Phaedrus

Description

This is an English translation of one of Plato's least political dialogue of Socrates and Phaedrus discussing many theme: the art and practice of rhetoric, love, reincarnation, and the soul. It includes an introduction, notes, glossary, appendices, and an interpretive essay and introduction. Also included are rarely seen illustrations, stone carvings and vase paintings. Focus Philosophical Library translations are close to and are non-interpretative of the original text, with the notes and a glossary intending to provide the reader with some sense of the terms and the concepts as they were understood by Plato's immediate audience.

Stephen Scully is an Associate Professor of Classical Studies at Boston University. He is the author of "Homer and the Sacred City", as well as numerous essays and articles on Homer, Attic Tragedy, and Virgil.

This is a fine translation, both fluent and accurate. It captures the range of tonalities of the original in elegant English that is neither stiffly formal nor cheaply colloquial...The supplementary matter is appropriate and useful. The introduction is crisp and clear, the interpretive essay illuminating...Scully has done a sound and serious job of translating and annotating for the general reader. Above all, his translation is excellent in respect to style and clarity: really a pleasure to read. -- David Konstan, Brown University