,,phaedrus  ,by ,plato   ,translated by 
,benjamin ,jowett     ,,introduction4   
,the ,phaedrus is closely connected with
 the ,symposium1 and may be regarded    
either as introducing or following it4  
,the two ,dialogues together contain the
 whole philosophy of ,plato on the      
nature of love1 which in the ,republic  
and in the later writings of ,plato is  
only introduced playfully or as a figure
 of speech4 ,but in the ,phaedrus and   
,symposium love and philosophy join     
hands1 and one is an aspect of the      
other4 ,the spiritual and emotional part
 is elevated into the ideal1 to which in
 the ,symposium mankind are described as
 looking forward1 and which in the      
,phaedrus1 as well as in the ,phaedo1   
they are seeking to recover from a      
former state of existence4 ,whether the 
subject of the ,dialogue is love or     
rhetoric1 or the union of the two1 or   
the relation of philosophy to love and  
to art in general1 and to the human     
soul1 will be hereafter considered4 ,and

 perhaps we may arrive at some          
conclusion such as the following--that  
the dialogue is not strictly confined to
 a single subject1 but passes from one  
to another with the natural freedom of  
conversation4  ,phaedrus has been       
spending the morning with ,lysias1 the  
celebrated rhetorician1 and is going to 
refresh himself by taking a walk outside
 the wall1 when he is met by ,socrates1 
who professes that he will not leave him
 until he has delivered up the speech   
with which ,lysias has regaled him1 and 
which he is carrying about in his mind1 
or more probably in a book hidden under 
his cloak1 and is intending to study as 
he walks4 ,the imputation is not denied1
 and the two agree to direct their steps
 out of the public way along the stream 
of the ,ilissus towards a plane-tree    
which is seen in the distance4 ,there1  
lying down amidst pleasant sounds and   
scents1 they will read the speech of    
,lysias4 ,the country is a novelty to   
,socrates1 who never goes out of the    

town2 and hence he is full of admiration
 for the beauties of nature1 which he   
seems to be drinking in for the first   
time4  ,as they are on their way1       
,phaedrus asks the opinion of ,socrates 
respecting the local tradition of       
,boreas and ,oreithyia4 ,socrates1 after
 a satirical allusion to the            
'rationalizers' of his day1 replies that
 he has no time for these 'nice'        
interpretations of mythology1 and he    
pities anyone who has4 ,when you once   
begin there is no end of them1 and they 
spring from an uncritical philosophy    
after all4 ',the proper study of mankind
 is man2' and he is a far more complex  
and wonderful being than the serpent    
,typho4 ,socrates as yet does not know  
himself2 and why should he care to know 
about unearthly monsters8 ,engaged in   
such conversation1 they arrive at the   
plane-tree2 when they have found a      
convenient resting-place1 ,phaedrus     
pulls out the speech and reads3--  ,the 
speech consists of a foolish paradox    

which is to the effect that the         
non-lover ought to be accepted rather   
than the lover--because he is more      
rational1 more agreeable1 more enduring1
 less suspicious1 less hurtful1 less    
boastful1 less engrossing1 and because  
there are more of them1 and for a great 
many other reasons which are equally    
unmeaning4 ,phaedrus is captivated with 
the beauty of the periods1 and wants to 
make ,socrates say that nothing was or  
ever could be written better4 ,socrates 
does not think much of the matter1 but  
then he has only attended to the form1  
and in that he has detected several     
repetitions and other marks of haste4   
,he cannot agree with ,phaedrus in the  
extreme value which he sets upon this   
performance1 because he is afraid of    
doing injustice to ,anacreon and ,sappho
 and other great writers1 and is almost 
inclined to think that he himself1 or   
rather some power residing within him1  
could make a speech better than that of 
,lysias on the same theme1 and also     

different from his1 if he may be allowed
 the use of a few commonplaces which all
 speakers must equally employ4          
,phaedrus is delighted at the prospect  
of having another speech1 and promises  
that he will set up a golden statue of  
,socrates at ,delphi1 if he keeps his   
word4 ,some raillery ensues1 and at     
length ,socrates1 conquered by the      
threat that he shall never again hear a 
speech of ,lysias unless he fulfils his 
promise1 veils his face and begins4     
,first1 invoking the ,muses and assuming
 ironically the person of the non-lover 
7who is a lover all the same71 he will  
enquire into the nature and power of    
love4 ,for this is a necessary          
preliminary to the other question--,how 
is the non-lover to be distinguished    
from the lover8 ,in all of us there are 
two principles--a better and a          
worse--reason and desire1 which are     
generally at war with one another2 and  
the victory of the rational is called   
temperance1 and the victory of the      

irrational intemperance or excess4 ,the 
latter takes many forms and has many bad
 names--gluttony1 drunkenness1 and the  
like4 ,but of all the irrational desires
 or excesses the greatest is that which 
is led away by desires of a kindred     
nature to the enjoyment of personal     
beauty4 ,and this is the master power of
 love4  ,here ,socrates fancies that he 
detects in himself an unusual flow of   
eloquence--this newly-found gift he can 
only attribute to the inspiration of the
 place1 which appears to be dedicated to
 the nymphs4 ,starting again from the   
philosophical basis which has been laid 
down1 he proceeds to show how many      
advantages the non-lover has over the   
lover4 ,the one encourages softness and 
effeminacy and exclusiveness2 he cannot 
endure any superiority in his beloved2  
he will train him in luxury1 he will    
keep him out of society1 he will deprive
 him of parents1 friends1 money1        
knowledge1 and of every other good1 that
 he may have him all to himself4 ,then  

again his ways are not ways of          
pleasantness2 he is mighty disagreeable2
 'crabbed age and youth cannot live     
together4' ,at every hour of the night  
and day he is intruding upon him2 there 
is the same old withered face and the   
remainder to match--and he is always    
repeating1 in season or out of season1  
the praises or dispraises of his        
beloved1 which are bad enough when he is
 sober1 and published all over the world
 when he is drunk4 ,at length his love  
ceases2 he is converted into an enemy1  
and the spectacle may be seen of the    
lover running away from the beloved1 who
 pursues him with vain reproaches1 and  
demands his reward which the other      
refuses to pay4 ,too late the beloved   
learns1 after all his pains and         
disagreeables1 that ',as wolves love    
lambs so lovers love their loves4'      
7,compare ,char47 ,here is the end2 the 
'other' or 'non-lover' part of the      
speech had better be understood1 for if 
in the censure of the lover ,socrates   

has broken out in verse1 what will he   
not do in his praise of the non-lover8  
,he has said his say and is preparing to
 go away4  ,phaedrus begs him to remain1
 at any rate until the heat of noon has 
passed2 he would like to have a little  
more conversation before they go4       
,socrates1 who has risen1 recognizes the
 oracular sign which forbids him to     
depart until he has done penance4 ,his  
conscious has been awakened1 and like   
,stesichorus when he had reviled the    
lovely ,helen he will sing a palinode   
for having blasphemed the majesty of    
love4 ,his palinode takes the form of a 
myth4  ,socrates begins his tale with a 
glorification of madness1 which he      
divides into four kinds3 first1 there is
 the art of divination or               
prophecy--this1 in a vein similar to    
that pervading the ,cratylus and ,io1 he
 connects with madness by an            
etymological explanation 7mantike1      
manike--compare oionoistike1 oionistike1
 ''tis all one reckoning1 save the      

phrase is a little variations'72        
secondly1 there is the art of           
purification by mysteries2 thirdly1     
poetry or the inspiration of the ,muses 
7compare ,ion71 without which no man can
 enter their temple4 ,all this shows    
that madness is one of heaven's         
blessings1 and may sometimes be a great 
deal better than sense4 ,there is also a
 fourth kind of madness--that of        
love--which cannot be explained without 
enquiring into the nature of the soul4  
,all soul is immortal1 for she is the   
source of all motion both in herself and
 in others4 ,her form may be described  
in a figure as a composite nature made  
up of a charioteer and a pair of winged 
steeds4 ,the steeds of the gods are     
immortal1 but ours are one mortal and   
the other immortal4 ,the immortal soul  
soars upwards into the heavens1 but the 
mortal drops her plumes and settles upon
 the earth4  ,now the use of the wing is
 to rise and carry the downward element 
into the upper world--there to behold   

beauty1 wisdom1 goodness1 and the other 
things of ,god by which the soul is     
nourished4 ,on a certain day ,zeus the  
lord of heaven goes forth in a winged   
chariot2 and an array of gods and       
demi-gods and of human souls in their   
train1 follows him4 ,there are glorious 
and blessed sights in the interior of   
heaven1 and he who will may freely      
behold them4 ,the great vision of all is
 seen at the feast of the gods1 when    
they ascend the heights of the          
empyrean--all but ,hestia1 who is left  
at home to keep house4 ,the chariots of 
the gods glide readily upwards and stand
 upon the outside2 the revolution of the
 spheres carries them round1 and they   
have a vision of the world beyond4 ,but 
the others labour in vain2 for the      
mortal steed1 if he has not been        
properly trained1 keeps them down and   
sinks them towards the earth4 ,of the   
world which is beyond the heavens1 who  
can tell8 ,there is an essence formless1
 colourless1 intangible1 perceived by   

the mind only1 dwelling in the region of
 true knowledge4 ,the divine mind in her
 revolution enjoys this fair prospect1  
and beholds justice1 temperance1 and    
knowledge in their everlasting essence4 
,when fulfilled with the sight of them  
she returns home1 and the charioteer    
puts up the horses in their stable1 and 
gives them ambrosia to eat and nectar to
 drink4 ,this is the life of the gods2  
the human soul tries to reach the same  
heights1 but hardly succeeds2 and       
sometimes the head of the charioteer    
rises above1 and sometimes sinks below1 
the fair vision1 and he is at last      
obliged1 after much contention1 to turn 
away and leave the plain of truth4 ,but 
if the soul has followed in the train of
 her god and once beheld truth she is   
preserved from harm1 and is carried     
round in the next revolution of the     
spheres2 and if always following1 and   
always seeing the truth1 is then for    
ever unharmed4 ,if1 however1 she drops  
her wings and falls to the earth1 then  

she takes the form of man1 and the soul 
which has seen most of the truth passes 
into a philosopher or lover2 that which 
has seen truth in the second degree1    
into a king or warrior2 the third1 into 
a householder or money-maker2 the       
fourth1 into a gymnast2 the fifth1 into 
a prophet or mystic2 the sixth1 into a  
poet or imitator2 the seventh1 into a   
husbandman or craftsman2 the eighth1    
into a sophist or demagogue2 the ninth1 
into a tyrant4 ,all these are states of 
probation1 wherein he who lives         
righteously is improved1 and he who     
lives unrighteously deteriorates4 ,after
 death comes the judgment2 the bad      
depart to houses of correction under the
 earth1 the good to places of joy in    
heaven4 ,when a thousand years have     
elapsed the souls meet together and     
choose the lives which they will lead   
for another period of existence4 ,the   
soul which three times in succession has
 chosen the life of a philosopher or of 
a lover who is not without philosophy   

receives her wings at the close of the  
third millennium2 the remainder have to 
complete a cycle of ten thousand years  
before their wings are restored to them4
 ,each time there is full liberty of    
choice4 ,the soul of a man may descend  
into a beast1 and return again into the 
form of man4 ,but the form of man will  
only be taken by the soul which has once
 seen truth and acquired some conception
 of the universal3--this is the         
recollection of the knowledge which she 
attained when in the company of the     
,gods4 ,and men in general recall only  
with difficulty the things of another   
world1 but the mind of the philosopher  
has a better remembrance of them4 ,for  
when he beholds the visible beauty of   
earth his enraptured soul passes in     
thought to those glorious sights of     
justice and wisdom and temperance and   
truth which she once gazed upon in      
heaven4 ,then she celebrated holy       
mysteries and beheld blessed apparitions
 shining in pure light1 herself pure1   

and not as yet entombed in the body4    
,and still1 like a bird eager to quit   
its cage1 she flutters and looks        
upwards1 and is therefore deemed mad4   
,such a recollection of past days she   
receives through sight1 the keenest of  
our senses1 because beauty1 alone of the
 ideas1 has any representation on earth3
 wisdom is invisible to mortal eyes4    
,but the corrupted nature1 blindly      
excited by this vision of beauty1 rushes
 on to enjoy1 and would fain wallow like
 a brute beast in sensual pleasures4    
,whereas the true mystic1 who has seen  
the many sights of bliss1 when he       
beholds a god-like form or face is      
amazed with delight1 and if he were not 
afraid of being thought mad he would    
fall down and worship4 ,then the        
stiffened wing begins to relax and grow 
again2 desire which has been imprisoned 
pours over the soul of the lover2 the   
germ of the wing unfolds1 and stings1   
and pangs of birth1 like the cutting of 
teeth1 are everywhere felt4 7,compare   

,symp47 ,father and mother1 and goods   
and laws and proprieties are nothing to 
him2 his beloved is his physician1 who  
can alone cure his pain4 ,an apocryphal 
sacred writer says that the power which 
thus works in him is by mortals called  
love1 but the immortals call him dove1  
or the winged one1 in order to represent
 the force of his wings--such at any    
rate is his nature4 ,now the characters 
of lovers depend upon the god whom they 
followed in the other world2 and they   
choose their loves in this world        
accordingly4 ,the followers of ,ares are
 fierce and violent2 those of ,zeus seek
 out some philosophical and imperial    
nature2 the attendants of ,here find a  
royal love2 and in like manner the      
followers of every god seek a love who  
is like their god2 and to him they      
communicate the nature which they have  
received from their god4 ,the manner in 
which they take their love is as        
follows3--  ,i told you about the       
charioteer and his two steeds1 the one a

 noble animal who is guided by word and 
admonition only1 the other an           
ill-looking villain who will hardly     
yield to blow or spur4 ,together all    
three1 who are a figure of the soul1    
approach the vision of love4 ,and now a 
fierce conflict begins4 ,the            
ill-conditioned steed rushes on to      
enjoy1 but the charioteer1 who beholds  
the beloved with awe1 falls back in     
adoration1 and forces both the steeds on
 their haunches2 again the evil steed   
rushes forwards and pulls shamelessly4  
,the conflict grows more and more       
severe2 and at last the charioteer1     
throwing himself backwards1 forces the  
bit out of the clenched teeth of the    
brute1 and pulling harder than ever at  
the reins1 covers his tongue and jaws   
with blood1 and forces him to rest his  
legs and haunches with pain upon the    
ground4 ,when this has happened several 
times1 the villain is tamed and humbled1
 and from that time forward the soul of 
the lover follows the beloved in modesty

 and holy fear4 ,and now their bliss is 
consummated2 the same image of love     
dwells in the breast of either1 and if  
they have self-control1 they pass their 
lives in the greatest happiness which is
 attainable by man--they continue       
masters of themselves1 and conquer in   
one of the three heavenly victories4    
,but if they choose the lower life of   
ambition they may still have a happy    
destiny1 though inferior1 because they  
have not the approval of the whole soul4
 ,at last they leave the body and       
proceed on their pilgrim's progress1 and
 those who have once begun can never go 
back4 ,when the time comes they receive 
their wings and fly away1 and the lovers
 have the same wings4  ,socrates        
concludes3--  ,these are the blessings  
of love1 and thus have ,i made my       
recantation in finer language than      
before3 ,i did so in order to please    
,phaedrus4 ,if ,i said what was wrong at
 first1 please to attribute my error to 
,lysias1 who ought to study philosophy  

instead of rhetoric1 and then he will   
not mislead his disciple ,phaedrus4     
,phaedrus is afraid that he will lose   
conceit of ,lysias1 and that ,lysias    
will be out of conceit with himself1 and
 leave off making speeches1 for the     
politicians have been deriding him4     
,socrates is of opinion that there is   
small danger of this2 the politicians   
are themselves the great rhetoricians of
 the age1 who desire to attain          
immortality by the authorship of laws4  
,and therefore there is nothing with    
which they can reproach ,lysias in being
 a writer2 but there may be disgrace in 
being a bad one4  ,and what is good or  
bad writing or speaking8 ,while the sun 
is hot in the sky above us1 let us ask  
that question3 since by rational        
conversation man lives1 and not by the  
indulgence of bodily pleasures4 ,and the
 grasshoppers who are chirruping around 
may carry our words to the ,muses1 who  
are their patronesses2 for the          
grasshoppers were human beings          

themselves in a world before the ,muses1
 and when the ,muses came they died of  
hunger for the love of song4 ,and they  
carry to them in heaven the report of   
those who honour them on earth4  ,the   
first rule of good speaking is to know  
and speak the truth2 as a ,spartan      
proverb says1 'true art is truth'2      
whereas rhetoric is an art of           
enchantment1 which makes things appear  
good and evil1 like and unlike1 as the  
speaker pleases4 ,its use is not        
confined1 as people commonly suppose1 to
 arguments in the law courts and        
speeches in the assembly2 it is rather a
 part of the art of disputation1 under  
which are included both the rules of    
,gorgias and the eristic of ,zeno4 ,but 
it is not wholly devoid of truth4       
,superior knowledge enables us to       
deceive another by the help of          
resemblances1 and to escape from such a 
deception when employed against         
ourselves4 ,we see therefore that even  
in rhetoric an element of truth is      

required4 ,for if we do not know the    
truth1 we can neither make the gradual  
departures from truth by which men are  
most easily deceived1 nor guard         
ourselves against deception4  ,socrates 
then proposes that they shall use the   
two speeches as illustrations of the art
 of rhetoric2 first distinguishing      
between the debatable and undisputed    
class of subjects4 ,in the debatable    
class there ought to be a definition of 
all disputed matters4 ,but there was no 
such definition in the speech of        
,lysias2 nor is there any order or      
connection in his words any more than in
 a nursery rhyme4 ,with this he compares
 the regular divisions of the other     
speech1 which was his own 7and yet not  
his own1 for the local deities must have
 inspired him74 ,although only a playful
 composition1 it will be found to embody
 two principles3 first1 that of         
synthesis or the comprehension of parts 
in a whole2 secondly1 analysis1 or the  
resolution of the whole into parts4     

,these are the processes of division and
 generalization which are so dear to the
 dialectician1 that king of men4 ,they  
are effected by dialectic1 and not by   
rhetoric1 of which the remains are but  
scanty after order and arrangement have 
been subtracted4 ,there is nothing left 
but a heap of 'ologies' and other       
technical terms invented by ,polus1     
,theodorus1 ,evenus1 ,tisias1 ,gorgias1 
and others1 who have rules for          
everything1 and who teach how to be     
short or long at pleasure4 ,prodicus    
showed his good sense when he said that 
there was a better thing than either to 
be short or long1 which was to be of    
convenient length4  ,still1             
notwithstanding the absurdities of      
,polus and others1 rhetoric has great   
power in public assemblies4 ,this power1
 however1 is not given by any technical 
rules1 but is the gift of genius4 ,the  
real art is always being confused by    
rhetoricians with the preliminaries of  
the art4 ,the perfection of oratory is  

like the perfection of anything else2   
natural power must be aided by art4 ,but
 the art is not that which is taught in 
the schools of rhetoric2 it is nearer   
akin to philosophy4 ,pericles1 for      
instance1 who was the most accomplished 
of all speakers1 derived his eloquence  
not from rhetoric but from the          
philosophy of nature which he learnt of 
,anaxagoras4 ,true rhetoric is like     
medicine1 and the rhetorician has to    
consider the natures of men's souls as  
the physician considers the natures of  
their bodies4 ,such and such persons are
 to be affected in this way1 such and   
such others in that2 and he must know   
the times and the seasons for saying    
this or that4 ,this is not an easy task1
 and this1 if there be such an art1 is  
the art of rhetoric4  ,i know that there
 are some professors of the art who     
maintain probability to be stronger than
 truth4 ,but we maintain that           
probability is engendered by likeness of
 the truth which can only be attained by

 the knowledge of it1 and that the aim  
of the good man should not be to please 
or persuade his fellow-servants1 but to 
please his good masters who are the     
gods4 ,rhetoric has a fair beginning in 
this4  ,enough of the art of speaking2  
let us now proceed to consider the true 
use of writing4 ,there is an old        
,egyptian tale of ,theuth1 the inventor 
of writing1 showing his invention to the
 god ,thamus1 who told him that he would
 only spoil men's memories and take away
 their understandings4 ,from this tale1 
of which young ,athens will probably    
make fun1 may be gathered the lesson    
that writing is inferior to speech4 ,for
 it is like a picture1 which can give no
 answer to a question1 and has only a   
deceitful likeness of a living creature4
 ,it has no power of adaptation1 but    
uses the same words for all4 ,it is not 
a legitimate son of knowledge1 but a    
bastard1 and when an attack is made upon
 this bastard neither parent nor anyone 
else is there to defend it4 ,the        

husbandman will not seriously incline to
 sow his seed in such a hot-bed or      
garden of ,adonis2 he will rather sow in
 the natural soil of the human soul     
which has depth of earth2 and he will   
anticipate the inner growth of the mind1
 by writing only1 if at all1 as a remedy
 against old age4 ,the natural process  
will be far nobler1 and will bring forth
 fruit in the minds of others as well as
 in his own4  ,the conclusion of the    
whole matter is just this1--that until a
 man knows the truth1 and the manner of 
adapting the truth to the natures of    
other men1 he cannot be a good orator2  
also1 that the living is better than the
 written word1 and that the principles  
of justice and truth when delivered by  
word of mouth are the legitimate        
offspring of a man's own bosom1 and     
their lawful descendants take up their  
abode in others4 ,such an orator as he  
is who is possessed of them1 you and ,i 
would fain become4 ,and to all composers
 in the world1 poets1 orators1          

legislators1 we hereby announce that if 
their compositions are based upon these 
principles1 then they are not only      
poets1 orators1 legislators1 but        
philosophers4 ,all others are mere      
flatterers and putters together of      
words4 ,this is the message which       
,phaedrus undertakes to carry to ,lysias
 from the local deities1 and ,socrates  
himself will carry a similar message to 
his favourite ,isocrates1 whose future  
distinction as a great rhetorician he   
prophesies4 ,the heat of the day has    
passed1 and after offering up a prayer  
to ,pan and the nymphs1 ,socrates and   
,phaedrus depart4  ,there are two       
principal controversies which have been 
raised about the ,phaedrus2 the first   
relates to the subject1 the second to   
the date of the ,dialogue4  ,there seems
 to be a notion that the work of a great
 artist like ,plato cannot fail in      
unity1 and that the unity of a dialogue 
requires a single subject4 ,but the     
conception of unity really applies in   

very different degrees and ways to      
different kinds of art2 to a statue1 for
 example1 far more than to any kind of  
literary composition1 and to some       
species of literature far more than to  
others4 ,nor does the dialogue appear to
 be a style of composition in which the 
requirement of unity is most stringent2 
nor should the idea of unity derived    
from one sort of art be hastily         
transferred to another4 ,the double     
titles of several of the ,platonic      
,dialogues are a further proof that the 
severer rule was not observed by ,plato4
 ,the ,republic is divided between the  
search after justice and the            
construction of the ideal state2 the    
,parmenides between the criticism of the
 ,platonic ideas and of the ,eleatic one
 or being2 the ,gorgias between the art 
of speaking and the nature of the good2 
the ,sophist between the detection of   
the ,sophist and the correlation of     
ideas4 ,the ,theaetetus1 the ,politicus1
 and the ,philebus have also digressions

 which are but remotely connected with  
the main subject4  ,thus the comparison 
of ,plato's other writings1 as well as  
the reason of the thing1 lead us to the 
conclusion that we must not expect to   
find one idea pervading a whole work1   
but one1 two1 or more1 as the invention 
of the writer may suggest1 or his fancy 
wander4 ,if each dialogue were confined 
to the development of a single idea1    
this would appear on the face of the    
dialogue1 nor could any controversy be  
raised as to whether the ,phaedrus      
treated of love or rhetoric4 ,but the   
truth is that ,plato subjects himself to
 no rule of this sort4 ,like every great
 artist he gives unity of form to the   
different and apparently distracting    
topics which he brings together4 ,he    
works freely and is not to be supposed  
to have arranged every part of the      
dialogue before he begins to write4 ,he 
fastens or weaves together the frame of 
his discourse loosely and imperfectly1  
and which is the warp and which is the  

woof cannot always be determined4  ,the 
subjects of the ,phaedrus 7exclusive of 
the short introductory passage about    
mythology which is suggested by the     
local tradition7 are first the false or 
conventional art of rhetoric2 secondly1 
love or the inspiration of beauty and   
knowledge1 which is described as        
madness2 thirdly1 dialectic or the art  
of composition and division2 fourthly1  
the true rhetoric1 which is based upon  
dialectic1 and is neither the art of    
persuasion nor knowledge of the truth   
alone1 but the art of persuasion founded
 on knowledge of truth and knowledge of 
character2 fifthly1 the superiority of  
the spoken over the written word4 ,the  
continuous thread which appears and     
reappears throughout is rhetoric2 this  
is the ground into which the rest of the
 ,dialogue is worked1 in parts          
embroidered with fine words which are   
not in ,socrates' manner1 as he says1   
'in order to please ,phaedrus4' ,the    
speech of ,lysias which has thrown      

