The Platonic Pinnacle of Sound-mindedness --- The paper, referenced by Biljana, on Hitler’s oratory is indeed an excellent starting point. It is a detailed analysis. I will just quote from the abstract: “Hitler’s oratory was powerful, awesome… As in 1930’s Germany, nowadays, it attracts millions of people around the world.

What is the source of this frightening power?

How could a man have it?

By the Ancient theory of rhythmic prose, this paper studies the importance of rhythm in some German phrases and a Hitler’s speech and the role of their features in the persuasion process.”

Several points to add from my perspective: Plato believed the influence of rhythm to be more persuasive upon the person than the content or the lyrics.

In relation to character formation Plato considered Sōphrosynē, which may also be translated as sound-mindedness, to be the most important virtue. Observe the centrality of the word “sound” in this Platonic pinnacle quality of the mind.

Source author: John D. Hipsley jhipsley@igc.org