I propose to examine the figure of the daimōn as it appears in the myth of Er (Plato, Republic X, 617e, 620d-e), by relating it to the literary tradition prior to Plato, in particular lyric poetry (in Theognis and Pindar) and tragedy, notably in Euripides. I will show how Plato engages in a polemical dialogue with this heritage, modifying certain traditional representations of the daimōn in order to adapt them to his philosophical demands.
Andrei Timotin, PhD from EHESS (2008) and EPHE (2010), is Director of Studies at the École pratique des hautes études-PSL. His numerous publications on the relationship between philosophy and religion in Antiquity include La Démonologie platonicienne. Histoire de la notion de daimōn de Platon aux derniers néoplatoniciens (Brill, 2012), La Prière dans la tradition platonicienne, de Platon à Proclus (Brepols, 2017) and Trois Théories antiques de la divination. Plutarch, Jamblicus, Augustine (Brill, 2022).
