ALEXANDRIA AND ITS POETS - (S.A.) Stephens The Poets of Alexandria. Pp. xiv + 194, maps. London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2018. Paper, £12.99, US$20. ISBN: 978-1-84885-880-0 (978-1-84885-879-4 hbk).

Abstract

beginning of the debate between the two disciplines, namely, to that ancient quarrel between poetry and philosophy, where the former, which preceded the latter, was one of the main branches of ancient education. Rather, it is the nature of philosophy itself, being a field of research absolutely dependent on language, and not just as an unavoidable and obligatory means for the expression of philosophical ideas and ideals, but, and much more important, as the core of the essence of philosophy, of its very being as a vehicle conveying truth and Truth. It was precisely for that reason that Plato, always the hysterical, prescribed banishment to the poets from his ideal state. The rational Aristotle, in contrast, sought a different venue. Unlike his former teacher, he did not reject poetry, but tried to recruit it for his own needs, and therefore probablyfor even after M.'s extensive study we cannot know for sure-Homeric Problems was one of the most impressive manifestations of Aristotle's efforts to go along with this line of thought.