,phaedrus into an ecstacy is adduced as 
an example of the false rhetoric2 the   
first speech of ,socrates1 though an    
improvement1 partakes of the same       
character2 his second speech1 which is  
full of that higher element said to have
 been learned of ,anaxagoras by         
,pericles1 and which in the midst of    
poetry does not forget order1 is an     
illustration of the higher or true      
rhetoric4 ,this higher rhetoric is based
 upon dialectic1 and dialectic is a sort
 of inspiration akin to love 7compare   
,symp472 in these two aspects of        
philosophy the technicalities of        
rhetoric are absorbed4 ,and so the      
example becomes also the deeper theme of
 discourse4 ,the true knowledge of      
things in heaven and earth is based upon
 enthusiasm or love of the ideas going  
before us and ever present to us in this
 world and in another2 and the true     
order of speech or writing proceeds     
accordingly4 ,love1 again1 has three    
degrees3 first1 of interested love      

corresponding to the conventionalities  
of rhetoric2 secondly1 of disinterested 
or mad love1 fixed on objects of sense1 
and answering1 perhaps1 to poetry2      
thirdly1 of disinterested love directed 
towards the unseen1 answering to        
dialectic or the science of the ideas4  
,lastly1 the art of rhetoric in the     
lower sense is found to rest on a       
knowledge of the natures and characters 
of men1 which ,socrates at the          
commencement of the ,dialogue has       
described as his own peculiar study4    
,thus amid discord a harmony begins to  
appear2 there are many links of         
connection which are not visible at     
first sight4 ,at the same time the      
,phaedrus1 although one of the most     
beautiful of the ,platonic ,dialogues1  
is also more irregular than any other4  
,for insight into the world1 for        
sustained irony1 for depth of thought1  
there is no ,dialogue superior1 or      
perhaps equal to it4 ,nevertheless the  
form of the work has tended to obscure  

some of ,plato's higher aims4  ,the     
first speech is composed 'in that       
balanced style in which the wise love to
 talk' 7,symp474 ,the characteristics of
 rhetoric are insipidity1 mannerism1 and
 monotonous parallelism of clauses4     
,there is more rhythm than reason2 the  
creative power of imagination is        
wanting4  '',tis ,greece1 but living    
,greece no more4'  ,plato has seized by 
anticipation the spirit which hung over 
,greek literature for a thousand years  
afterwards4 ,yet doubtless there were   
some who1 like ,phaedrus1 felt a delight
 in the harmonious cadence and the      
pedantic reasoning of the rhetoricians  
newly imported from ,sicily1 which had  
ceased to be awakened in them by really 
great works1 such as the odes of        
,anacreon or ,sappho or the orations of 
,pericles4 ,that the first speech was   
really written by ,lysias is improbable4
 ,like the poem of ,solon1 or the story 
of ,thamus and ,theuth1 or the funeral  
oration of ,aspasia 7if genuine71 or the

 pretence of ,socrates in the ,cratylus 
that his knowledge of philology is      
derived from ,euthyphro1 the invention  
is really due to the imagination of     
,plato1 and may be compared to the      
parodies of the ,sophists in the        
,protagoras4 ,numerous fictions of this 
sort occur in the ,dialogues1 and the   
gravity of ,plato has sometimes imposed 
upon his commentators4 ,the introduction
 of a considerable writing of another   
would seem not to be in keeping with a  
great work of art1 and has no parallel  
elsewhere4  ,in the second speech       
,socrates is exhibited as beating the   
rhetoricians at their own weapons2 he   
'an unpractised man and they masters of 
the art4' ,true to his character1 he    
must1 however1 profess that the speech  
which he makes is not his own1 for he   
knows nothing of himself4 7,compare     
,symp47 ,regarded as a rhetorical       
exercise1 the superiority of his speech 
seems to consist chiefly in a better    
arrangement of the topics2 he begins    

with a definition of love1 and he gives 
weight to his words by going back to    
general maxims2 a lesser merit is the   
greater liveliness of ,socrates1 which  
hurries him into verse and relieves the 
monotony of the style4  ,but ,plato had 
doubtless a higher purpose than to      
exhibit ,socrates as the rival or       
superior of the ,athenian rhetoricians4 
,even in the speech of ,lysias there is 
a germ of truth1 and this is further    
developed in the parallel oration of    
,socrates4 ,first1 passionate love is   
overthrown by the sophistical or        
interested1 and then both yield to that 
higher view of love which is afterwards 
revealed to us4 ,the extreme of         
commonplace is contrasted with the most 
ideal and imaginative of speculations4  
,socrates1 half in jest and to satisfy  
his own wild humour1 takes the disguise 
of ,lysias1 but he is also in profound  
earnest and in a deeper vein of irony   
than usual4 ,having improvised his own  
speech1 which is based upon the model of

 the preceding1 he condemns them both4  
,yet the condemnation is not to be taken
 seriously1 for he is evidently trying  
to express an aspect of the truth4 ,to  
understand him1 we must make abstraction
 of morality and of the ,greek manner of
 regarding the relation of the sexes4   
,in this1 as in his other discussions   
about love1 what ,plato says of the     
loves of men must be transferred to the 
loves of women before we can attach any 
serious meaning to his words4 ,had he   
lived in our times he would have made   
the transposition himself4 ,but seeing  
in his own age the impossibility of     
woman being the intellectual helpmate or
 friend of man 7except in the rare      
instances of a ,diotima or an ,aspasia71
 seeing that1 even as to personal       
beauty1 her place was taken by young    
mankind instead of womankind1 he tries  
to work out the problem of love without 
regard to the distinctions of nature4   
,and full of the evils which he         
recognized as flowing from the spurious 

form of love1 he proceeds with a deep   
meaning1 though partly in joke1 to show 
that the 'non-lover's' love is better   
than the 'lover's4'  ,we may raise the  
same question in another form3 ,is      
marriage preferable with or without     
love8 ',among ourselves1' as we may say1
 a little parodying the words of        
,pausanias in the ,symposium1 'there    
would be one answer to this question3   
the practice and feeling of some foreign
 countries appears to be more doubtful4'
 ,suppose a modern ,socrates1 in        
defiance of the received notions of     
society and the sentimental literature  
of the day1 alone against all the       
writers and readers of novels1 to       
suggest this enquiry1 would not the     
younger 'part of the world be ready to  
take off its coat and run at him might  
and main8' 7,republic47 ,yet1 if like   
,peisthetaerus in ,aristophanes1 he     
could persuade the 'birds' to hear him1 
retiring a little behind a rampart1 not 
of pots and dishes1 but of unreadable   

books1 he might have something to say   
for himself4 ,might he not argue1 'that 
a rational being should not follow the  
dictates of passion in the most         
important act of his or her life'8 ,who 
would willingly enter into a contract at
 first sight1 almost without thought1   
against the advice and opinion of his   
friends1 at a time when he acknowledges 
that he is not in his right mind8 ,and  
yet they are praised by the authors of  
romances1 who reject the warnings of    
their friends or parents1 rather than   
those who listen to them in such        
matters4 ,two inexperienced persons1    
ignorant of the world and of one        
another1 how can they be said to        
choose8--they draw lots1 whence also the
 saying1 'marriage is a lottery4' ,then 
he would describe their way of life     
after marriage2 how they monopolize one 
another's affections to the exclusion of
 friends and relations3 how they pass   
their days in unmeaning fondness or     
trivial conversation2 how the inferior  

of the two drags the other down to his  
or her level2 how the cares of a family 
'breed meanness in their souls4' ,in the
 fulfilment of military or public       
duties1 they are not helpers but        
hinderers of one another3 they cannot   
undertake any noble enterprise1 such as 
makes the names of men and women famous1
 from domestic considerations4 ,too late
 their eyes are opened2 they were taken 
unawares and desire to part company4    
,better1 he would say1 a 'little love at
 the beginning1' for heaven might have  
increased it2 but now their foolish     
fondness has changed into mutual        
dislike4 ,in the days of their honeymoon
 they never understood that they must   
provide against offences1 that they must
 have interests1 that they must learn   
the art of living as well as loving4    
,our misogamist will not appeal to      
,anacreon or ,sappho for a confirmation 
of his view1 but to the universal       
experience of mankind4 ,how much nobler1
 in conclusion1 he will say1 is         

friendship1 which does not receive      
unmeaning praises from novelists and    
poets1 is not exacting or exclusive1 is 
not impaired by familiarity1 is much    
less expensive1 is not so likely to take
 offence1 seldom changes1 and may be    
dissolved from time to time without the 
assistance of the courts4 ,besides1 he  
will remark that there is a much greater
 choice of friends than of wives--you   
may have more of them and they will be  
far more improving to your mind4 ,they  
will not keep you dawdling at home1 or  
dancing attendance upon them2 or        
withdraw you from the great world and   
stirring scenes of life and action which
 would make a man of you4  ,in such a   
manner1 turning the seamy side outwards1
 a modern ,socrates might describe the  
evils of married and domestic life4     
,they are evils which mankind in general
 have agreed to conceal1 partly because 
they are compensated by greater goods4  
,socrates or ,archilochus would soon    
have to sing a palinode for the         

injustice done to lovely ,helen1 or some
 misfortune worse than blindness might  
be fall them4 ,then they would take up  
their parable again and say3--that there
 were two loves1 a higher and a lower1  
holy and unholy1 a love of the mind and 
a love of the body4       ',let me not  
to the marriage of true minds           
,admit impediments4  ,love is not love  
,which alters when it alteration finds4 
44444       ,love's not time's fool1    
though rosy lips and cheeks      ,within
 his bending sickle's compass come2     
,love alters not with his brief hours   
and weeks1      ,but bears it out even  
to the edge of doom4'  ,but this true   
love of the mind cannot exist between   
two souls1 until they are purified from 
the grossness of earthly passion3 they  
must pass through a time of trial and   
conflict first2 in the language of      
religion they must be converted or born 
again4 ,then they would see the world   
transformed into a scene of heavenly    
beauty2 a divine idea would accompany   

them in all their thoughts and actions4 
,something too of the recollections of  
childhood might float about them still2 
they might regain that old simplicity   
which had been theirs in other days at  
their first entrance on life4 ,and      
although their love of one another was  
ever present to them1 they would        
acknowledge also a higher love of duty  
and of ,god1 which united them4 ,and    
their happiness would depend upon their 
preserving in them this principle--not  
losing the ideals of justice and        
holiness and truth1 but renewing them at
 the fountain of light4 ,when they have 
attained to this exalted state1 let them
 marry 7something too may be conceded to
 the animal nature of man73 or live     
together in holy and innocent           
friendship4 ,the poet might describe in 
eloquent words the nature of such a     
union2 how after many struggles the true
 love was found3 how the two passed     
their lives together in the service of  
,god and man2 how their characters were 

reflected upon one another1 and seemed  
to grow more like year by year2 how they
 read in one another's eyes the         
thoughts1 wishes1 actions of the other2 
how they saw each other in ,god2 how in 
a figure they grew wings like doves1 and
 were 'ready to fly away together and be
 at rest4' ,and lastly1 he might tell   
how1 after a time at no long intervals1 
first one and then the other fell       
asleep1 and 'appeared to the unwise' to 
die1 but were reunited in another state 
of being1 in which they saw justice and 
holiness and truth1 not according to the
 imperfect copies of them which are     
found in this world1 but justice        
absolute in existence absolute1 and so  
of the rest4 ,and they would hold       
converse not only with each other1 but  
with blessed souls everywhere2 and would
 be employed in the service of ,god1    
every soul fulfilling his own nature and
 character1 and would see into the      
wonders of earth and heaven1 and trace  
the works of creation to their author4  

,so1 partly in jest but also 'with a    
certain degree of seriousness1' we may  
appropriate to ourselves the words of   
,plato4 ,the use of such a parody1      
though very imperfect1 is to transfer   
his thoughts to our sphere of religion  
and feeling1 to bring him nearer to us  
and us to him4 ,like the ,scriptures1   
,plato admits of endless applications1  
if we allow for the difference of times 
and manners2 and we lose the better half
 of him when we regard his ,dialogues   
merely as literary compositions4 ,any   
ancient work which is worth reading has 
a practical and speculative as well as a
 literary interest4 ,and in ,plato1 more
 than in any other ,greek writer1 the   
local and transitory is inextricably    
blended with what is spiritual and      
eternal4 ,socrates is necessarily       
ironical2 for he has to withdraw from   
the received opinions and beliefs of    
mankind4 ,we cannot separate the        
transitory from the permanent2 nor can  
we translate the language of irony into 

that of plain reflection and common     
sense4 ,but we can imagine the mind of  
,socrates in another age and country2   
and we can interpret him by analogy with
 reference to the errors and prejudices 
which prevail among ourselves4 ,to      
return to the ,phaedrus3--  ,both       
speeches are strongly condemned by      
,socrates as sinful and blasphemous     
towards the god ,love1 and as worthy    
only of some haunt of sailors to which  
good manners were unknown4 ,the meaning 
of this and other wild language to the  
same effect1 which is introduced by way 
of contrast to the formality of the two 
speeches 7,socrates has a sense of      
relief when he has escaped from the     
trammels of rhetoric71 seems to be that 
the two speeches proceed upon the       
supposition that love is and ought to be
 interested1 and that no such thing as a
 real or disinterested passion1 which   
would be at the same time lasting1 could
 be conceived4 ',but did ,i call this   
love8 ,o ,god1 forgive my blasphemy4    

,this is not love4 ,rather it is the    
love of the world4 ,but there is another
 kingdom of love1 a kingdom not of this 
world1 divine1 eternal4 ,and this other 
love ,i will now show you in a mystery4'
  ,then follows the famous myth1 which  
is a sort of parable1 and like other    
parables ought not to receive too minute
 an interpretation4 ,in all such        
allegories there is a great deal which  
is merely ornamental1 and the           
interpreter has to separate the         
important from the unimportant4         
,socrates himself has given the right   
clue when1 in using his own discourse   
afterwards as the text for his          
examination of rhetoric1 he             
characterizes it as a 'partly true and  
tolerably credible mythus1' in which    
amid poetical figures1 order and        
arrangement were not forgotten4  ,the   
soul is described in magnificent        
language as the self-moved and the      
source of motion in all other things4   
,this is the philosophical theme or     

proem of the whole4 ,but ideas must be  
given through something1 and under the  
pretext that to realize the true nature 
of the soul would be not only tedious   
but impossible1 we at once pass on to   
describe the souls of gods as well as   
men under the figure of two winged      
steeds and a charioteer4 ,no connection 
is traced between the soul as the great 
motive power and the triple soul which  
is thus imaged4 ,there is no difficulty 
in seeing that the charioteer represents
 the reason1 or that the black horse is 
the symbol of the sensual or            
concupiscent element of human nature4   
,the white horse also represents        
rational impulse1 but the description1  
'a lover of honour and modesty and      
temperance1 and a follower of true      
glory1' though similar1 does not at once
 recall the 'spirit' 7thumos7 of the    
,republic4 ,the two steeds really       
correspond in a figure more nearly to   
the appetitive and moral or             
semi-rational soul of ,aristotle4 ,and  

thus1 for the first time perhaps in the 
history of philosophy1 we have          
represented to us the threefold division
 of psychology4 ,the image of the       
charioteer and the steeds has been      
compared with a similar image which     
occurs in the verses of ,parmenides2 but
 it is important to remark that the     
horses of ,parmenides have no           
allegorical meaning1 and that the poet  
is only describing his own approach in a
 chariot to the regions of light and the
 house of the goddess of truth4  ,the   
triple soul has had a previous          
existence1 in which following in the    
train of some god1 from whom she derived
 her character1 she beheld partially and
 imperfectly the vision of absolute     
truth4 ,all her after existence1 passed 
in many forms of men and animals1 is    
spent in regaining this4 ,the stages of 
the conflict are many and various2 and  
she is sorely let and hindered by the   
animal desires of the inferior or       
concupiscent steed4 ,again and again she

 beholds the flashing beauty of the     
beloved4 ,but before that vision can be 
finally enjoyed the animal desires must 
be subjected4  ,the moral or spiritual  
element in man is represented by the    
immortal steed which1 like thumos in the
 ,republic1 always sides with the       
reason4 ,both are dragged out of their  
course by the furious impulses of       
desire4 ,in the end something is        
conceded to the desires1 after they have
 been finally humbled and overpowered4  
,and yet the way of philosophy1 or      
perfect love of the unseen1 is total    
abstinence from bodily delights4 ',but  
all men cannot receive this saying'3 in 
the lower life of ambition they may be  
taken off their guard and stoop to folly
 unawares1 and then1 although they do   
not attain to the highest bliss1 yet if 
they have once conquered they may be    
happy enough4  ,the language of the     
,meno and the ,phaedo as well as of the 
,phaedrus seems to show that at one time
 of his life ,plato was quite serious in

 maintaining a former state of          
existence4 ,his mission was to realize  
the abstract2 in that1 all good and     
truth1 all the hopes of this and another
 life seemed to centre4 ,to him         
abstractions1 as we call them1 were     
another kind of knowledge--an inner and 
unseen world1 which seemed to exist far 
more truly than the fleeting objects of 
sense which were without him4 ,when we  
are once able to imagine the intense    
power which abstract ideas exercised    
over the mind of ,plato1 we see that    
there was no more difficulty to him in  
realizing the eternal existence of them 
and of the human minds which were       
associated with them1 in the past and   
future than in the present4 ,the        
difficulty was not how they could exist1
 but how they could fail to exist4 ,in  
the attempt to regain this 'saving'     
knowledge of the ideas1 the sense was   
found to be as great an enemy as the    
desires2 and hence two things which to  
us seem quite distinct are inextricably 

blended in the representation of ,plato4
  ,thus far we may believe that ,plato  
was serious in his conception of the    
soul as a motive power1 in his          
reminiscence of a former state of being1
 in his elevation of the reason over    
sense and passion1 and perhaps in his   
doctrine of transmigration4 ,was he     
equally serious in the rest8 ,for       
example1 are we to attribute his        
tripartite division of the soul to the  
gods8 ,or is this merely assigned to    
them by way of parallelism with men8    
,the latter is the more probable2 for   
the horses of the gods are both white1  
i4e4 their every impulse is in harmony  
with reason2 their dualism1 on the other
 hand1 only carries out the figure of   
the chariot4 ,is he serious1 again1 in  
regarding love as 'a madness'8 ,that    
seems to arise out of the antithesis to 
the former conception of love4 ,at the  
same time he appears to intimate here1  
as in the ,ion1 ,apology1 ,meno1 and    
elsewhere1 that there is a faculty in   

man1 whether to be termed in modern     
language genius1 or inspiration1 or     
imagination1 or idealism1 or communion  
with ,god1 which cannot be reduced to   
rule and measure4 ,perhaps1 too1 he is  
ironically repeating the common language
 of mankind about philosophy1 and is    
turning their jest into a sort of       
earnest4 7,compare ,phaedo1 ,symp47 ,or 
is he serious in holding that each soul 
bears the character of a god8 ,he may   
have had no other account to give of the
 differences of human characters to     
which he afterwards refers4 ,or1 again1 
in his absurd derivation of mantike and 
oionistike and imeros 7compare          
,cratylus78 ,it is characteristic of the
 irony of ,socrates to mix up sense and 
nonsense in such a way that no exact    
line can be drawn between them4 ,and    
allegory helps to increase this sort of 
confusion4  ,as is often the case in the
 parables and prophecies of ,scripture1 
the meaning is allowed to break through 
the figure1 and the details are not     

always consistent4 ,when the charioteers
 and their steeds stand upon the dome of
 heaven they behold the intangible      
invisible essences which are not objects
 of sight4 ,this is because the force of
 language can no further go4 ,nor can we
 dwell much on the circumstance1 that at
 the completion of ten thousand years   
all are to return to the place from     
whence they came2 because he represents 
their return as dependent on their own  
good conduct in the successive stages of
 existence4 ,nor again can we attribute 
anything to the accidental inference    
which would also follow1 that even a    
tyrant may live righteously in the      
condition of life to which fate has     
called him 7'he aiblins might1 ,i dinna 
ken'74 ,but to suppose this would be at 
variance with ,plato himself and with   
,greek notions generally4 ,he is much   
more serious in distinguishing men from 
animals by their recognition of the     
universal which they have known in a    
former state1 and in denying that this  

gift of reason can ever be obliterated  
or lost4 ,in the language of some modern
 theologians he might be said to        
maintain the 'final perseverance' of    
those who have entered on their         
pilgrim's progress4 ,other intimations  
of a 'metaphysic' or 'theology' of the  
future may also be discerned in him3    
7#a7 ,the moderate predestinarianism    
which here1 as in the ,republic1        
acknowledges the element of chance in   
human life1 and yet asserts the freedom 
and responsibility of man2 7#b7 ,the    
recognition of a moral as well as an    
intellectual principle in man under the 
image of an immortal steed2 7#c7 ,the   
notion that the divine nature exists by 
the contemplation of ideas of virtue and
 justice--or1 in other words1 the       
assertion of the essentially moral      
nature of ,god2 7#d7 ,again1 there is   
the hint that human life is a life of   
aspiration only1 and that the true ideal
 is not to be found in art2 7#e7 ,there 
occurs the first trace of the           

distinction between necessary and       
contingent matter2 7#f7 ,the conception 
of the soul itself as the motive power  
and reason of the universe4  ,the       
conception of the philosopher1 or the   
philosopher and lover in one1 as a sort 
of madman1 may be compared with the     
,republic and ,theaetetus1 in both of   
which the philosopher is regarded as a  
stranger and monster upon the earth4    
,the whole myth1 like the other myths of
 ,plato1 describes in a figure things   
which are beyond the range of human     
faculties1 or inaccessible to the       
knowledge of the age4 ,that philosophy  
should be represented as the inspiration
 of love is a conception that has       
already become familiar to us in the    
,symposium1 and is the expression partly
 of ,plato's enthusiasm for the idea1   
and is also an indication of the real   
power exercised by the passion of       
friendship over the mind of the ,greek4 
,the master in the art of love knew that
 there was a mystery in these feelings  

and their associations1 and especially  
in the contrast of the sensible and     
permanent which is afforded by them2 and
 he sought to explain this1 as he       
explained universal ideas1 by a         
reference to a former state of          
existence4 ,the capriciousness of love  
is also derived by him from an          
attachment to some god in a former      
world4 ,the singular remark that the    
beloved is more affected than the lover 
at the final consummation of their love1
 seems likewise to hint at a            
psychological truth4  ,it is difficult  
to exhaust the meanings of a work like  
the ,phaedrus1 which indicates so much  
more than it expresses2 and is full of  
inconsistencies and ambiguities which   
were not perceived by ,plato himself4   
,for example1 when he is speaking of the
 soul does he mean the human or the     
divine soul8 and are they both equally  
self-moving and constructed on the same 
threefold principle8 ,we should         
certainly be disposed to reply that the 

self-motive is to be attributed to ,god 
only2 and on the other hand that the    
appetitive and passionate elements have 
no place in ,his nature4 ,so we should  
infer from the reason of the thing1 but 
there is no indication in ,plato's own  
writings that this was his meaning4 ,or1
 again1 when he explains the different  
characters of men by referring them back
 to the nature of the ,god whom they    
served in a former state of existence1  
we are inclined to ask whether he is    
serious3 ,is he not rather using a      
mythological figure1 here as elsewhere1 
to draw a veil over things which are    
beyond the limits of mortal knowledge8  
,once more1 in speaking of beauty is he 
really thinking of some external form   
such as might have been expressed in the
 works of ,phidias or ,praxiteles2 and  
not rather of an imaginary beauty1 of a 
sort which extinguishes rather than     
stimulates vulgar love1--a heavenly     
beauty like that which flashed from time
 to time before the eyes of ,dante or   

,bunyan8 ,surely the latter4 ,but it    
would be idle to reconcile all the      
details of the passage3 it is a picture1
 not a system1 and a picture which is   
for the greater part an allegory1 and an
 allegory which allows the meaning to   
come through4 ,the image of the         
charioteer and his steeds is placed side
 by side with the absolute forms of     
justice1 temperance1 and the like1 which
 are abstract ideas only1 and which are 
seen with the eye of the soul in her    
heavenly journey4 ,the first impression 
of such a passage1 in which no attempt  
is made to separate the substance from  
the form1 is far truer than an elaborate
 philosophical analysis4  ,it is too    
often forgotten that the whole of the   
second discourse of ,socrates is only an
 allegory1 or figure of speech4 ,for    
this reason1 it is unnecessary to       
enquire whether the love of which ,plato
 speaks is the love of men or of women4 
,it is really a general idea which      
includes both1 and in which the sensual 

element1 though not wholly eradicated1  
is reduced to order and measure4 ,we    
must not attribute a meaning to every   
fanciful detail4 ,nor is there any need 
to call up revolting associations1 which
 as a matter of good taste should be    
banished1 and which were far enough away
 from the mind of ,plato4 ,these and    
similar passages should be interpreted  
by the ,laws4 ,nor is there anything in 
the ,symposium1 or in the ,charmides1 in
 reality inconsistent with the sterner  
rule which ,plato lays down in the      
,laws4 ,at the same time it is not to be
 denied that love and philosophy are    
described by ,socrates in figures of    
speech which would not be used in       
,christian times2 or that nameless vices
 were prevalent at ,athens and in other 
,greek cities2 or that friendships      
between men were a more sacred tie1 and 
had a more important social and         
educational influence than among        
ourselves4 7,see note on ,symposium47   
,in the ,phaedrus1 as well as in the    

