enthusiasm and divine madness_ on the platonic dialogue phaedrus - josef pieper

7/22/2019 Enthusiasm and Divine Madness_ on the Platonic Dialogue Phaedrus - Josef Pieper

1/127


2/127

$'375

Jf Pip

ENTHUSIASM D

V MSSO P D hau

Plato's famous diaoge, the a, wasvrousy sbtited in atiquit: "On Beauty,

"O Loe, "On te che. It is aso co

erned wth the art of etori, o thought andommunicationDr Peper, noted for the grace and carity

of his ste, gies an miating and stimu

latig interpretation of the diaogue Leaingthe more recondite scar reoccpatioasde, he concetates on the content, bringig the atua situaton i the diaogue -Athens ad its inteectuas engaged in spirited b t i E th di


3/127

Pa Walh GDL, Minster


4/127

JOSEF PEPR

ENTHUSASM and

DNE MADN

O the Pltoic iaogue u

Trste from the Ger

by Richr a Clara Wit

A Hele n Kurt Wl Book

Harcourt, rc & Worl, Inc.

New York


5/127

62 b selVlag KG ngls tanslaton b aot Bae & Wold In

and abe and abe LmtedAll ghts esed No pat o ths book may b epode

n any o o b any manal means ldng mmeogapad tape eode thout pmsso n tg om e pubseFst eto

Lba o Congress Catalog Cad Nmbe 6226Pted e Uted States o AeaOgally pblshed Gemay de

e tle Begeiserung un Gth WhAoedgment s made o pesson to ept otaos om

akoths taslato o Pt' PhCambdge Uesty PssI some ases the translatos had to make slgt ages

ode to onom moe losel Poesso Pepes tetao


6/127

The Author ad the Tralators

ecate his book to the memory o

F F


7/127


8/127

on tes

ED I

The ast of haraters Components in the atmosphereof intelletual thens sophistiated detahment enlight

ened tehniues for ling rude sensualty Sophisry ultiaed ratonalization Hegel Pseudowisdom and false nemporanty Suess as a riterion

The mdrnity of Soraes hs onern is man not nature Mythal tales and myth suh

ysias' speeh on Eros lust without loe Pleasure and

loose talk Mistrust of passion napaiy for emotiononterfeited as prudene The fasination with formalskl Mysterious presene of sared tradition

Irony hampers interpretation Sorates' rst speeh unmasking by literal aeptane The daimoni sgnThe lghning bolt of forthright language


9/127

IV

Th Krkrda Rvrsal: vcat th asthti

ads to lious truth Th pwr o rcatato and

rptac Lov amn r m. Th mrnc

o t mas o th ds Th masqurad so 3

v

Maia a divi it Madss loss o automouslposssso passio, thusiasm. Forms o dvi mad

ss Frst prophtc cstas Dlph Ddoa th

Sib Strlit o th histrical pt o viw E

thusiasm th word. How ds rvlati tak plac

Scod athartc maia. Madss prcndto orpurcatio ad hal. Frz potr and spirati. ss Hldrl Goth B. Who s th

pot

VITru possssio i ca ol o 's wts Th ourth r eia maia: rotic motio atr ad sti th soul Immortalit

Acquiri ws Prmat th whol cosmosFiurativ aua anstat o itllctual humlt Parb d th. Th all th sulYar ad rcollcti Suprml blvd ad su

rml trubli baut Baut s t so uch prorc p Go T rt ur hloshz Frms d dorts Ers. 6


10/127

I

w ds ths accrd with ur w viw truth Ultat pstis ar stakd. Ral a appart dvr

cs rs ad agap Th prxmty spr assuaty. s uslsh lv xist 1

VI

Th scd part th dalu. hat maks a spchbautul s truth als hav d rhtrcTh rat tachrs d t wrt Prayr r bauty

wthi.

NTES 5


11/127


12/127

Frewrd

f we shoud ask hstorans of phlosophy to nam thour or ve most mportant works of Plato the answrswll by no means be unanmous hat s natural enoughBut the Phadrus s arly certan to be the lsts alongwith the Sympsium the Pla* and the Pha

he Phadrus has had a curous fate n the Platonc

scholarshp of the past hundred years. According to onhstoran of phlosophy ths alogue was up to very recently the hotly sputed center of Platonc scholarshp" 1he edate cause of ths sputenamely the questonof the dalogue's datwll not concern us n the followngpages But th queston tself has been kndled by the con-tent and the form of the work. Moreoer the dspute voles a derece of fr more than a fe years or decade ome crtcs for example cleeracer ad Use-ner have mantaned that the Pharus s a very earlywork perhaps the rst book Plato ote n hs youth;

whle others say that the dalogue s obouly te producto age tt te er mt e bee t when h wrote tafte hang already tten th

* I pee to use te Gee name nstead o te moe ama but mseadng Republic


13/127

oiei and the Symposium Kurt Hildebrandt tate:Had it authenticy no been too ecrely etablihed byadition it would have been eay to prove it inauthenticity by the mhod of hitorical critcim in line withthe mood of our upercritical age"

In point of fact the method of htorical criticim haveby now farly well proved that the Phaedrus i actuallythe work of Plato' maturity written during that greatecade to which the Symposium, the Potei, and thePhedo alo belong.

I merely mention all thi ut do not mean to go intothe matter any futher Let u be grateful for the tetimonial to the dialogue' hitorical authenticity and for itsttribution to the year of Plato' highet chievementBut now let u trn or attenton ecluively to the con-ent of the Phaedrus let u eane what it ay

To be ure a I have tated the very peculiarity of whatit say ha led to uch contradctory ating Even i an-tiquity coentator were trouled by the iction andtructure of the Phaedrus We know that Hermeia theeandrian Neoplatonit who wrote a commentary on thedialogue felt called upon to defend Plato agat a varietyof charge: iaturty litic ecess cruenes of ar-metaton an o on.3 Moeover it eem at irt glancetrange not to ay alarming that such a variety of termhas been ued in the attempt to dene the content of thePhaedrus er all it really hould eem poible to ay

what the dalogue i all about. The variou ancient ubtitle Beauty, Loe, the Sou- fact beeuced to a coon denominator Not o the statementof the theme hich have been curent ince chleie-macher' day that i nce the beging of the nineeenth

ll


14/127

century chleermacher hmself held that the real subeof the Phdrus s the art of untrammeled thnkng andof creatve comcaton or dales 4 usemhl kewse translator of Plato and an portat hstoan ofhosophy, declared abou 8: namness s he un-

ont." In 88 the phlosopher Paul Natorp staed tse enttled Plao's Phaedrus he unfyng des ha of comunty" Wlamowtz, n hs uentalbook on Platos lfe and work whch was publshed edtely afer the Fs Wold War, devoed lengthy chpe

o he haerus n whc e eme s dened n enrelydeen erms he ood duced by nae," he wtegave Plao he ength n happy moment to s upeveyhng n s dalogue herefoe I call ths cap-e, wc eas of e Phaedrus, felcous ser day ds ecey eope scol o aug hs ;

know how t s No ae s s e wy I see e poewhose soul ng o eneae by empahy

have aved e mos song ntepreaon o eaoes eme o as Te Phaerus e eweseoy uns, may we e veneaed s e oy Scp-ues o e oundaon o e ec. hs s pu fo

by u deband he eman edto oPhdrus.8

ese vegen epetaons may make us con-e ce eoe we us n wth our own analyss ofe haeus d coness ha I myself have estate

o neay en yeas On e one and ave epeaedbeen ascnated y cea passages ths dalogue. eect upon the bes nds of e ages has been etraod-nayno s dcult to ee why lderl for eamle,wanted hs own magncent aesetc doctrne to be de


15/127

stood as a kd of commentary on the Phadrus. On heother had oe s bwldered by the strange assortmentof terpretatos. rom abstract ddactcsm to setmentalromantcsm elucdaton has run wld nd the daloguetself as a lterary work s also a somewhat bag matter

at rst and unfortuately at secod glance. It seems to falnto two major parts whch are qute stnct from eachother. Moreover they seem to have nothng whatsoever too wth each other.

hs vry dsproporton" Usener says ths awkward

arrangemnt of the dalogue s a sure ndcaton of theauthor's youth." But f we consder only the rst part,whch s the most mportant t tns out tht t s farlyconsstent thematcally. On the other hand ths theme sscussed a extremely strage manner here are threespeeches. he rst of them s a quotato from begnnng

to end. ome nterpreters beleve t s meant as a parodyof the suppsedly quoted author. In any case ths rsspeech s presented as the statement o a man who s notpreset; t s read aloud. he secod speech s delveredby ocrates hmself; but almost as soon as he shes t hesays that he dd not mean any of t serously that t s a

shamefully false. nd then the thd speech he makesa detaled presetaton of the exact opposte of what hehad sad before.

o ll the cup of confuson to the rm moreoverscholars tell us that noe of these three speches whc

take up a good haf of the entre daogue meas anythngat all n terms of content; that they are rather meresamples rhetorcal models and practce peces hen oes tmean nothng we are bound to ask that all three speecheseal wth Eros o whch queston we receve the answer


16/127

a hs subect possessed a specal attracveness o thoung men of Athens

Nevertheless I beleve t s worth attemptg an nter-pretaton of the Phedrus hose sectons of t whosemeanngs can be decphered th some certanty reveal

anwer llnate so much of our han realty tha wecaot bu feel the dalogue s worth our cloe attentonand our thought. Indeed taken as a whole t s alwaysworth whleor perhaps I hould say tha t always be-hooves usto lsten to Plato. Not only order to lear

somethg about Plato although we wsh to do that too;but above all to become aware of certa fundamentalapects of exstence whch Plato sees names and res tanalyze For we stll tand before these aspects of exstence perplexty; we tll need the terpretaton.

