James Adam, The Republic of Plato

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μιμητὴς οὗ ἐκεῖνοι <*> μιουργοί . There is (1) the φυτουργ<*>ς. <*> the δημιουργός, (3) the imitator of ‘b<*> The two former are each of them (in <*> wider sense) δημιουργοί of ‘bed.’ I<*> be noticed that ‘bed’ is treated <*> tempore (from βούλει οὖν to ὡμολογ<*> μεν) as a single undifferentiated no<*> because the contrast is shifted from <*> three beds to those who are concerne<*> their production. At 598 A εἰπὲ δε <*> κτλ. Plato again differentiates the no<*> in order to make it clear that the Pai<*> imitates only the material, and not <*> Ideal, bed.

τὸν τοῦ τρίτου κτλ. The gen<*> is like τί αὐτὸν κλίνης κτλ. above. <*> not think we ought (with J. and C. <*> supply δημιουργόν.

τοῦτ̓ ἄρα -- μιμηταί. Since <*> tragic poet is an imitator, he too wil<*> τοῦ τρίτου γεννήματος ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεω<*> in other words, τρίτος τις ἀπὸ βασιλέως <*> Baiter's text is misleading because <*> prints no comma after μιμητής ἐστι. That Tragedy is a branch of μίμησις, was universally allowed: see above on 595 C. Plato's procedure in reasoning from Painting to Poetry (cf. infra 598 C, 601 A, 603 B and 605 A) may be illustrated by Simonides' remark that ‘Poetry is vocal Painting,’ as ‘Painting is silent Poetry’ (ὁ Σιμωνίδης τὴν μὲν ζῳγραφίαν ποίησιν σιωπῶσαν προσαγορεύει, τὴν δὲ ποίησιν ζῳγραφίαν λαλοῦσαν Plut. de gloria Ath. 346 F)—a saying which Lessing appropriately cites in the preface to his Laocoon.

τρίτος τις κτλ.: ‘as it were third from King and Truth.’ The metaphor is a genealogical one (cf. III 391 C Πηλέως, σωφρονεστάτου τε καὶ τρίτου ἀπὸ Διός), and the King corresponds of course to the φυτουργός or God. On the one hand we have (1) God, (2) the τέκτων, (3) the μιμητής: on the other (1) the αὐτὸ ὃ ἔστι κλίνη, (2) a material κλίνη, (3) a picture of a material κλίνη: and just as the picture is τὸ τρίτον γέννημα ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως, so the imitator is ‘third in descent’ (τρίτος — πεφυκώς) and consequently two degrees removed from ὁ θεός. The propriety of the term βασιλέως will be seen if we translate Plato's theological phraseology into its philosophical equivalent. When he tells us that God constructs the Idea of Bed, he means that the Idea of Good is the source of that Idea (597 B note), and the Idea of Good is King of the Ideal World: see VI 509 D. This is the application of the phrase: but it is possible enough that the expression itself was half-proverbial in Plato's time, and referred originally to the person who stood next but one in order of succession to the Persian throne. See App. I. The general sense is well illustrated by J. and C. from Dante In- ferno 11. 105 Si che vostr' arte a Dio quasi è nipote, i.e. Art is Nature's daughter, as Nature is God's: ‘so that your art is as it were the grandchild of God.’ It should be noticed that the drift of Plato's meaning can be expressed in terms of the simile of the line. The αὐτὸ δ ἔστι κλίνη, for example, belongs to EB (see Fig. 1 on p. 65), the material κλίνη to DC, and the picture of a Bed to the realm of εἰκόνες, that is to say AD. Similarly we may suppose that the state of mind of the carpenter is πίστις, and that of the Painter εἰκασία. See below on 601 E and cf. App. I to Book VII. Other views of the phrase τρίτος τις ἀπὸ βασιλέως are discussed in App. I.