,symposium1 there are two kinds of love1
 a lower and a higher1 the one answering
 to the natural wants of the animal1 the
 other rising above them and            
contemplating with religious awe the    
forms of justice1 temperance1 holiness1 
yet finding them also 'too dazzling     
bright for mortal eye1' and shrinking   
from them in amazement4 ,the opposition 
between these two kinds of love may be  
compared to the opposition between the  
flesh and the spirit in the ,epistles of
 ,st4 ,paul4 ,it would be unmeaning to  
suppose that ,plato1 in describing the  
spiritual combat1 in which the rational 
soul is finally victor and master of    
both the steeds1 condescends to allow   
any indulgence of unnatural lusts4  ,two
 other thoughts about love are suggested
 by this passage4 ,first of all1 love is
 represented here1 as in the ,symposium1
 as one of the great powers of nature1  
which takes many forms and two principal
 ones1 having a predominant influence   
over the lives of men4 ,and these two1  

though opposed1 are not absolutely      
separated the one from the other4       
,plato1 with his great knowledge of     
human nature1 was well aware how easily 
one is transformed into the other1 or   
how soon the noble but fleeting         
aspiration may return into the nature of
 the animal1 while the lower instinct   
which is latent always remains4 ,the    
intermediate sentimentalism1 which has  
exercised so great an influence on the  
literature of modern ,europe1 had no    
place in the classical times of ,hellas2
 the higher love1 of which ,plato       
speaks1 is the subject1 not of poetry or
 fiction1 but of philosophy4  ,secondly1
 there seems to be indicated a natural  
yearning of the human mind that the     
great ideas of justice1 temperance1     
wisdom1 should be expressed in some form
 of visible beauty1 like the absolute   
purity and goodness which ,christian art
 has sought to realize in the person of 
the ,madonna4 ,but although human nature
 has often attempted to represent       

outwardly what can be only 'spiritually 
discerned1' men feel that in pictures   
and images1 whether painted or carved1  
or described in words only1 we have not 
the substance but the shadow of the     
truth which is in heaven4 ,there is no  
reason to suppose that in the fairest   
works of ,greek art1 ,plato ever        
conceived himself to behold an image1   
however faint1 of ideal truths4 ',not in
 that way was wisdom seen4'  ,we may now
 pass on to the second part of the      
,dialogue1 which is a criticism on the  
first4 ,rhetoric is assailed on various 
grounds3 first1 as desiring to persuade1
 without a knowledge of the truth2 and  
secondly1 as ignoring the distinction   
between certain and probable matter4    
,the three speeches are then passed in  
review3 the first of them has no        
definition of the nature of love1 and no
 order in the topics 7being in these    
respects far inferior to the second72   
while the third of them is found 7though
 a fancy of the hour7 to be framed upon 

real dialectical principles4 ,but       
dialectic is not rhetoric2 nothing on   
that subject is to be found in the      
endless treatises of rhetoric1 however  
prolific in hard names4 ,when ,plato has
 sufficiently put them to the test of   
ridicule he touches1 as with the point  
of a needle1 the real error1 which is   
the confusion of preliminary knowledge  
with creative power4 ,no attainments    
will provide the speaker with genius2   
and the sort of attainments which can   
alone be of any value are the higher    
philosophy and the power of             
psychological analysis1 which is given  
by dialectic1 but not by the rules of   
the rhetoricians4  ,in this latter      
portion of the ,dialogue there are many 
texts which may help us to speak and to 
think4 ,the names dialectic and rhetoric
 are passing out of use2 we hardly      
examine seriously into their nature and 
limits1 and probably the arts both of   
speaking and of conversation have been  
unduly neglected by us4 ,but the mind of

 ,socrates pierces through the          
differences of times and countries into 
the essential nature of man2 and his    
words apply equally to the modern world 
and to the ,athenians of old4 ,would he 
not have asked of us1 or rather is he   
not asking of us1 ,whether we have      
ceased to prefer appearances to reality8
 ,let us take a survey of the           
professions to which he refers and try  
them by his standard4 ,is not all       
literature passing into criticism1 just 
as ,athenian literature in the age of   
,plato was degenerating into sophistry  
and rhetoric8 ,we can discourse and     
write about poems and paintings1 but we 
seem to have lost the gift of creating  
them4 ,can we wonder that few of them   
'come sweetly from nature1' while ten   
thousand reviewers 7mala murioi7 are    
engaged in dissecting them8 ,young men1 
like ,phaedrus1 are enamoured of their  
own literary clique and have but a      
feeble sympathy with the master-minds of
 former ages4 ,they recognize 'a        

,,poetical necessity in the writings of 
their favourite author1 even when he    
boldly wrote off just what came in his  
head4' ,they are beginning to think that
 ,art is enough1 just at the time when  
,art is about to disappear from the     
world4 ,and would not a great painter1  
such as ,michael ,angelo1 or a great    
poet1 such as ,shakespeare1 returning to
 earth1 'courteously rebuke' us--would  
he not say that we are putting 'in the  
place of ,art the preliminaries of      
,art1' confusing ,art the expression of 
mind and truth with ,art the composition
 of colours and forms2 and perhaps he   
might more severely chastise some of us 
for trying to invent 'a new shudder'    
instead of bringing to the birth living 
and healthy creations8 ,these he would  
regard as the signs of an age wanting in
 original power4  ,turning from         
literature and the arts to law and      
politics1 again we fall under the lash  
of ,socrates4 ,for do we not often make 
'the worse appear the better cause2' and

 do not 'both parties sometimes agree to
 tell lies'8 ,is not pleading 'an art of
 speaking unconnected with the truth'8  
,there is another text of ,socrates     
which must not be forgotten in relation 
to this subject4 ,in the endless maze of
 ,english law is there any 'dividing the
 whole into parts or reuniting the parts
 into a whole'--any semblance of an     
organized being 'having hands and feet  
and other members'8 ,instead of a system
 there is the ,chaos of ,anaxagoras     
7omou panta chremata7 and no ,mind or   
,order4 ,then again in the noble art of 
politics1 who thinks of first principles
 and of true ideas8 ,we avowedly follow 
not the truth but the will of the many  
7compare ,republic74 ,is not legislation
 too a sort of literary effort1 and     
might not statesmanship be described as 
the 'art of enchanting' the house8      
,while there are some politicians who   
have no knowledge of the truth1 but only
 of what is likely to be approved by    
'the many who sit in judgment1' there   

are others who can give no form to their
 ideal1 neither having learned 'the art 
of persuasion1' nor having any insight  
into the 'characters of men4' ,once     
more1 has not medical science become a  
professional routine1 which many        
'practise without being able to say who 
were their instructors'--the application
 of a few drugs taken from a book       
instead of a life-long study of the     
natures and constitutions of human      
beings8 ,do we see as clearly as        
,hippocrates 'that the nature of the    
body can only be understood as a whole'8
 7,compare ,charm47 ,and are not they   
held to be the wisest physicians who    
have the greatest distrust of their art8
 ,what would ,socrates think of our     
newspapers1 of our theology8 ,perhaps he
 would be afraid to speak of them2--the 
one vox populi1 the other vox ,dei1 he  
might hesitate to attack them2 or he    
might trace a fanciful connexion between
 them1 and ask doubtfully1 whether they 
are not equally inspired8 ,he would     

remark that we are always searching for 
a belief and deploring our unbelief1    
seeming to prefer popular opinions      
unverified and contradictory to         
unpopular truths which are assured to us
 by the most certain proofs3 that our   
preachers are in the habit of praising  
,god 'without regard to truth and       
falsehood1 attributing to ,him every    
species of greatness and glory1 saying  
that ,he is all this and the cause of   
all that1 in order that we may exhibit  
,him as the fairest and best of all'    
7,symp47 without any consideration of   
,his real nature and character or of the
 laws by which ,he governs the          
world--seeking for a 'private judgment' 
and not for the truth or ',god's        
judgment4' ,what would he say of the    
,church1 which we praise in like manner1
 'meaning ourselves1' without regard to 
history or experience8 ,might he not    
ask1 whether we 'care more for the truth
 of religion1 or for the speaker and the
 country from which the truth comes'8   

or1 whether the 'select wise' are not   
'the many' after all8 7,symp47 ,so we   
may fill up the sketch of ,socrates1    
lest1 as ,phaedrus says1 the argument   
should be too 'abstract and barren of   
illustrations4' 7,compare ,symp41       
,apol41 ,euthyphro47  ,he next proceeds 
with enthusiasm to define the royal art 
of dialectic as the power of dividing a 
whole into parts1 and of uniting the    
parts in a whole1 and which may also be 
regarded 7compare ,soph47 as the process
 of the mind talking with herself4 ,the 
latter view has probably led ,plato to  
the paradox that speech is superior to  
writing1 in which he may seem also to be
 doing an injustice to himself4 ,for the
 two cannot be fairly compared in the   
manner which ,plato suggests4 ,the      
contrast of the living and dead word1   
and the example of ,socrates1 which he  
has represented in the form of the      
,dialogue1 seem to have misled him4 ,for
 speech and writing have really         
different functions2 the one is more    

transitory1 more diffuse1 more elastic  
and capable of adaptation to moods and  
times2 the other is more permanent1 more
 concentrated1 and is uttered not to    
this or that person or audience1 but to 
all the world4 ,in the ,politicus the   
paradox is carried further2 the mind or 
will of the king is preferred to the    
written law2 he is supposed to be the   
,law personified1 the ideal made ,life4 
,yet in both these statements there is  
also contained a truth2 they may be     
compared with one another1 and also with
 the other famous paradox1 that         
'knowledge cannot be taught4' ,socrates 
means to say1 that what is truly written
 is written in the soul1 just as what is
 truly taught grows up in the soul from 
within and is not forced upon it from   
without4 ,when planted in a congenial   
soil the little seed becomes a tree1 and
 'the birds of the air build their nests
 in the branches4' ,there is an echo of 
this in the prayer at the end of the    
,dialogue1 ',give me beauty in the      

inward soul1 and may the inward and     
outward man be at one4' ,we may further 
compare the words of ,st4 ,paul1        
',written not on tables of stone1 but on
 fleshly tables of the heart2' and      
again1 ',ye are my epistles known and   
read of all men4' ,there may be a use in
 writing as a preservative against the  
forgetfulness of old age1 but to live is
 higher far1 to be ourselves the book1  
or the epistle1 the truth embodied in a 
person1 the ,word made flesh4 ,something
 like this we may believe to have passed
 before ,plato's mind when he affirmed  
that speech was superior to writing4 ,so
 in other ages1 weary of literature and 
criticism1 of making many books1 of     
writing articles in reviews1 some have  
desired to live more closely in         
communion with their fellow-men1 to     
speak heart to heart1 to speak and act  
only1 and not to write1 following the   
example of ,socrates and of ,christ444  
,some other touches of inimitable grace 
and art and of the deepest wisdom may be

 also noted2 such as the prayer or      
'collect' which has just been cited1    
',give me beauty1' etc42 or 'the great  
name which belongs to ,god alone2' or   
'the saying of wiser men than ourselves 
that a man of sense should try to please
 not his fellow-servants1 but his good  
and noble masters1' like ,st4 ,paul     
again2 or the description of the        
'heavenly originals'444  ,the chief     
criteria for determining the date of the
 ,dialogue are 7#a7 the ages of ,lysias 
and ,isocrates2 7#b7 the character of   
the work4  ,lysias was born in the year 
#deh2 ,isocrates in the year #dcf1 about
 seven years before the birth of ,plato4
 ,the first of the two great            
rhetoricians is described as in the     
zenith of his fame2 the second is still 
young and full of promise4 ,now it is   
argued that this must have been written 
in the youth of ,isocrates1 when the    
promise was not yet fulfilled4 ,and thus
 we should have to assign the ,dialogue 
to a year not later than #djf1 when     

,isocrates was thirty and ,plato        
twenty-three years of age1 and while    
,socrates himself was still alive4      
,those who argue in this way seem not to
 reflect how easily ,plato can 'invent  
,egyptians or anything else1' and how   
careless he is of historical truth or   
probability4 ,who would suspect that the
 wise ,critias1 the virtuous ,charmides1
 had ended their lives among the thirty 
tyrants8 ,who would imagine that        
,lysias1 who is here assailed by        
,socrates1 is the son of his old friend 
,cephalus8 ,or that ,isocrates himself  
is the enemy of ,plato and his school8  
,no arguments can be drawn from the     
appropriateness or inappropriateness of 
the characters of ,plato4 7,else1       
perhaps1 it might be further argued     
that1 judging from their extant remains1
 insipid rhetoric is far more           
characteristic of ,isocrates than of    
,lysias47 ,but ,plato makes use of names
 which have often hardly any connection 
with the historical characters to whom  

they belong4 ,in this instance the      
comparative favour shown to ,isocrates  
may possibly be accounted for by the    
circumstance of his belonging to the    
aristocratical1 as ,lysias to the       
democratical party4  ,few persons will  
be inclined to suppose1 in the          
superficial manner of some ancient      
critics1 that a dialogue which treats of
 love must necessarily have been written
 in youth4 ,as little weight can be     
attached to the argument that ,plato    
must have visited ,egypt before he wrote
 the story of ,theuth and ,thamus4 ,for 
there is no real proof that he ever went
 to ,egypt2 and even if he did1 he might
 have known or invented ,egyptian       
traditions before he went there4 ,the   
late date of the ,phaedrus will have to 
be established by other arguments than  
these3 the maturity of the thought1 the 
perfection of the style1 the insight1   
the relation to the other ,platonic     
,dialogues1 seem to contradict the      
notion that it could have been the work 

of a youth of twenty or twenty-three    
years of age4 ,the cosmological notion  
of the mind as the primum mobile1 and   
the admission of impulse into the       
immortal nature1 also afford grounds for
 assigning a later date4 7,compare      
,tim41 ,soph41 ,laws47 ,add to this that
 the picture of ,socrates1 though in    
some lesser particulars1--e4g4 his going
 without sandals1 his habit of remaining
 within the walls1 his emphatic         
declaration that his study is human     
nature1--an exact resemblance1 is in the
 main the ,platonic and not the real    
,socrates4 ,can we suppose 'the young   
man to have told such lies' about his   
master while he was still alive8        
,moreover1 when two ,dialogues are so   
closely connected as the ,phaedrus and  
,symposium1 there is great improbability
 in supposing that one of them was      
written at least twenty years after the 
other4 ,the conclusion seems to be1 that
 the ,dialogue was written at some      
comparatively late but unknown period of

 ,plato's life1 after he had deserted   
the purely ,socratic point of view1 but 
before he had entered on the more       
abstract speculations of the ,sophist or
 the ,philebus4 ,taking into account the
 divisions of the soul1 the doctrine of 
transmigration1 the contemplative nature
 of the philosophic life1 and the       
character of the style1 we shall not be 
far wrong in placing the ,phaedrus in   
the neighbourhood of the ,republic2     
remarking only that allowance must be   
made for the poetical element in the    
,phaedrus1 which1 while falling short of
 the ,republic in definite philosophic  
results1 seems to have glimpses of a    
truth beyond4  ,two short passages1     
which are unconnected with the main     
subject of the ,dialogue1 may seem to   
merit a more particular notice3 7#a7 the
 locus classicus about mythology2 7#b7  
the tale of the grasshoppers4  ,the     
first passage is remarkable as showing  
that ,plato was entirely free from what 
may be termed the ,euhemerism of his    

age4 ,for there were ,euhemerists in    
,hellas long before ,euhemerus4 ,early  
philosophers1 like ,anaxagoras and      
,metrodorus1 had found in ,homer and    
mythology hidden meanings4 ,plato1 with 
a truer instinct1 rejects these         
attractive interpretations2 he regards  
the inventor of them as 'unfortunate2'  
and they draw a man off from the        
knowledge of himself4 ,there is a latent
 criticism1 and also a poetical sense in
 ,plato1 which enable him to discard    
them1 and yet in another way to make use
 of poetry and mythology as a vehicle of
 thought and feeling4 ,what would he    
have said of the discovery of ,christian
 doctrines in these old ,greek legends8 
,while acknowledging that such          
interpretations are 'very nice1' would  
he not have remarked that they are found
 in all sacred literatures8 ,they cannot
 be tested by any criterion of truth1 or
 used to establish any truth2 they add  
nothing to the sum of human knowledge2  
they are--what we please1 and if        

employed as 'peacemakers' between the   
new and old are liable to serious       
misconstruction1 as he elsewhere remarks
 7,republic74 ,and therefore he would   
have 'bid ,farewell to them2 the study  
of them would take up too much of his   
time2 and he has not as yet learned the 
true nature of religion4' ,the          
'sophistical' interest of ,phaedrus1 the
 little touch about the two versions of 
the story1 the ironical manner in which 
these explanations are set aside--'the  
common opinion about them is enough for 
me'--the allusion to the serpent ,typho 
may be noted in passing2 also the       
general agreement between the tone of   
this speech and the remark of ,socrates 
which follows afterwards1 ',i am a      
diviner1 but a poor one4'  ,the tale of 
the grasshoppers is naturally suggested 
by the surrounding scene4 ,they are also
 the representatives of the ,athenians  
as children of the soil4 ,under the     
image of the lively chirruping          
grasshoppers who inform the ,muses in   

heaven about those who honour them on   
earth1 ,plato intends to represent an   
,athenian audience 7tettigessin         
eoikotes74 ,the story is introduced1    
apparently1 to mark a change of subject1
 and also1 like several other allusions 
which occur in the course of the        
,dialogue1 in order to preserve the     
scene in the recollection of the reader4
  9999999999  ,no one can duly          
appreciate the dialogues of ,plato1     
especially the ,phaedrus1 ,symposium1   
and portions of the ,republic1 who has  
not a sympathy with mysticism4 ,to the  
uninitiated1 as he would himself have   
acknowledged1 they will appear to be the
 dreams of a poet who is disguised as a 
philosopher4 ,there is a twofold        
difficulty in apprehending this aspect  
of the ,platonic writings4 ,first1 we do
 not immediately realize that under the 
marble exterior of ,greek literature was
 concealed a soul thrilling with        
spiritual emotion4 ,secondly1 the forms 
or figures which the ,platonic          

philosophy assumes1 are not like the    
images of the prophet ,isaiah1 or of the
 ,apocalypse1 familiar to us in the days
 of our youth4 ,by mysticism we mean1   
not the extravagance of an erring fancy1
 but the concentration of reason in     
feeling1 the enthusiastic love of the   
good1 the true1 the one1 the sense of   
the infinity of knowledge and of the    
marvel of the human faculties4 ,when    
feeding upon such thoughts the 'wing of 
the soul' is renewed and gains strength2
 she is raised above 'the manikins of   
earth' and their opinions1 waiting in   
wonder to know1 and working with        
reverence to find out what ,god in this 
or in another life may reveal to her4   
,,on ,,the ,,decline ,,of ,,greek       
,,literature4  ,one of the main purposes
 of ,plato in the ,phaedrus is to       
satirize ,rhetoric1 or rather the       
,professors of ,rhetoric who swarmed at 
,athens in the fourth century before    
,christ4 ,as in the opening of the      
,dialogue he ridicules the interpreters 

of mythology2 as in the ,protagoras he  
mocks at the ,sophists2 as in the       
,euthydemus he makes fun of the         
word-splitting ,eristics2 as in the     
,cratylus he ridicules the fancies of   
,etymologers2 as in the ,meno and       
,gorgias and some other dialogues he    
makes reflections and casts sly         
imputation upon the higher classes at   
,athens2 so in the ,phaedrus1 chiefly in
 the latter part1 he aims his shafts at 
the rhetoricians4 ,the profession of    
rhetoric was the greatest and most      
popular in ,athens1 necessary 'to a     
man's salvation1' or at any rate to his 
attainment of wealth or power2 but      
,plato finds nothing wholesome or       
genuine in the purpose of it4 ,it is a  
veritable 'sham1' having no relation to 
fact1 or to truth of any kind4 ,it is   
antipathetic to him not only as a       
philosopher1 but also as a great writer4
 ,he cannot abide the tricks of the     
rhetoricians1 or the pedantries and     
mannerisms which they introduce into    

speech and writing4 ,he sees clearly how
 far removed they are from the ways of  
simplicity and truth1 and how ignorant  
of the very elements of the art which   
they are professing to teach4 ,the thing
 which is most necessary of all1 the    
knowledge of human nature1 is hardly if 
at all considered by them4 ,the true    
rules of composition1 which are very    
few1 are not to be found in their       
voluminous systems4 ,their              
pretentiousness1 their omniscience1     
their large fortunes1 their impatience  
of argument1 their indifference to first
 principles1 their stupidity1 their     
progresses through ,hellas accompanied  
by a troop of their disciples--these    
things were very distasteful to ,plato1 
who esteemed genius far above art1 and  
was quite sensible of the interval which
 separated them 7,phaedrus74 ,it is the 
interval which separates ,sophists and  
rhetoricians from ancient famous men and
 women such as ,homer and ,hesiod1      
,anacreon and ,sappho1 ,aeschylus and   

,sophocles2 and the ,platonic ,socrates 
is afraid that1 if he approves the      
former1 he will be disowned by the      
latter4 ,the spirit of rhetoric was soon
 to overspread all ,hellas2 and ,plato  
with prophetic insight may have seen1   
from afar1 the great literary waste or  
dead level1 or interminable marsh1 in   
which ,greek literature was soon to     
disappear4 ,a similar vision of the     
decline of the ,greek drama and of the  
contrast of the old literature and the  
new was present to the mind of          
,aristophanes after the death of the    
three great tragedians 7,frogs74 ,after 
about a hundred1 or at most two hundred 
years if we exclude ,homer1 the genius  
of ,hellas had ceased to flower or      
blossom4 ,the dreary waste which        
follows1 beginning with the ,alexandrian
 writers and even before them in the    
platitudes of ,isocrates and his school1
 spreads over much more than a thousand 
years4 ,and from this decline the ,greek
 language and literature1 unlike the    

,latin1 which has come to life in new   
forms and been developed into the great 
,european languages1 never recovered4   
,this monotony of literature1 without   
merit1 without genius and without       
character1 is a phenomenon which        
deserves more attention than it has     
hitherto received2 it is a phenomenon   
unique in the literary history of the   
world4 ,how could there have been so    
much cultivation1 so much diligence in  
writing1 and so little mind or real     
creative power8 ,why did a thousand     
years invent nothing better than        
,sibylline books1 ,orphic poems1        
,byzantine imitations of classical      
histories1 ,christian reproductions of  
,greek plays1 novels like the silly and 
obscene romances of ,longus and         
,heliodorus1 innumerable forged         
epistles1 a great many epigrams1        
biographies of the meanest and most     
meagre description1 a sham philosophy   
which was the bastard progeny of the    
union between ,hellas and the ,east8    

,only in ,plutarch1 in ,lucian1 in      
,longinus1 in the ,roman emperors       
,marcus ,aurelius and ,julian1 in some  
of the ,christian fathers are there any 
traces of good sense or originality1 or 
any power of arousing the interest of   
later ages4 ,and when new books ceased  
to be written1 why did hosts of         
grammarians and interpreters flock in1  
who never attain to any sound notion    
either of grammar or interpretation8    
,why did the physical sciences never    
arrive at any true knowledge or make any
 real progress8 ,why did poetry droop   
and languish8 ,why did history          
degenerate into fable8 ,why did words   
lose their power of expression8 ,why    
were ages of external greatness and     
magnificence attended by all the signs  
of decay in the human mind which are    
possible8  ,to these questions many     
answers may be given1 which if not the  
true causes1 are at least to be reckoned
 among the symptoms of the decline4     
,there is the want of method in physical

 science1 the want of criticism in      
history1 the want of simplicity or      
delicacy in poetry1 the want of         
political freedom1 which is the true    
atmosphere of public speaking1 in       
oratory4 ,the ways of life were         
luxurious and commonplace4 ,philosophy  
had become extravagant1 eclectic1       
abstract1 devoid of any real content4   
,at length it ceased to exist4 ,it had  
spread words like plaster over the whole
 field of knowledge4 ,it had grown      
ascetic on one side1 mystical on the    
other4 ,neither of these tendencies was 
favourable to literature4 ,there was no 
sense of beauty either in language or in
 art4 ,the ,greek world became vacant1  
barbaric1 oriental4 ,no one had anything
 new to say1 or any conviction of truth4
 ,the age had no remembrance of the     
past1 no power of understanding what    
other ages thought and felt4 ,the       
,catholic faith had degenerated into    
dogma and controversy4 ,for more than a 
thousand years not a single writer of   

first-rate1 or even of second-rate1     
reputation has a place in the           
innumerable rolls of ,greek literature4 
,if we seek to go deeper1 we can still  
only describe the outward nature of the 
clouds or darkness which were spread    
over the heavens during so many ages    
without relief or light4 ,we may say    
that this1 like several other long      
periods in the history of the human     
race1 was destitute1 or deprived of the 
moral qualities which are the root of   
literary excellence4 ,it had no life or 
aspiration1 no national or political    
force1 no desire for consistency1 no    
love of knowledge for its own sake4 ,it 
did not attempt to pierce the mists     
which surrounded it4 ,it did not propose
 to itself to go forward and scale the  
heights of knowledge1 but to go         
backwards and seek at the beginning what
 can only be found towards the end4 ,it 
was lost in doubt and ignorance4 ,it    
rested upon tradition and authority4 ,it
 had none of the higher play of fancy   

which creates poetry2 and where there is
 no true poetry1 neither can there be   
any good prose4 ,it had no great        
characters1 and therefore it had no     
great writers4 ,it was incapable of     
distinguishing between words and things4
 ,it was so hopelessly below the ancient
 standard of classical ,greek art and   
literature that it had no power of      
understanding or of valuing them4 ,it is
 doubtful whether any ,greek author was 
justly appreciated in antiquity except  
by his own contemporaries2 and this     
neglect of the great authors of the past
 led to the disappearance of the larger 
part of them1 while the ,greek fathers  
were mostly preserved4 ,there is no     
reason to suppose that1 in the century  
before the taking of ,constantinople1   
much more was in existence than the     
scholars of the ,renaissance carried    
away with them to ,italy4  ,the         
character of ,greek literature sank     
lower as time went on4 ,it consisted    
more and more of compilations1 of       

scholia1 of extracts1 of commentaries1  
forgeries1 imitations4 ,the commentator 
or interpreter had no conception of his 
author as a whole1 and very little of   
the context of any passage which he was 
explaining4 ,the least things were      
preferred by him to the greatest4 ,the  
question of a reading1 or a grammatical 
form1 or an accent1 or the uses of a    
word1 took the place of the aim or      
subject of the book4 ,he had no sense of
 the beauties of an author1 and very    
little light is thrown by him on real   
difficulties4 ,he interprets past ages  
by his own4 ,the greatest classical     
writers are the least appreciated by    
him4 ,this seems to be the reason why so
 many of them have perished1 why the    
lyric poets have almost wholly          
disappeared2 why1 out of the eighty or  
ninety tragedies of ,aeschylus and      
,sophocles1 only seven of each had been 
preserved4  ,such an age of sciolism and
 scholasticism may possibly once more   
get the better of the literary world4   

