Commentary on the Dream of Scipio and the Saturnalia

...preface original: "prafationem". This completes the word from the previous page.; and finally, what response should be given to the objections, specifically regarding the part that is necessary for this work. Once these objections are weakened—which is an easy task—then whatever bite of envy has ever been aimed, or perhaps will be aimed, against the opinion of either Plato or Cicero, even regarding the Dream of Scipio, will be dissolved. The entire faction of the Epicureans A school of philosophy that generally prioritized sensory experience and often mocked the metaphysical or allegorical "myths" used by Platonists., always straying from the truth with a consistent error and considering things they do not understand to be laughable, has mocked this sacred volume and the most majestic, serious matters of nature. Colotes An Epicurean philosopher and student of Epicurus known for his polemics against other schools of thought., who is particularly notable for his talkativeness among the followers of Epicurus, even recorded in a book the bitter quibbles he directed at this subject. But we must omit the other things he wrongly criticized here (since they do not pertain to the Dream, which is the subject of our current discussion). We will pursue that specific slander which, unless it is stamped out, will remain a charge common to both Cicero and Plato.

What Colotes the Epicurean objected to in Plato.

For he [Colotes] says that a philosopher ought not to devise a fable original: "fabulam". In this context, it refers to a fictional or allegorical narrative used to illustrate a point., because no kind of fiction is appropriate for those who profess the truth. "For why," he asks, "if you wanted to teach us the concept of celestial things or the condition of souls, was this not handled with a simple and direct explanation? Instead, you sought out a character, devised a novel situation, and staged a complex scene of fiction, thereby polluting the very gateway of seeking the truth with a lie." Since these accusations, when thrown at Plato's Er Referring to the "Myth of Er" from the end of Plato’s Republic, which Cicero modeled Scipio's dream after., also indict the rest of our dreaming Africanus Scipio Africanus the Younger, the narrator of Cicero's vision. (for in both cases, a character was chosen under a fitting premise to be a convenient messenger for these revelations), let us resist the pressure and refute the slander of this vain argument. Thus, by dissolving this one charge, the work of both authors may rightly retain its unharmed dignity.

Philosophy does not reject all fables, nor does it accept them all.
Which fables philosophy rejects, and which it receives.

And so that it may be easily discerned which of these she [Philosophy] renounces and excludes as profane from the very threshold of sacred dispute, and which she even [often...]