Plato on Inspiration

"If anyone comes to the gates of poetry and expects to become an adequate poet by acquiring expert knowledge of the subject without the Muses’ madness, he will fail, and his self-controlled verses will be eclipsed by the poetry of men who have been driven out of their minds.”

Plato, Phaedrus 245a.

I saw that in a FB group, and the poster asks for our takes on what Plato is saying here. I don't think there's any exegetical mystery to be unwound here. As Plato goes, the meaning seems pretty clear.

But I replied, beginning with a question of my own.

"Have you seen the movie AMADEUS? It is making the same point. The world is full of talented mediocrities in music and in literature. If they can earn an honest living at their talent they are surely entitled to it. But when an Aristophanes comes along (or a Mozart) he reaches another domain entirely. That of genius."

To be clear, the analogy I am suggesting is that Mozart is to Salieri as Aristophanes is to the wanna-be literary geniuses of Plato's day. And I invoke Aristophanes in this connection because of his prominence in another dialog, The Symposium.

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