,there are those who prophesy that the  
signs of such a day are again appearing 
among us1 and that at the end of the    
present century no writer of the first  
class will be still alive4 ,they think  
that the ,muse of ,literature may       
transfer herself to other countries less
 dried up or worn out than our own4     
,they seem to see the withering effect  
of criticism on original genius4 ,no one
 can doubt that such a decay or decline 
of literature and of art seriously      
affects the manners and character of a  
nation4 ,it takes away half the joys and
 refinements of life2 it increases its  
dulness and grossness4 ,hence it becomes
 a matter of great interest to consider 
how1 if at all1 such a degeneracy may be
 averted4 ,is there any elixir which can
 restore life and youth to the          
literature of a nation1 or at any rate  
which can prevent it becoming unmanned  
and enfeebled8  ,first there is the     
progress of education4 ,it is possible1 
and even probable1 that the extension of

 the means of knowledge over a wider    
area and to persons living under new    
conditions may lead to many new         
combinations of thought and language4   
,but1 as yet1 experience does not favour
 the realization of such a hope or      
promise4 ,it may be truly answered that 
at present the training of teachers and 
the methods of education are very       
imperfect1 and therefore that we cannot 
judge of the future by the present4     
,when more of our youth are trained in  
the best literatures1 and in the best   
parts of them1 their minds may be       
expected to have a larger growth4 ,they 
will have more interests1 more thoughts1
 more material for conversation2 they   
will have a higher standard and begin to
 think for themselves4 ,the number of   
persons who will have the opportunity of
 receiving the highest education through
 the cheap press1 and by the help of    
high schools and colleges1 may increase 
tenfold4 ,it is likely that in every    
thousand persons there is at least one  

who is far above the average in natural 
capacity1 but the seed which is in him  
dies for want of cultivation4 ,it has   
never had any stimulus to grow1 or any  
field in which to blossom and produce   
fruit4 ,here is a great reservoir or    
treasure-house of human intelligence out
 of which new waters may flow and cover 
the earth4 ,if at any time the great men
 of the world should die out1 and       
originality or genius appear to suffer a
 partial eclipse1 there is a boundless  
hope in the multitude of intelligences  
for future generations4 ,they may bring 
gifts to men such as the world has never
 received before4 ,they may begin at a  
higher point and yet take with them all 
the results of the past4 ,the           
co-operation of many may have effects   
not less striking1 though different in  
character from those which the creative 
genius of a single man1 such as ,bacon  
or ,newton1 formerly produced4 ,there is
 also great hope to be derived1 not     
merely from the extension of education  

over a wider area1 but from the         
continuance of it during many           
generations4 ,educated parents will have
 children fit to receive education2 and 
these again will grow up under          
circumstances far more favourable to the
 growth of intelligence than any which  
have hitherto existed in our own or in  
former ages4  ,even if we were to       
suppose no more men of genius to be     
produced1 the great writers of ancient  
or of modern times will remain to       
furnish abundant materials of education 
to the coming generation4 ,now that     
every nation holds communication with   
every other1 we may truly say in a      
fuller sense than formerly that 'the    
thoughts of men are widened with the    
process of the suns4' ,they will not be 
'cribbed1 cabined1 and confined' within 
a province or an island4 ,the ,east will
 provide elements of culture to the     
,west as well as the ,west to the ,east4
 ,the religions and literatures of the  
world will be open books1 which he who  

wills may read4 ,the human race may not 
be always ground down by bodily toil1   
but may have greater leisure for the    
improvement of the mind4 ,the increasing
 sense of the greatness and infinity of 
nature will tend to awaken in men larger
 and more liberal thoughts4 ,the love of
 mankind may be the source of a greater 
development of literature than          
nationality has ever been4 ,there may be
 a greater freedom from prejudice and   
party2 we may better understand the     
whereabouts of truth1 and therefore     
there may be more success and fewer     
failures in the search for it4 ,lastly1 
in the coming ages we shall carry with  
us the recollection of the past1 in     
which are necessarily contained many    
seeds of revival and renaissance in the 
future4 ,so far is the world from       
becoming exhausted1 so groundless is the
 fear that literature will ever die out4
     ,,phaedrus   ,,persons ,,of ,,the  
,,dialogue3 ,socrates1 ,phaedrus4       
,,scene3 ,under a plane-tree1 by the    

banks of the ,ilissus4   ,,socrates3 ,my
 dear ,phaedrus1 whence come you1 and   
whither are you going8  ,,phaedrus3 ,i  
come from ,lysias the son of ,cephalus1 
and ,i am going to take a walk outside  
the wall1 for ,i have been sitting with 
him the whole morning2 and our common   
friend ,acumenus tells me that it is    
much more refreshing to walk in the open
 air than to be shut up in a cloister4  
,,socrates3 ,there he is right4 ,lysias 
then1 ,i suppose1 was in the town8      
,,phaedrus3 ,yes1 he was staying with   
,epicrates1 here at the house of        
,morychus2 that house which is near the 
temple of ,olympian ,zeus4  ,,socrates3 
,and how did he entertain you8 ,can ,i  
be wrong in supposing that ,lysias gave 
you a feast of discourse8  ,,phaedrus3  
,you shall hear1 if you can spare time  
to accompany me4  ,,socrates3 ,and      
should ,i not deem the conversation of  
you and ,lysias 'a thing of higher      
import1' as ,i may say in the words of  
,pindar1 'than any business'8           

,,phaedrus3 ,will you go on8            
,,socrates3 ,and will you go on with the
 narration8  ,,phaedrus3 ,my tale1      
,socrates1 is one of your sort1 for love
 was the theme which occupied us--love  
after a fashion3 ,lysias has been       
writing about a fair youth who was being
 tempted1 but not by a lover2 and this  
was the point3 he ingeniously proved    
that the non-lover should be accepted   
rather than the lover4  ,,socrates3 ,o  
that is noble of him6 ,i wish that he   
would say the poor man rather than the  
rich1 and the old man rather than the   
young one2--then he would meet the case 
of me and of many a man2 his words would
 be quite refreshing1 and he would be a 
public benefactor4 ,for my part1 ,i do  
so long to hear his speech1 that if you 
walk all the way to ,megara1 and when   
you have reached the wall come back1 as 
,herodicus recommends1 without going in1
 ,i will keep you company4  ,,phaedrus3 
,what do you mean1 my good ,socrates8   
,how can you imagine that my unpractised

 memory can do justice to an elaborate  
work1 which the greatest rhetorician of 
the age spent a long time in composing4 
,indeed1 ,i cannot2 ,i would give a     
great deal if ,i could4  ,,socrates3 ,i 
believe that ,i know ,phaedrus about as 
well as ,i know myself1 and ,i am very  
sure that the speech of ,lysias was     
repeated to him1 not once only1 but     
again and again2--he insisted on hearing
 it many times over and ,lysias was very
 willing to gratify him2 at last1 when  
nothing else would do1 he got hold of   
the book1 and looked at what he most    
wanted to see1--this occupied him during
 the whole morning2--and then when he   
was tired with sitting1 he went out to  
take a walk1 not until1 by the dog1 as  
,i believe1 he had simply learned by    
heart the entire discourse1 unless it   
was unusually long1 and he went to a    
place outside the wall that he might    
practise his lesson4 ,there he saw a    
certain lover of discourse who had a    
similar weakness2--he saw and rejoiced2 

now thought he1 ',i shall have a partner
 in my revels4' ,and he invited him to  
come and walk with him4 ,but when the   
lover of discourse begged that he would 
repeat the tale1 he gave himself airs   
and said1 ',no ,i cannot1' as if he were
 indisposed2 although1 if the hearer had
 refused1 he would sooner or later have 
been compelled by him to listen whether 
he would or no4 ,therefore1 ,phaedrus1  
bid him do at once what he will soon do 
whether bidden or not4  ,,phaedrus3 ,i  
see that you will not let me off until  
,i speak in some fashion or other2      
verily therefore my best plan is to     
speak as ,i best can4  ,,socrates3 ,a   
very true remark1 that of yours4        
,,phaedrus3 ,i will do as ,i say2 but   
believe me1 ,socrates1 ,i did not learn 
the very words--,o no2 nevertheless ,i  
have a general notion of what he said1  
and will give you a summary of the      
points in which the lover differed from 
the non-lover4 ,let me begin at the     
beginning4  ,,socrates3 ,yes1 my sweet  

one2 but you must first of all show what
 you have in your left hand under your  
cloak1 for that roll1 as ,i suspect1 is 
the actual discourse4 ,now1 much as ,i  
love you1 ,i would not have you suppose 
that ,i am going to have your memory    
exercised at my expense1 if you have    
,lysias himself here4  ,,phaedrus3      
,enough2 ,i see that ,i have no hope of 
practising my art upon you4 ,but if ,i  
am to read1 where would you please to   
sit8  ,,socrates3 ,let us turn aside and
 go by the ,ilissus2 we will sit down at
 some quiet spot4  ,,phaedrus3 ,i am    
fortunate in not having my sandals1 and 
as you never have any1 ,i think that we 
may go along the brook and cool our feet
 in the water2 this will be the easiest 
way1 and at midday and in the summer is 
far from being unpleasant4  ,,socrates3 
,lead on1 and look out for a place in   
which we can sit down4  ,,phaedrus3 ,do 
you see the tallest plane-tree in the   
distance8  ,,socrates3 ,yes4            
,,phaedrus3 ,there are shade and gentle 

breezes1 and grass on which we may      
either sit or lie down4  ,,socrates3    
,move forward4  ,,phaedrus3 ,i should   
like to know1 ,socrates1 whether the    
place is not somewhere here at which    
,boreas is said to have carried off     
,orithyia from the banks of the         
,ilissus8  ,,socrates3 ,such is the     
tradition4  ,,phaedrus3 ,and is this the
 exact spot8 ,the little stream is      
delightfully clear and bright2 ,i can   
fancy that there might be maidens       
playing near4  ,,socrates3 ,i believe   
that the spot is not exactly here1 but  
about a quarter of a mile lower down1   
where you cross to the temple of        
,artemis1 and there is1 ,i think1 some  
sort of an altar of ,boreas at the      
place4  ,,phaedrus3 ,i have never       
noticed it2 but ,i beseech you to tell  
me1 ,socrates1 do you believe this tale8
  ,,socrates3 ,the wise are doubtful1   
and ,i should not be singular if1 like  
them1 ,i too doubted4 ,i might have a   
rational explanation that ,orithyia was 

playing with ,pharmacia1 when a northern
 gust carried her over the neighbouring 
rocks2 and this being the manner of her 
death1 she was said to have been carried
 away by ,boreas4 ,there is a           
discrepancy1 however1 about the         
locality2 according to another version  
of the story she was taken from         
,areopagus1 and not from this place4    
,now ,i quite acknowledge that these    
allegories are very nice1 but he is not 
to be envied who has to invent them2    
much labour and ingenuity will be       
required of him2 and when he has once   
begun1 he must go on and rehabilitate   
,hippocentaurs and chimeras dire4       
,gorgons and winged steeds flow in      
apace1 and numberless other             
inconceivable and portentous natures4   
,and if he is sceptical about them1 and 
would fain reduce them one after another
 to the rules of probability1 this sort 
of crude philosophy will take up a great
 deal of time4 ,now ,i have no leisure  
for such enquiries2 shall ,i tell you   

why8 ,i must first know myself1 as the  
,delphian inscription says2 to be       
curious about that which is not my      
concern1 while ,i am still in ignorance 
of my own self1 would be ridiculous4    
,and therefore ,i bid farewell to all   
this2 the common opinion is enough for  
me4 ,for1 as ,i was saying1 ,i want to  
know not about this1 but about myself3  
am ,i a monster more complicated and    
swollen with passion than the serpent   
,typho1 or a creature of a gentler and  
simpler sort1 to whom ,nature has given 
a diviner and lowlier destiny8 ,but let 
me ask you1 friend3 have we not reached 
the plane-tree to which you were        
conducting us8  ,,phaedrus3 ,yes1 this  
is the tree4  ,,socrates3 ,by ,here1 a  
fair resting-place1 full of summer      
sounds and scents4 ,here is this lofty  
and spreading plane-tree1 and the agnus 
castus high and clustering1 in the      
fullest blossom and the greatest        
fragrance2 and the stream which flows   
beneath the plane-tree is deliciously   

cold to the feet4 ,judging from the     
ornaments and images1 this must be a    
spot sacred to ,achelous and the        
,nymphs4 ,how delightful is the         
breeze3--so very sweet2 and there is a  
sound in the air shrill and summerlike  
which makes answer to the chorus of the 
cicadae4 ,but the greatest charm of all 
is the grass1 like a pillow gently      
sloping to the head4 ,my dear ,phaedrus1
 you have been an admirable guide4      
,,phaedrus3 ,what an incomprehensible   
being you are1 ,socrates3 when you are  
in the country1 as you say1 you really  
are like some stranger who is led about 
by a guide4 ,do you ever cross the      
border8 ,i rather think that you never  
venture even outside the gates4         
,,socrates3 ,very true1 my good friend2 
and ,i hope that you will excuse me when
 you hear the reason1 which is1 that ,i 
am a lover of knowledge1 and the men who
 dwell in the city are my teachers1 and 
not the trees or the country4 ,though ,i
 do indeed believe that you have found a

 spell with which to draw me out of the 
city into the country1 like a hungry cow
 before whom a bough or a bunch of fruit
 is waved4 ,for only hold up before me  
in like manner a book1 and you may lead 
me all round ,attica1 and over the wide 
world4 ,and now having arrived1 ,i      
intend to lie down1 and do you choose   
any posture in which you can read best4 
,begin4  ,,phaedrus3 ,listen4 ,you know 
how matters stand with me2 and how1 as  
,i conceive1 this affair may be arranged
 for the advantage of both of us4 ,and  
,i maintain that ,i ought not to fail in
 my suit1 because ,i am not your lover3 
for lovers repent of the kindnesses     
which they have shown when their passion
 ceases1 but to the non-lovers who are  
free and not under any compulsion1 no   
time of repentance ever comes2 for they 
confer their benefits according to the  
measure of their ability1 in the way    
which is most conducive to their own    
interest4 ,then again1 lovers consider  
how by reason of their love they have   

neglected their own concerns and        
rendered service to others3 and when to 
these benefits conferred they add on the
 troubles which they have endured1 they 
think that they have long ago made to   
the beloved a very ample return4 ,but   
the non-lover has no such tormenting    
recollections2 he has never neglected   
his affairs or quarrelled with his      
relations2 he has no troubles to add up 
or excuses to invent2 and being well rid
 of all these evils1 why should he not  
freely do what will gratify the beloved8
 ,if you say that the lover is more to  
be esteemed1 because his love is thought
 to be greater2 for he is willing to say
 and do what is hateful to other men1 in
 order to please his beloved2--that1 if 
true1 is only a proof that he will      
prefer any future love to his present1  
and will injure his old love at the     
pleasure of the new4 ,and how1 in a     
matter of such infinite importance1 can 
a man be right in trusting himself to   
one who is afflicted with a malady which

 no experienced person would attempt to 
cure1 for the patient himself admits    
that he is not in his right mind1 and   
acknowledges that he is wrong in his    
mind1 but says that he is unable to     
control himself8 ,and if he came to his 
right mind1 would he ever imagine that  
the desires were good which he conceived
 when in his wrong mind8 ,once more1    
there are many more non-lovers than     
lovers2 and if you choose the best of   
the lovers1 you will not have many to   
choose from2 but if from the non-lovers1
 the choice will be larger1 and you will
 be far more likely to find among them a
 person who is worthy of your           
friendship4 ,if public opinion be your  
dread1 and you would avoid reproach1 in 
all probability the lover1 who is always
 thinking that other men are as emulous 
of him as he is of them1 will boast to  
some one of his successes1 and make a   
show of them openly in the pride of his 
heart2--he wants others to know that his
 labour has not been lost2 but the      

non-lover is more his own master1 and is
 desirous of solid good1 and not of the 
opinion of mankind4 ,again1 the lover   
may be generally noted or seen following
 the beloved 7this is his regular       
occupation71 and whenever they are      
observed to exchange two words they are 
supposed to meet about some affair of   
love either past or in contemplation2   
but when non-lovers meet1 no one asks   
the reason why1 because people know that
 talking to another is natural1 whether 
friendship or mere pleasure be the      
motive4 ,once more1 if you fear the     
fickleness of friendship1 consider that 
in any other case a quarrel might be a  
mutual calamity2 but now1 when you have 
given up what is most precious to you1  
you will be the greater loser1 and      
therefore1 you will have more reason in 
being afraid of the lover1 for his      
vexations are many1 and he is always    
fancying that every one is leagued      
against him4 ,wherefore also he debars  
his beloved from society2 he will not   

have you intimate with the wealthy1 lest
 they should exceed him in wealth1 or   
with men of education1 lest they should 
be his superiors in understanding2 and  
he is equally afraid of anybody's       
influence who has any other advantage   
over himself4 ,if he can persuade you to
 break with them1 you are left without a
 friend in the world2 or if1 out of a   
regard to your own interest1 you have   
more sense than to comply with his      
desire1 you will have to quarrel with   
him4 ,but those who are non-lovers1 and 
whose success in love is the reward of  
their merit1 will not be jealous of the 
companions of their beloved1 and will   
rather hate those who refuse to be his  
associates1 thinking that their         
favourite is slighted by the latter and 
benefited by the former2 for more love  
than hatred may be expected to come to  
him out of his friendship with others4  
,many lovers too have loved the person  
of a youth before they knew his         
character or his belongings2 so that    

when their passion has passed away1     
there is no knowing whether they will   
continue to be his friends2 whereas1 in 
the case of non-lovers who were always  
friends1 the friendship is not lessened 
by the favours granted2 but the         
recollection of these remains with them1
 and is an earnest of good things to    
come4  ,further1 ,i say that you are    
likely to be improved by me1 whereas the
 lover will spoil you4 ,for they praise 
your words and actions in a wrong way2  
partly1 because they are afraid of      
offending you1 and also1 their judgment 
is weakened by passion4 ,such are the   
feats which love exhibits2 he makes     
things painful to the disappointed which
 give no pain to others2 he compels the 
successful lover to praise what ought   
not to give him pleasure1 and therefore 
the beloved is to be pitied rather than 
envied4 ,but if you listen to me1 in the
 first place1 ,i1 in my intercourse with
 you1 shall not merely regard present   
enjoyment1 but also future advantage1   

being not mastered by love1 but my own  
master2 nor for small causes taking     
violent dislikes1 but even when the     
cause is great1 slowly laying up little 
wrath--unintentional offences ,i shall  
forgive1 and intentional ones ,i shall  
try to prevent2 and these are the marks 
of a friendship which will last4  ,do   
you think that a lover only can be a    
firm friend8 reflect3--if this were     
true1 we should set small value on sons1
 or fathers1 or mothers2 nor should we  
ever have loyal friends1 for our love of
 them arises not from passion1 but from 
other associations4 ,further1 if we     
ought to shower favours on those who are
 the most eager suitors1--on that       
principle1 we ought always to do good1  
not to the most virtuous1 but to the    
most needy2 for they are the persons who
 will be most relieved1 and will        
therefore be the most grateful2 and when
 you make a feast you should invite not 
your friend1 but the beggar and the     
empty soul2 for they will love you1 and 

attend you1 and come about your doors1  
and will be the best pleased1 and the   
most grateful1 and will invoke many a   
blessing on your head4 ,yet surely you  
ought not to be granting favours to     
those who besiege you with prayer1 but  
to those who are best able to reward    
you2 nor to the lover only1 but to those
 who are worthy of love2 nor to those   
who will enjoy the bloom of your youth1 
but to those who will share their       
possessions with you in age2 nor to     
those who1 having succeeded1 will glory 
in their success to others1 but to those
 who will be modest and tell no tales2  
nor to those who care about you for a   
moment only1 but to those who will      
continue your friends through life2 nor 
to those who1 when their passion is     
over1 will pick a quarrel with you1 but 
rather to those who1 when the charm of  
youth has left you1 will show their own 
virtue4 ,remember what ,i have said2 and
 consider yet this further point3       
friends admonish the lover under the    

idea that his way of life is bad1 but no
 one of his kindred ever yet censured   
the non-lover1 or thought that he was   
ill-advised about his own interests4    
',perhaps you will ask me whether ,i    
propose that you should indulge every   
non-lover4 ,to which ,i reply that not  
even the lover would advise you to      
indulge all lovers1 for the             
indiscriminate favour is less esteemed  
by the rational recipient1 and less     
easily hidden by him who would escape   
the censure of the world4 ,now love     
ought to be for the advantage of both   
parties1 and for the injury of neither4 
',i believe that ,i have said enough2   
but if there is anything more which you 
desire or which in your opinion needs to
 be supplied1 ask and ,i will answer4'  
,now1 ,socrates1 what do you think8 ,is 
not the discourse excellent1 more       
especially in the matter of the         
language8  ,,socrates3 ,yes1 quite      
admirable2 the effect on me was         
ravishing4 ,and this ,i owe to you1     

,phaedrus1 for ,i observed you while    
reading to be in an ecstasy1 and        
thinking that you are more experienced  
in these matters than ,i am1 ,i followed
 your example1 and1 like you1 my divine 
darling1 ,i became inspired with a      
phrenzy4  ,,phaedrus3 ,indeed1 you are  
pleased to be merry4  ,,socrates3 ,do   
you mean that ,i am not in earnest8     
,,phaedrus3 ,now don't talk in that way1
 ,socrates1 but let me have your real   
opinion2 ,i adjure you1 by ,zeus1 the   
god of friendship1 to tell me whether   
you think that any ,hellene could have  
said more or spoken better on the same  
subject4  ,,socrates3 ,well1 but are you
 and ,i expected to praise the          
sentiments of the author1 or only the   
clearness1 and roundness1 and finish1   
and tournure of the language8 ,as to the
 first ,i willingly submit to your      
better judgment1 for ,i am not worthy to
 form an opinion1 having only attended  
to the rhetorical manner2 and ,i was    
doubting whether this could have been   

defended even by ,lysias himself2 ,i    
thought1 though ,i speak under          
correction1 that he repeated himself two
 or three times1 either from want of    
words or from want of pains2 and also1  
he appeared to me ostentatiously to     
exult in showing how well he could say  
the same thing in two or three ways4    
,,phaedrus3 ,nonsense1 ,socrates2 what  
you call repetition was the especial    
merit of the speech2 for he omitted no  
topic of which the subject rightly      
allowed1 and ,i do not think that any   
one could have spoken better or more    
exhaustively4  ,,socrates3 ,there ,i    
cannot go along with you4 ,ancient      
sages1 men and women1 who have spoken   
and written of these things1 would rise 
up in judgment against me1 if out of    
complaisance ,i assented to you4        
,,phaedrus3 ,who are they1 and where did
 you hear anything better than this8    
,,socrates3 ,i am sure that ,i must have
 heard2 but at this moment ,i do not    
remember from whom2 perhaps from ,sappho

 the fair1 or ,anacreon the wise2 or1   
possibly1 from a prose writer4 ,why do  
,i say so8 ,why1 because ,i perceive    
that my bosom is full1 and that ,i could
 make another speech as good as that of 
,lysias1 and different4 ,now ,i am      
certain that this is not an invention of
 my own1 who am well aware that ,i know 
nothing1 and therefore ,i can only infer
 that ,i have been filled through the   
ears1 like a pitcher1 from the waters of
 another1 though ,i have actually       
forgotten in my stupidity who was my    
informant4  ,,phaedrus3 ,that is        
grand3--but never mind where you heard  
the discourse or from whom2 let that be 
a mystery not to be divulged even at my 
earnest desire4 ,only1 as you say1      
promise to make another and better      
oration1 equal in length and entirely   
new1 on the same subject2 and ,i1 like  
the nine ,archons1 will promise to set  
up a golden image at ,delphi1 not only  
of myself1 but of you1 and as large as  
life4  ,,socrates3 ,you are a dear      

golden ass if you suppose me to mean    
that ,lysias has altogether missed the  
mark1 and that ,i can make a speech from
 which all his arguments are to be      
excluded4 ,the worst of authors will say
 something which is to the point4 ,who1 
for example1 could speak on this thesis 
of yours without praising the discretion
 of the non-lover and blaming the       
indiscretion of the lover8 ,these are   
the commonplaces of the subject which   
must come in 7for what else is there to 
be said87 and must be allowed and       
excused2 the only merit is in the       
arrangement of them1 for there can be   
none in the invention2 but when you     
leave the commonplaces1 then there may  
be some originality4  ,,phaedrus3 ,i    
admit that there is reason in what you  
say1 and ,i too will be reasonable1 and 
will allow you to start with the premiss
 that the lover is more disordered in   
his wits than the non-lover2 if in what 
remains you make a longer and better    
speech than ,lysias1 and use other      

arguments1 then ,i say again1 that a    
statue you shall have of beaten gold1   
and take your place by the colossal     
offerings of the ,cypselids at ,olympia4
  ,,socrates3 ,how profoundly in earnest
 is the lover1 because to tease him ,i  
lay a finger upon his love6 ,and so1    
,phaedrus1 you really imagine that ,i am
 going to improve upon the ingenuity of 
,lysias8  ,,phaedrus3 ,there ,i have you
 as you had me1 and you must just speak 
'as you best can4' ,do not let us       
exchange 'tu quoque' as in a farce1 or  
compel me to say to you as you said to  
me1 ',i know ,socrates as well as ,i    
know myself1 and he was wanting to      
speak1 but he gave himself airs4'       
,rather ,i would have you consider that 
from this place we stir not until you   
have unbosomed yourself of the speech2  
for here are we all alone1 and ,i am    
stronger1 remember1 and younger than    
you3--,wherefore perpend1 and do not    
compel me to use violence4  ,,socrates3 
,but1 my sweet ,phaedrus1 how ridiculous

