oings of that art?

ION: Very true.

SOCRATES: Then which will be a better judge of the lines which you were
reciting from Homer, you or the charioteer?

ION: The charioteer.

SOCRATES: Why, yes, because you are a rhapsode and not a charioteer.

ION: Yes.

SOCRATES: And the art of the rhapsode is different from that of the
charioteer?

ION: Yes.

SOCRATES: And if a different knowledge, then a knowledge of different
matters?

ION: True.

SOCRATES: You know the passage in which Hecamede, the concubine of
Nestor, is described as giving to the wounded Machaon a posset, as he
says,

'Made with Pramnian wine; and she grated cheese of goat's milk with a
grater of bronze, and at his side placed an onion which gives a relish
to drink (Il.).'

Now would you say that the art of the rhapsode or the art of medicine
was better able to judge of the propriety of these lines?

ION: The art of medicine.

SOCRATES: And when Homer says,

'And she descended into the deep like a leaden plummet, which, set in
the horn of ox that ranges in the fields, rushes along carrying death
among the ravenous fishes (Il.),'--

will the art of the fisherman or of the rhapsode be better able to judge
whether these lines are rightly expressed or not?

ION: Clearly, Socrates, the art of the fisherman.

SOCRATES: Come now, suppose that you were to say to me: 'Since you,
Socrates, are able to assign different passages in Homer to their
corresponding arts, I wish that you would tell me what are the passages
of which the excellence ought to be judged by the prophet and prophetic
art'; and you will see how readily and truly I shall answer you. For
there are many such passages, particularly in the Odyssee; as, for
example, the passage in which Theoclymenus the prophet of the house of
Melampus says to the suitors:--

'Wretched men! what is happening to you? Your heads and your faces
and your limbs underneath are shrouded in night; and the voice of
lamentation bursts forth, and your cheeks are wet with tears. And the
vestibule is full, and the court is full, of ghosts descending into the
darkness of Erebus, and the sun has perished out of heaven, and an evil
mist is spread abroad (Od.).'

And there are many such passages in the Iliad also; as for example in
the description of the battle near the rampart, where he says:--

'As they were eager to pass the ditch, there came to them an omen: a
soaring eagle, holding back the people on the le