In he ollowg pages I do not clam to have found a

soluton. ather we shall sply have to leave a goodmany engmas as nsoluble as ever. Nor ll we be pr-marly concerned th lookng or a sgle uderlygdea We hall also not look for a formula that mght -marze the entre content of the dalogue the manner ofa headlne. Nor hall we exane he queston whch has

so long ccuped the scholars namely how he Phedrust to Plato's phlosophcal system"; the poton the system" s the ttle of one chapter n a work enttledStruture nd Chrter of Platos PhedrusU he fact hat there no uch thng as a Plaonc ystem. hose who

ruly know Plato have tme and aga had o admt tht mwt te u bk ct rredat no completey lgcal unty hs tecng and belefsconceng he human oul." h qute truebutWlamowtz contnues the entence n a hghly queto

XV


17/127

e nne. Thoe who ove Po hun being, e

goe on, uiaey coe round o deghing in heee condicion which e o iniey eed o ean nd o hi ou"

I u confe h uch poin of view ke e

o dconcering And I y o iagine how Po, oeven Soce, woud hve eced f nyone hd id

hi To be e, I ee no oc conecion in wh youe ying, bu I gd h you e o vi peon

y, o fu of condicion!" Rhe, ee o e, hevue of Ponic inigh e fo hei hvng been

gined fo coe enon of e ubjec eunde dicuion, fo hei hving ien igh ou ofhe cua dogue ny hough of whehe heeu coodine wih ohe inigh deived fo ee-

where Thu, he bence of coheren ye i no ign

of ine condicion in Po ind, bu i hece wih ohe ge hker uch Aioe, Auguine,nd Tho Aquin k of ci epec fo he unhobiiy o he ivere


18/127

NTS ASM A ND D NE MD NES S


19/127


20/127

e "cast of charactes Componnts in the atmosphere of intellecual Athens: sophisticate etachment, enlightene "techniues forving, crue sensuality ophistry "cultivate rationaliation

Hegel) Pseuowisom an false contemporaneity uccess a

criterion. he "moernity of ocrates his concern is man, notnature Mthcal tales an myth as such.

Th rt ln of th alou nam th cat of charac

r," th dramatis personae mut not merely lanca th rt lne and pa on, for Plato' hat to peahrouh th l pronalte of the parcpant n haloue ndeed, thee characer themele expre hdea alot more nently than h the and propoon.

The rt le contan only two name : Socrate andPhaedr.

The Socrat of th aloue mode emly rreconcilal feature wt, pleaure in mocery, and an aton toward parody, uch a we carcely ncountr

other aloue But then w nd the m manrptly pean n mythc ma aut th fate of thhan oul. n elated lanuae he prae odnpedcap rom oneelf n ctay. th th old hand of hcan he uncoer th mo tmat ecret of Ero


21/127

d tn co t con t a prayr. l al,h tr on, a lamowtz 1 ay a an altogtr nSocratc Socrat.

ntrlocutor, Pharu, mt ha n an qallyiid caratr to th contmporary Athnan. tho

of toay wo want to har th orton, whch Platointn to ar, mt try a far a pol to rcontrct ti idn. cannot tr too trongly thgncanc a Platonic alog mt ha had for thontmorary rar mly on th a of it lt of par

tipant." To or nilty, Plato omtm cam proly clo to ng almot naraly drct. That om nt a oon a w attmpt to tranlat Platoway of going aot thingin th ympim aytoh trm of or own tim. t wold a though w orhar Alrt Eintin, Ortga y Gat, Brt Brcht, and

an octa an imaginar onratonimaginaryn yt n tl fahion xtrmly ral."

Bt, thn, who i Phadr? i on of t larnr Socrat ntorag, on of tho yong Athnan whor nthiatcally an ncrically ot to thir matr, t who alo tn to lr y ll th latt na

onal fa.Plato tch t yong mn th ndgu irony

lay ar thir immatrity, thr tlty, tirxcin Bt hi irony i actionat it tr thnot of a grown man contmlatng h own you d it

may rally , t m to m, tat Plato wo a w now rtntly lnt aot hlf t alogu) may fac ha portray himlf in th yong Athnian.t ay a, w woul proaly graing only half ofPlao ntion if w imply charactrzd Phadr a


22/127

n crcal culur ltur 2 r rn f callnthuam and upercal educan wh ealy fall c to any kd f pecoune Of cure th later charcterzatn true Plat hmlf ay the ame tn uPlat alo tell u mrfr example, that Phaeru de

r one of the net of the peece of the ympsm rae f le n mlar fahn Plat dne Apollod whm the Athenan tk t calln the madmanftr he ecame a fllower of Socrate, y makn hm threrter of what went n dr the feat n Aathon'hue)

n the preent dalou Phaedru Socrate le trlcuor t he emere from a rup f character whwere equally well known t the rader of Plat' day andme of whm were tnctly unary Phaedu muthae poed h noe deep nt that atmophere pced y

o many and arou eence he rt le of the daloue read a fllow rates here do you come from,Phaeru my frend, and where ar y gn er'e een th ya, Socrate, the on of ephalu, andm o for walk oude the wall, after a long mornngttn there On the ntructn of or commn frend

Acenu tak my wal on th open rad h tell mthat mre ngoratng tha waln n the clonnadorats Ye, h' rht ayn o ut ya, takt, town haers Y, tay th Epcra, nthat hue whr Morychu d t , cl t th tmpl

of Olympan Zeue may e cned to reard t a a mere troductonto real uect matter f the daloue, and a rather lamd oral trodcton at that n actuaty t alady par nd parcl of the real uect ut th ecme


23/127

apparent only if we know the personalities concealed behind those names which are dropped so carelessly, wt-ut fther explanation.

The rst of them, ysias, s a Sophistic speechwriter, iterary man of great technical ability, master of a s-

tguished prose style. His persuasiveness when he is lyinis especially arable.4 Phaedrus in a moment wl cal

h the ablest writer of our day." Moreover, he i the

scion of a respected conservative family; but this yogereneration" as broken w ts fathers in revolutionary

ashion. The upheavals of the last years of the Pelopon-esian Warwhich came close to being a Thirty Years'Warare destroying the old order of things. When thewar ends, Lysias s expropriated, his brother executed, and

e himself goes into exile. The irst speech he writes is an

indictment of his brother's murderer. Here, then, is abiography which miht very well have been cast in aheroic" mode

At the beginning of the great dialogue on the State,Socrates inds Lysias' father, Cephalus, sitting in the inner

court of his home, wearig a garland, for he had been

sacriicing. Socrates asks im what seems to him to havebeen the greatest blessing of his ife and the old man beginsto tell about his cares he wonders whether the trditional

stories of reward and punishment after death ma no betrue after all and so he is trying to dra u his reongih hmsef and to restore any unju aqured oods(0 dand so on.

Anoher secor of this enlghtened socie is mad up ofthe devotees of the bettr technique for livng ult, theheath adsts and subcribers to he mod a o


24/127

ature movement which, it must be said, is boh anxouslyollowed and at the same tme sneered at by ths verysociety. Typcal examples of these highly fashonablehealh reformers are Acumenus and hs son Eryxmachus,who cdenay s Phaedus' partcular frend, or more

precisely, hs lover hs is the same Eryxmachus ho athe begnnng of the Symposim is barely sopped fromeliverng a techncal medcal speech on the evl eecsf drunenness

Epicraes, th whom ysias is staying, is characterized

y Arsophanes as a rhetorcan and demagogue e s,it seems, a rather doubtful customer who is somehatcavaler about the dstinction between Mne and hneUltimately he wll be condemned to death for treason andribery.5 As for Morychus, I shall merely quote the tersenoe gven in PaulyWssowa ragedan, undoubtedly of

the owest ran, whose princpal terests were culnarypleasues.

Thus, in the rst lnes of the dalogue, Plato evoes theatmosphere in which these young Athenian intellectualsive. Thers s a world of sophsicated reverence and detachment, f enlghtened health doctrines and smultaneous

epraty And in the mdst f these posonous fumes,strangely untouched but gravely imperled, e nd Phaedus Comng straght from such company, he mees ocates, who at once ass him what his frends had taledabout Though he aready can surmse : o doubt ysas

gave the company a feast of eloquence, served up hs lates,just completed show pieces"It tns out that ths guess is correct Moreover, ths

time, Phaedrus sys, the subect as somethng hch esecially conces ocraes he topc is aprrae fo


25/127

227

22-

yo ears Socrates" For Lysias' new terary work is logo oiko a speech about loe The ablest writer o

our day" Phaedrus says has brought to light somethg

icredibly subtle etirely ew ad origial o this ageoldad ehaustible theme As amost all the Patoic a

loges the situaio the Phad is rom the stagoeed by the ethusiasm o the youger geeratio oSopstry. Perhaps we should erm it asciatio ad echatmet rather tha ethusiasm Pato himsel the

dialogue Proagoa ( ) ha depicted what must e

ma the classical eample o this attitude He describes detail how Hippocrates who is very youg comes nig og beore dawn to Socrates ad wakes m Socratesaiously asks whether ayhig ad has happeed.

Whereupo Hippocrates thks no ther eplaaion sneeded tha the aoucemet that Protagoras has arried.

He sists hat Socrates must ioduce him to the amousSophist at oce The yog ma is eady to sacriice a

his moey ad i ecessa his rieds moey also.Phaedrus is the same type as Hippocrates I he cou

oly say by hea all that this man has said it would meanmore to him tha cog to a ore" he declae

d o course boe all say it t wa Lysias said iSocrates preteds o be all agog at his. He isists a

Phaedrus tell him what Lysias said I wo't leae you

ee i you eted your walk as ar s Megara" By empg hm th the prose o hearn such seeches he con

inues Phaedrus could lead all roud Attica the way hgry goat is led by holg gree leaves beore it.he Phaedrus becomes coy Socates grows impatien.

