Plato: Phaedrus

by Plato , Edited by R. Hackforth

• ISBN13: 9780521097031
• ISBN10: 0521097037
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1972-05-31
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• More Book Details

Summary

The dialogue begins with a playful discussion of erotic passion, then extends the theme to consider the nature of inspiration, love and knowledge. The centerpiece is the myth of the charioteer - the famous and moving account of the vision, fall and incarnation of the soul. Professor Hackforth here translates the dialogue for the student and general reader. There is a running commentary on the course of the argument and the meaning of the key Greek terms, and a full intoduction to explain the philosophical background and the place of this work among Plato's writings.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
List of Abbreviations	p. x
Introduction
Date of composition	p. 3
The dramatic date	p. 8
Subjects and purposes of the dialogue	p. 8
The characters	p. 12
Lysias and his speech	p. 16
Translation and Commentary
227A-230E: Introductory conversation. The scene on the bank of the Ilissus	p. 21
230E-234C: The speech of Lysias	p. 27
234C-237B: Criticism of Lysias's speech. Socrates is induced to treat the theme himself	p. 32
237B-238C: Socrates begins his speech. A definition of love	p. 38
238C-241D: Socrates concludes his first speech	p. 43
241D-243E: Interlude, leading to Socrates's recantation	p. 50
243E-245C: Socrates begins his second speech. Three types of divine madness	p. 56
245C-246A: The immortality of soul	p. 63
246A-247C: Myth of the soul. The charioteer and two horses. The procession of souls	p. 69
247C-248E: The soul's vision of true Being. Its fall and incarnation	p. 78
248E-249D: Reincarnation and final liberation of the soul. The philosopher's privilege	p. 85
249D-250D: The soul's recollection of ideal Beauty	p. 92
250E-252C: Love as the regrowing of the soul's wings	p. 96
252C-253C: The various types of lover	p. 99
253C-256E: The subjugation of lust. Love and counter-love	p. 103
256E-257B: The speech concluded. A prayer for Lysias and Phaedrus	p. 110
257B-258E: Preliminary consideration of speech-writing	p. 113
258E-259D: Interlude. The myth of the cicadas	p. 117
259E-261A: Rhetoric and knowledge	p. 119
261A-264E: Knowledge of resemblances and differences	p. 123
264E-266B: Dialectic method as exhibited in preceding speeches	p. 131
266C-269C: The technique of existing rhetoric	p. 138
269C-272B: Philosophy and rhetoric. Pericles's debt to Anaxagoras	p. 145
272B-274B: The true method of rhetoric. Its difficulty and its justification	p. 152
274B-278B: The superiority of the spoken word. Myth of the invention of writing	p. 156
278B-279C: Messages to Lysias and Isocrates	p. 165
Index of Names	p. 171
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