# Ion — Dialogues character guide

> Ion in Dialogues by Plato.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the rhapsode Ion, Ion the rhapsode, Ion the Ephesian

**First appearance:** 0028-ion

## Snapshot

A prize-winning rhapsode from Ephesus who can perform Homer brilliantly but cannot explain why he performs anyone else poorly.

## Who they are

Ion is a professional reciter of Homer, proud of his craft and genuinely puzzled by his own uneven powers, which Socrates seizes on as evidence that poetry works by divine inspiration rather than knowledge. He is vain, charming, and disarmingly honest about his limitations, admitting he falls asleep over Hesiod but wakes at a mention of Homer. His conversation with Socrates turns a performer's boast into a lasting question about whether artists understand what they do.

## Relationships

### [Socrates](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/socrates)

_rivalry_

Socrates challenges Ion's claims about being a rhapsode with divine inspiration, exposing his lack of true knowledge.

### [Plato](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/plato)

_social_

Ion is a character in Plato's Ion, representing the rhapsode profession that Plato critiques through Socrates.

### [Cleinias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/cleinias)

_social_

Cleinias and Ion are both characters in different Platonic dialogues, with no direct interaction but linked by their roles as interlocutors.

### [Socrates](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/socrates)

_rivalry_

Socrates challenges Ion's claims about being a rhapsode with divine inspiration, exposing his lack of true knowledge.

### [Plato](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/plato)

_social_

Ion is a character in Plato's Ion, representing the rhapsode profession that Plato critiques through Socrates.

### [Plato](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/plato)

_social_

Ion is a character in Plato's Ion, representing the rhapsode profession that Plato critiques through Socrates.

### [Socrates](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/socrates)

_rivalry_

Socrates challenges Ion's claims about being a rhapsode with divine inspiration, exposing his lack of true knowledge.

### [Cleinias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/cleinias)

_social_

Cleinias and Ion are both characters in different Platonic dialogues, with no direct interaction but linked by their roles as interlocutors.

## In the story

### [Ion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/ion)

Ion, a rhapsode specializing in Homer, defends his craft but is led to admit his inspiration is divine and irrational.

### [Ion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/chapters/ion)

Ion, a rhapsode from Ephesus, claims to speak excellently about Homer but poorly about other poets, which Socrates challenges.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters/ion
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dialogues_se/characters