He chas Phaedrs by oce moe describig the boy's bmused state: Phaedrs ust ha een stening to Lysia


26/127

2

eec beg reeated a og nti e grew weand went or a wa, recin te eec to ieUpon y word, I elieve he had leat the hole peecby eart" ) And ten, to his great pleasure, out i tecotry e cae on e an who a a pasion o

listening to scourse" e et, tat is, soeone to hari enied entuias And e nsist ta Paedrudrop hi petended elctance ad ote the peec, icee obviousl can carcel wait to do so

A oon a Paeu begins, Socrate terrupt h

aai Sow e what it i tat ou ave i ou let handde our cloa; or I ie at it i te actual dicoure And e isit tat Paedrus ead it alod

This enthiam o Atenia oth o Sophi aoetime ee to u ligtl iprobable Bu e utealie tat it wa a act we wi to dertand not onl

lato tone, but alo i conce, and te genc o thatonce

We eall ould dic Sopitr oeha greateetai; but o coe tat i not posible i thi conteoweve, we all erit oureles tee bie ea

Fit The grea Sopit were not ut a grou e

a intellectal aleuin wo proclaed abedea Rate, the epeented a level o tellectuaic ad reaced te ltimate degree o peectio o-ible at the time Te itoian are igt i peai e a onder o oal edcatio n te Wet Wee

aege calls the Sopist e rt huanists

eel aa te Sopt ebod cutiated ationaliaion eneral 8 I e look or conteporar anaoie to tephenomeno o Sopistr we wod have to earc aone ost advanced representative o hau lau

9


27/127

Send: t is ineent in te ntue f Spisty th is ut t pin it dwn Ave , te destutive eementin it is d t egnize A is ife Pt ws nstntymking new ets t d s In digue written very ten ife, entited The Sophist e went k t te vey eginnings t sk: Just wt is Spist As is we knwn,s iint mn s Aristpnes egded Stes s Spist In te wrds, Stes ws nfunded wth teexteme ntitesis t is nture Wt tis mens istt Aristpnes did nt undestnd the Sphists is

tte, fr his prt, repetedy deined Sphisty s pseudowsdm Jn Wid, te distinguished Amein intepeterf Plt, sys Te Sphist seems just ike phisperHe tks just ike phisper In ft we my sy tthe ppers even me like phisphe thn the pisopher himsef 9

Tird: Sphisty is phenmenn whih, s Hege sys,reurs in ges, 10 nd wih we must theefre eprepred t enunter every eph t is inheent in thenture f Spistry t expund te vntgde ides fny given time It wys presumes t e extly wt isneessy nd ret nw; t e the timey nd mdenthing Sphistry nd tpility re rdinte nepts in higy speii sense f urse tis des nt men thtvntgdism is wys nd neessriy Shisti; utin tis rem we must nstnty e peped f msuerde Spisty is pseudntempneityut te

sm is diut t unmskf we nsider refuy wht Pt sid ut the Sists nd hw he repesented them, we wi reize tht eevienty pereived exty wt ws dngeus uttem f al ges, nd tt e identied tt dngeus


28/127

lement re are a numer of pont n te teacnof te Sop c are jut a pertnent today a tywere n fourtcentury Aten. or example: after Socrt, accompaned y youn ppocrate, a made wyto Protaora eary n te mornn, e a te celerated

ae at one can earn from m e aner run : Youcan earn from me o to mae your ay uccefuytrou fe, a a prate peron and ao a a ctzn Sucompetence n fe condered to e aret, rtue ro agoras, 8 e) u, te teacn of Protaora, temeaure of man equated t capacty to aceeucce: rtne mean ucce But t Soptc concepton of rtne o ery remote from toe e ofman n c utty made te tandard for eery umancton and, to expre t e totataran term, eency repreent te upreme aue n ot cae, e t

oted, at noed not merey te factua and practcal apect of fe, ut a aluejudment and proram:Eerytn tat ere ucce ood eerytn tatnder t ad But at der ucc Poopcalheoria, for exampe, tat to ay, tat mode of approac te ord c am oey or cey at one ne

tn: to nd out te nature of reaty. Poopcalheoria am at trut nd notn ee cero and Senecatranated te ord theoia nto atn and te ord teoe to render t a ontempatio e need ony ayte ord to reaze o contemporary te Soptc te

But t not ony contempatonte vita ontempativtat der te ma o a made prcpa oato ecome mater and owner of nature to ue Dearte' prae 11 . ao e ndered y te ontmoton c may mae foret te practca am o


29/127

227c 7

ie; ioet eotio i the face of death, fo exape

fom expeiec the spehma; or, ao, te ioen

emotio of loe Te alteaties ae aoidance of existe-

tial eotios by pacticin a atioal ife patten, bmetodical exclio of eerytin ta anot be planne

(wic cldes bot tilitaian social plani ad -vidal poras fo a ccessfl life). stead of eu-

e ne upeaal, artiicial tcats ad exciteets

an be admiisteed caefl doses Ad te eason ta

Sopism cones to ae pertence, acoss e span

aes, is a te eoies and porams o Sopis pe

ese alteasIt is pecisely is sort of in a s te eel t

speec b Lysias, a copy o wic Paedrs is carn

unde is loa n abot wic s s ensiastic Is a speec abo loe, Eos Paes sms p its conten

a sle senence: Lysias mantans andsoe boshold ie te favo o nonlos ae tan to loeTerein, Paeds ads, lies sbet e cleeess

ist f tis spec.Now we ma s: s ta ot s nonsense, simply an

abita cncei, a sillinss vened eely f sa

bein outre? B mat s o s simple Watee dtails o n s la a e spec

propses as nomati stnda se an njymn

without lov.12

A we ead alo i te aoe, o e explaation

is ered The statement is eel made and ten, s iseems comletel ootten o a wile Paeds sees

t b mpessed solel b e formal eleanc of t lan-a and stcte te spec b e einement e ue o niteis d e enors stylisti taln


30/127

227c

230c

Lysias has dsplayed The style seems o have claimed allhis aenion and airaion. The conen is scarcely e-garded Probably a similar reacion may ofen be observed the younger generaion of any age. The youg wa en-thusiasic over the mos destucive, mos shocking, mos

mmoral heoriesand upon closer examinaion i sou ha they are aos enirely indieren o he conenof such saemens They are fascinaed by he unusual,y the elegance and excessiveness of presenaion

Socraes oes no immediaely his aenion o heconen of he speech, eiher His response is purely ron-cal he commens tha if favor were hus graned o a poorman raher han a rich one, or an old man raher han ayoung one, hen a leas i would bene him, Socraes.All this is mere gay, sociable chaer, a long way fromserious discourse

everheless, as a wrer Plao does no go in for merepadding While the wo, Socraes and Phaeus, saeraay from he ciy, alking alog he brook Ilissus andnally wadng barefoo in is waers, somehng deniehappens" The pair sho us more plainly he kind ofpeople hey are And Socraes shows us a wholly ne side

of himself He sands before a all plane ree and nds iall lovely: he fragrance, he genle breeze, he waer, thegrass u he speaks of i as hough he were seeng all hisor he rs ime You srange man, Phaedrus says, youalk like a foregner being sho he counry by a guide

Don' you ever se foo ouside he walls of he ciy?ereup oes mkes ep w es me nro a sidelgh on his own personaliy i sums up ahole epoch of nellecual hisory Trees and open couny, he sys, won' ech me anhng, wheeas men


31/127

2c

te tow do" he philosophers whom we c he pre-Socrics quired ino he sructure of the cosmos hsew genertion, to which boh the Sophists nd ocrteselong, do ot just give a new answer (to the old ques-tion) ; they ask dierent quesions t prrily ter-

ests them is no longer nre, the cosmos, but manPhedrus sks nother question, in quite incidentlly

The two pss by spot which remnds Phedrus of thetraditionl story of the rpe of the ymph reihyi byBores, nd he sks whether it hppened here, by theIlissus But pry tell me, Socrtes, do you believe thtstory to be true"

o this ocrtes replies n somewht enigmtic wyIf I disbelieved this story, s the me of science do, I wouldot be t loss; I would tlk awy cleverly nd explintht the norh nd blew the girl from a high cli nd

people then sid She hs been seized by Bores ht sortof erprettion is lwys possible in a given cse Butthen wht bout Centurs nd Chimers, orgons nPegsuses bviously, not ll such stories could be explined in the sme mnner yone who ttemped to dso would hve to hve gret del of te t his dispos

Consequently, Socrtes goes on, I don't bother bout ucthings; I believe in them s custom demnds ht rellyconcerns me is the question of who I myself m: I cn'tas yet know myself,' s the inscription at Delphi enjoins

his reply hs been en to represen Socrs iew ofhe myhs, nd hs been inerpreted s foows: He isdieren o he mhs; wht ineress him is he ehiclsubject's rionl knowledge of self; he respects supea-tionl nformtion of myhic origin, but feels he hs note to dwell on it


32/127

The matter is, as have said, rather complicated andannot be discussed detail here. But think the follo-ng point is the decisive one There are mythic tales, andthere is Myth as such there are a variety of traditions,and there is Tradition. Myth and Tradition as such ear

n the heart of existence they ear on man's salvation.Wherever these concepts crop up in the Platonic ritingsas, for example, the narratives of the origin of theverse, of the primal state and fall of man, of judgmentafter deathocrates clearly and strongly proclaims hi

unconditional veneration O such occasions ocrates doesnot talk aout havg no time for Myth he goes to considerale lengths to delve into its meaning


33/127


34/127

sias speec o Eos lust without love Pleasure an loose talkMistrust of passion Incapacity for emotio couterfeite as pru

ce e fascinatio wit ormal skill Mysterious presece of

acre traitio.

