Person
Phaedrus
Philosophy & Ethics
Writing & NarrativeWho is Phaedrus in the Agency editorial?
Phaedrus was an Athenian of the circle of Socrates, remembered because Plato made him a speaker in the Symposium and named another dialogue after him. The Agency editorial uses the name in both senses: in Issue.13 he is the person, a speaker at the dinner on love, and in Issue.26 Phaedrus is the title of the dialogue.
In short
Phaedrus is the name of an Athenian who appears in the works of Plato, and the Agency editorial uses it in two different ways. In Issue.13, on love, he is the person: the author lists him first among the characters of the Symposium, describes him as a politician and writer, and summarizes his speech, in which love is the oldest and most important god and the source of courage and honor. In Issue.26, on the idea of pharmakon, Phaedrus is the title of a work: after reproducing a video game scene in which Socrates tells the story of Theuth and Thamus about the invention of writing, the author says that the myth is known only because Plato wrote it down in the dialogue Phaedrus. Issue.26 says nothing about the man himself. The Portuguese versions spell the name Phaedrus in Edição.13 and Fedro in Edição.26.
Key facts
- Which Phaedrus does Issue.13 mean?
- The person, as a character in Plato's Symposium. He heads the list of those present at the dinner, described as a politician and writer, and his speech on love is the first one summarized.
- Which Phaedrus does Issue.26 mean?
- The dialogue of that name. The issue says the myth Socrates tells about writing is known only because his student Plato wrote it down in the dialogue Phaedrus.
- What does the speech of Phaedrus say, according to Issue.13?
- That love is the oldest and most important god and the source of courage and honor, and that it is most powerful between a mentor and an apprentice, because it inspires the apprentice to become his best self.
Who is Phaedrus?
Phaedrus was an Athenian who lived in the time of Socrates. He is known through Plato, who gives him the first speech on love in the Symposium and makes him the companion of Socrates in the dialogue that bears his name. These facts come from outside the editions and are marked for verification. He is not the Roman fabulist of the same name.
How does Phaedrus appear in the Agency editorial?
Issue.13 devotes a section to the philosophy of love and presents the Symposium as the book in which Plato turned a dinner of Greek thinkers into a series of speeches in praise of love. Phaedrus is the first name in the list of characters, introduced as a politician and writer, and the first summary under its own heading: love as the oldest and most important god, source of courage and honor, at its most powerful between a mentor and an apprentice. The issue gives the summary in its own words, not as a translation of Plato.
Issue.26 uses the name for the work, not for the man. The issue reproduces a scene from Assassin's Creed Odyssey in which Socrates explains why he does not want his words written down, and then states that this myth has reached us only because Plato wrote it down in the dialogue Phaedrus. From there the author moves to the point that Plato condemned writing in writing, and to the concept of pharmakon.
Source editions
Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.