Phaedrus

Socrates meets a young man named Phaedrus outside the walls of Athens. Phaedrus has just heard a speech about love, and he reads it aloud. What begins as a playful contest between speeches becomes an exploration of love, madness, rhetoric, and the soul. In the Phaedrus, Plato blends drama, myth, and argument to ask how we can know the truth and how we should speak it.

The dialogue contains the famous image of the soul as a charioteer with two horses, a myth about the gift of writing, and a debate about whether true persuasion requires philosophy. Readers interested in ancient Greece, the history of ideas, or the art of conversation will find much to ponder. The questions it raises about love, memory, and communication remain urgent today.

This edition includes the complete text in Benjamin Jowett's classic translation with Jowett's own introduction, a new introduction for first-time readers, a guide to key ideas, a summary of the dialogue, an overview of major themes, a glossary of names and terms, and discussion questions for book clubs or students. It is designed to make Plato's Phaedrus accessible and rewarding for modern readers.