Except for a sgle reference, so far nothing has been saidof the subject of the alogue love But we have been madecognizant of the situation i which the scourse will take

lace One of the chef elements of that situation is thepervasive postwar mod" of detachment It is a rathernobbstic aude and is characterzed by a lack of tiesr allegances of any sort From this standpoint, a respector tradition dicates a lack of real uality the man ofue telligence tracks down defects" 1 he scarcely dis

mulated sensuality is combined with a scientc iteresti techniques for living All this is articulated and made acceptable by means of the verbal mgc of Sophistry Adthe class of youg itellectuals is fascinated, bewiched,hypnotized by it all On the other hnd, they are oddlynnocent and immune to the really desructive aspects ofsuch deahment eause the enhusasm s roused meby form han by conent, moe by manner han y maerOne of hese boys, Phaedrushe, to, smultaneously fasciated and mue, tll ecstatic over Lysias' speech n


35/127

30e

ove wic e as just eardmeets Socrates, as we aveeen. And Socrates is amost oensivey sober, is an outpoken antiSophist. But at the same time he is passionateystirred by the same uestions that excite the yougergeneration Herein Socrates does not sho the stuy co

servatism of the usual Athenan antiSophists He s usas modern" as the Sophts copletely accet huestions they raise; h shar e xcluiv intre an His dierences wth the conce not the usonsut the answers This, then, the man wth ho Phae-us is aking. The two settle down uder a plane tree ythe Issus Proceed," Socrates says. hereupon Paedrustakes out the roll of manuscript. Here you are thenAnd he reads Lysias' speech

If we were approaching thi dialogue of Platos fro acholarly oint of vie we woud e rought u short onc

more at this point. A speech by Lysias? e we really toelieve that Pato uote word for word any pages another writer? Some Pato scholars aong them Wilamowitz, Friednder, Hidebrandt answer this uestion aativey Ad ter arguments are worth a hearing Firstthe speech exacty correspond to Lysia' tye a we have

met it elsewhere Second It would e impossibl for Platoaritrariy to attribute to th famous orator [Lysias] apeech which he then dissects" 2 Thrd to introduce iforeign eement into the diaogue which acts ke th eastin the dough" is an iensely clever stylistic devce

ther terpreters, for exmpe Hackforth and Westock,matan that of course Pato was enoug of a iter toinvent a seech precisey in the style of Lysias, that, in-deed, he s prone to do so, as the speeches of Aristophaneand Agathon in the Symposum deostrate ach a is

8


36/127

s o dvdual and stakable dcton, do the subtlest nuancand no on has ever come forthth the absurd idea tat at most a quarter of te -osium s Plato's own work. Moreover, Hackforth ponsut, Plato s ot at all conceed th ysias as a d-

dual he is terested, rather, th tir school.sias or someon else"the phrase is actually rpatral ties th Pdr.)

c agai I entio is conoversy ol o o it seems to m there is o ay of sett t a conclu-siv argument. tha rally nterests us hr is Platosbous opnio tha such a speech is possible, form anabove all contet; possibl for an probably character-stic of a man hom such brght youg me as Phaedrusega as the mos poant iter of the tes.

o hat of the speech tself? Rght at th begng

of his conversaion th Socrates, Phaeus gave a briefsketch of it: he discussion . . concerned love ysias,you must kno, as described how a handsome boy astempted, but o by a lover; that's the clever pa of it; hmaitains that surrender sould be to one ho is not in lovat than to one who is"

K ildebrandt says his speech is profoudlyabous, and one is temped to see it as uequivocallyas" But, he contues, that cannot be hat is meant, for it ere th meaning of the whole dialogue would bedistorted."

The matter is really exceedingly complicaed But be-ore e aem anayze e nen o e see, ll be orh our ile to glane once more at is fomalstrucur. ysias is, as w have said, a writer of speeces;h composes speeches hich ar delivered by someon


37/127

23

else It is therefore prt of his trde to identify with hemind of nother mn d to put ords to tht mn'smouth. In o present cse the other mn is someone whois suing for the fvor of hndsome boy he speech istherefore cotship speech n the other hnd, it is lso

iction"; it is n a-if courtship speech. Moreover, it is argment; it begins t poit fer the essence of thespeech hs lredy been stted his essence, which wouldbe the centrl feture o a rel couship, is assumed; it ispssed over in silence, but in such a mnner tht no s

understnding is possible You know how I m situted,nd I hve told you tht I think it to our dvntge thtthis should hppen ith these words, which sod rtherlike a concluding sentence, the speech begs. hus theliterry rtistry, the stylistic skill, is linked with somehingaltogether dierent ht ppers to be aristocrtic dis

cretion actully serves to concel something altogethercorse. Friedlnder clls it the prtnership of physicltiction nd gbble6 Here speks a mn who desiresand dmittedly does not love; nd his speech serves to concel and to ece the brutish instinctul drive tht is bentonly on crude enjoyment, physicl desire and nothg

else" 7 n the other hnd, this eloquence also ttemptsto justify the lck of rel love, the noninvolvement of theumn person ht is relly so bd, n fct inhumn,about this ttitude is not the crvng or sensul grticon, but te deliberte, sstemtic seprtion of sensulity

from spiritulity, of sex rom love.his seprtion isif we now consider contentthe relsubject of the speech which Pheus reds loud to Socrtes ow I clim tht I should not be refused wht sk simply becuse I m not yo lover.


38/127

232

4

23

here re three things hich re unied hee in teediu of rully dieenied lnguge he irst is adiscreetly cnceled im which, howeve, is fully uderd, is tken comleely for gnted, nd is ressed itimlacble consistency: sensul giction the most

drstic mening of the term r s A E ylor uts itUtility in the most sdid sense of the word" 8 hesecond is n emhic nd exlcit reecion nd devluon of erotic emoion, of the pao aoi Here paiodoes not men sson i the sense of excessive vehemence;rther, it mens only tht one is seized by suerior force,t one is crried y by soething Moreover, thehole self is crried y; the force is n overhelngone, not merely n isolted stiulus; rther, one is fected as a hysicl nd siritul being ysis' rgumentlicitly reects this ssive sect of love, ssive i the

sense of sething hening to the self hird the lost technicl obectivty of mere sensul grtiiction (aomn is tken s a lss of ter is dunk to quenchthirst is resented as something ehiclly vluble, sprudence, good sense, vrtue ysis ctully uses theord arte in contrdstinction to (not s lover,

ut by virtue Aginst this the erotic emoion pers to be something ntithetic to orderliness, to befolly nd irrionlity, not to sy sickness ith htsounds like morl indignion ysis bids us only o look tthe lovers"; they themselves kno they re sic nd

dit it Even in the iblicl Song of Songs ( ; 8 ) n ne of e ey few sses w e wd aoccurs t ll in the in Vuge, the rse is aango, I m sick wih love"

The Sophiss, then, ith their ides on proer livig


39/127

technique, delore nd reudite such excess And they doso, be it noed, not i the nme of ny scetic ide ndethicl cntrol of the will, but i the nme of being wth-out illusions. ut such relism is ctully nothing butck of ccity for devtion it is egocentric fer tht

plesure my be lost it is siritul overy nd deriv-tion. Lysis' seech, th its vst rtus of words, rhet-oric, nd rgumention, ttemts to reresent desire with-out love, crvng for lesure without the cpcity foremotion, s something quite menngful nd desirble. We

ust relize ths th utter clrity otherwise we shl notunderstnd the olr oosite which Plto then conjures upor us Tht oposite s the ortrit of sol which receivesto ts depths the eotion roused by sensuous beuty,nd sultneously renoces physic grtiiction otht euty. We re tempted to sy tht this sme concep

tion is to be fod the works of Pul Cludel. ut thatwoud ceiny be nticpting.

We ust once more look t the speech which Phaedrusas red loud to Scrtes der the noondy shde of theplne tree by the Ilissus The three fctors we hve men-oned (the tcit but unequivocl ai o sensul plesure

the deprection of pass; the elevtion of inccity oreotion nd devotion to rudence, good sense, tue) constitute the sustiing ide, the true content of thespeech. But the seecker s highly cultivated, nde therefore, while expsiting these bsic ides, cnnot

elp troducg good del tht s true nd correct, orat lest signiicnt nd highly suggestive. is tent nths direction mkes the lne of rgent so much therder to see through. For exmple, the ortor is abso-uey right when he sys tht the excess inherent every


40/127

assionate eotion aes a eson inept in dealing witte practical aairs of life. Tose appenings wic can-not be predicted, wic pierce te soul, wic coe asovewelig, transforing eotional upeavals, can inoto a be tted to te orderly syste of a rationl

onduct of lfe. Yet on te oter and an by virte of isae s deed alled pon to conduct is life rationally.ee s an everasting roble involved erea robleot o ethical teor and for practical conduct TheStoic ide of a life witout passion ever and again co-

ends itself b its plausibility. Nevertheless it us per-orce lead to a peraps respectabe ut at botto unnaturalstasis. It is te nae of an as a physical and spiritualeg that e be open to sattering eotion susceptible toeing carried away. Te passin anima cannot be sienced witout leading to inuanity either te inu-

anity of rigid rationalty o of brutish sensualitybothof wich ave in comon te qualities of being unroantic," obective, and safe fro eotion" Real anis a being by nature given to sattering eotion. A gooddeed is bette for aving been cotted with passion. ourse it is also true tat a bad deed coitted witpassion is all te worse9

O corse Lysias is stating a truth, though a trivial one, saying that only the lover nows ealosy, whereas tenonloe is fre of tat particular folly. How indeed couldjealousy eist in te real of ercenar love"

Te ollog arguent deserves ore consideratione aso ve hen he an ahe ateland yet tis love is not passion, not sattering eroticeotion not frenzy Here e ae approaching attershic are ard to pt into words we can only touch on


41/127

te st, we shuld cnsider the rearable fact thatanguage des nt use the wrd lver" fr parents lvingthe chilen, nr fr chilen lving the parents, nrr brthers and sisters lving ne anther, nr fr thselined in friendship d when the ystics see an analgy

fr the lve f Gd, they nd their cparisn in erticve which is indled by physical beauty we ust readonce re rancis de Sales's explanatin fr his callinghis faus b nt Tait de a diectio de Dieu, butait de ' amou de Dieu10

