Phaedrus

Description

New translation of One of Plato's major dialogues, popular because of its subject-matter- love Phaedrus is widely recognized as one of Plato's most profound and beautiful works. It takes the form of a dialogue between Socrates and Phaedrus and its ostensible subject is love, especially homoerotic love. This new translation is accompanied by an introduction, further reading, and full notes on the text and translation that discuss the structure of the dialogue and elucidate issues that might puzzle the modern reader.

Plato (c.427-347 BC) stands, with his teacher Socrates and his pupil Aristotle, as one of the shapers of the whole intellectual tradition of the West. In the mid-380s, in Athens, he founded the Academy, the first permanent institution devoted to philosophical research and teaching, and an institution to which all Western universities like to trace their origins. Plato wrote over twenty philosophical dialogues, appearing in none himself (most have Socrates as chief speaker). Christopher Rowe is Professor of Greek in the University of Durham, and from 1999-2004 held a Leverhulme Personal Research Professorship. His books include Plato, The Cambridge History of Grek and Roman Thought, and New Perspectives on Plato, Modern and Ancient. He has also translated, and/or written commentaries on Plato's Phaedro, Statesman, and Symposium. His present project is a comprehensive treatment of Plato's strategies as a writer of philosophy.