ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the banishment of the poet from the city in Plato's dialogues. It discusses Plato's position on poetry, with one significant caveat. The force of the Platonic parable lies in the poignancy of casting out that which one most dearly loves, a banishment that demonstrates the intrication of the sacred and the sacrificial. The chapter shows the contemporary relevance of the Platonic paradigm by applying it to the US Supreme Court's treatment of victim-impact statements. It explores the status of law and literature in the legal academy. The chapter argues that the inaugurating question—why law and literature is such a peaked discipline—is answered by the Platonic paradigm. The canonical defense of law and literature is that it helps judges to be more empathetic and humane. The virtue defense asserts that poetry, while a discrete discourse, should not be banished because it has the capacity to serve, rather than merely to subvert, the proper ends of the state.