There are, then, a variety f clever, thughtprving,and dicult arguents that Lysias, r whever ay becncealed behind his nae, winds lie garlands arund theundaentally slender scalding f his real thesis

After reading the speech, Phaeus exclais agan Istthat extrarnarily ne Hw, urt Hildebrandt ass,

can the nble Phaeus" read such a thing withut re-pugnance T Hildebrandt, this inncent enthusiassees t prve that the speechhwever uch Lysiasuld be capable f advcating the cld baseness f e-yent withut lvecannt really be eant s crudelyas the language suggests Certainly all this is ot eep

ing with the character f yg Phaedrus His speechon lve, with which the Symposium begins, cannt be entined in the sae breath with Lysias' speech The yposium shws us an enthusiastc Phaedrus stirred by thepwer f Ers he des nt sa a wrd at the ratica-

tin f desre r even f the bliss f feeling Instead, hisspeech cncerns the utterst that can be deanded fan, the utimum potentiae, which the lver alne wuldbe ashaed nt t et nly lve akes an capale fvicarius sacrice, indeed, f heric acceptance f dath


42/127

234c 7

234c

obily, love of onor, bravery are te virtues wic guis te loversuc is te style and tone of Paedrusspeec in the Symposium. d this sae Phaedus re-gards Lysias spech on the sae thee of love as ex-traordinarily ne" We ust, owever, read the sentence

to te endespecially in pot of language" Paedrus,tat is, is ipressed particularly by the aner, the dic-tion, te linguistic virtuosity His enthusias is priarilyindled by te urely foral eleet he conte doesnot see to ineest iwic, of course, does not eantat te thesis ay no tae eect after all, perapsiperceptibly at is appeng ere is, as we ave said,soeting extreely tical e fascating aspect ofSartre, Brect, Ionesco is teir manne content and sub-stance are not only beside e point, but to spea of teis to prove oneself a vulgarian Are te wors of tese en

true or false, good or bad, constructive or destructive, s-leag, seductivesuc questions are ased only by toseo do not understand great literature Plato, ten, ouldundoubtedly ave to be reconed aong suc vulgariansfor e banised Hoer, who he ad loved and adiedfro is yout on, fro is republic because the eat poet

related unorty tings about te godsBut it is not enoug for Paedrus to adire te speec

all by iself e sees coniration fro a fellow entusiast at do you tin of te speec, ocrates" docraes coplies wit is wis e speec is daimoios,

devilisly ine indeed . . I was trilled by it " enocrates talks this way, we sould of ourse be on ouguard yone who as the sligtest failiarity with tePlatonic dialogues knows the cuing ingenuty tich Socrates deligts in playing te part of being wholly


43/127

2

ae , uery echaed by Sophsc verba magc. sw Apoogy begs wih such a admisso hs accusers,

e says, have spoken so persuasvey that they have amostade hm forget who he was. The strongest satemet ofths sort s probaby to be foud e daogue Mnxnus

whch Socrates taks of the speeches whch are customaryt patroc ceremoes hoorg those who have died forte coury, ad whch every magabe prase sashed ot oy upo the dead but aso upo the vg,a of whomsofar as they are Aeasare gored

I stad seg to ther words, Meexeus, ad becomechated by them, and a of a sudde I mage mysefto hav grow up o a greater ad ober ad er matha I was before . Ths coscousess of dgty astse or tha three days, ad ot unt the four or ftay o I come to my seses an kow wher I am I the

eatm I have bee g the Isads of e Best, sucs the a of o rhetorcans.

Therfor we must be o the ae. Socrates has sad hath was thred. However, e goes o to say that wasspecay deghted t the sght of Phaedrus ehusasmI took my cue from you, ad therefore oed th

ecsasy of my rght worshp compano.Ths soem ad uie uSocratc remark makes Phae

s uasy. Come, come! Do you mea to mak a okef t? does ot wat to be sodged from s ecstatcood. Te me ty, as oe ed to aother, do you

th there s ayoe Greece who coud make oreportat speech o the same subect?T ths Socrates respods by askg a uesto s

: Wat you mea by portat? Are yu refe th cotet r th form? D yu mea th k f


44/127

35

235c 2

a us be judged fro e poin of vie of truth or faseood or do ou ean the anner Socraes sees no e read o enter ino serious discussion of the subjecn so e ateps o leover he fora aspec hice eal regards as upoan He goes on to sa a

e as no consideed he conent and after al knos nog bou such aters; a ha nterested hi as ereorc the retorc he us dd as poor; te saeng repeaed hree es ttle inventiveness; perapssias anted o deonsrae a he could sa e sae

hi one and hen aga in a eren a each iet equa sleBu haeus refuses o be pu o He consiers is

ero' s speec agniicen in bot for and conen; siasas not overlooked an iportan aspect of he subjec anno one could possibl ave scussed it better

Abruptl the seriousness of te conversation s restoredalthough onl brie Socrates sas th grea iressNo" If I ere to ait ou ere right about his I oudbe confuted b the ise en and oen of the past theAnciens the paaioi for he spoke dierentl bou lovend no spite of te ga and sociable lightness of tone

perhaps e a sa in spite of the alos drows idle-ness of the talkthere follos a crucial staeent abouthe Ancients and his own relationshi to he Phaedruants to kno exac who Socrates is referring to Whoare hese ncients o said anthg better than Lsias

Socrates' rep is deieratel vague can't tel ou oand; ut I'm sre I ave eard sometng better rmthe fai appho abe or the wise areon or perhapsoe prose riter" At an rate he coninues e as othedeas abou the aer nd ceranl sewha beer ones


45/127

235

35c

e coulnt have ht upon thee hmelf o I uppoe itcan onl be that t h been poured into e through ear nto a veel from ome external ource thoughin tupd fahon I have actuall forgotten ho andro hom I heard t

We mut a ha been aid imagne all th a pokenb ocrate th extreme nonchalance a he le undr theplane tree n the noonda heat he i onl half erou andtoe in a hghounng uotation from the poet herei omethng ellng up thn m breat" th mpl

high prt a e mght to o a tag from hakepearehen e happened to be feelng good Neverthele f Iere aked to name a clacal text hich bet expreeshe terou nd neverthele unuetonable preencef he great nd acred radton n the mnd of the betreChrtan thnker I ould probabl chooe th pa

sage or hat doe it a hat he knoledge ha comedo from the ncent" it echoed i the poet theeel of the mind ha been lled b hearng that to ano out of peronal experence and peronal obervationu from external ource et the ho" and the frohom" i forgotten


46/127

Iron hampers interpretation Socrates' rst speech unmaskin b

itera acceptance. Th "daimonic sin. The lihtnin bolt o

orthriht anuae

ron adds certa dculties to conversation If e ardealing it soeone o is fond of speaking in roniquotation arks of pretending to be stupid ile buildngup a poerful arguent of plag te entusiast ile

practicg ncisive criticisten e ust e fernallcareful e ust keep our ees and ears open lest e sssoe telltale sade of facial expression or ntonation

Tis s exactl o e ust conduct ourselves toardlato's Socrates e ust exan is face keenl is being serious no or is e onl akg gae of au

and terefore of us as ell It s fairl eas to seeroug is exaggerated plauts for Lsias' speec ie proptl ualiies altoug evn tat is n ronicaters But no te conversation beteen Socrates andaedrus continues t Socrates ansering te speec of

Lsias b one of is own After all e ad said tat culd ce a deret and etter seec And aedrusnstanl eld i to tis Ver ell I oer a prizeagolden statue of ou to e set up in te tele at Delpi,f ou do as ou sa and ake a etter speec on te sa


47/127

35

3c

suect no shorter and above all copletel dierenthich shall oe nothing to t

Socrates res another dodge of course he did not eat that a it ould obvousl be ipossble to ake everetail ne even the poorest ter cannot help but ake

soe good points Phaeus agrees n part t ill be allght for Socrates to retai the basic dea that love is asickness but everthing else ust be ne and original

Socrates now pretends ebarrassent assues stagefright It ill be courting ridicule for an aateur like e

to provise on the sae thee as an accoplished riterBut haedrus of course s not taken n b this conessdeed the hole conversaton has not been serous thehole thg s a gae a rhetorca sportg evet Everne i Athens knows this gae t is in these ters thinka haedrus isderstands hat s takg place

Incidentall this whole interlude is done ith sparklingvacit one pun cog hard upon the next We oude tepted to speak of the se of Shakespearean coe-es f t ere not the other a arod Shakespeare probabl having learned a few tricks in the school of latoncalogue When for exaple Phaedrus sas that he ants

to set up a golden statue Socrates reples at once Ohhat a golden bo ou are! hich s o sa ou taike soeone left over fro the olden Age oure egendar splicit! We us appreciate such details asthe philologists have discovered for s n order to realize

the rich references Platos language had for his conte-porar readersinall haeus threatens s recactran copanon

th siple force We are b ourselves in a lonel placeand I a songer and oger tha o please don


48/127

!37a

237 2

ae e use force o open o lips" And hen he adds aore convincing arguen I have soehing o sahich ill copel ou o spea" hen please do'tsa i" Oh but I shall here and no; and hat I saill be on oah I sear o ou bbut b ho b ha

god Or shall it be b his plane ree I sear that unlessou deliver o speech here in its ver presence I ilassured never again declai nor report an other speechb an auhor hasoever" ha ou rogue " Andso on All this is pe coed And Socrates sees o becarring his joe o its cliax hen he covers his head sohe can rush hrough is speech ithou looing a ouand breaing don for shae

Aferards oeer Socraes ill give a copleeldieren inerpreaion of his gese ill spea of i as oen of religious ae and shae over he blaspheous

hings he is abou o sa or Socraes he conten the ruhor falsehood reains he decisive and serious aspec of speech; Phaedrus on e oher hand expects o hear hioutdo Lsias' foral accoplishen o be sure Socratesdilgenl fosters his isdersanding

