Literature and Virtue in Sidney's "Apology for Poetry" In "An Apology for Poetry" Sir Philip Sidney attempts to reaffirm the fundamental importance of literature for society in general as well as other creative and intellectual endeavors. Although Sidney's work provides a synthesis (and in some cases an aberration) of much Greek and Roman literary theory, his argument aspires to move beyond an esoteric academic debate. Literature can “teach and delight” in a way that other methods of communication cannot (138). The moral/ethical impact that any literary text has on the reader is of fundamental importance to Sidney. The argument that Sidney presents and develops is based on the assumption that literature has the ability to most effectively teach and demonstrate virtue. Perhaps by better understanding how Sidney specifically makes this claim, we can better assess its strength or validity. Sidney places literature in a hierarchical relationship with all other forms of learning; literature occupies the highest and most influential level. Literature is "the first giver of light to ignorance", and all other sources of knowledge have been nourished by it (135). As the first use of the language beyond the fully utilitarian, the literature extends and expands the language to accommodate broader, conceptual investigations. Although an ardent admirer of Platonic philosophy, Sydney, in order to serve his intellectual exercise, rewrites or rehabilitates Plato's harsh position on the uselessness of literature. Unlike Plato's poet who perpetuates images far from the Truth, Sydney's poet can immerse himself in the world of Forms, of the Ideal, and provide us with the knowledge of virtue. While the tangible world of...... middle of paper......ry" (150). Sidney's responses have become the mainstay of advocates of a liberal arts education. Unfortunately, literature has been sanctified to the extent that knowledge of literature has become virtually synonymous with virtuous action. Such modern interpretations of Sidney's defense of literature seem to strike at the very heart of his argument. Sidney seems to understand all too well that human beings harbor both impulses virtuous and vicious; it is within our power to infuse our creations with both the sinister and the sublime. As this is true of any human invention, Sidney advises that the potential of literature for good or evil should not be easily underestimated or ignored. Works Cited Sidney , Philip Apology of poetry" The critical tradition. Ed., David H. Richter, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989.