PLATO, SHAKESPEARE, ACTORS, AND POPULAR CULTURE (Platon, Szekspir, aktorzy i kultura masowa)

The paper demonstrates Plato's efforts to emancipate reason from the influence of mythological tradition developed among others by 'myth-creative' mimetic art that plays at mass audience's heart strings (Plato's 'Ion' is watched by twenty-thousand strong audience). As a result, the sphere of affects were marginalized later on by Christianity. Shakespeare appears here as one of the first liberators of that affective sphere, and as a fighter for artists' dignity, especially theatre artists. Brecht appears as a representative of the next wave of emancipation, who, like Plato before him, tries to empower the public and make him a subject. The theme of an actor and the fight for his dignity is an example of development of the significance of individuality in Europe's history.