Plato's Phaedrus

by Ryan, Paul; Gill, Mary Louise

• ISBN13: 9780806142593
• ISBN10: 0806142596
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-09-05
• Publisher: Univ of Oklahoma Pr

Summary

Composed in the fourth century b.c., the Phaedrus-a dialogue between Phaedrus and Socrates-deals ostensibly with love but develops into a wide-ranging discussion of such subjects as the pursuit of beauty, the nature of humanity, the immortality of the soul, and the attainment of truth, ending with an in-depth discussion of the principles of rhetoric. This erudite commentary, which also includes the original Greek text, is designed to help intermediate-level students of Greek read, understand, and enjoy Plato's magnificent work . Drawing on his extensive classroom experience and linguistic expertise, Paul Ryan offers a commentary that is both rich in detail and-in contrast to earlier, more austere commentaries on the Phaedrus-fully engaging .Line by line, he explains subtle points of language, explicates difficulties of syntax, and brings out nuances of tone and meaning that students might not otherwise notice or understand. Ryan sections his commentary into units of convenient length for classroom use, with short summaries at the head of each section to orient the reader. Never straying far from the text itself, Ryan provides useful historical glosses and annotations for the student, introducing information ranging from the architecture of the Lyceum to Athenian politics. Further historical and philosophical context is provided in the introduction by Mary Louise Gill, who outlines the issues addressed in the Phaedrusand situates it in relation to Plato's other dialogues.

Author Biography

Paul Ryan, an independent scholar and translator of Plato's Menexenus, has taught Classics at Bowdoin College and Tufts University. Mary Louise Gill is Professor of Philosophy and Classics at Brown University and the author of Philosophos: Plato's Missing Dialogue: Ryan and Gill have collaborated on a translation of Plato's Parmenides.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Abbreviations	p. ix
Works Cited	p. xi
Introduction, by Mary Louise Gill	p. xv
Plato's Phaedrus	p. 3
Commentary
The Nonlover Has His Day
The Walk	p. 79
The Speech of Lysias	p. 108
The First Interlude	p. 122
The First Speech of Socrates	p. 136
The Second Interlude	p. 158
The Palinode
The Kinds of Madness	p. 171
The Soul in Deduction and Similitude	p. 180
The Hyperuranian Experience	p. 188
The Struggle and the Prize	p. 194
The Soul Falls in Love	p. 202
The Soul in Love	p. 211
Toward an Art of Speaking
In the Heat of the Day	p. 237
Knowledge, Truth, and Rhetoric	p. 248
Definition, Collection, and Division	p. 260
Handbooks and Devices	p. 276
Toward an Art of Speaking	p. 292
Two Cheers for the Written Word	p. 311
Epilogue	p. 328
Index of Greek Terms	p. 333
Index of English Terms	p. 339
Index of Proper Terms	p. 343
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