Re‑readingPlato’s Ion as the first text in the hermeneutics tradition, the author finds two mainstreams. The first, based on reflection (rationality, logic, knowledge) stems from Socrates; thesecond, consisting in an affective approach (myth, art), stems from Ion. Both Socrates andIon delimit this field of hermeneutics (legein peri or ‘speaking about’) staying beyond its frontiers.Next, the author exploits the Socrates: Ion binary in order to interpret some key figures,trends, and schools within the whole tradition (rabbis, St Augustine, Pietism, Schleiermacher,Nietzsche, Dilthey, explication de texte, Heidegger, Gadamer, Peter Szondi, the Nitra School,and Ricoeur). Writers tend towards either the Socratic (explication de texte) or Ionic wing (Nietzsche).There are, however, also writers who attempted to find the middle ground, a positionoffering both reflexion and intuition (Schleiermacher, Gadamer, and Ricoeur). The author concludesthat the main challenge issuing from his interpretation is to remain close to a text, andresist any temptation to go beyond it.