Plato is famous for exiling poetry and poets from the Republic's ideal city. He expelled them because they wrote the incorrect kind of poetry. To respond to Plato's criticism of poetry, what is required is not a defense of poetry itself, but a defense of poets' freedom to write as and what they desire. Poetry is one of the nine arts in Ancient Greece. It was also known as "the singing art" since it used words as instruments for expressing thoughts and ideas. Poets were usually paid for their work, but some poems were written as part of religious ceremonies or even in honor of the gods. Plato believed that poetry and musicianship were too important to be left to chance. Therefore, he proposed to exile them from the city because he thought that this would make people more rational and responsible. However, some scholars believe that he banished them because they represented the only two arts that couldn't be taught. Since teaching was considered very important by Plato, he wanted to remove any potential obstacles for learning other than religion and politics which everyone could agree on should not be mixed with education. Even though Plato banned poetry and musicianship from the city, they continued to be practiced outside the city gates. So, poetry and musicianship were not actually banned under Greek law. The only thing that Plato did was to forbid his citizens from engaging in these activities.