"Love is a serious mental disease."
~ Plato, Phaedrus.
One of the first and greatest literary works concerning love. Socrates and his friend Phaedrus discuss the different loves that exist between humans. The dialogue includes the famous simile in which the soul is compared to a charioteer (the rational element) driving a black steed (the irrational appetites) and a white steed (the spiritual element). Although ostensibly about the topic of love, the discussion in the dialogue revolves around the art of rhetoric and how it should be practiced, and dwells on subjects as diverse as metempsychosis (the Greek tradition of reincarnation) and erotic love.
The dialogue consists of a series of three speeches on the topic of love. They encompass discussions of the soul, madness, divine inspiration, and the practice and mastery of art.
'Phaedrus' is widely recognized as one of Plato's most profound and beautiful works.
This edition includes a newly revised text and a lengthy introduction by classical scholar Benjamin Jowett.