Socrates hen begs is speech I oo is a coship

peech s as agreed igh a he beginning hoever adierence beee and Lsias speech becoes apparena dierence hich exends also o the real of for InLsias' speech he speaer hiself and his actual ntenion reained obscure Socrates begins b clearl idenif

ing the speaker : Once upon a ie there as a ver handsoe o, or rather ogster, ho had a host of lovers;and one of the as il and had persuaded the o thahe as no love th h ough real he as qutes uch as he others d on one occasion in pressing his


49/127

237 3

u e acuall soug o convnce i a e oug ofavor a nonlover raer an a lover. And is s e purpor of wa e said Ten follows e courspspeec iself I is clear en a s no ocraes iself wo is speakng bu soeone wo wans o deceive

wil cea wo no onl lies bu lies for is own uleriorpurpose Tis cea oreover speaks uc ore blunluc ore consisenl an e speaker of Lsias' speec

Bo desire e lover as well as e nonlover Howen are we o singuis e one fro e oer Now

sias deiniel did no wan o a so plainl wileSocraes b is ver decness eans o expose e aburdi and nuani of e arguen He apliies andexaggeraes Being in love love satering erotic eoionall ese are noting bu naked desire linked w iconsideraeness and uselessness Onl e nonlover can be

considerate and reasonable e alone can do rig o erguen runs

Karl Joel 2 as coened a possibl is can or usbe undersood as a parosic allusion o e docrines ofe Cnics suc as were dvocaed b Anisenes a co-panion of lao wo claied o derive e fro ocraes.In a case e speec and above all its recantaion wouldcuire an unexpeced coneporanei for us or Anisenes is an asounngl odern igure e ig becalled e irs eboen of e worker Here for eirs ie we ind set for an ideal caracerized b over

evauation of dicut and eort; b e ack of a eepivi o ar b nadeuae responsiveness o lovefor eoion is regarded as weakness uc n ideal n facsees like a forerunner of e odern functionar wose world ere is onl eroic noise bu no usic onl


50/127

4

scpline but no free o; onl anl bearing" but noaa unforced geses; and consistent on theaked brutihne of sex separated fro love It is quitepoible tha Plaos ocrate ean to ora jut such ape hi hoever can scarcel be proved; for he hole

reatent of the subject i o thoroughl a parode shall have to iagine the tone in hich his speech

s devered as a cobination of pedantr and highsoundng batho ocrate begins like a chooater ith broadoplacent hairplitting He hielf calls attention to theathetc qualit of hi rearks; after he ha inished sa-ing grandiloquentl that love i nothing but overoeringdesire hich gains aster over judgent he interrupthielf and presuabl peering out fro under his loakaks Well Phaeus friend do ou think as I dohat I a divinel inspired" Whereupon Phaeus fail

ng o notice he acute ron replies Undoutedlocrate ou have been vouchsafed a quite unuual eloquence hen listen to e in silence" ocrates coands or tl there sees to be a divine presence nhs spot so that ou ust not be sprised if as speechproceeds I becoe as one possessed; alread stle is

no far fro hrabic" Ve ue" Phedrus aBut for that ou are responsible ill let e coninue

Anone ho fails o notice the eleent of coed in thiss I fear beond help4 At he end it eerges even ore

plainl ocrates gros tired of the pose He has ound ups eech b rag agans overs aer e nner oLia or perhaps o he Cic Anishenes isng talove is no love a all but hger anial apeie ; as olfo lb o oer to his lad d then he ab breaks


51/127

e

a

o here ou have haeus. No a ord ore shaou have fro e

haedrus ojecs ha he s on hafa hrough; hahe si has o deiver a paean o he nonover. Wh s ocraes ha nsead ou reak o Whereupon ocraes

once ore poins ou he oas and ahos of his speechM dear good an haven' ou noiced ha I've go e-ond dihra and a reaking ou no epic verse de-spie fauinding Wha do ou suppose I sha do f Isar exoing he oher pe Don ou see I sha cear

e ossessed. .

.

Bu e us consider ocraes speech as a whoe and askha is content signiies rednder sees o e gvesan exceen and copee accurae anasis of ha conen ocraes speech he sas s no eans ere aeediing and fora revsion of he speech of sas.

aher i is siuaneous a orking ou of he huansigniicance hich as vague and herefore a he oredangerous ipic in sias ophsc producion Unihe ipici dangers have een rough o igh ocraescanno igh he In hs speech herefore he speakershos ever word he sas wha a o vie e akes

of ove. . . . In oher ords nsead of aking a drecaack upon an aiude goveed usavory eroicsocraes ere voices ha aiude in such a a ha exposes ef Tha s he urden of ocraes' irsspeech" The eec of ocraes' speech is o unask he

speaker" aking hi a his ordocraes sops arup. Wih soe rusuenes he eshaedrus ha he has no spoken enough I i ke -self o across he river here efore ou ive e o greaerengh" Oh u no no i he scorching noonda


52/127

4

4

eat! haedrus exclais in disa Socrates ields to thisarent oever havg fro one oent to the nextecoe dea serious he adduces an alogeher dierenteason At the oent hen I as about to cross hever dear friend here cae o e faiiar divine

hich alas checks e hen on he poin of doingeing or oher

A grea deal has been rien abou he Socrateanaimoio Socraes' on account of i especiall i hisApolog is he ost auoriative You have heard e

peak of i an ties; the divine voice has been conanl h e all through fe tl no opposing e quite sall aters if I ere no going o ac righl; soeties it has sopped e in he iddle of a speech ;ut today alhough I as on a to co to he deathentence it has been silentbecause ha has hap-

pened to e is a good" ab If e consider his andilar explanaions fro Socrates hiself e cannot con-c ih those interpreters ho hold tha he daion asply conscence Raher e ust consider i as a pheoenon belongg o the oracular real 6though thatof course aes is nate no clearer In an case this

racular sign no coes o Socraes I seeed o hear aoice forbidding e to leave he spo unil I had adeatoneen for soe oense o heaven I undersandaead ell enough hat oense as

Here Socraes is banding ters hich uneuivocall

belong o he sphere of religion the daionic sign; enseo he dvne aoneen he soul as seer hch recognzess on errors he hself needs to aone and he clearleazes his harmare hich eans nohg ore nores han sin"


53/127

d

hat are ou aing" Phaedru ak and ocrate replie that oth peeche were terrile the one Phaedrurought with him and the one he compelled ocrate toake ow o" Phaedru ak nd ocrate anwer:he were foolih and omewhat lapheou and what

could ore terrile than that"At lat ocrate i peaking for himelf rue patho

reak through and wth an angr geture he weep aidethe equivocation of rank pleaureeeking Iron laughterand inall the lightning of lt language have clearedhe air he have made room for the onl uect whichlato reall think worth dicuin and which i notaken up a edtation upon love and erotic eotion con-sdered in term of the whole of huan exitence nd anesetial part of that whole i that life not deined solel te of the alltoohuan the nothinguthuman


54/127

he Kerkegaardan eersal ocaon of he aeshec leads to reigous truh he power of recanaon and repenance "oe

among free men he emergence of he images of the ods heasuerade goes on.

B the tie we have reached the present point in the a-ogue we a well feel ourseves thwarted the unre-ting iron the oscurities and aiguities of the as

querade and the constant necessit to reappraise wha hasust been said We a egin to wonder whether we havesucceeded in clarifng the atter under discussion andhether we have reall ade an progress Let us thens up ou ndings We have heard Lsias speech on thethee of Love a speech which represents the voice of the

enlightened avantgarde intelligentsia His stateent cast choice and polished diction is based on a rationalisticew of life as a techniue" which attepts to secure aaxiu of pleasure th a niu of coplications "The language dras a vei over the rel ipulse naked

desire directed purel toward pleasure in the ost unsao ee o a wod ded a oeconsideration and decenc On he other hand the shaterin eotion whch is the natural accopanient ofove appears in Lsias' speech as roanticis exaggera


55/127

ion, unnecessar upeaval a sensible, eperae eis-ence, eicall uestionable, and fac basicall ioral.No doub suc eories were widel discussed aong eounger generation laos Aens uc arguenus ave enjoed wide publici, wereas e ocraic-

laonic docrine us ave seeed opelessl esoteric bcoparison, liied o a ver sall circle, wiou wideappeal or inuence. Te wole one f Lsias discoursen e ee of Love is e superior, selfassured one ofa odernis." Is auor knows a will arouse i-

ediae eco and applause aong ose wo are iel-lecuall alive." ure enoug, aedrus, a represenaieof e inellecuall alive ounger generaion, enusi-asicall ails is speec b e ables wier f eage. He and is fellows are se e are e avangarde.Ad ocraes, so uerl of dieren d a e cano

even accep e wa e quesio is osed, onicall capi-ulaing before e carelessness w wic aedrus swal-ows wolesale ese ipossible, uan, destruciedeasocrates aeps o epose e absdi of sucdocrines b aking e a eir word and pursuing e eir ae consequences. e aeps is, bu e

aep fails. aedrus sipl fails o noice; even oc-aes preposerou speec sikes i as wonderful, or aeas ineresing and iportan. Enralled as e iscie b lierar quali, e a e er leas considers a respecable rival perforance. Unil nall ocraes

loses paience w i.And now ocraes speaks for iselfsarpl, unspar-gl, wiou an concern for wa e followers of fas-onable deas g epec of . We wness soeingwic ren Kierkegaard wo ousand ears laterciing

8


56/127

4 1

1

ocaes incidenaened as e undering principeo is ie as a rer o ege a person no e ru 1n is Kierkegaard sees e ieutic or ide's uncion o e ier's ar : e [e reigious rierus ave evering in reaness oug ou ipa-

ence a vie o brging orard e reigiousprop as soon as e perceives a e as is readers i so a e oenu gained b devoiono e aeseic e rus eadong ino conac eigious 2

We ave reaced e po n e daogue a icocraes perors a e ig ca e Kierkegaardianevesa e akes aes aaion or ora eo-quence rus eadong ino e religious ru abou LoveNo is oe one and anner cange e asuerades over ; insead e ear a ne oe o srong eoion