 it would be of me to compete with      
,lysias in an extempore speech6 ,he is a
 master in his art and ,i am an untaught
 man4  ,,phaedrus3 ,you see how matters 
stand2 and therefore let there be no    
more pretences2 for1 indeed1 ,i know the
 word that is irresistible4  ,,socrates3
 ,then don't say it4  ,,phaedrus3 ,yes1 
but ,i will2 and my word shall be an    
oath4 ',i say1 or rather swear'--but    
what god will be witness of my          
oath8--',by this plane-tree ,i swear1   
that unless you repeat the discourse    
here in the face of this very           
plane-tree1 ,i will never tell you      
another2 never let you have word of     
another6'  ,,socrates3 ,villain6 ,i am  
conquered2 the poor lover of discourse  
has no more to say4  ,,phaedrus3 ,then  
why are you still at your tricks8       
,,socrates3 ,i am not going to play     
tricks now that you have taken the oath1
 for ,i cannot allow myself to be       
starved4  ,,phaedrus3 ,proceed4         
,,socrates3 ,shall ,i tell you what ,i  

will do8  ,,phaedrus3 ,what8            
,,socrates3 ,i will veil my face and    
gallop through the discourse as fast as 
,i can1 for if ,i see you ,i shall feel 
ashamed and not know what to say4       
,,phaedrus3 ,only go on and you may do  
anything else which you please4         
,,socrates3 ,come1 ,o ye ,muses1        
melodious1 as ye are called1 whether you
 have received this name from the       
character of your strains1 or because   
the ,melians are a musical race1 help1  
,o help me in the tale which my good    
friend here desires me to rehearse1 in  
order that his friend whom he always    
deemed wise may seem to him to be wiser 
than ever4  ,once upon a time there was 
a fair boy1 or1 more properly speaking1 
a youth2 he was very fair and had a     
great many lovers2 and there was one    
special cunning one1 who had persuaded  
the youth that he did not love him1 but 
he really loved him all the same2 and   
one day when he was paying his addresses
 to him1 he used this very              

argument--that he ought to accept the   
non-lover rather than the lover2 his    
words were as follows3--  ',all good    
counsel begins in the same way2 a man   
should know what he is advising about1  
or his counsel will all come to nought4 
,but people imagine that they know about
 the nature of things1 when they don't  
know about them1 and1 not having come to
 an understanding at first because they 
think that they know1 they end1 as might
 be expected1 in contradicting one      
another and themselves4 ,now you and ,i 
must not be guilty of this fundamental  
error which we condemn in others2 but as
 our question is whether the lover or   
non-lover is to be preferred1 let us    
first of all agree in defining the      
nature and power of love1 and then1     
keeping our eyes upon the definition and
 to this appealing1 let us further      
enquire whether love brings advantage or
 disadvantage4  ',every one sees that   
love is a desire1 and we know also that 
non-lovers desire the beautiful and     

good4 ,now in what way is the lover to  
be distinguished from the non-lover8    
,let us note that in every one of us    
there are two guiding and ruling        
principles which lead us whither they   
will2 one is the natural desire of      
pleasure1 the other is an acquired      
opinion which aspires after the best2   
and these two are sometimes in harmony  
and then again at war1 and sometimes the
 one1 sometimes the other conquers4     
,when opinion by the help of reason     
leads us to the best1 the conquering    
principle is called temperance2 but when
 desire1 which is devoid of reason1     
rules in us and drags us to pleasure1   
that power of misrule is called excess4 
,now excess has many names1 and many    
members1 and many forms1 and any of     
these forms when very marked gives a    
name1 neither honourable nor creditable1
 to the bearer of the name4 ,the desire 
of eating1 for example1 which gets the  
better of the higher reason and the     
other desires1 is called gluttony1 and  

he who is possessed by it is called a   
glutton2 the tyrannical desire of drink1
 which inclines the possessor of the    
desire to drink1 has a name which is    
only too obvious1 and there can be as   
little doubt by what name any other     
appetite of the same family would be    
called2--it will be the name of that    
which happens to be dominant4 ,and now  
,i think that you will perceive the     
drift of my discourse2 but as every     
spoken word is in a manner plainer than 
the unspoken1 ,i had better say further 
that the irrational desire which        
overcomes the tendency of opinion       
towards right1 and is led away to the   
enjoyment of beauty1 and especially of  
personal beauty1 by the desires which   
are her own kindred--that supreme       
desire1 ,i say1 which by leading        
conquers and by the force of passion is 
reinforced1 from this very force1       
receiving a name1 is called love        
7erromenos eros74'  ,and now1 dear      
,phaedrus1 ,i shall pause for an instant

 to ask whether you do not think me1 as 
,i appear to myself1 inspired8          
,,phaedrus3 ,yes1 ,socrates1 you seem to
 have a very unusual flow of words4     
,,socrates3 ,listen to me1 then1 in     
silence2 for surely the place is holy2  
so that you must not wonder1 if1 as ,i  
proceed1 ,i appear to be in a divine    
fury1 for already ,i am getting into    
dithyrambics4  ,,phaedrus3 ,nothing can 
be truer4  ,,socrates3 ,the             
responsibility rests with you4 ,but hear
 what follows1 and perhaps the fit may  
be averted2 all is in their hands above4
 ,i will go on talking to my youth4     
,listen3--  ,thus1 my friend1 we have   
declared and defined the nature of the  
subject4 ,keeping the definition in     
view1 let us now enquire what advantage 
or disadvantage is likely to ensue from 
the lover or the non-lover to him who   
accepts their advances4  ,he who is the 
victim of his passions and the slave of 
pleasure will of course desire to make  
his beloved as agreeable to himself as  

possible4 ,now to him who has a mind    
diseased anything is agreeable which is 
not opposed to him1 but that which is   
equal or superior is hateful to him1 and
 therefore the lover will not brook any 
superiority or equality on the part of  
his beloved2 he is always employed in   
reducing him to inferiority4 ,and the   
ignorant is the inferior of the wise1   
the coward of the brave1 the slow of    
speech of the speaker1 the dull of the  
clever4 ,these1 and not these only1 are 
the mental defects of the               
beloved2--defects which1 when implanted 
by nature1 are necessarily a delight to 
the lover1 and when not implanted1 he   
must contrive to implant them in him1 if
 he would not be deprived of his        
fleeting joy4 ,and therefore he cannot  
help being jealous1 and will debar his  
beloved from the advantages of society  
which would make a man of him1 and      
especially from that society which would
 have given him wisdom1 and thereby he  
cannot fail to do him great harm4 ,that 

is to say1 in his excessive fear lest he
 should come to be despised in his eyes 
he will be compelled to banish from him 
divine philosophy2 and there is no      
greater injury which he can inflict upon
 him than this4 ,he will contrive that  
his beloved shall be wholly ignorant1   
and in everything shall look to him2 he 
is to be the delight of the lover's     
heart1 and a curse to himself4 ,verily1 
a lover is a profitable guardian and    
associate for him in all that relates to
 his mind4  ,let us next see how his    
master1 whose law of life is pleasure   
and not good1 will keep and train the   
body of his servant4 ,will he not choose
 a beloved who is delicate rather than  
sturdy and strong8 ,one brought up in   
shady bowers and not in the bright sun1 
a stranger to manly exercises and the   
sweat of toil1 accustomed only to a soft
 and luxurious diet1 instead of the hues
 of health having the colours of paint  
and ornament1 and the rest of a         
piece8--such a life as any one can      

imagine and which ,i need not detail at 
length4 ,but ,i may sum up all that ,i  
have to say in a word1 and pass on4     
,such a person in war1 or in any of the 
great crises of life1 will be the       
anxiety of his friends and also of his  
lover1 and certainly not the terror of  
his enemies2 which nobody can deny4     
,and now let us tell what advantage or  
disadvantage the beloved will receive   
from the guardianship and society of his
 lover in the matter of his property2   
this is the next point to be considered4
 ,the lover will be the first to see    
what1 indeed1 will be sufficiently      
evident to all men1 that he desires     
above all things to deprive his beloved 
of his dearest and best and holiest     
possessions1 father1 mother1 kindred1   
friends1 of all whom he thinks may be   
hinderers or reprovers of their most    
sweet converse2 he will even cast a     
jealous eye upon his gold and silver or 
other property1 because these make him a
 less easy prey1 and when caught less   

manageable2 hence he is of necessity    
displeased at his possession of them and
 rejoices at their loss2 and he would   
like him to be wifeless1 childless1     
homeless1 as well2 and the longer the   
better1 for the longer he is all this1  
the longer he will enjoy him4  ,there   
are some sort of animals1 such as       
flatterers1 who are dangerous and       
mischievous enough1 and yet nature has  
mingled a temporary pleasure and grace  
in their composition4 ,you may say that 
a courtesan is hurtful1 and disapprove  
of such creatures and their practices1  
and yet for the time they are very      
pleasant4 ,but the lover is not only    
hurtful to his love2 he is also an      
extremely disagreeable companion4 ,the  
old proverb says that 'birds of a       
feather flock together'2 ,i suppose that
 equality of years inclines them to the 
same pleasures1 and similarity begets   
friendship2 yet you may have more than  
enough even of this2 and verily         
constraint is always said to be         

grievous4 ,now the lover is not only    
unlike his beloved1 but he forces       
himself upon him4 ,for he is old and his
 love is young1 and neither day nor     
night will he leave him if he can help2 
necessity and the sting of desire drive 
him on1 and allure him with the pleasure
 which he receives from seeing1 hearing1
 touching1 perceiving him in every way4 
,and therefore he is delighted to fasten
 upon him and to minister to him4 ,but  
what pleasure or consolation can the    
beloved be receiving all this time8     
,must he not feel the extremity of      
disgust when he looks at an old         
shrivelled face and the remainder to    
match1 which even in a description is   
disagreeable1 and quite detestable when 
he is forced into daily contact with his
 lover2 moreover he is jealously watched
 and guarded against everything and     
everybody1 and has to hear misplaced and
 exaggerated praises of himself1 and    
censures equally inappropriate1 which   
are intolerable when the man is sober1  

and1 besides being intolerable1 are     
published all over the world in all     
their indelicacy and wearisomeness when 
he is drunk4  ,and not only while his   
love continues is he mischievous and    
unpleasant1 but when his love ceases he 
becomes a perfidious enemy of him on    
whom he showered his oaths and prayers  
and promises1 and yet could hardly      
prevail upon him to tolerate the tedium 
of his company even from motives of     
interest4 ,the hour of payment arrives1 
and now he is the servant of another    
master2 instead of love and infatuation1
 wisdom and temperance are his bosom's  
lords2 but the beloved has not          
discovered the change which has taken   
place in him1 when he asks for a return 
and recalls to his recollection former  
sayings and doings2 he believes himself 
to be speaking to the same person1 and  
the other1 not having the courage to    
confess the truth1 and not knowing how  
to fulfil the oaths and promises which  
he made when under the dominion of      

folly1 and having now grown wise and    
temperate1 does not want to do as he did
 or to be as he was before4 ,and so he  
runs away and is constrained to be a    
defaulter2 the oyster-shell 7,in        
allusion to a game in which two parties 
fled or pursued according as an         
oyster-shell which was thrown into the  
air fell with the dark or light side    
uppermost47 has fallen with the other   
side uppermost--he changes pursuit into 
flight1 while the other is compelled to 
follow him with passion and imprecation1
 not knowing that he ought never from   
the first to have accepted a demented   
lover instead of a sensible non-lover2  
and that in making such a choice he was 
giving himself up to a faithless1       
morose1 envious1 disagreeable being1    
hurtful to his estate1 hurtful to his   
bodily health1 and still more hurtful to
 the cultivation of his mind1 than which
 there neither is nor ever will be      
anything more honoured in the eyes both 
of gods and men4 ,consider this1 fair   

youth1 and know that in the friendship  
of the lover there is no real kindness2 
he has an appetite and wants to feed    
upon you3  ',as wolves love lambs so    
lovers love their loves4'  ,but ,i told 
you so1 ,i am speaking in verse1 and    
therefore ,i had better make an end2    
enough4  ,,phaedrus3 ,i thought that you
 were only half-way and were going to   
make a similar speech about all the     
advantages of accepting the non-lover4  
,why do you not proceed8  ,,socrates3   
,does not your simplicity observe that  
,i have got out of dithyrambics into    
heroics1 when only uttering a censure on
 the lover8 ,and if ,i am to add the    
praises of the non-lover what will      
become of me8 ,do you not perceive that 
,i am already overtaken by the ,nymphs  
to whom you have mischievously exposed  
me8 ,and therefore ,i will only add that
 the non-lover has all the advantages in
 which the lover is accused of being    
deficient4 ,and now ,i will say no more2
 there has been enough of both of them4 

,leaving the tale to its fate1 ,i will  
cross the river and make the best of my 
way home1 lest a worse thing be         
inflicted upon me by you4  ,,phaedrus3  
,not yet1 ,socrates2 not until the heat 
of the day has passed2 do you not see   
that the hour is almost noon8 there is  
the midday sun standing still1 as people
 say1 in the meridian4 ,let us rather   
stay and talk over what has been said1  
and then return in the cool4            
,,socrates3 ,your love of discourse1    
,phaedrus1 is superhuman1 simply        
marvellous1 and ,i do not believe that  
there is any one of your contemporaries 
who has either made or in one way or    
another has compelled others to make an 
equal number of speeches4 ,i would      
except ,simmias the ,theban1 but all the
 rest are far behind you4 ,and now ,i do
 verily believe that you have been the  
cause of another4  ,,phaedrus3 ,that is 
good news4 ,but what do you mean8       
,,socrates3 ,i mean to say that as ,i   
was about to cross the stream the usual 

sign was given to me1--that sign which  
always forbids1 but never bids1 me to do
 anything which ,i am going to do2 and  
,i thought that ,i heard a voice saying 
in my ear that ,i had been guilty of    
impiety1 and that ,i must not go away   
until ,i had made an atonement4 ,now ,i 
am a diviner1 though not a very good    
one1 but ,i have enough religion for my 
own use1 as you might say of a bad      
writer--his writing is good enough for  
him2 and ,i am beginning to see that ,i 
was in error4 ,o my friend1 how         
prophetic is the human soul6 ,at the    
time ,i had a sort of misgiving1 and1   
like ,ibycus1 ',i was troubled2 ,i      
feared that ,i might be buying honour   
from men at the price of sinning against
 the gods4' ,now ,i recognize my error4 
,,phaedrus3 ,what error8  ,,socrates3   
,that was a dreadful speech which you   
brought with you1 and you made me utter 
one as bad4  ,,phaedrus3 ,how so8       
,,socrates3 ,it was foolish1 ,i say1--to
 a certain extent1 impious2 can anything

 be more dreadful8  ,,phaedrus3         
,nothing1 if the speech was really such 
as you describe4  ,,socrates3 ,well1 and
 is not ,eros the son of ,aphrodite1 and
 a god8  ,,phaedrus3 ,so men say4       
,,socrates3 ,but that was not           
acknowledged by ,lysias in his speech1  
nor by you in that other speech which   
you by a charm drew from my lips4 ,for  
if love be1 as he surely is1 a divinity1
 he cannot be evil4 ,yet this was the   
error of both the speeches4 ,there was  
also a simplicity about them which was  
refreshing2 having no truth or honesty  
in them1 nevertheless they pretended to 
be something1 hoping to succeed in      
deceiving the manikins of earth and gain
 celebrity among them4 ,wherefore ,i    
must have a purgation4 ,and ,i bethink  
me of an ancient purgation of           
mythological error which was devised1   
not by ,homer1 for he never had the wit 
to discover why he was blind1 but by    
,stesichorus1 who was a philosopher and 
knew the reason why2 and therefore1 when

 he lost his eyes1 for that was the     
penalty which was inflicted upon him for
 reviling the lovely ,helen1 he at once 
purged himself4 ,and the purgation was a
 recantation1 which began thus1--       
',false is that word of mine--the truth 
is that thou didst not embark in  ships1
 nor ever go to the walls of ,troy2'    
and when he had completed his poem1     
which is called 'the recantation1'      
immediately his sight returned to him4  
,now ,i will be wiser than either       
,stesichorus or ,homer1 in that ,i am   
going to make my recantation for        
reviling love before ,i suffer2 and this
 ,i will attempt1 not as before1 veiled 
and ashamed1 but with forehead bold and 
bare4  ,,phaedrus3 ,nothing could be    
more agreeable to me than to hear you   
say so4  ,,socrates3 ,only think1 my    
good ,phaedrus1 what an utter want of   
delicacy was shown in the two           
discourses2 ,i mean1 in my own and in   
that which you recited out of the book4 
,would not any one who was himself of a 

noble and gentle nature1 and who loved  
or ever had loved a nature like his own1
 when we tell of the petty causes of    
lovers' jealousies1 and of their        
exceeding animosities1 and of the       
injuries which they do to their beloved1
 have imagined that our ideas of love   
were taken from some haunt of sailors to
 which good manners were unknown--he    
would certainly never have admitted the 
justice of our censure8  ,,phaedrus3 ,i 
dare say not1 ,socrates4  ,,socrates3   
,therefore1 because ,i blush at the     
thought of this person1 and also because
 ,i am afraid of ,love himself1 ,i      
desire to wash the brine out of my ears 
with water from the spring2 and ,i would
 counsel ,lysias not to delay1 but to   
write another discourse1 which shall    
prove that 'ceteris paribus' the lover  
ought to be accepted rather than the    
non-lover4  ,,phaedrus3 ,be assured that
 he shall4 ,you shall speak the praises 
of the lover1 and ,lysias shall be      
compelled by me to write another        

discourse on the same theme4            
,,socrates3 ,you will be true to your   
nature in that1 and therefore ,i believe
 you4  ,,phaedrus3 ,speak1 and fear not4
  ,,socrates3 ,but where is the fair    
youth whom ,i was addressing before1 and
 who ought to listen now2 lest1 if he   
hear me not1 he should accept a         
non-lover before he knows what he is    
doing8  ,,phaedrus3 ,he is close at     
hand1 and always at your service4       
,,socrates3 ,know then1 fair youth1 that
 the former discourse was the word of   
,phaedrus1 the son of ,vain ,man1 who   
dwells in the city of ,myrrhina         
7,myrrhinusius74 ,and this which ,i am  
about to utter is the recantation of    
,stesichorus the son of ,godly ,man     
7,euphemus71 who comes from the town of 
,desire 7,himera71 and is to the        
following effect3 ',i told a lie when ,i
 said' that the beloved ought to accept 
the non-lover when he might have the    
lover1 because the one is sane1 and the 
other mad4 ,it might be so if madness   

were simply an evil2 but there is also a
 madness which is a divine gift1 and the
 source of the chiefest blessings       
granted to men4 ,for prophecy is a      
madness1 and the prophetess at ,delphi  
and the priestesses at ,dodona when out 
of their senses have conferred great    
benefits on ,hellas1 both in public and 
private life1 but when in their senses  
few or none4 ,and ,i might also tell you
 how the ,sibyl and other inspired      
persons have given to many an one many  
an intimation of the future which has   
saved them from falling4 ,but it would  
be tedious to speak of what every one   
knows4  ,there will be more reason in   
appealing to the ancient inventors of   
names 7compare ,cratylus71 who would    
never have connected prophecy 7mantike7 
which foretells the future and is the   
noblest of arts1 with madness 7manike71 
or called them both by the same name1 if
 they had deemed madness to be a        
disgrace or dishonour2--they must have  
thought that there was an inspired      

madness which was a noble thing2 for the
 two words1 mantike and manike1 are     
really the same1 and the letter tau is  
only a modern and tasteless insertion4  
,and this is confirmed by the name which
 was given by them to the rational      
investigation of futurity1 whether made 
by the help of birds or of other        
signs--this1 for as much as it is an art
 which supplies from the reasoning      
faculty mind 7nous7 and information     
7istoria7 to human thought 7oiesis7 they
 originally termed oionoistike1 but the 
word has been lately altered and made   
sonorous by the modern introduction of  
the letter ,omega 7oionoistike and      
oionistike71 and in proportion as       
prophecy 7mantike7 is more perfect and  
august than augury1 both in name and    
fact1 in the same proportion1 as the    
ancients testify1 is madness superior to
 a sane mind 7sophrosune7 for the one is
 only of human1 but the other of divine 
origin4 ,again1 where plagues and       
mightiest woes have bred in certain     

families1 owing to some ancient         
blood-guiltiness1 there madness has     
entered with holy prayers and rites1 and
 by inspired utterances found a way of  
deliverance for those who are in need2  
and he who has part in this gift1 and is
 truly possessed and duly out of his    
mind1 is by the use of purifications and
 mysteries made whole and exempt from   
evil1 future as well as present1 and has
 a release from the calamity which was  
afflicting him4 ,the third kind is the  
madness of those who are possessed by   
the ,muses2 which taking hold of a      
delicate and virgin soul1 and there     
inspiring frenzy1 awakens lyrical and   
all other numbers2 with these adorning  
the myriad actions of ancient heroes for
 the instruction of posterity4 ,but he  
who1 having no touch of the ,muses'     
madness in his soul1 comes to the door  
and thinks that he will get into the    
temple by the help of art--he1 ,i say1  
and his poetry are not admitted2 the    
sane man disappears and is nowhere when 

he enters into rivalry with the madman4 
,i might tell of many other noble deeds 
which have sprung from inspired madness4
 ,and therefore1 let no one frighten or 
flutter us by saying that the temperate 
friend is to be chosen rather than the  
inspired1 but let him further show that 
love is not sent by the gods for any    
good to lover or beloved2 if he can do  
so we will allow him to carry off the   
palm4 ,and we1 on our part1 will prove  
in answer to him that the madness of    
love is the greatest of heaven's        
blessings1 and the proof shall be one   
which the wise will receive1 and the    
witling disbelieve4 ,but first of all1  
let us view the affections and actions  
of the soul divine and human1 and try to
 ascertain the truth about them4 ,the   
beginning of our proof is as follows3-- 
7,translated by ,cic4 ,tus4 ,quaest47   
,the soul through all her being is      
immortal1 for that which is ever in     
motion is immortal2 but that which moves
 another and is moved by another1 in    

ceasing to move ceases also to live4    
,only the self-moving1 never leaving    
self1 never ceases to move1 and is the  
fountain and beginning of motion to all 
that moves besides4 ,now1 the beginning 
is unbegotten1 for that which is        
begotten has a beginning2 but the       
beginning is begotten of nothing1 for if
 it were begotten of something1 then the
 begotten would not come from a         
beginning4 ,but if unbegotten1 it must  
also be indestructible2 for if beginning
 were destroyed1 there could be no      
beginning out of anything1 nor anything 
out of a beginning2 and all things must 
have a beginning4 ,and therefore the    
self-moving is the beginning of motion2 
and this can neither be destroyed nor   
begotten1 else the whole heavens and all
 creation would collapse and stand      
still1 and never again have motion or   
birth4 ,but if the self-moving is proved
 to be immortal1 he who affirms that    
self-motion is the very idea and essence
 of the soul will not be put to         

confusion4 ,for the body which is moved 
from without is soulless2 but that which
 is moved from within has a soul1 for   
such is the nature of the soul4 ,but if 
this be true1 must not the soul be the  
self-moving1 and therefore of necessity 
unbegotten and immortal8 ,enough of the 
soul's immortality4  ,of the nature of  
the soul1 though her true form be ever a
 theme of large and more than mortal    
discourse1 let me speak briefly1 and in 
a figure4 ,and let the figure be        
composite--a pair of winged horses and a
 charioteer4 ,now the winged horses and 
the charioteers of the gods are all of  
them noble and of noble descent1 but    
those of other races are mixed2 the     
human charioteer drives his in a pair2  
and one of them is noble and of noble   
breed1 and the other is ignoble and of  
ignoble breed2 and the driving of them  
of necessity gives a great deal of      
trouble to him4 ,i will endeavour to    
explain to you in what way the mortal   
differs from the immortal creature4 ,the

 soul in her totality has the care of   
inanimate being everywhere1 and         
traverses the whole heaven in divers    
forms appearing--when perfect and fully 
winged she soars upward1 and orders the 
whole world2 whereas the imperfect soul1
 losing her wings and drooping in her   
flight at last settles on the solid     
ground--there1 finding a home1 she      
receives an earthly frame which appears 
to be self-moved1 but is really moved by
 her power2 and this composition of soul
 and body is called a living and mortal 
creature4 ,for immortal no such union   
can be reasonably believed to be2       
although fancy1 not having seen nor     
surely known the nature of ,god1 may    
imagine an immortal creature having both
 a body and also a soul which are united
 throughout all time4 ,let that1        
however1 be as ,god wills1 and be spoken
 of acceptably to him4 ,and now let us  
ask the reason why the soul loses her   
wings6  ,the wing is the corporeal      
element which is most akin to the       

divine1 and which by nature tends to    
soar aloft and carry that which         
gravitates downwards into the upper     
region1 which is the habitation of the  
gods4 ,the divine is beauty1 wisdom1    
goodness1 and the like2 and by these the
 wing of the soul is nourished1 and     
grows apace2 but when fed upon evil and 
foulness and the opposite of good1      
wastes and falls away4 ,zeus1 the mighty
 lord1 holding the reins of a winged    
chariot1 leads the way in heaven1       
ordering all and taking care of all2 and
 there follows him the array of gods and
 demi-gods1 marshalled in eleven bands2 
,hestia alone abides at home in the     
house of heaven2 of the rest they who   
are reckoned among the princely twelve  
march in their appointed order4 ,they   
see many blessed sights in the inner    
heaven1 and there are many ways to and  
fro1 along which the blessed gods are   
passing1 every one doing his own work2  
he may follow who will and can1 for     
jealousy has no place in the celestial  

