Phaedrus
by Plato · Φαῖδρος
Assigned by 4 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- c. 370 BCE
- Language
- Greek
- Length
- Short · 100 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendPhaedrus, translated by Alexander Nehamas and Paul WoodruffHackett, 1995Readable and careful, with notes that follow the argument's turns.
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Socrates and the young Phaedrus walk outside the walls of Athens to read a speech by the orator Lysias arguing that a boy should favour a non-lover over a lover. Socrates gives a competing speech, then recants and delivers a second one defending erotic madness as a divine gift, with the image of the soul as a charioteer driving a noble and an unruly horse. The second half turns to rhetoric and writing, and asks whether written words can teach anything at all.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Phaedrus are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
