founders of a State ought to know the general forms in which poets should cast their tales, and the limitswhich must be observed by them, but to make the tales is not their business.
I believe that stories are able to broach any topic, as long as it's done correctly.
Vice may be had in abundance without trouble
Indeed, vice is easier to obtain than virtue. But some may not even realize that an alternative to it exists, so how are they supposed to realize that?
'When the tables are full of bread and meat, and the cup-bearer carries round wine which he draws fromthe bowl and pours into the cups,'is it fit or conducive to temperance for a young man to hear such words? Or the verse'The saddest of fates is to die and meet destiny from hunger?'
I don't get what they're getting at here.
some tales are to be told, and others are not to be told toour disciples from their youth upwards, if we mean them to honour the gods and their parents, and to valuefriendship with one another.
Perhaps this is true during the time of Plato, but I am of the belief that children have accumulated enough literacy to be able to be told most stories.
The imitative art is an inferior who marries an inferior, and has inferior offspring.
Imitation is the best form of flattery, but if done correctly, imitation is by no means inferior. An iteration upon a pre-existing piece can lead to something even greater being created.
poetry feeds and waters the passionsinstead of drying them up; she lets them rule, although they ought to be controlled
I believe that Plato is overreaching with how much passion needs to be controlled in reaction to poetry. It doesn't lead to them ruling the mind; it merely increases its influence.