Phaedrus (Oxford World's Classics) PDF
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’ PHAEDRUS P (c.– ), Athenian philosopher-dramatist, has had a pro- found and lasting influence upon Western intellectual tradition. Born into a wealthy and prominent family, he grew up during the conflict between Athens and the Peloponnesian states which engulfed the Greek world from to . Following its turbulent aftermath, he was deeply affected by the condemnation and execution of his revered master Socrates (–) on charges of irreligion and corrupting the young. In revulsion from political activity, Plato devoted his life to the pursuit of philosophy and to composing memoirs of Socratic enquiry cast in dia- logue form. He was strongly influenced by the Pythagorean thinkers of southern Italy and Sicily, which he is said to have visited when he was about . Some time after returning to Athens, he founded the Academy, an early ancestor of the modern university, devoted to philosophical and mathematical enquiry, and to the education of future rulers or ‘philosopher-kings’. The Academy’s most celebrated member was the young Aristotle (–), who studied there for the last twenty years of Plato’s life. Their works mark the highest peak of philosophical achievement in antiquity, and both continue to rank among the greatest philosophers of all time. Plato is the earliest Western philosopher from whose output complete works have been preserved. At least twenty-five of his dialogues are extant, ranging from fewer than twenty to more than three hundred pages in length. For their combination of dramatic realism, poetic beauty, intellectual vitality, and emotional power they are unique in Western literature. R W has been a university lecturer (at Newcastle upon Tyne and St Andrews), and an editor and publisher. Currently, however, he is a self-employed writer, whose books range from philosophy to children’s fiction. He has previously translated, for Oxford World’s Clas- sics, Plato’s Republic, Symposium, and Gorgias, Aristotle’s Physics, Hero- dotus’ Histories, Plutarch’s Greek Lives and Roman Lives, Euripides’ Orestes and Other Plays, and The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and the Sophists. ’ For over years Oxford World’s Classics have brought readers closer to the world’s great literature. Now with over titles––from the ,-year-old myths of Mesopotamia to the twentieth century’s greatest novels––the series makes available lesser-known as well as celebrated writing. The pocket-sized hardbacks of the early years contained introductions by Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot, Graham Greene, and other literary figures which enriched the experience of reading. Today the series is recognized for its fine scholarship and reliability in texts that span world literature, drama and poetry, religion, philosophy and politics. Each edition includes perceptive commentary and essential background information to meet the changing needs of readers. OXFORD WORLD’S CLASSICS PLATO Phaedrus Translated with an Introduction and Notes by ROBIN WATERFIELD 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in OxfordNew York AucklandBangkokBuenosAiresCapeTown Chennai DaresSalaamDelhiHongKongIstanbulKarachi Kolkata KualaLumpurMadridMelbourneMexicoCity Mumbai Nairobi SãoPauloShanghaiSingaporeTaipeiTokyo Toronto with an associated company in Berlin Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Robin Waterfield 2002 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published as an Oxford World’s Classics paperback 2002 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available ISBN 0–19–280277–1 135 79108642 Typeset in Ehrhardt by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk Printed in Great Britain by Clays Ltd., St Ives plc For Kathy: aim at the heart This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Introduction ix Note on the Text l Select Bibliography li PHAEDRUS Explanatory Notes Textual Notes Index of Names vii This page intentionally left blank INTRODUCTION Phaedrus is named, as are most of Plato’s dialogues, after one of the characters appearing in the work. In fact, Phaedrus purports to be the record of a conversation between only two people: Phaedrus, an upper-class Athenian and devotee of the new rhet- orical learning which was popular in Athens at the time, and Socrates, who in the real world had been Plato’s teacher, and in the fictional world of the dialogues is commonly Plato’s main spokesman. The two bump into each other as Phaedrus is about to take a walk in the countryside outside Athens, to gain enough peace and quiet to memorize a speech he has just heard by the soon-to-be-famous speech-writer Lysias. The conversation that takes place between Phaedrus and Socrates is both interrupted and motivated by the declamation of three speeches––the one by Lysias (unless it is a Platonic fiction), and then two extemporized by Socrates himself in response. The topic of Lysias’ speech was the relationship between a lover and his beloved in a homoerotic relationship, and so this is the topic of Socrates’ two speeches as well. Lysias had argued that a lover is to be avoided in favour of a non-lover, and in Socrates’ first speech he seeks merely to improve upon this thesis of Lysias, but in the second he entirely repudiates the content of the first, for its disparagement of love, and he calls this second speech a recantation, or palinode. After these three speeches, the conversation turns to the value of rhet- oric in general, and what could be done to make it a true branch of expertise or knowledge, rather than something based on and pandering to more fleeting opinions. The contrast between know- ledge and opinion is a basic feature of Plato’s thought, and he always assumed that a philosophical life and worthwhile pursuits were grounded on knowledge and truth, rather than on more superficial values. The dialogue is astonishingly rich, not just in terms of the quality of the writing and thought it contains, but also because of ix
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