Fro is ver ouse e second speec on ros pansprngs ro reigious nspaion A e preous verbiage is disssed no on as supid and absurd bu qepici as sin as baspe praciced or e sake og praise ro enas oug i ere good senseo deceive a e serabe peope and in e appause

Bu a ocraes is gog o sa no be ore ancocion or even recanaion; t will be toneent Iave o puri se

I soud be noed a copee ne eeens areeing iroduced ere Wiao cas is second speec

ocraes ic acua begns n e daogue a or-eign body," even stystcaly. Tat s scarcely an exag-eraion en oever Wilao goes on o sa ae od naure as sped Socraes o dne ad-ess e s bscuring e decisive aco raning oc


57/127

242e 2

rate' repeated reference to the dvnte of the countride of the pring of the had pot under the plane reee the true eanng of uch language f e take ia ere phraeolog the idle reark of an educated dNoada of coure e a peak of nph and of te

Mue thout attrbuting an ubtantal realt to the;the ord are ere cultural tag But that a not the cat ocrate

t hould be apparent that the concept of acrilege and are necearl tied to the concept of dvint trictl

peakg in i drected agat od her i no realing againt an ocrate and lato are a aare that a the author of the Miserere pal 50, ereaon ocrate peak of acrilege in godlene i

tated o an ord Love i a god or oethingdivine

he idea of expiaton atoneent and purication hoever pertan not jut to relgion alone but to relgiouritual in the trct ene the cleang o thoe puritiehch exclude a peron fro rtual he reek althought of expaton a priaril a rite uch a ahg

in ong ater or in the ea he ea rine aa allthe evil of an 4 On the ther hand uch rituaticexpation a not eparated fro the ethical apect oatoneent fro convicton voltion and converion ocrate peak of recantaton a of an old for of expatonand purcaton He coent hoever that Hoerd not undertand it h an extraordnar coenthich ould not preue to explain All the ae ita be that ocratelato are ipling that Hoer aa the cae in hi anecdotes about e god and hi pictu


58/127

243d 4

243

43

243

f he drearness of lfe in he oher world, was scarcelyrespecng he sacred raion on hs pon eher

In fac recanaon repenance as an old ode ofexpiaon and puricaon, a irs glance sees a highlyunrek idea Nezsche 5 leaped o hs decepve con-

clusion and defended i persisenly and passionaely ulao and Socraes see o have really upheld he prcplef he urfyng power of repenance Socres appears oe drawing on he sae eaphor when he says ha hewishes o wash he er ase ou of hs ouh wih adraugh of he swee sprng waer of wholesoe discourseHe s gong o ake a new speech n whch he recanswha has een sad n he wo preceng speeches I shallaep o ake y due palinode o Love and noonger velng y head for shae, u uncoered husSocraes a las gves he real reason for his srange gesure

f coerng hs hed He had no done so ou of earrassen a aeping o coee wih he exper wrerLysas, u ou of ischyne shae, he feelng of havingdone soehng dsgracefu

Yes, dear Phaerus you undersand how irreverenhe wo seeches ere, he one in he ook and ha whch

folowed hey were irreeren and shaeful no onlefore he gods, u also efore en alhough no eeryne would hae fel his, u only a an of nole and sensive charcer In oher words, Socraes is sayng Lsiasan I spoke as hough real, noble, generous love never

exised as hough decency were sly a con, a nave,unrealic ea uoe, ocae , e ee egliened o y a an of generous and huane characer,ho loed or had once loved anoher such as hself o' he e sure o hink ha we had een rough up


59/127

amng galey slaves and had never seen ve amng feemen"

Is it necessary to point out at this cnrast betweegalley slaves and free men has nthing to do wih thesocial phenmenon of slavery In Plato (and in istotle

also, who for example speaks of forms of music which -ress slaves and animals 6 there is a concept of slaverywhich no social changes, no emancipation of the slaves, canwpe o the face of the earth. his conception is rootedi the belef that what is truly uman is ever the average.

The standard by which tru and falsehood, good and evil,are measured, is not alone e dvine, but also the human.o put that more exactly the standard is what man him-self is capable of being, and what he is called up to be.he man before whom Socrates feels shame is not just anybody. Rather, Socrates is referring to Phaedrus hself, a

Phaedrus seen the ight of his true human potentiali-ties a Phaedrus who ll have become what he was meantto become. Shamed i this sense, Socrates wshes to recathis shamefully fase speech by a second speech on Love.hs second speech is the rea content of e dalogue it isalso what makes reading e rest worth while.

I have gone to such pains to analyze the preliminaries toSocrates recantation i order to show the fundamentalchange of atmosphere that has taken place since Phaedrus,coming from the dubious company which he met Lysias,ran across Socrates. he dialgue situation is by now under

he sign o anoher planet, as it were. hey had begun total under the sign of pleasure" and literature." heirtone was that of sophisticated indierence to what matruy is and wha he truly ought to aim for. In he societywhich gives rise to such attitudes, men are hedged in by


60/127

oncern for proi and oss. They anxiousy coun every advage eig he sakes agas heir possibgains. his is he vaporous real of ord egois hich en are consantl rying o ge as uc as ean for he les price Tha hoe pose is no shaered

y Socraes ac and procaaion. Socraes seps forro e fogs into he clear gh of heaven as i ere. pace of a lierary exercise e have he genuine eoio one ho is saing ha us be said Hihero he vieas been consriced by fear of losing ou on fe's possibe

pleasures and beneis. No he iages of he gods eergeand aong h he he ue poteniaies of an isee ind ourselves breahing fresher ooler purer a.

Te asquerade recedes a e have said bu i doeo eniely vanish. lao is caref o avoid he onoton higho professions of faih. Socraes is rarely shon

odg or i such a vein; or ha ve reason is seriusness reveals iself all he ore discl and ovingls i alernaes h ore or less ironic asuerade. Thuseri of sole speechag is a once epered andighliged by an anecdoe hich is playfull ued isay and ha. Socraes ecos e egend of he Sicilia

poe Sesichorus ho old he sory of Helenho heorians egarded as a goddessi he sae a Hoead old i Whereupon he as punishedb he goddeen blidness. Bu because Sesichorus as "dimoi an a faiia f he Muses e undersood

he eason for his bindess and afte rig a recanaon ound his sigh resored o hi We are no oneedee e details o his anecdoe and is possible iscal ackground. Bu e are conceed he faca Socraes is no plag he pa of Sesichorus o


61/127

4 g

as lost his sight and hoes to e healed if he in turn akes ecanaon o oint out the multil allusons of thisnew asuerade the welth of assoctons hnted at ia gesture erformed" casuall and brie is to run theisk of coarsenng or altogether destroing the delicac

of the textureWhere is that bo" ocrtes asks like a blind mn call

ing for his coanon But at the se tme he means theo he addressed efore and on the other hand he is seakg not as himself ocrates ut as another a erdous de-

eiver Where is that o I was talking to He ust listeo e once ore and not ush o to eld to his nonover" Moreover strictl seakng nether the o whuides the lind an nor the one o who the revioussheous seech was directed s actuall eant thee who is eant ut not entioned name is hae-

us! d haedrus at once understandng las alongHere he is uite close eside ou whenever ou wanth."

Nevereless ocrates egins his seech in such a wahat he is talkig aout haedus as if he were soeonealtogethe dierent a stranger not resent at allas if i

ac he were dealing with two haeduses one of whothe true haedus is lstening to hi now and the otheof who invented that agnicent" discourse Lsiasand rovoked ocrates hise ito deliverng a lashe-ous seech agais Love

he rst sentence of the great seech ocrates nowlaunches uon goes : ow ou ust derstand fa ohat whereas the recedig discourse was haedus soof thocles of Mrous that which I shall now ro-oce We would exect his sentence to end:


62/127

no only pretends, ke he as speech, o be e really s e" nstead t coninues tha whicI shall now pronounce s by Stechoru, son of Eupheus,f era his then how t ut " And nowollows the recantaton the panoda

It begins wth the ord no" But negation is only thrs word he aratve the ucky follows


63/127


64/127

vaia a divine gift. Madess, loss f autonomous sel-posssiassi enthusism Forms of "divie madness First: prheticecstasy Delhi Dodo h Sibyl Sterility o he historical poi

iew Enthusim, the ke rd How does revelatio ta

place? Second "cathartic aia Madness as recoditio orpuricati nd healig Frezy oetry, ad isirtio Less

ng, Hlderli, Goethe Ben Who s "the oet?

