Ion: He will know what a man and what a woman ought to say, and what a freeman and what a slave ought to say, and what a ruler and what a subject.
Socrates: Do you mean that a rhapsode will know better than the pilot what the ruler of a sea-tossed vessel ought to say?
Ion: No; the pilot will know best.
Socrates: Or will the rhapsode know better than the physician what the ruler of a sick man ought to say?
Ion: He will not.
Socrates: But he will know what a slave ought to say?
Ion: Yes.
Socrates: Suppose the slave to be a cowherd; the rhapsode will know better than the cowherd what he ought to say in order to soothe the infuriated cows?
Ion: No, he will not.
Socrates: But he will know what a spinning-woman ought to say about the working of wool?
Ion: No.
Socrates: At any rate he will know what a general ought to say when exhorting his soldiers?
Ion: Yes, that is the sort of thing which the rhapsode will be sure to know.
Socrates: Well, but is the art of the rhapsode the art of the general?
Ion: I am sure that I should know what a general ought to say.
Socrates: Why, yes, Ion, because you may possibly have a knowledge of the art of the general as well as of the rhapsode; and you may also have a knowledge of horsemanship as well as of the lyre: and then you would know when horses were well or ill managed. But suppose I were to ask you: By the help of which art, Ion, do you know whether horses are well managed, by your skill as a horseman or as a performer on the lyre—what would you answer?
Ion: I should reply, by my skill as a horseman.
Socrates: And if you judged of performers on the lyre, you would admit that you judged of them as a performer on the lyre, and not as a horseman?
Ion: Yes.
Socrates: And in judging of the general’s art, do you judge of it as a general or a rhapsode?
Ion: To me there appears to be no difference between them.
Socrates: What do you mean? Do you mean to say that the art of the rhapsode and of the general is the same?
Ion: Yes, one and the same.
Socrates: Then he who is a good rhapsode is also a good general?
Ion: Certainly, Socrates.