Phaedrus

Description

Written by Plato around 370 BC, Phaedrus is an insightful dialogue on love and rhetoric, featuring Plato’s main protagonist, Socrates. The dialogue simply includes Socrates and his interlocutor, Phaedrus, whom he met with on the outskirts of Athens. Phaedrus has just left the house of Epicrates, where he had witnessed an insightful speech given by Lysias on the meaning of love.

For those familiar with the Greek philosopher it will become clear from the start that this insightful work bears Plato’s unique signature style, as it dives right into the topic with great intensity. Even more intimate than many of his other dialogues, Phaedrus curiously avoids the bridging of Plato’s ideas through the commonly set layers of interlocutors’ perspectives placed between the reader and the day’s events. Instead, we witness Socrates’ firsthand account of the happenings, as they are placed directly before us.

The writing consists of Lysias’ speech, which is reproduced however reluctantly by Phaedrus right in the beginning, and proceeds to fuel Socrates’ inspiration. What follows are two remarkably insightful speeches given by Socrates, first addressing similar topics as Lysias’ but from a slightly different perspective. When Socrates is stopped by his daemon, however, its divine intervention brings him the inspiration and enlightenment to compose a third speech – one in which he delves deep into the meaning and essence of the soul and the divine roots of the madness of love.

Socrates’ speech is admitted by Phaedrus to be far superior to any of Lysias’ speeches, and a further discussion on rhetoric ensues. Together with Socrates’ two speeches, this discussion comprises the entire dialogue, and will give even modern readers quite a few deep and interesting points to ponder upon.


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