Author Description

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.