The present work places Plato’s notion of mimesis within historical context and explains it as a critique of this context. The different conceptions of discourses dealing with truth known to Plato are presented (the mythical and parmenidean, which is dealt with at more length), and explained as conceptions before which Plato reacts in order to shape his own notion of mimesis as a metaphysical necessity, a notion which permeates his philosophical system.