Other editions of book Phaedrus

Phaedrus, authored by Plato, is a dialogue between Socrates, a protagonist and Phaedrus, an interlocutor. Written around the same time as Plato's major works including Republic and Symposium, Phaedrus focuses on the important topic of love and discusses the use of rhetoric while also touching on other similar subjects including reincarnation and eroticism. This is an excellent book for those who are interested in the major works of Plato and also those just starting to discover Plato's writings.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

The Phaedrus is closely connected with the Symposium, and may be regarded either as introducing or following it. The two Dialogues together contain the whole philosophy of Plato on the nature of love, which in the Republic and in the later writings of Plato is only introduced playfully or as a figure of speech. But in the Phaedrus and Symposium love and philosophy join hands, and one is an aspect of the other. Translated by Benjamin Jowett.The Phaedrus (/ˈfiːdrəs/; Greek: Φαῖδρος, translit. Phaidros), written by Plato, is a dialogue between Plato's protagonist, Socrates, and Phaedrus, an interlocutor in several dialogues. The Phaedrus was presumably composed around 370 BC, about the same time as Plato's Republic and Symposium.[1] Although ostensibly about the topic of love, the discussion in the dialogue revolves around the art of rhetoric and how it should be practiced, and dwells on subjects as diverse as metempsychosis (the Greek tradition of reincarnation) and erotic love.Socrates runs into Phaedrus on the outskirts of Athens. Phaedrus has just come from the home of Epicrates of Athens, where Lysias, son of Cephalus, has given a speech on love. Socrates, stating that he is "sick with passion for hearing speeches",[Note 1] walks into the countryside with Phaedrus hoping that Phaedrus will repeat the speech. They sit by a stream under a plane tree and a chaste tree, and the rest of the dialogue consists of oration and discussion.The dialogue, somewhat unusually, does not set itself as a re-telling of the day's events. The dialogue is given unmediated, in the direct words of Socrates and Phaedrus, without other interlocutors to introduce the story or give it to us; it comes first hand, as if we are witnessing the events themselves. This is in contrast to such dialogues as the Symposium, in which Plato sets up multiple layers between the day's events and our hearing of it, explicitly giving us an incomplete, fifth-hand account.

The Phaedrus is closely connected with the Symposium, and may be regarded either asintroducing or following it. The two Dialogues together contain the whole philosophy ofPlato on the nature of love, which in the Republic and in the later writings of Plato is onlyintroduced playfully or as a figure of speech. But in the Phaedrus and Symposium love andphilosophy join hands, and one is an aspect of the other. The spiritual and emotional part iselevated into the ideal, to which in the Symposium mankind are described as lookingforward, and which in the Phaedrus, as well as in the Phaedo, they are seeking to recoverfrom a former state of existence. Whether the subject of the Dialogue is love or rhetoric, orthe union of the two, or the relation of philosophy to love and to art in general, and to thehuman soul, will be hereafter considered. And perhaps we may arrive at some conclusionsuch as the following—that the dialogue is not strictly confined to a single subject, butpasses from one to another with the natural freedom of conversation.Phaedrus has been spending the morning with Lysias, the celebrated rhetorician, and isgoing to refresh himself by taking a walk outside the wall, when he is met by Socrates, whoprofesses that he will not leave him until he has delivered up the speech with which Lysiashas regaled him, and which he is carrying about in his mind, or more probably in a bookhidden under his cloak, and is intending to study as he walks. The imputation is not denied,and the two agree to direct their steps out of the public way along the stream of the Ilissustowards a plane-tree which is seen in the distance. There, lying down amidst pleasantsounds and scents, they will read the speech of Lysias. The country is a novelty to Socrates,who never goes out of the town; and hence he is full of admiration for the beauties ofnature, which he seems to be drinking in for the first time.

The Phaedrus, written by Plato, is a dialogue between Plato's protagonist, Socrates, and Phaedrus, an interlocutor in several dialogues. The Phaedrus was presumably composed around 370 BC, about the same time as Plato's Republic and Symposium. Although ostensibly about the topic of love, the discussion in the dialogue revolves around the art of rhetoric and how it should be practiced, and dwells on subjects as diverse as metempsychosis (the Greek tradition of reincarnation) and erotic love. Odin’s Library Classics is dedicated to bringing the world the best of humankind’s literature from throughout the ages. Carefully selected, each work is unabridged from classic works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama.

Phaedrus is one of Plato's best-loved dialogues, remarkable as a work of both philosophy and poetry. Lured into the countryside by the promise of a new speech, Socrates sits in the shade and talks with Phaedrus, a young amateur rhetorician. After Phaedrus recites a speech on love, Socrates delivers two speeches of his own, contrasting the baneful love induced by human folly with love as the divinely inspired blessing of holy madness. Interwoven is a discussion on rhetoric and its relation to truth. Full of charm and gentle irony, Phaedrus is an engaging celebration of love as the path to wisdom.

Plato's Phaedrus is widely considered to be one of the first and greatest literary works concerning love. Socrates and his friend Phaedrus discuss the different loves that exist between humans. The dialogue includes the famous simile in which the soul is compared to a charioteer (the rational element) driving a black steed (the irrational appetites) and a white steed (the spiritual element). Although ostensibly about the topic of love, the discussion in the dialogue revolves around the art of rhetoric and how it should be practiced, and dwells on subjects as diverse as metempsychosis (the Greek tradition of reincarnation) and erotic love. This new 2017 edition of Phaedrus uses modern American English spelling and punctuation. An image gallery is included.

The Phaedrus is closely connected with the Symposium, and may be regarded either as introducing or following it. The two Dialogues together contain the whole philosophy of Plato on the nature of love, which in the Republic and in the later writings of Plato is only introduced playfully or as a figure of speech. But in the Phaedrus and Symposium love and philosophy join hands, and one is an aspect of the other.