The greatest blessgs coe by way o ani, insoas ani is heaensent This pronounceent o Socatesuestionably ors the ery heart o the whole dialoueFo the oent we shall leae the basic word ni -nslated The sentence is aed not only agast ysiasypothesis, which Socrates pretended to echo his paody

ysias' speech; it is also aed against te ideas c-ently i ogue in Athenian society

Te ew thesis contas within itsel a whole iew oe uierse Aboe all, it sets orth a daental piio the eang o ua eistence The subject o Loe,

c peiously ored the cenal thee of the discoses ot een mentioned This at st glance rather astonisng silence is le with the act that the discussion hasee shited to new and wider perspeces But i we areo b prepared to accept, o ee erely to ollow the a


65/127

eaching arguentation hich no begins e ust rstclarif n o on inds just hat as the blaspheouseleent n the precedng speeches on Love

or both those speeches are the nature of conclusons.That is to sa the are the applcation" of a larger doc-

trne concernng the nature of an. d ocrates taesssue th that doctrine and proounds his o thesis con-ceing an and the eanng of hs lfe

Hs irst step s to break do a nonsensical restrictionThe fashonable ophstic publicists" have done thei best

to focus the readers' thought and attenton upon a super-cial theor of rtation" so to spea. ocrates rfuseseven to enter the arena of such dscussionsnot becausehe ishes to avoid the subject of Eros but because he antsto place that subject n ts onl approprate context There-fore his attac is drected against the general ve of an

hch holds aong other thngs that the rght approachtoard sensual gratication is one of cool objectivt Tput that general concepton a nutshell t is that ans a copletel autonoous beng hose on nature sgven nto his hand le a a ateral hich a beorked n an anner he pleases; a being ho deternes

his on purposes; ho hiself arranges his exstence yrational techniues for living and hose dignt there-fore deands that he fend o an nterference th thisreal of perfect selfpossessionhatever the source fthat nterference a be This pcture of an s hat oc-

rates attacks in the speech that foos Hs oostion toan such conceton of an s the e hch alone explainshat he has to sa

ocrates then does not contend that Eros s not maniut he denies that mania tself s siply an evl a sc


66/127

ess" as the hss cll n the argn her tech-ues fr lvng We cannt sa whether sethng s r isnt a sckness untl we have deterined what we enb health And ths s where crates and hs ppnentsder s wdel n ther vews huan sundness Hs

stateent hwever s rather subtle crates des ntaintain that mania is ral t an and essental tohis sundness Rather he sas that it is nt an evl n everycase r des he utrghtl declare mania a gd nsteade sas that it can pssbl be a eans an aid a path t

gd in fact even t the greatest blessngsn cndtn,tha is tha mania is iparted t an as a divine gitBut what is eant b mania? he rd is ten ans-

ated frenz r madness But adness" sees t e annadeuate and isleading dentin n the rst placethe wrd cnntes sundness and irratinalit n the

econd pace it gves the ipressn that Scrates is taking abut sething r the real f pritve agcIt suggests tes th the orgastic Dinsian cults his eect akes his ideas see alen and n serius cncernt us he ter frenz n the ther hand suggests se-hing petic rantic nessentia sething that ay

even be arbtraril induced b a drug nce again ideas this srt eed nt reall cncern us We d t have toake he seriusly

If we consider all he aspects mania hich Plat en-tins we shall have t say that he uses the wrd t ean

priarl a beingbesdenesel a lss cand vernese surrender f autarchc ndeendence and sefcn-trl a state which e are nt actve ut passe e dont act but suer sething sethng happens o us.French schlars interpretg this passage Pla speak


67/127

2 2

o transport, that is, a condition o being caied aa outo the center o one's o being But all these alternativesoe o oe element o what Plato means the elemento weaess or, i we will, o sicness and derangement"et t s also conceivable that this eibesideoesel ma

ot be caused b metal sturbace, ot b poso orgs but b a divie power The Deit s the trul activesource rom which something happes to ma For this

er reaso, we caot spea simpl o maness or frenyout urther ualiig the words I the word enthussm were ot so debased English, t would act mostittgl describe what Plato itended and indeed he himsel uses it i the sese o beg illed with the god" Ie middle o the haeru, Socrates speas o a ma thuspossessed b mn The ttde he sas regard has beg out o his wits or e o ot that he s u

o a god [enthousiaon] Now Plato scarcel assers at aoe who s shae

erotic emotio s illed t te od so that all ormo Eros are othig more or les a thei mania Sucomatic deas are ot to be od Plato HoweverSocrates speech does mata that erotc emotio ma

so e oe wa which ma ca partae o the greatestlesss"provided ma does ot corrupt the erotic emoo or example reusig to pa the price o recept to the de maess The price s a surreder os autonom; he must thro himsel open to the god,

rather than loc the doors o his so b choosg sensualpleasures aloneBut beore he comes to this, Socrates speas o uite di-

erent matters As we hae sad, o oe w uderstandtheir pertece who has ot gven due consideratio to the


68/127

ee tesis posed at te outset. Tis tesis olds tat ote oe ad man is of suc natue tat e possesses i-sel feedom and selfdetemination; e can and mustexae ciically all tat e encounters ; e can and mustve sape to is own life on te basis of is insigts. O

e oe and tis same autonomous an is noneteless such involved in te Wole of eality that things can hap-pen to im and he can be dislodged from is auonomy. Thiseed not tae only te for o orcible esticion. Po-vided tt te ma does ot close self o obduately

t may tae suc fo tat in te very loss of is selfpossession anote fulent is ganted to , one attaiable in o ote way.

Tis concepion of an, ivolvg as it does a tensio oopposites wic efuses to be educed to smoot foula,ic is i itself a perpetual souce of unestthis con-

ception may be said to ve bee Plato's cenal poblemougut is lie. To be sue, e did ot always place isstess in exactly te same way. Lie ll tose tuly e-aged te pusuit f posopy, e was ot so uconcened wit inding solutio" and a andy formula;ate, e was anxious not to omit anytg. Consequently

e eve denied o ovelooed te fat, that bot utoomyand te sattering of tat autonomy by te intrusion of ige powe ae essetial to te natue of man But ewas no always disposed o egad the elquising of selpossessed autonomy as gain. In te ealy dialogues Io

d e, as well as i Socates' polog e seems to ephasizing the iea of loss athe than gain Ps tose in manic frenzy do not now what hey are sayingtey spea the tuth ut not on the basis of eal owlegwic, if they had it, would be thei on propety, a the


69/127

dpoaand o on. o run he arguen Tusao hef n hee ear reark ee ncned o camania a ckne ahough he woud have decared t aneven wore ckne not to be abe to be ck" n uch awa. he ckne whch con of beng unabe o be

sck"h phrae raght out of he excon of odepchar woud no be a bd decrpon for he ophtcefpoeon we have been dcung Here on he oherand n he Phadrus boh hee anheca dea arespoen of n a one of decded araon. He had never

expreed anhng of the or before" Waowz noe.ocae now begn o peak of he four deren forsof he hia mania and eroc eoon coe fourh raherthan r

In r pace e peak of prophec eca of dvna

ton n narrowe ene he ransort rohtiqu Hespecca ce he prophee of Deph the preeea Dodona and he b. ha coon o a of hee ha n a ae of exaaon of beng bede teevethe accophed grea hng b her prophece whereaswhe ane and fu poeon of heeve the coud

ave sad nohng of porance.In the e of ocrae Deph wa a ancuar aread

ore than a houand ear od Is prege exended farnto Aa and gp. Waever we a hnk of oeapec of the Dephc race nuence epeca on

potc can carce be overeaed he regou andethca andae pc n an of pronounceensad a force and wa whoe atch s carce to be odanwhere ee n he preChan word. Deph proaed the anc of the rght of au Deph se


70/127

6

d 4

ubs upo e pacice of vedea Te elpic Oraclelso euciaed e earlies ules for umae warfare, tusesablising a kind of inernaioal law

Te piesesses of odona in noern Geece wee uos of e oldes specimes of Greek eligios wisdo

ymnic fom, a fragme of wic as come do ous : Zeus was, Zeus is, ad Zes will be: 0 Zeus Touigy one" 3 We all oo easily end o ovelook sucigs wile egalig ouselves wi e ievere anec-oes abou e gods conaied i Homeic myology

ic Plao egaded as pervesions of e uea ise divine docie.Fially, e Sibyl Te oldes esimony we ave co

cening e comes fom oe of e geaes of e pe-Socaic pilosopes, Heaclius i is also of Sibyllie ob-scuiy Te Sibyl, uerig e ulaugig, unadoed,

censed wods avig mou eaces o ove ousad yeas wi e voice roug e god 4

Fo Plaos conempoaies, all ese ings were so fmilia a Socaes explicily saes : I need no dwell owa is obvious o everyoe d summing up, e makeste poit at e me of old wo gave ings ei

ames meant e wod mania as paise we ey usedi o accon fo e powe of propecy possessed by eoacula piesess and e Sibyl. A few lies le issaeme is eifoced: e evidence of e nciens aessa e thea mania eavesen madness, is more woy

of veeraion a he poducs of uman discreioOr s ise as aera reaers o ao, s oassign ese saemes abo proeic aess abouelphi odona, and e Sibyl, o he eligios hsory ofe Geeks" and leave it at a d if we ook te


71/127

scolarly literature o Plato, we ll d cosiderable cetive for doig so Nevertheless, if we follow this prciple, we are simply cheatig ourselves of the proper frutsof studyig or eve merely reag Plato I this coecto I caot elp tiig of C. S Lewis's Scretae

Letters devil grow se by log practice, ere calledScreape, writes a series of letters of istructio ad ad-vce to is less experieced epewte result eig areatise o ma as witty as t is profoud, altoug everythg appears verted as rror writig I oe of te

letters Screape dscsses the atter of studyg eciets:Oly the leared read old boos ad we [the uited

spits of ell] ave ow so dealt t the leared that teyare of all me e least ely to acquire sdo by dogso. We have doe ths by culcatig Te Historical Pot

of View. Te Historcal Pot of View, put briey, eastat we a leared ma s preseted t ay statemet a aciet author, the oe questio e ever ass swether it s rue. He ass who ueced te aciewriter, ad how far the stateet s cosistet wth whate said other boos, ad what pase te ter's de

velopet, or te geeral hstory of tought, t illusates, ad ow t aected later writers, ad ow ofte tas bee isuderstood (specally by te eaed asow collegues) . . " d so o

But suppose we pause ad as ourselves weter Plato's

remars o te rst for of exalted adess strie at teeart of ay eal atter; weter e rigs to ligt soetig wich actually corespods to te eality of a as eig Te oet we pose is questio, we ca oge le Plato's statemets away as eely istorica


72/127

iems Fo e quesion sanl beas ou of e coninesof e ee pas.

Te conempoar Cisian, fo example encounese Sibl e sequence Dies irae of e Cucs ugyfo e dead Se is menioned e same bea e

Biblical King avidbo of wom popeicall winesso a caasopic end o isoy ( teste Davi cum Siblla) Peps e conempoar Cisian sees e allusion as aee ouis ou any paicula meanig o im Buif we ae seiousl eesed undesang Plao's

efeence o e Sib we mus mae a songe eo oa

enthusiasm and divine madness_ on the platonic dialogue phaedrus - josef pieper

Documents