choir4 ,but when they go to banquet and 
festival1 then they move up the steep to
 the top of the vault of heaven4 ,the   
chariots of the gods in even poise1     
obeying the rein1 glide rapidly2 but the
 others labour1 for the vicious steed   
goes heavily1 weighing down the         
charioteer to the earth when his steed  
has not been thoroughly trained3--and   
this is the hour of agony and extremest 
conflict for the soul4 ,for the         
immortals1 when they are at the end of  
their course1 go forth and stand upon   
the outside of heaven1 and the          
revolution of the spheres carries them  
round1 and they behold the things       
beyond4 ,but of the heaven which is     
above the heavens1 what earthly poet    
ever did or ever will sing worthily8 ,it
 is such as ,i will describe2 for ,i    
must dare to speak the truth1 when truth
 is my theme4 ,there abides the very    
being with which true knowledge is      
concerned2 the colourless1 formless1    
intangible essence1 visible only to     

mind1 the pilot of the soul4 ,the divine
 intelligence1 being nurtured upon mind 
and pure knowledge1 and the intelligence
 of every soul which is capable of      
receiving the food proper to it1        
rejoices at beholding reality1 and once 
more gazing upon truth1 is replenished  
and made glad1 until the revolution of  
the worlds brings her round again to the
 same place4 ,in the revolution she     
beholds justice1 and temperance1 and    
knowledge absolute1 not in the form of  
generation or of relation1 which men    
call existence1 but knowledge absolute  
in existence absolute2 and beholding the
 other true existences in like manner1  
and feasting upon them1 she passes down 
into the interior of the heavens and    
returns home2 and there the charioteer  
putting up his horses at the stall1     
gives them ambrosia to eat and nectar to
 drink4  ,such is the life of the gods2 
but of other souls1 that which follows  
,god best and is likest to him lifts the
 head of the charioteer into the outer  

world1 and is carried round in the      
revolution1 troubled indeed by the      
steeds1 and with difficulty beholding   
true being2 while another only rises and
 falls1 and sees1 and again fails to see
 by reason of the unruliness of the     
steeds4 ,the rest of the souls are also 
longing after the upper world and they  
all follow1 but not being strong enough 
they are carried round below the        
surface1 plunging1 treading on one      
another1 each striving to be first2 and 
there is confusion and perspiration and 
the extremity of effort2 and many of    
them are lamed or have their wings      
broken through the ill-driving of the   
charioteers2 and all of them after a    
fruitless toil1 not having attained to  
the mysteries of true being1 go away1   
and feed upon opinion4 ,the reason why  
the souls exhibit this exceeding        
eagerness to behold the plain of truth  
is that pasturage is found there1 which 
is suited to the highest part of the    
soul2 and the wing on which the soul    

soars is nourished with this4 ,and there
 is a law of ,destiny1 that the soul    
which attains any vision of truth in    
company with a god is preserved from    
harm until the next period1 and if      
attaining always is always unharmed4    
,but when she is unable to follow1 and  
fails to behold the truth1 and through  
some ill-hap sinks beneath the double   
load of forgetfulness and vice1 and her 
wings fall from her and she drops to the
 ground1 then the law ordains that this 
soul shall at her first birth pass1 not 
into any other animal1 but only into    
man2 and the soul which has seen most of
 truth shall come to the birth as a     
philosopher1 or artist1 or some musical 
and loving nature2 that which has seen  
truth in the second degree shall be some
 righteous king or warrior chief2 the   
soul which is of the third class shall  
be a politician1 or economist1 or       
trader2 the fourth shall be a lover of  
gymnastic toils1 or a physician2 the    
fifth shall lead the life of a prophet  

or hierophant2 to the sixth the         
character of poet or some other         
imitative artist will be assigned2 to   
the seventh the life of an artisan or   
husbandman2 to the eighth that of a     
sophist or demagogue2 to the ninth that 
of a tyrant--all these are states of    
probation1 in which he who does         
righteously improves1 and he who does   
unrighteously1 deteriorates his lot4    
,ten thousand years must elapse before  
the soul of each one can return to the  
place from whence she came1 for she     
cannot grow her wings in less2 only the 
soul of a philosopher1 guileless and    
true1 or the soul of a lover1 who is not
 devoid of philosophy1 may acquire wings
 in the third of the recurring periods  
of a thousand years2 he is distinguished
 from the ordinary good man who gains   
wings in three thousand years3--and they
 who choose this life three times in    
succession have wings given them1 and go
 away at the end of three thousand      
years4 ,but the others 7,the philosopher

 alone is not subject to judgment       
7krisis71 for he has never lost the     
vision of truth47 receive judgment when 
they have completed their first life1   
and after the judgment they go1 some of 
them to the houses of correction which  
are under the earth1 and are punished2  
others to some place in heaven whither  
they are lightly borne by justice1 and  
there they live in a manner worthy of   
the life which they led here when in the
 form of men4 ,and at the end of the    
first thousand years the good souls and 
also the evil souls both come to draw   
lots and choose their second life1 and  
they may take any which they please4    
,the soul of a man may pass into the    
life of a beast1 or from the beast      
return again into the man4 ,but the soul
 which has never seen the truth will not
 pass into the human form4 ,for a man   
must have intelligence of universals1   
and be able to proceed from the many    
particulars of sense to one conception  
of reason2--this is the recollection of 

those things which our soul once saw    
while following ,god--when regardless of
 that which we now call being she raised
 her head up towards the true being4    
,and therefore the mind of the          
philosopher alone has wings2 and this is
 just1 for he is always1 according to   
the measure of his abilities1 clinging  
in recollection to those things in which
 ,god abides1 and in beholding which ,he
 is what ,he is4 ,and he who employs    
aright these memories is ever being     
initiated into perfect mysteries and    
alone becomes truly perfect4 ,but1 as he
 forgets earthly interests and is rapt  
in the divine1 the vulgar deem him mad1 
and rebuke him2 they do not see that he 
is inspired4  ,thus far ,i have been    
speaking of the fourth and last kind of 
madness1 which is imputed to him who1   
when he sees the beauty of earth1 is    
transported with the recollection of the
 true beauty2 he would like to fly away1
 but he cannot2 he is like a bird       
fluttering and looking upward and       

careless of the world below2 and he is  
therefore thought to be mad4 ,and ,i    
have shown this of all inspirations to  
be the noblest and highest and the      
offspring of the highest to him who has 
or shares in it1 and that he who loves  
the beautiful is called a lover because 
he partakes of it4 ,for1 as has been    
already said1 every soul of man has in  
the way of nature beheld true being2    
this was the condition of her passing   
into the form of man4 ,but all souls do 
not easily recall the things of the     
other world2 they may have seen them for
 a short time only1 or they may have    
been unfortunate in their earthly lot1  
and1 having had their hearts turned to  
unrighteousness through some corrupting 
influence1 they may have lost the memory
 of the holy things which once they saw4
 ,few only retain an adequate           
remembrance of them2 and they1 when they
 behold here any image of that other    
world1 are rapt in amazement2 but they  
are ignorant of what this rapture means1

 because they do not clearly perceive4  
,for there is no light of justice or    
temperance or any of the higher ideas   
which are precious to souls in the      
earthly copies of them3 they are seen   
through a glass dimly2 and there are few
 who1 going to the images1 behold in    
them the realities1 and these only with 
difficulty4 ,there was a time when with 
the rest of the happy band they saw     
beauty shining in brightness1--we       
philosophers following in the train of  
,zeus1 others in company with other     
gods2 and then we beheld the beatific   
vision and were initiated into a mystery
 which may be truly called most blessed1
 celebrated by us in our state of       
innocence1 before we had any experience 
of evils to come1 when we were admitted 
to the sight of apparitions innocent and
 simple and calm and happy1 which we    
beheld shining in pure light1 pure      
ourselves and not yet enshrined in that 
living tomb which we carry about1 now   
that we are imprisoned in the body1 like

 an oyster in his shell4 ,let me linger 
over the memory of scenes which have    
passed away4  ,but of beauty1 ,i repeat 
again that we saw her there shining in  
company with the celestial forms2 and   
coming to earth we find her here too1   
shining in clearness through the        
clearest aperture of sense4 ,for sight  
is the most piercing of our bodily      
senses2 though not by that is wisdom    
seen2 her loveliness would have been    
transporting if there had been a visible
 image of her1 and the other ideas1 if  
they had visible counterparts1 would be 
equally lovely4 ,but this is the        
privilege of beauty1 that being the     
loveliest she is also the most palpable 
to sight4 ,now he who is not newly      
initiated or who has become corrupted1  
does not easily rise out of this world  
to the sight of true beauty in the      
other2 he looks only at her earthly     
namesake1 and instead of being awed at  
the sight of her1 he is given over to   
pleasure1 and like a brutish beast he   

rushes on to enjoy and beget2 he        
consorts with wantonness1 and is not    
afraid or ashamed of pursuing pleasure  
in violation of nature4 ,but he whose   
initiation is recent1 and who has been  
the spectator of many glories in the    
other world1 is amazed when he sees any 
one having a godlike face or form1 which
 is the expression of divine beauty2 and
 at first a shudder runs through him1   
and again the old awe steals over him2  
then looking upon the face of his       
beloved as of a god he reverences him1  
and if he were not afraid of being      
thought a downright madman1 he would    
sacrifice to his beloved as to the image
 of a god2 then while he gazes on him   
there is a sort of reaction1 and the    
shudder passes into an unusual heat and 
perspiration2 for1 as he receives the   
effluence of beauty through the eyes1   
the wing moistens and he warms4 ,and as 
he warms1 the parts out of which the    
wing grew1 and which had been hitherto  
closed and rigid1 and had prevented the 

wing from shooting forth1 are melted1   
and as nourishment streams upon him1 the
 lower end of the wing begins to swell  
and grow from the root upwards2 and the 
growth extends under the whole soul--for
 once the whole was winged4 ,during this
 process the whole soul is all in a     
state of ebullition and                 
effervescence1--which may be compared to
 the irritation and uneasiness in the   
gums at the time of cutting             
teeth1--bubbles up1 and has a feeling of
 uneasiness and tickling2 but when in   
like manner the soul is beginning to    
grow wings1 the beauty of the beloved   
meets her eye and she receives the      
sensible warm motion of particles which 
flow towards her1 therefore called      
emotion 7imeros71 and is refreshed and  
warmed by them1 and then she ceases from
 her pain with joy4 ,but when she is    
parted from her beloved and her moisture
 fails1 then the orifices of the passage
 out of which the wing shoots dry up and
 close1 and intercept the germ of the   

wing2 which1 being shut up with the     
emotion1 throbbing as with the          
pulsations of an artery1 pricks the     
aperture which is nearest1 until at     
length the entire soul is pierced and   
maddened and pained1 and at the         
recollection of beauty is again         
delighted4 ,and from both of them       
together the soul is oppressed at the   
strangeness of her condition1 and is in 
a great strait and excitement1 and in   
her madness can neither sleep by night  
nor abide in her place by day4 ,and     
wherever she thinks that she will behold
 the beautiful one1 thither in her      
desire she runs4 ,and when she has seen 
him1 and bathed herself in the waters of
 beauty1 her constraint is loosened1 and
 she is refreshed1 and has no more pangs
 and pains2 and this is the sweetest of 
all pleasures at the time1 and is the   
reason why the soul of the lover will   
never forsake his beautiful one1 whom he
 esteems above all2 he has forgotten    
mother and brethren and companions1 and 

he thinks nothing of the neglect and    
loss of his property2 the rules and     
proprieties of life1 on which he        
formerly prided himself1 he now         
despises1 and is ready to sleep like a  
servant1 wherever he is allowed1 as near
 as he can to his desired one1 who is   
the object of his worship1 and the      
physician who can alone assuage the     
greatness of his pain4 ,and this state1 
my dear imaginary youth to whom ,i am   
talking1 is by men called love1 and     
among the gods has a name at which you1 
in your simplicity1 may be inclined to  
mock2 there are two lines in the        
apocryphal writings of ,homer in which  
the name occurs4 ,one of them is rather 
outrageous1 and not altogether metrical4
 ,they are as follows3  ',mortals call  
him fluttering love1 ,but the immortals 
call him winged one1 ,because the       
growing of wings 7,or1 reading          
pterothoiton1 'the movement of wings4'7 
is a necessity to him4'  ,you may       
believe this1 but not unless you like4  

,at any rate the loves of lovers and    
their causes are such as ,i have        
described4  ,now the lover who is taken 
to be the attendant of ,zeus is better  
able to bear the winged god1 and can    
endure a heavier burden2 but the        
attendants and companions of ,ares1 when
 under the influence of love1 if they   
fancy that they have been at all        
wronged1 are ready to kill and put an   
end to themselves and their beloved4    
,and he who follows in the train of any 
other god1 while he is unspoiled and the
 impression lasts1 honours and imitates 
him1 as far as he is able2 and after the
 manner of his ,god he behaves in his   
intercourse with his beloved and with   
the rest of the world during the first  
period of his earthly existence4 ,every 
one chooses his love from the ranks of  
beauty according to his character1 and  
this he makes his god1 and fashions and 
adorns as a sort of image which he is to
 fall down and worship4 ,the followers  
of ,zeus desire that their beloved      

should have a soul like him2 and        
therefore they seek out some one of a   
philosophical and imperial nature1 and  
when they have found him and loved him1 
they do all they can to confirm such a  
nature in him1 and if they have no      
experience of such a disposition        
hitherto1 they learn of any one who can 
teach them1 and themselves follow in the
 same way4 ,and they have the less      
difficulty in finding the nature of     
their own god in themselves1 because    
they have been compelled to gaze        
intensely on him2 their recollection    
clings to him1 and they become possessed
 of him1 and receive from him their     
character and disposition1 so far as man
 can participate in ,god4 ,the qualities
 of their god they attribute to the     
beloved1 wherefore they love him all the
 more1 and if1 like the ,bacchic        
,nymphs1 they draw inspiration from     
,zeus1 they pour out their own fountain 
upon him1 wanting to make him as like as
 possible to their own god4 ,but those  

who are the followers of ,here seek a   
royal love1 and when they have found him
 they do just the same with him2 and in 
like manner the followers of ,apollo1   
and of every other god walking in the   
ways of their god1 seek a love who is to
 be made like him whom they serve1 and  
when they have found him1 they          
themselves imitate their god1 and       
persuade their love to do the same1 and 
educate him into the manner and nature  
of the god as far as they each can2 for 
no feelings of envy or jealousy are     
entertained by them towards their       
beloved1 but they do their utmost to    
create in him the greatest likeness of  
themselves and of the god whom they     
honour4 ,thus fair and blissful to the  
beloved is the desire of the inspired   
lover1 and the initiation of which ,i   
speak into the mysteries of true love1  
if he be captured by the lover and their
 purpose is effected4 ,now the beloved  
is taken captive in the following       
manner3--  ,as ,i said at the beginning 

of this tale1 ,i divided each soul into 
three--two horses and a charioteer2 and 
one of the horses was good and the other
 bad3 the division may remain1 but ,i   
have not yet explained in what the      
goodness or badness of either consists1 
and to that ,i will now proceed4 ,the   
right-hand horse is upright and cleanly 
made2 he has a lofty neck and an        
aquiline nose2 his colour is white1 and 
his eyes dark2 he is a lover of honour  
and modesty and temperance1 and the     
follower of true glory2 he needs no     
touch of the whip1 but is guided by word
 and admonition only4 ,the other is a   
crooked lumbering animal1 put together  
anyhow2 he has a short thick neck2 he is
 flat-faced and of a dark colour1 with  
grey eyes and blood-red complexion 7,or 
with grey and blood-shot eyes472 the    
mate of insolence and pride1 shag-eared 
and deaf1 hardly yielding to whip and   
spur4 ,now when the charioteer beholds  
the vision of love1 and has his whole   
soul warmed through sense1 and is full  

of the prickings and ticklings of       
desire1 the obedient steed1 then as     
always under the government of shame1   
refrains from leaping on the beloved2   
but the other1 heedless of the pricks   
and of the blows of the whip1 plunges   
and runs away1 giving all manner of     
trouble to his companion and the        
charioteer1 whom he forces to approach  
the beloved and to remember the joys of 
love4 ,they at first indignantly oppose 
him and will not be urged on to do      
terrible and unlawful deeds2 but at     
last1 when he persists in plaguing them1
 they yield and agree to do as he bids  
them4 ,and now they are at the spot and 
behold the flashing beauty of the       
beloved2 which when the charioteer sees1
 his memory is carried to the true      
beauty1 whom he beholds in company with 
,modesty like an image placed upon a    
holy pedestal4 ,he sees her1 but he is  
afraid and falls backwards in adoration1
 and by his fall is compelled to pull   
back the reins with such violence as to 

bring both the steeds on their haunches1
 the one willing and unresisting1 the   
unruly one very unwilling2 and when they
 have gone back a little1 the one is    
overcome with shame and wonder1 and his 
whole soul is bathed in perspiration2   
the other1 when the pain is over which  
the bridle and the fall had given him1  
having with difficulty taken breath1 is 
full of wrath and reproaches1 which he  
heaps upon the charioteer and his       
fellow-steed1 for want of courage and   
manhood1 declaring that they have been  
false to their agreement and guilty of  
desertion4 ,again they refuse1 and again
 he urges them on1 and will scarce yield
 to their prayer that he would wait     
until another time4 ,when the appointed 
hour comes1 they make as if they had    
forgotten1 and he reminds them1 fighting
 and neighing and dragging them on1     
until at length he on the same thoughts 
intent1 forces them to draw near again4 
,and when they are near he stoops his   
head and puts up his tail1 and takes the

 bit in his teeth and pulls shamelessly4
 ,then the charioteer is worse off than 
ever2 he falls back like a racer at the 
barrier1 and with a still more violent  
wrench drags the bit out of the teeth of
 the wild steed and covers his abusive  
tongue and jaws with blood1 and forces  
his legs and haunches to the ground and 
punishes him sorely4 ,and when this has 
happened several times and the villain  
has ceased from his wanton way1 he is   
tamed and humbled1 and follows the will 
of the charioteer1 and when he sees the 
beautiful one he is ready to die of     
fear4 ,and from that time forward the   
soul of the lover follows the beloved in
 modesty and holy fear4  ,and so the    
beloved who1 like a god1 has received   
every true and loyal service from his   
lover1 not in pretence but in reality1  
being also himself of a nature friendly 
to his admirer1 if in former days he has
 blushed to own his passion and turned  
away his lover1 because his youthful    
companions or others slanderously told  

him that he would be disgraced1 now as  
years advance1 at the appointed age and 
time1 is led to receive him into        
communion4 ,for fate which has ordained 
that there shall be no friendship among 
the evil has also ordained that there   
shall ever be friendship among the good4
 ,and the beloved when he has received  
him into communion and intimacy1 is     
quite amazed at the good-will of the    
lover2 he recognises that the inspired  
friend is worth all other friends or    
kinsmen2 they have nothing of friendship
 in them worthy to be compared with his4
 ,and when this feeling continues and he
 is nearer to him and embraces him1 in  
gymnastic exercises and at other times  
of meeting1 then the fountain of that   
stream1 which ,zeus when he was in love 
with ,ganymede named ,desire1 overflows 
upon the lover1 and some enters into his
 soul1 and some when he is filled flows 
out again2 and as a breeze or an echo   
rebounds from the smooth rocks and      
returns whence it came1 so does the     

stream of beauty1 passing through the   
eyes which are the windows of the soul1 
come back to the beautiful one2 there   
arriving and quickening the passages of 
the wings1 watering them and inclining  
them to grow1 and filling the soul of   
the beloved also with love4 ,and thus he
 loves1 but he knows not what2 he does  
not understand and cannot explain his   
own state2 he appears to have caught the
 infection of blindness from another2   
the lover is his mirror in whom he is   
beholding himself1 but he is not aware  
of this4 ,when he is with the lover1    
both cease from their pain1 but when he 
is away then he longs as he is longed   
for1 and has love's image1 love for love
 7,anteros7 lodging in his breast1 which
 he calls and believes to be not love   
but friendship only1 and his desire is  
as the desire of the other1 but weaker2 
he wants to see him1 touch him1 kiss    
him1 embrace him1 and probably not long 
afterwards his desire is accomplished4  
,when they meet1 the wanton steed of the

 lover has a word to say to the         
charioteer2 he would like to have a     
little pleasure in return for many      
pains1 but the wanton steed of the      
beloved says not a word1 for he is      
bursting with passion which he          
understands not2--he throws his arms    
round the lover and embraces him as his 
dearest friend2 and1 when they are side 
by side1 he is not in a state in which  
he can refuse the lover anything1 if he 
ask him2 although his fellow-steed and  
the charioteer oppose him with the      
arguments of shame and reason4 ,after   
this their happiness depends upon their 
self-control2 if the better elements of 
the mind which lead to order and        
philosophy prevail1 then they pass their
 life here in happiness and             
harmony--masters of themselves and      
orderly--enslaving the vicious and      
emancipating the virtuous elements of   
the soul2 and when the end comes1 they  
are light and winged for flight1 having 
conquered in one of the three heavenly  

or truly ,olympian victories2 nor can   
human discipline or divine inspiration  
confer any greater blessing on man than 
this4 ,if1 on the other hand1 they leave
 philosophy and lead the lower life of  
ambition1 then probably1 after wine or  
in some other careless hour1 the two    
wanton animals take the two souls when  
off their guard and bring them together1
 and they accomplish that desire of     
their hearts which to the many is bliss2
 and this having once enjoyed they      
continue to enjoy1 yet rarely because   
they have not the approval of the whole 
soul4 ,they too are dear1 but not so    
dear to one another as the others1      
either at the time of their love or     
afterwards4 ,they consider that they    
have given and taken from each other the
 most sacred pledges1 and they may not  
break them and fall into enmity4 ,at    
last they pass out of the body1         
unwinged1 but eager to soar1 and thus   
obtain no mean reward of love and       
madness4 ,for those who have once begun 

the heavenward pilgrimage may not go    
down again to darkness and the journey  
beneath the earth1 but they live in     
light always2 happy companions in their 
pilgrimage1 and when the time comes at  
which they receive their wings they have
 the same plumage because of their love4
  ,thus great are the heavenly blessings
 which the friendship of a lover will   
confer upon you1 my youth4 ,whereas the 
attachment of the non-lover1 which is   
alloyed with a worldly prudence and has 
worldly and niggardly ways of doling out
 benefits1 will breed in your soul those
 vulgar qualities which the populace    
applaud1 will send you bowling round the
 earth during a period of nine thousand 
years1 and leave you a fool in the world
 below4  ,and thus1 dear ,eros1 ,i have 
made and paid my recantation1 as well   
and as fairly as ,i could2 more         
especially in the matter of the poetical
 figures which ,i was compelled to use1 
because ,phaedrus would have them4 ,and 
now forgive the past and accept the     

present1 and be gracious and merciful to
 me1 and do not in thine anger deprive  
me of sight1 or take from me the art of 
love which thou hast given me1 but grant
 that ,i may be yet more esteemed in the
 eyes of the fair4 ,and if ,phaedrus or 
,i myself said anything rude in our     
first speeches1 blame ,lysias1 who is   
the father of the brat1 and let us have 
no more of his progeny2 bid him study   
philosophy1 like his brother            
,polemarchus2 and then his lover        
,phaedrus will no longer halt between   
two opinions1 but will dedicate himself 
wholly to love and to philosophical     
discourses4  ,,phaedrus3 ,i join in the 
prayer1 ,socrates1 and say with you1 if 
this be for my good1 may your words come
 to pass4 ,but why did you make your    
second oration so much finer than the   
first8 ,i wonder why4 ,and ,i begin to  
be afraid that ,i shall lose conceit of 
,lysias1 and that he will appear tame in
 comparison1 even if he be willing to   
put another as fine and as long as yours

 into the field1 which ,i doubt4 ,for   
quite lately one of your politicians was
 abusing him on this very account2 and  
called him a 'speech writer' again and  
again4 ,so that a feeling of pride may  
probably induce him to give up writing  
speeches4  ,,socrates3 ,what a very     
amusing notion6 ,but ,i think1 my young 
man1 that you are much mistaken in your 
friend if you imagine that he is        
frightened at a little noise2 and1      
possibly1 you think that his assailant  
was in earnest8  ,,phaedrus3 ,i thought1
 ,socrates1 that he was4 ,and you are   
aware that the greatest and most        
influential statesmen are ashamed of    
writing speeches and leaving them in a  
written form1 lest they should be called
 ,sophists by posterity4  ,,socrates3   
,you seem to be unconscious1 ,phaedrus1 
that the 'sweet elbow' 7,a proverb1 like
 'the grapes are sour1' applied to      
pleasures which cannot be had1 meaning  
sweet things which1 like the elbow1 are 
out of the reach of the mouth4 ,the     

promised pleasure turns out to be a long
 and tedious affair47 of the proverb is 
really the long arm of the ,nile4 ,and  
you appear to be equally unaware of the 
fact that this sweet elbow of theirs is 
also a long arm4 ,for there is nothing  
of which our great politicians are so   
fond as of writing speeches and         
bequeathing them to posterity4 ,and they
 add their admirers' names at the top of
 the writing1 out of gratitude to them4 
,,phaedrus3 ,what do you mean8 ,i do not
 understand4  ,,socrates3 ,why1 do you  
not know that when a politician writes1 
he begins with the names of his         
approvers8  ,,phaedrus3 ,how so8        
,,socrates3 ,why1 he begins in this     
manner3 ',be it enacted by the senate1  
the people1 or both1 on the motion of a 
certain person1' who is our author2 and 
so putting on a serious face1 he        
proceeds to display his own wisdom to   
his admirers in what is often a long and
 tedious composition4 ,now what is that 
sort of thing but a regular piece of    

authorship8  ,,phaedrus3 ,true4         
,,socrates3 ,and if the law is finally  
approved1 then the author leaves the    
theatre in high delight2 but if the law 
is rejected and he is done out of his   
speech-making1 and not thought good     
enough to write1 then he and his party  
are in mourning4  ,,phaedrus3 ,very     
true4  ,,socrates3 ,so far are they from
 despising1 or rather so highly do they 
value the practice of writing4          
,,phaedrus3 ,no doubt4  ,,socrates3 ,and
 when the king or orator has the power1 
as ,lycurgus or ,solon or ,darius had1  
of attaining an immortality or          
authorship in a state1 is he not thought
 by posterity1 when they see his        
compositions1 and does he not think     
himself1 while he is yet alive1 to be a 
god8  ,,phaedrus3 ,very true4           
,,socrates3 ,then do you think that any 
one of this class1 however ill-disposed1
 would reproach ,lysias with being an   
author8  ,,phaedrus3 ,not upon your     
view2 for according to you he would be  

casting a slur upon his own favourite   
pursuit4  ,,socrates3 ,any one may see  
that there is no disgrace in the mere   
fact of writing4  ,,phaedrus3 ,certainly
 not4  ,,socrates3 ,the disgrace begins 
when a man writes not well1 but badly4  
,,phaedrus3 ,clearly4  ,,socrates3 ,and 
what is well and what is badly--need we 
ask ,lysias1 or any other poet or       
orator1 who ever wrote or will write    
either a political or any other work1 in
 metre or out of metre1 poet or prose   
writer1 to teach us this8  ,,phaedrus3  
,need we8 ,for what should a man live if
 not for the pleasures of discourse8    
,surely not for the sake of bodily      
pleasures1 which almost always have     
previous pain as a condition of them1   
and therefore are rightly called        
slavish4  ,,socrates3 ,there is time    
enough4 ,and ,i believe that the        
grasshoppers chirruping after their     
manner in the heat of the sun over our  
heads are talking to one another and    
looking down at us4 ,what would they say

 if they saw that we1 like the many1 are
 not conversing1 but slumbering at      
mid-day1 lulled by their voices1 too    
indolent to think8 ,would they not have 
a right to laugh at us8 ,they might     
imagine that we were slaves1 who1 coming
 to rest at a place of resort of theirs1
 like sheep lie asleep at noon around   
the well4 ,but if they see us           
discoursing1 and like ,odysseus sailing 
past them1 deaf to their siren voices1  
they may perhaps1 out of respect1 give  
us of the gifts which they receive from 
the gods that they may impart them to   
men4  ,,phaedrus3 ,what gifts do you    
mean8 ,i never heard of any4            
,,socrates3 ,a lover of music like      
yourself ought surely to have heard the 
story of the grasshoppers1 who are said 
to have been human beings in an age     
before the ,muses4 ,and when the ,muses 
came and song appeared they were        
ravished with delight2 and singing      
always1 never thought of eating and     
drinking1 until at last in their        

forgetfulness they died4 ,and now they  
live again in the grasshoppers2 and this
 is the return which the ,muses make to 
them--they neither hunger1 nor thirst1  
but from the hour of their birth are    
always singing1 and never eating or     
drinking2 and when they die they go and 
inform the ,muses in heaven who honours 
them on earth4 ,they win the love of    
,terpsichore for the dancers by their   
report of them2 of ,erato for the       
lovers1 and of the other ,muses for     
those who do them honour1 according to  
the several ways of honouring them2--of 
,calliope the eldest ,muse and of       
,urania who is next to her1 for the     
philosophers1 of whose music the        
grasshoppers make report to them2 for   
these are the ,muses who are chiefly    
concerned with heaven and thought1      
divine as well as human1 and they have  
the sweetest utterance4 ,for many       
reasons1 then1 we ought always to talk  
and not to sleep at mid-day4            
,,phaedrus3 ,let us talk4  ,,socrates3  

