented by Plato’s dialogues fundamentally denies all the images-opinions of the cave-city-state,always "stirring up"(Hegel’s term)people’s opinionated perceptions,separating them from the various images-opinions and replacing the experience of love with contemplative love.The paper is divided into three parts.The first part deals with "how to understand the Platonic dialogues".It is divided into:(a)the dramatic form of Plato’s dialogues;(b)the absence of Plato’s supreme teaching;(c)Leo Strauss’ s teaching.The second part deals with the "eros and poetry of softness".It is divided into:(a)what is eros: the interlocutor of body and soul;(b)eros inspires soft poetry;(c)the ladder of softness: the revealed teachings of Plato.The third part deals with the "dark side of eros and the hard poem".It is divided into:(a)hardness: the dark side of lust;(b)separation: the nature of hardness;(c)the trial of lust: what does a hard poem mean?And finally,the concluding remarks.