,shall we discuss the rules of writing  
and speech as we were proposing8        
,,phaedrus3 ,very good4  ,,socrates3 ,in
 good speaking should not the mind of   
the speaker know the truth of the matter
 about which he is going to speak8      
,,phaedrus3 ,and yet1 ,socrates1 ,i have
 heard that he who would be an orator   
has nothing to do with true justice1 but
 only with that which is likely to be   
approved by the many who sit in         
judgment2 nor with the truly good or    
honourable1 but only with opinion about 
them1 and that from opinion comes       
persuasion1 and not from the truth4     
,,socrates3 ,the words of the wise are  
not to be set aside2 for there is       
probably something in them2 and         
therefore the meaning of this saying is 
not hastily to be dismissed4            
,,phaedrus3 ,very true4  ,,socrates3    
,let us put the matter thus3--,suppose  
that ,i persuaded you to buy a horse and
 go to the wars4 ,neither of us knew    
what a horse was like1 but ,i knew that 

you believed a horse to be of tame      
animals the one which has the longest   
ears4  ,,phaedrus3 ,that would be       
ridiculous4  ,,socrates3 ,there is      
something more ridiculous               
coming3--,suppose1 further1 that in     
sober earnest ,i1 having persuaded you  
of this1 went and composed a speech in  
honour of an ass1 whom ,i entitled a    
horse beginning3 ',a noble animal and a 
most useful possession1 especially in   
war1 and you may get on his back and    
fight1 and he will carry baggage or     
anything4'  ,,phaedrus3 ,how ridiculous6
  ,,socrates3 ,ridiculous6 ,yes2 but is 
not even a ridiculous friend better than
 a cunning enemy8  ,,phaedrus3          
,certainly4  ,,socrates3 ,and when the  
orator instead of putting an ass in the 
place of a horse1 puts good for evil1   
being himself as ignorant of their true 
nature as the city on which he imposes  
is ignorant2 and having studied the     
notions of the multitude1 falsely       
persuades them not about 'the shadow of 

an ass1' which he confounds with a      
horse1 but about good which he confounds
 with evil1--what will be the harvest   
which rhetoric will be likely to gather 
after the sowing of that seed8          
,,phaedrus3 ,the reverse of good4       
,,socrates3 ,but perhaps rhetoric has   
been getting too roughly handled by us1 
and she might answer3 ,what amazing     
nonsense you are talking6 ,as if ,i     
forced any man to learn to speak in     
ignorance of the truth6 ,whatever my    
advice may be worth1 ,i should have told
 him to arrive at the truth first1 and  
then come to me4 ,at the same time ,i   
boldly assert that mere knowledge of the
 truth will not give you the art of     
persuasion4  ,,phaedrus3 ,there is      
reason in the lady's defence of herself4
  ,,socrates3 ,quite true2 if only the  
other arguments which remain to be      
brought up bear her witness that she is 
an art at all4 ,but ,i seem to hear them
 arraying themselves on the opposite    
side1 declaring that she speaks falsely1

 and that rhetoric is a mere routine and
 trick1 not an art4 ,lo6 a ,spartan     
appears1 and says that there never is   
nor ever will be a real art of speaking 
which is divorced from the truth4       
,,phaedrus3 ,and what are these         
arguments1 ,socrates8 ,bring them out   
that we may examine them4  ,,socrates3  
,come out1 fair children1 and convince  
,phaedrus1 who is the father of similar 
beauties1 that he will never be able to 
speak about anything as he ought to     
speak unless he have a knowledge of     
philosophy4 ,and let ,phaedrus answer   
you4  ,,phaedrus3 ,put the question4    
,,socrates3 ,is not rhetoric1 taken     
generally1 a universal art of enchanting
 the mind by arguments2 which is        
practised not only in courts and public 
assemblies1 but in private houses also1 
having to do with all matters1 great as 
well as small1 good and bad alike1 and  
is in all equally right1 and equally to 
be esteemed--that is what you have      
heard8  ,,phaedrus3 ,nay1 not exactly   

that2 ,i should say rather that ,i have 
heard the art confined to speaking and  
writing in lawsuits1 and to speaking in 
public assemblies--not extended farther4
  ,,socrates3 ,then ,i suppose that you 
have only heard of the rhetoric of      
,nestor and ,odysseus1 which they       
composed in their leisure hours when at 
,troy1 and never of the rhetoric of     
,palamedes8  ,,phaedrus3 ,no more than  
of ,nestor and ,odysseus1 unless        
,gorgias is your ,nestor1 and           
,thrasymachus or ,theodorus your        
,odysseus4  ,,socrates3 ,perhaps that is
 my meaning4 ,but let us leave them4    
,and do you tell me1 instead1 what are  
plaintiff and defendant doing in a law  
court--are they not contending8         
,,phaedrus3 ,exactly so4  ,,socrates3   
,about the just and unjust--that is the 
matter in dispute8  ,,phaedrus3 ,yes4   
,,socrates3 ,and a professor of the art 
will make the same thing appear to the  
same persons to be at one time just1 at 
another time1 if he is so inclined1 to  

be unjust8  ,,phaedrus3 ,exactly4       
,,socrates3 ,and when he speaks in the  
assembly1 he will make the same things  
seem good to the city at one time1 and  
at another time the reverse of good8    
,,phaedrus3 ,that is true4  ,,socrates3 
,have we not heard of the ,eleatic      
,palamedes 7,zeno71 who has an art of   
speaking by which he makes the same     
things appear to his hearers like and   
unlike1 one and many1 at rest and in    
motion8  ,,phaedrus3 ,very true4        
,,socrates3 ,the art of disputation1    
then1 is not confined to the courts and 
the assembly1 but is one and the same in
 every use of language2 this is the art1
 if there be such an art1 which is able 
to find a likeness of everything to     
which a likeness can be found1 and draws
 into the light of day the likenesses   
and disguises which are used by others8 
,,phaedrus3 ,how do you mean8           
,,socrates3 ,let me put the matter thus3
 ,when will there be more chance of     
deception--when the difference is large 

or small8  ,,phaedrus3 ,when the        
difference is small4  ,,socrates3 ,and  
you will be less likely to be discovered
 in passing by degrees into the other   
extreme than when you go all at once8   
,,phaedrus3 ,of course4  ,,socrates3    
,he1 then1 who would deceive others1 and
 not be deceived1 must exactly know the 
real likenesses and differences of      
things8  ,,phaedrus3 ,he must4          
,,socrates3 ,and if he is ignorant of   
the true nature of any subject1 how can 
he detect the greater or less degree of 
likeness in other things to that of     
which by the hypothesis he is ignorant8 
,,phaedrus3 ,he cannot4  ,,socrates3    
,and when men are deceived and their    
notions are at variance with realities1 
it is clear that the error slips in     
through resemblances8  ,,phaedrus3 ,yes1
 that is the way4  ,,socrates3 ,then he 
who would be a master of the art must   
understand the real nature of           
everything2 or he will never know either
 how to make the gradual departure from 

truth into the opposite of truth which  
is effected by the help of resemblances1
 or how to avoid it8  ,,phaedrus3 ,he   
will not4  ,,socrates3 ,he then1 who    
being ignorant of the truth aims at     
appearances1 will only attain an art of 
rhetoric which is ridiculous and is not 
an art at all8  ,,phaedrus3 ,that may be
 expected4  ,,socrates3 ,shall ,i       
propose that we look for examples of art
 and want of art1 according to our      
notion of them1 in the speech of ,lysias
 which you have in your hand1 and in my 
own speech8  ,,phaedrus3 ,nothing could 
be better2 and indeed ,i think that our 
previous argument has been too abstract 
and wanting in illustrations4           
,,socrates3 ,yes2 and the two speeches  
happen to afford a very good example of 
the way in which the speaker who knows  
the truth may1 without any serious      
purpose1 steal away the hearts of his   
hearers4 ,this piece of good-fortune ,i 
attribute to the local deities2 and1    
perhaps1 the prophets of the ,muses who 

are singing over our heads may have     
imparted their inspiration to me4 ,for  
,i do not imagine that ,i have any      
rhetorical art of my own4  ,,phaedrus3  
,granted2 if you will only please to get
 on4  ,,socrates3 ,suppose that you read
 me the first words of ,lysias' speech4 
,,phaedrus3 ',you know how matters stand
 with me1 and how1 as ,i conceive1 they 
might be arranged for our common        
interest2 and ,i maintain that ,i ought 
not to fail in my suit1 because ,i am   
not your lover4 ,for lovers repent--'   
,,socrates3 ,enough3--,now1 shall ,i    
point out the rhetorical error of those 
words8  ,,phaedrus3 ,yes4  ,,socrates3  
,every one is aware that about some     
things we are agreed1 whereas about     
other things we differ4  ,,phaedrus3 ,i 
think that ,i understand you2 but will  
you explain yourself8  ,,socrates3 ,when
 any one speaks of iron and silver1 is  
not the same thing present in the minds 
of all8  ,,phaedrus3 ,certainly4        
,,socrates3 ,but when any one speaks of 

justice and goodness we part company and
 are at odds with one another and with  
ourselves8  ,,phaedrus3 ,precisely4     
,,socrates3 ,then in some things we     
agree1 but not in others8  ,,phaedrus3  
,that is true4  ,,socrates3 ,in which   
are we more likely to be deceived1 and  
in which has rhetoric the greater power8
  ,,phaedrus3 ,clearly1 in the uncertain
 class4  ,,socrates3 ,then the          
rhetorician ought to make a regular     
division1 and acquire a distinct notion 
of both classes1 as well of that in     
which the many err1 as of that in which 
they do not err8  ,,phaedrus3 ,he who   
made such a distinction would have an   
excellent principle4  ,,socrates3 ,yes2 
and in the next place he must have a    
keen eye for the observation of         
particulars in speaking1 and not make a 
mistake about the class to which they   
are to be referred4  ,,phaedrus3        
,certainly4  ,,socrates3 ,now to which  
class does love belong--to the debatable
 or to the undisputed class8            

,,phaedrus3 ,to the debatable1 clearly2 
for if not1 do you think that love would
 have allowed you to say as you did1    
that he is an evil both to the lover and
 the beloved1 and also the greatest     
possible good8  ,,socrates3 ,capital4   
,but will you tell me whether ,i defined
 love at the beginning of my speech8    
for1 having been in an ecstasy1 ,i      
cannot well remember4  ,,phaedrus3 ,yes1
 indeed2 that you did1 and no mistake4  
,,socrates3 ,then ,i perceive that the  
,nymphs of ,achelous and ,pan the son of
 ,hermes1 who inspired me1 were far     
better rhetoricians than ,lysias the son
 of ,cephalus4 ,alas6 how inferior to   
them he is6 ,but perhaps ,i am mistaken2
 and ,lysias at the commencement of his 
lover's speech did insist on our        
supposing love to be something or other 
which he fancied him to be1 and         
according to this model he fashioned and
 framed the remainder of his discourse4 
,suppose we read his beginning over     
again3  ,,phaedrus3 ,if you please2 but 

you will not find what you want4        
,,socrates3 ,read1 that ,i may have his 
exact words4  ,,phaedrus3 ',you know how
 matters stand with me1 and how1 as ,i  
conceive1 they might be arranged for our
 common interest2 and ,i maintain ,i    
ought not to fail in my suit because ,i 
am not your lover1 for lovers repent of 
the kindnesses which they have shown1   
when their love is over4'  ,,socrates3  
,here he appears to have done just the  
reverse of what he ought2 for he has    
begun at the end1 and is swimming on his
 back through the flood to the place of 
starting4 ,his address to the fair youth
 begins where the lover would have      
ended4 ,am ,i not right1 sweet          
,phaedrus8  ,,phaedrus3 ,yes1 indeed1   
,socrates2 he does begin at the end4    
,,socrates3 ,then as to the other       
topics--are they not thrown down anyhow8
 ,is there any principle in them8 ,why  
should the next topic follow next in    
order1 or any other topic8 ,i cannot    
help fancying in my ignorance that he   

wrote off boldly just what came into his
 head1 but ,i dare say that you would   
recognize a rhetorical necessity in the 
succession of the several parts of the  
composition8  ,,phaedrus3 ,you have too 
good an opinion of me if you think that 
,i have any such insight into his       
principles of composition4  ,,socrates3 
,at any rate1 you will allow that every 
discourse ought to be a living creature1
 having a body of its own and a head and
 feet2 there should be a middle1        
beginning1 and end1 adapted to one      
another and to the whole8  ,,phaedrus3  
,certainly4  ,,socrates3 ,can this be   
said of the discourse of ,lysias8 ,see  
whether you can find any more connexion 
in his words than in the epitaph which  
is said by some to have been inscribed  
on the grave of ,midas the ,phrygian4   
,,phaedrus3 ,what is there remarkable in
 the epitaph8  ,,socrates3 ,it is as    
follows3--  ',i am a maiden of bronze   
and lie on the tomb of ,midas2 ,so long 
as water flows and tall trees grow1 ,so 

long here on this spot by his sad tomb  
abiding1 ,i shall declare to passers-by 
that ,midas sleeps below4'  ,now in this
 rhyme whether a line comes first or    
comes last1 as you will perceive1 makes 
no difference4  ,,phaedrus3 ,you are    
making fun of that oration of ours4     
,,socrates3 ,well1 ,i will say no more  
about your friend's speech lest ,i      
should give offence to you2 although ,i 
think that it might furnish many other  
examples of what a man ought rather to  
avoid4 ,but ,i will proceed to the other
 speech1 which1 as ,i think1 is also    
suggestive to students of rhetoric4     
,,phaedrus3 ,in what way8  ,,socrates3  
,the two speeches1 as you may remember1 
were unlike2 the one argued that the    
lover and the other that the non-lover  
ought to be accepted4  ,,phaedrus3 ,and 
right manfully4  ,,socrates3 ,you should
 rather say 'madly2' and madness was the
 argument of them1 for1 as ,i said1     
'love is a madness4'  ,,phaedrus3 ,yes4 
,,socrates3 ,and of madness there were  

two kinds2 one produced by human        
infirmity1 the other was a divine       
release of the soul from the yoke of    
custom and convention4  ,,phaedrus3     
,true4  ,,socrates3 ,the divine madness 
was subdivided into four kinds1         
prophetic1 initiatory1 poetic1 erotic1  
having four gods presiding over them2   
the first was the inspiration of        
,apollo1 the second that of ,dionysus1  
the third that of the ,muses1 the fourth
 that of ,aphrodite and ,eros4 ,in the  
description of the last kind of madness1
 which was also said to be the best1 we 
spoke of the affection of love in a     
figure1 into which we introduced a      
tolerably credible and possibly true    
though partly erring myth1 which was    
also a hymn in honour of ,love1 who is  
your lord and also mine1 ,phaedrus1 and 
the guardian of fair children1 and to   
him we sung the hymn in measured and    
solemn strain4  ,,phaedrus3 ,i know that
 ,i had great pleasure in listening to  
you4  ,,socrates3 ,let us take this     

instance and note how the transition was
 made from blame to praise4  ,,phaedrus3
 ,what do you mean8  ,,socrates3 ,i mean
 to say that the composition was mostly 
playful4 ,yet in these chance fancies of
 the hour were involved two principles  
of which we should be too glad to have a
 clearer description if art could give  
us one4  ,,phaedrus3 ,what are they8    
,,socrates3 ,first1 the comprehension of
 scattered particulars in one idea2 as  
in our definition of love1 which whether
 true or false certainly gave clearness 
and consistency to the discourse1 the   
speaker should define his several       
notions and so make his meaning clear4  
,,phaedrus3 ,what is the other          
principle1 ,socrates8  ,,socrates3 ,the 
second principle is that of division    
into species according to the natural   
formation1 where the joint is1 not      
breaking any part as a bad carver might4
 ,just as our two discourses1 alike     
assumed1 first of all1 a single form of 
unreason2 and then1 as the body which   

from being one becomes double and may be
 divided into a left side and right     
side1 each having parts right and left  
of the same name--after this manner the 
speaker proceeded to divide the parts of
 the left side and did not desist until 
he found in them an evil or left-handed 
love which he justly reviled2 and the   
other discourse leading us to the       
madness which lay on the right side1    
found another love1 also having the same
 name1 but divine1 which the speaker    
held up before us and applauded and     
affirmed to be the author of the        
greatest benefits4  ,,phaedrus3 ,most   
true4  ,,socrates3 ,i am myself a great 
lover of these processes of division and
 generalization2 they help me to speak  
and to think4 ,and if ,i find any man   
who is able to see 'a ,one and ,many' in
 nature1 him ,i follow1 and 'walk in his
 footsteps as if he were a god4' ,and   
those who have this art1 ,i have        
hitherto been in the habit of calling   
dialecticians2 but ,god knows whether   

the name is right or not4 ,and ,i should
 like to know what name you would give  
to your or to ,lysias' disciples1 and   
whether this may not be that famous art 
of rhetoric which ,thrasymachus and     
others teach and practise8 ,skilful     
speakers they are1 and impart their     
skill to any who is willing to make     
kings of them and to bring gifts to     
them4  ,,phaedrus3 ,yes1 they are royal 
men2 but their art is not the same with 
the art of those whom you call1 and     
rightly1 in my opinion1                 
dialecticians3--,still we are in the    
dark about rhetoric4  ,,socrates3 ,what 
do you mean8 ,the remains of it1 if     
there be anything remaining which can be
 brought under rules of art1 must be a  
fine thing2 and1 at any rate1 is not to 
be despised by you and me4 ,but how much
 is left8  ,,phaedrus3 ,there is a great
 deal surely to be found in books of    
rhetoric8  ,,socrates3 ,yes2 thank you  
for reminding me3--,there is the        
exordium1 showing how the speech should 

begin1 if ,i remember rightly2 that is  
what you mean--the niceties of the art8 
,,phaedrus3 ,yes4  ,,socrates3 ,then    
follows the statement of facts1 and upon
 that witnesses2 thirdly1 proofs2       
fourthly1 probabilities are to come2 the
 great ,byzantian word-maker also       
speaks1 if ,i am not mistaken1 of       
confirmation and further confirmation4  
,,phaedrus3 ,you mean the excellent     
,theodorus4  ,,socrates3 ,yes2 and he   
tells how refutation or further         
refutation is to be managed1 whether in 
accusation or defence4 ,i ought also to 
mention the illustrious ,parian1        
,evenus1 who first invented insinuations
 and indirect praises2 and also indirect
 censures1 which according to some he   
put into verse to help the memory4 ,but 
shall ,i 'to dumb forgetfulness consign'
 ,tisias and ,gorgias1 who are not      
ignorant that probability is superior to
 truth1 and who by force of argument    
make the little appear great and the    
great little1 disguise the new in old   

fashions and the old in new fashions1   
and have discovered forms for           
everything1 either short or going on to 
infinity4 ,i remember ,prodicus laughing
 when ,i told him of this2 he said that 
he had himself discovered the true rule 
of art1 which was to be neither long nor
 short1 but of a convenient length4     
,,phaedrus3 ,well done1 ,prodicus6      
,,socrates3 ,then there is ,hippias the 
,elean stranger1 who probably agrees    
with him4  ,,phaedrus3 ,yes4            
,,socrates3 ,and there is also ,polus1  
who has treasuries of diplasiology1 and 
gnomology1 and eikonology1 and who      
teaches in them the names of which      
,licymnius made him a present2 they were
 to give a polish4  ,,phaedrus3 ,had not
 ,protagoras something of the same sort8
  ,,socrates3 ,yes1 rules of correct    
diction and many other fine precepts2   
for the 'sorrows of a poor old man1' or 
any other pathetic case1 no one is      
better than the ,chalcedonian giant2 he 
can put a whole company of people into a

 passion and out of one again by his    
mighty magic1 and is first-rate at      
inventing or disposing of any sort of   
calumny on any grounds or none4 ,all of 
them agree in asserting that a speech   
should end in a recapitulation1 though  
they do not all agree to use the same   
word4  ,,phaedrus3 ,you mean that there 
should be a summing up of the arguments 
in order to remind the hearers of them4 
,,socrates3 ,i have now said all that ,i
 have to say of the art of rhetoric3    
have you anything to add8  ,,phaedrus3  
,not much2 nothing very important4      
,,socrates3 ,leave the unimportant and  
let us bring the really important       
question into the light of day1 which   
is3 ,what power has this art of         
rhetoric1 and when8  ,,phaedrus3 ,a very
 great power in public meetings4        
,,socrates3 ,it has4 ,but ,i should like
 to know whether you have the same      
feeling as ,i have about the            
rhetoricians8 ,to me there seem to be a 
great many holes in their web4          

,,phaedrus3 ,give an example4           
,,socrates3 ,i will4 ,suppose a person  
to come to your friend ,eryximachus1 or 
to his father ,acumenus1 and to say to  
him3 ',i know how to apply drugs which  
shall have either a heating or a cooling
 effect1 and ,i can give a vomit and    
also a purge1 and all that sort of      
thing2 and knowing all this1 as ,i do1  
,i claim to be a physician and to make  
physicians by imparting this knowledge  
to others1'--what do you suppose that   
they would say8  ,,phaedrus3 ,they would
 be sure to ask him whether he knew 'to 
whom' he would give his medicines1 and  
'when1' and 'how much4'  ,,socrates3    
,and suppose that he were to reply3     
',no2 ,i know nothing of all that2 ,i   
expect the patient who consults me to be
 able to do these things for himself'8  
,,phaedrus3 ,they would say in reply    
that he is a madman or a pedant who     
fancies that he is a physician because  
he has read something in a book1 or has 
stumbled on a prescription or two1      

although he has no real understanding of
 the art of medicine4  ,,socrates3 ,and 
suppose a person were to come to        
,sophocles or ,euripides and say that he
 knows how to make a very long speech   
about a small matter1 and a short speech
 about a great matter1 and also a       
sorrowful speech1 or a terrible1 or     
threatening speech1 or any other kind of
 speech1 and in teaching this fancies   
that he is teaching the art of          
tragedy--8  ,,phaedrus3 ,they too would 
surely laugh at him if he fancies that  
tragedy is anything but the arranging of
 these elements in a manner which will  
be suitable to one another and to the   
whole4  ,,socrates3 ,but ,i do not      
suppose that they would be rude or      
abusive to him3 ,would they not treat   
him as a musician a man who thinks that 
he is a harmonist because he knows how  
to pitch the highest and lowest note2   
happening to meet such an one he would  
not say to him savagely1 ',fool1 you are
 mad6' ,but like a musician1 in a gentle

 and harmonious tone of voice1 he would 
answer3 ',my good friend1 he who would  
be a harmonist must certainly know this1
 and yet he may understand nothing of   
harmony if he has not got beyond your   
stage of knowledge1 for you only know   
the preliminaries of harmony and not    
harmony itself4'  ,,phaedrus3 ,very     
true4  ,,socrates3 ,and will not        
,sophocles say to the display of the    
would-be tragedian1 that this is not    
tragedy but the preliminaries of        
tragedy8 and will not ,acumenus say the 
same of medicine to the would-be        
physician8  ,,phaedrus3 ,quite true4    
,,socrates3 ,and if ,adrastus the       
mellifluous or ,pericles heard of these 
wonderful arts1 brachylogies and        
eikonologies and all the hard names     
which we have been endeavouring to draw 
into the light of day1 what would they  
say8 ,instead of losing temper and      
applying uncomplimentary epithets1 as   
you and ,i have been doing1 to the      
authors of such an imaginary art1 their 

superior wisdom would rather censure us1
 as well as them4 ',have a little       
patience1 ,phaedrus and ,socrates1 they 
would say2 you should not be in such a  
passion with those who from some want of
 dialectical skill are unable to define 
the nature of rhetoric1 and consequently
 suppose that they have found the art in
 the preliminary conditions of it1 and  
when these have been taught by them to  
others1 fancy that the whole art of     
rhetoric has been taught by them2 but as
 to using the several instruments of the
 art effectively1 or making the         
composition a whole1--an application of 
it such as this is they regard as an    
easy thing which their disciples may    
make for themselves4'  ,,phaedrus3 ,i   
quite admit1 ,socrates1 that the art of 
rhetoric which these men teach and of   
which they write is such as you         
describe--there ,i agree with you4 ,but 
,i still want to know where and how the 
true art of rhetoric and persuasion is  
to be acquired4  ,,socrates3 ,the       

perfection which is required of the     
finished orator is1 or rather must be1  
like the perfection of anything else2   
partly given by nature1 but may also be 
assisted by art4 ,if you have the       
natural power and add to it knowledge   
and practice1 you will be a             
distinguished speaker2 if you fall short
 in either of these1 you will be to that
 extent defective4 ,but the art1 as far 
as there is an art1 of rhetoric does not
 lie in the direction of ,lysias or     
,thrasymachus4  ,,phaedrus3 ,in what    
direction then8  ,,socrates3 ,i conceive
 ,pericles to have been the most        
accomplished of rhetoricians4           
,,phaedrus3 ,what of that8  ,,socrates3 
,all the great arts require discussion  
and high speculation about the truths of
 nature2 hence come loftiness of thought
 and completeness of execution4 ,and    
this1 as ,i conceive1 was the quality   
which1 in addition to his natural gifts1
 ,pericles acquired from his intercourse
 with ,anaxagoras whom he happened to   

know4 ,he was thus imbued with the      
higher philosophy1 and attained the     
knowledge of ,mind and the negative of  
,mind1 which were favourite themes of   
,anaxagoras1 and applied what suited his
 purpose to the art of speaking4        
,,phaedrus3 ,explain4  ,,socrates3      
,rhetoric is like medicine4  ,,phaedrus3
 ,how so8  ,,socrates3 ,why1 because    
medicine has to define the nature of the
 body and rhetoric of the soul--if we   
would proceed1 not empirically but      
scientifically1 in the one case to      
impart health and strength by giving    
medicine and food1 in the other to      
implant the conviction or virtue which  
you desire1 by the right application of 
words and training4  ,,phaedrus3 ,there1
 ,socrates1 ,i suspect that you are     
right4  ,,socrates3 ,and do you think   
that you can know the nature of the soul
 intelligently without knowing the      
nature of the whole8  ,,phaedrus3       
,hippocrates the ,asclepiad says that   
the nature even of the body can only be 

understood as a whole4 7,compare        
,charmides47  ,,socrates3 ,yes1 friend1 
and he was right3--still1 we ought not  
to be content with the name of          
,hippocrates1 but to examine and see    
whether his argument agrees with his    
conception of nature4  ,,phaedrus3 ,i   
agree4  ,,socrates3 ,then consider what 
truth as well as ,hippocrates says about
 this or about any other nature4 ,ought 
we not to consider first whether that   
which we wish to learn and to teach is a
 simple or multiform thing1 and if      
simple1 then to enquire what power it   
has of acting or being acted upon in    
relation to other things1 and if        
multiform1 then to number the forms2 and
 see first in the case of one of them1  
and then in the case of all of them1    
what is that power of acting or being   
acted upon which makes each and all of  
them to be what they are8  ,,phaedrus3  
,you may very likely be right1          
,socrates4  ,,socrates3 ,the method     
which proceeds without analysis is like 

the groping of a blind man4 ,yet1       
surely1 he who is an artist ought not to
 admit of a comparison with the blind1  
or deaf4 ,the rhetorician1 who teaches  
his pupil to speak scientifically1 will 
particularly set forth the nature of    
that being to which he addresses his    
speeches2 and this1 ,i conceive1 to be  
the soul4  ,,phaedrus3 ,certainly4      
,,socrates3 ,his whole effort is        
directed to the soul2 for in that he    
seeks to produce conviction4            
,,phaedrus3 ,yes4  ,,socrates3 ,then    
clearly1 ,thrasymachus or any one else  
who teaches rhetoric in earnest will    
give an exact description of the nature 
of the soul2 which will enable us to see
 whether she be single and same1 or1    
like the body1 multiform4 ,that is what 
we should call showing the nature of the
 soul4  ,,phaedrus3 ,exactly4           
,,socrates3 ,he will explain1 secondly1 
the mode in which she acts or is acted  
upon4  ,,phaedrus3 ,true4  ,,socrates3  
,thirdly1 having classified men and     

speeches1 and their kinds and           
affections1 and adapted them to one     
another1 he will tell the reasons of his
 arrangement1 and show why one soul is  
persuaded by a particular form of       
argument1 and another not4  ,,phaedrus3 
,you have hit upon a very good way4     
,,socrates3 ,yes1 that is the true and  
only way in which any subject can be set
 forth or treated by rules of art1      
whether in speaking or writing4 ,but the
 writers of the present day1 at whose   
feet you have sat1 craftily conceal the 
nature of the soul which they know quite
 well4 ,nor1 until they adopt our method
 of reading and writing1 can we admit   
that they write by rules of art8        
,,phaedrus3 ,what is our method8        
,,socrates3 ,i cannot give you the exact
 details2 but ,i should like to tell you
 generally1 as far as is in my power1   
how a man ought to proceed according to 
rules of art4  ,,phaedrus3 ,let me hear4
  ,,socrates3 ,oratory is the art of    
enchanting the soul1 and therefore he   

who would be an orator has to learn the 
differences of human souls--they are so 
many and of such a nature1 and from them
 come the differences between man and   
man4 ,having proceeded thus far in his  
analysis1 he will next divide speeches  
into their different classes3--',such   
and such persons1' he will say1 are     
affected by this or that kind of speech 
in this or that way1' and he will tell  
you why4 ,the pupil must have a good    
theoretical notion of them first1 and   
then he must have experience of them in 
actual life1 and be able to follow them 
with all his senses about him1 or he    
will never get beyond the precepts of   
his masters4 ,but when he understands   
what persons are persuaded by what      
arguments1 and sees the person about    
whom he was speaking in the abstract    
actually before him1 and knows that it  
is he1 and can say to himself1 ',this is
 the man or this is the character who   
ought to have a certain argument applied
 to him in order to convince him of a   

certain opinion2'--he who knows all     
this1 and knows also when he should     
speak and when he should refrain1 and   
when he should use pithy sayings1       
pathetic appeals1 sensational effects1  
and all the other modes of speech which 
he has learned2--when1 ,i say1 he knows 
the times and seasons of all these      
things1 then1 and not till then1 he is a
 perfect master of his art2 but if he   
fail in any of these points1 whether in 
speaking or teaching or writing them1   
and yet declares that he speaks by rules
 of art1 he who says ',i don't believe  
you' has the better of him4 ,well1 the  
teacher will say1 is this1 ,phaedrus and
 ,socrates1 your account of the         
so-called art of rhetoric1 or am ,i to  
look for another8  ,,phaedrus3 ,he must 
take this1 ,socrates1 for there is no   
possibility of another1 and yet the     
creation of such an art is not easy4    
,,socrates3 ,very true2 and therefore   
let us consider this matter in every    
light1 and see whether we cannot find a 

shorter and easier road2 there is no use
 in taking a long rough roundabout way  
if there be a shorter and easier one4   
,and ,i wish that you would try and     
remember whether you have heard from    
,lysias or any one else anything which  
might be of service to us4  ,,phaedrus3 
,if trying would avail1 then ,i might2  
but at the moment ,i can think of       
nothing4  ,,socrates3 ,suppose ,i tell  
you something which somebody who knows  
told me4  ,,phaedrus3 ,certainly4       
,,socrates3 ,may not 'the wolf1' as the 
proverb says1 'claim a hearing'8        
,,phaedrus3 ,do you say what can be said
 for him4  ,,socrates3 ,he will argue   
that there is no use in putting a solemn
 face on these matters1 or in going     
round and round1 until you arrive at    
first principles2 for1 as ,i said at    
first1 when the question is of justice  
and good1 or is a question in which men 
are concerned who are just and good1    
either by nature or habit1 he who would 
be a skilful rhetorician has no need of 

truth--for that in courts of law men    
literally care nothing about truth1 but 
only about conviction3 and this is based
 on probability1 to which he who would  
be a skilful orator should therefore    
give his whole attention4 ,and they say 
also that there are cases in which the  
actual facts1 if they are improbable1   
ought to be withheld1 and only the      
probabilities should be told either in  
accusation or defence1 and that always  
in speaking1 the orator should keep     
probability in view1 and say good-bye to
 the truth4 ,and the observance of this 
principle throughout a speech furnishes 
the whole art4  ,,phaedrus3 ,that is    
what the professors of rhetoric do      
actually say1 ,socrates4 ,i have not    
forgotten that we have quite briefly    
touched upon this matter already2 with  
them the point is all-important4        
,,socrates3 ,i dare say that you are    
familiar with ,tisias4 ,does he not     
define probability to be that which the 
many think8  ,,phaedrus3 ,certainly1 he 

does4  ,,socrates3 ,i believe that he   
has a clever and ingenious case of this 
sort3--,he supposes a feeble and valiant
 man to have assaulted a strong and     
cowardly one1 and to have robbed him of 
his coat or of something or other2 he is
 brought into court1 and then ,tisias   
says that both parties should tell lies3
 the coward should say that he was      
assaulted by more men than one2 the     
other should prove that they were alone1
 and should argue thus3 ',how could a   
weak man like me have assaulted a strong
 man like him8' ,the complainant will   
not like to confess his own cowardice1  
and will therefore invent some other lie
 which his adversary will thus gain an  
opportunity of refuting4 ,and there are 
other devices of the same kind which    
have a place in the system4 ,am ,i not  
right1 ,phaedrus8  ,,phaedrus3          
,certainly4  ,,socrates3 ,bless me1 what
 a wonderfully mysterious art is this   
which ,tisias or some other gentleman1  
in whatever name or country he rejoices1

 has discovered4 ,shall we say a word to
 him or not8  ,,phaedrus3 ,what shall we
 say to him8  ,,socrates3 ,let us tell  
him that1 before he appeared1 you and ,i
 were saying that the probability of    
which he speaks was engendered in the   
minds of the many by the likeness of the
 truth1 and we had just been affirming  
that he who knew the truth would always 
know best how to discover the           
resemblances of the truth4 ,if he has   
anything else to say about the art of   
speaking we should like to hear him2 but
 if not1 we are satisfied with our own  
view1 that unless a man estimates the   
various characters of his hearers and is
 able to divide all things into classes 
and to comprehend them under single     
ideas1 he will never be a skilful       
rhetorician even within the limits of   
human power4 ,and this skill he will not
 attain without a great deal of trouble1
 which a good man ought to undergo1 not 
for the sake of speaking and acting     
before men1 but in order that he may be 

able to say what is acceptable to ,god  
and always to act acceptably to ,him as 
far as in him lies2 for there is a      
saying of wiser men than ourselves1 that
 a man of sense should not try to please
 his fellow-servants 7at least this     
should not be his first object7 but his 
good and noble masters2 and therefore if
 the way is long and circuitous1 marvel 
not at this1 for1 where the end is      
great1 there we may take the longer     
road1 but not for lesser ends such as   
yours4 ,truly1 the argument may say1    
,tisias1 that if you do not mind going  
so far1 rhetoric has a fair beginning   
here4  ,,phaedrus3 ,i think1 ,socrates1 
that this is admirable1 if only         
practicable4  ,,socrates3 ,but even to  
fail in an honourable object is         
honourable4  ,,phaedrus3 ,true4         
,,socrates3 ,enough appears to have been
 said by us of a true and false art of  
speaking4  ,,phaedrus3 ,certainly4      
,,socrates3 ,but there is something yet 
to be said of propriety and impropriety 

of writing4  ,,phaedrus3 ,yes4          
,,socrates3 ,do you know how you can    
speak or act about rhetoric in a manner 
which will be acceptable to ,god8       
,,phaedrus3 ,no1 indeed4 ,do you8       
,,socrates3 ,i have heard a tradition of
 the ancients1 whether true or not they 
only know2 although if we had found the 
truth ourselves1 do you think that we   
should care much about the opinions of  
men8  ,,phaedrus3 ,your question needs  
no answer2 but ,i wish that you would   
tell me what you say that you have      
heard4  ,,socrates3 ,at the ,egyptian   
city of ,naucratis1 there was a famous  
old god1 whose name was ,theuth2 the    
bird which is called the ,ibis is sacred
 to him1 and he was the inventor of many
 arts1 such as arithmetic and           
calculation and geometry and astronomy  
and draughts and dice1 but his great    
discovery was the use of letters4 ,now  
in those days the god ,thamus was the   
king of the whole country of ,egypt2 and
 he dwelt in that great city of ,upper  

,egypt which the ,hellenes call         
,egyptian ,thebes1 and the god himself  
is called by them ,ammon4 ,to him came  
,theuth and showed his inventions1      
desiring that the other ,egyptians might
 be allowed to have the benefit of them2
 he enumerated them1 and ,thamus        
enquired about their several uses1 and  
praised some of them and censured       
others1 as he approved or disapproved of
 them4 ,it would take a long time to    
repeat all that ,thamus said to ,theuth 
in praise or blame of the various arts4 
,but when they came to letters1 ,this1  
said ,theuth1 will make the ,egyptians  
wiser and give them better memories2 it 
is a specific both for the memory and   
for the wit4 ,thamus replied3 ,o most   
ingenious ,theuth1 the parent or        
inventor of an art is not always the    
best judge of the utility or inutility  
of his own inventions to the users of   
them4 ,and in this instance1 you who are
 the father of letters1 from a paternal 
love of your own children have been led 

to attribute to them a quality which    
they cannot have2 for this discovery of 
yours will create forgetfulness in the  
learners' souls1 because they will not  
use their memories2 they will trust to  
the external written characters and not 
remember of themselves4 ,the specific   
which you have discovered is an aid not 
to memory1 but to reminiscence1 and you 
give your disciples not truth1 but only 
the semblance of truth2 they will be    
hearers of many things and will have    
learned nothing2 they will appear to be 
omniscient and will generally know      
nothing2 they will be tiresome company1 
having the show of wisdom without the   
reality4  ,,phaedrus3 ,yes1 ,socrates1  
you can easily invent tales of ,egypt1  
or of any other country4  ,,socrates3   
,there was a tradition in the temple of 
,dodona that oaks first gave prophetic  
utterances4 ,the men of old1 unlike in  
their simplicity to young philosophy1   
deemed that if they heard the truth even
 from 'oak or rock1' it was enough for  

them2 whereas you seem to consider not  
whether a thing is or is not true1 but  
who the speaker is and from what country
 the tale comes4  ,,phaedrus3 ,i        
acknowledge the justice of your rebuke2 
and ,i think that the ,theban is right  
in his view about letters4  ,,socrates3 
,he would be a very simple person1 and  
quite a stranger to the oracles of      
,thamus or ,ammon1 who should leave in  
writing or receive in writing any art   
under the idea that the written word    
would be intelligible or certain2 or who
 deemed that writing was at all better  
than knowledge and recollection of the  
same matters8  ,,phaedrus3 ,that is most
 true4  ,,socrates3 ,i cannot help      
feeling1 ,phaedrus1 that writing is     
unfortunately like painting2 for the    
creations of the painter have the       
attitude of life1 and yet if you ask    
them a question they preserve a solemn  
silence4 ,and the same may be said of   
speeches4 ,you would imagine that they  
had intelligence1 but if you want to    

know anything and put a question to one 
of them1 the speaker always gives one   
unvarying answer4 ,and when they have   
been once written down they are tumbled 
about anywhere among those who may or   
may not understand them1 and know not to
 whom they should reply1 to whom not3   
and1 if they are maltreated or abused1  
they have no parent to protect them2 and
 they cannot protect or defend          
themselves4  ,,phaedrus3 ,that again is 
most true4  ,,socrates3 ,is there not   
another kind of word or speech far      
better than this1 and having far greater
 power--a son of the same family1 but   
lawfully begotten8  ,,phaedrus3 ,whom do
 you mean1 and what is his origin8      
,,socrates3 ,i mean an intelligent word 
graven in the soul of the learner1 which
 can defend itself1 and knows when to   
speak and when to be silent4            
,,phaedrus3 ,you mean the living word of
 knowledge which has a soul1 and of     
which the written word is properly no   
more than an image8  ,,socrates3 ,yes1  

of course that is what ,i mean4 ,and now
 may ,i be allowed to ask you a         
question3 ,would a husbandman1 who is a 
man of sense1 take the seeds1 which he  
values and which he wishes to bear      
fruit1 and in sober seriousness plant   
them during the heat of summer1 in some 
garden of ,adonis1 that he may rejoice  
when he sees them in eight days         
appearing in beauty8 at least he would  
do so1 if at all1 only for the sake of  
amusement and pastime4 ,but when he is  
in earnest he sows in fitting soil1 and 
practises husbandry1 and is satisfied if
 in eight months the seeds which he has 
sown arrive at perfection8  ,,phaedrus3 
,yes1 ,socrates1 that will be his way   
when he is in earnest2 he will do the   
other1 as you say1 only in play4        
,,socrates3 ,and can we suppose that he 
who knows the just and good and         
honourable has less understanding1 than 
the husbandman1 about his own seeds8    
,,phaedrus3 ,certainly not4  ,,socrates3
 ,then he will not seriously incline to 

'write' his thoughts 'in water' with pen
 and ink1 sowing words which can neither
 speak for themselves nor teach the     
truth adequately to others8  ,,phaedrus3
 ,no1 that is not likely4  ,,socrates3  
,no1 that is not likely--in the garden  
of letters he will sow and plant1 but   
only for the sake of recreation and     
amusement2 he will write them down as   
memorials to be treasured against the   
forgetfulness of old age1 by himself1 or
 by any other old man who is treading   
the same path4 ,he will rejoice in      
beholding their tender growth2 and while
 others are refreshing their souls with 
banqueting and the like1 this will be   
the pastime in which his days are spent4
  ,,phaedrus3 ,a pastime1 ,socrates1 as 
noble as the other is ignoble1 the      
pastime of a man who can be amused by   
serious talk1 and can discourse merrily 
about justice and the like4  ,,socrates3
 ,true1 ,phaedrus4 ,but nobler far is   
the serious pursuit of the dialectician1
 who1 finding a congenial soul1 by the  

help of science sows and plants therein 
words which are able to help themselves 
and him who planted them1 and are not   
unfruitful1 but have in them a seed     
which others brought up in different    
soils render immortal1 making the       
possessors of it happy to the utmost    
extent of human happiness4  ,,phaedrus3 
,far nobler1 certainly4  ,,socrates3    
,and now1 ,phaedrus1 having agreed upon 
the premises we may decide about the    
conclusion4  ,,phaedrus3 ,about what    
conclusion8  ,,socrates3 ,about ,lysias1
 whom we censured1 and his art of       
writing1 and his discourses1 and the    
rhetorical skill or want of skill which 
was shown in them--these are the        
questions which we sought to determine1 
and they brought us to this point4 ,and 
,i think that we are now pretty well    
informed about the nature of art and its
 opposite4  ,,phaedrus3 ,yes1 ,i think  
with you2 but ,i wish that you would    
repeat what was said4  ,,socrates3      
,until a man knows the truth of the     

several particulars of which he is      
writing or speaking1 and is able to     
define them as they are1 and having     
defined them again to divide them until 
they can be no longer divided1 and until
 in like manner he is able to discern   
the nature of the soul1 and discover the
 different modes of discourse which are 
adapted to different natures1 and to    
arrange and dispose them in such a way  
that the simple form of speech may be   
addressed to the simpler nature1 and the
 complex and composite to the more      
complex nature--until he has            
accomplished all this1 he will be unable
 to handle arguments according to rules 
of art1 as far as their nature allows   
them to be subjected to art1 either for 
the purpose of teaching or              
persuading2--such is the view which is  
implied in the whole preceding argument4
  ,,phaedrus3 ,yes1 that was our view1  
certainly4  ,,socrates3 ,secondly1 as to
 the censure which was passed on the    
speaking or writing of discourses1 and  

how they might be rightly or wrongly    
censured--did not our previous argument 
show--8  ,,phaedrus3 ,show what8        
,,socrates3 ,that whether ,lysias or any
 other writer that ever was or will be1 
whether private man or statesman1       
proposes laws and so becomes the author 
of a political treatise1 fancying that  
there is any great certainty and        
clearness in his performance1 the fact  
of his so writing is only a disgrace to 
him1 whatever men may say4 ,for not to  
know the nature of justice and          
injustice1 and good and evil1 and not to
 be able to distinguish the dream from  
the reality1 cannot in truth be         
otherwise than disgraceful to him1 even 
though he have the applause of the whole
 world4  ,,phaedrus3 ,certainly4        
,,socrates3 ,but he who thinks that in  
the written word there is necessarily   
much which is not serious1 and that     
neither poetry nor prose1 spoken or     
written1 is of any great value1 if1 like
 the compositions of the rhapsodes1 they

 are only recited in order to be        
believed1 and not with any view to      
criticism or instruction2 and who thinks
 that even the best of writings are but 
a reminiscence of what we know1 and that
 only in principles of justice and      
goodness and nobility taught and        
communicated orally for the sake of     
instruction and graven in the soul1     
which is the true way of writing1 is    
there clearness and perfection and      
seriousness1 and that such principles   
are a man's own and his legitimate      
offspring2--being1 in the first place1  
the word which he finds in his own      
bosom2 secondly1 the brethren and       
descendants and relations of his idea   
which have been duly implanted by him in
 the souls of others2--and who cares for
 them and no others--this is the right  
sort of man2 and you and ,i1 ,phaedrus1 
would pray that we may become like him4 
,,phaedrus3 ,that is most assuredly my  
desire and prayer4  ,,socrates3 ,and now
 the play is played out2 and of rhetoric

 enough4 ,go and tell ,lysias that to   
the fountain and school of the ,nymphs  
we went down1 and were bidden by them to
 convey a message to him and to other   
composers of speeches--to ,homer and    
other writers of poems1 whether set to  
music or not2 and to ,solon and others  
who have composed writings in the form  
of political discourses which they would
 term laws--to all of them we are to say
 that if their compositions are based on
 knowledge of the truth1 and they can   
defend or prove them1 when they are put 
to the test1 by spoken arguments1 which 
leave their writings poor in comparison 
of them1 then they are to be called1 not
 only poets1 orators1 legislators1 but  
are worthy of a higher name1 befitting  
the serious pursuit of their life4      
,,phaedrus3 ,what name would you assign 
to them8  ,,socrates3 ,wise1 ,i may not 
call them2 for that is a great name     
which belongs to ,god alone1--lovers of 
wisdom or philosophers is their modest  
and befitting title4  ,,phaedrus3 ,very 

suitable4  ,,socrates3 ,and he who      
cannot rise above his own compilations  
and compositions1 which he has been long
 patching and piecing1 adding some and  
taking away some1 may be justly called  
poet or speech-maker or law-maker4      
,,phaedrus3 ,certainly4  ,,socrates3    
,now go and tell this to your companion4
  ,,phaedrus3 ,but there is also a      
friend of yours who ought not to be     
forgotten4  ,,socrates3 ,who is he8     
,,phaedrus3 ,isocrates the fair3--,what 
message will you send to him1 and how   
shall we describe him8  ,,socrates3     
,isocrates is still young1 ,phaedrus2   
but ,i am willing to hazard a prophecy  
concerning him4  ,,phaedrus3 ,what would
 you prophesy8  ,,socrates3 ,i think    
that he has a genius which soars above  
the orations of ,lysias1 and that his   
character is cast in a finer mould4 ,my 
impression of him is that he will       
marvellously improve as he grows older1 
and that all former rhetoricians will be
 as children in comparison of him4 ,and 

,i believe that he will not be satisfied
 with rhetoric1 but that there is in him
 a divine inspiration which will lead   
him to things higher still4 ,for he has 
an element of philosophy in his nature4 
,this is the message of the gods        
dwelling in this place1 and which ,i    
will myself deliver to ,isocrates1 who  
is my delight2 and do you give the other
 to ,lysias1 who is yours4  ,,phaedrus3 
,i will2 and now as the heat is abated  
let us depart4  ,,socrates3 ,should we  
not offer up a prayer first of all to   
the local deities8  ,,phaedrus3 ,by all 
means4  ,,socrates3 ,beloved ,pan1 and  
all ye other gods who haunt this place1 
give me beauty in the inward soul2 and  
may the outward and inward man be at    
one4 ,may ,i reckon the wise to be the  
wealthy1 and may ,i have such a quantity
 of gold as a temperate man and he only 
can bear and carry4--,anything more8    
,the prayer1 ,i think1 is enough for me4
  ,,phaedrus3 ,ask the same for me1 for 
friends should have all things in       

common4  ,,socrates3 ,let us go4