Phaedrus

Phaedrus, written by Plato, is a dialogue between Socrates and Phaedrus. The dialogue mainly covers the topics of love, soul and the art of rhetoric and dialectic. After reading the dialogue and a little research for further clarification those are the issues that Socrates discusses about:

1. The disadvantage of lover, and the advantage of non-lover (Phaedrus & Socrates)
2. “Divine” madness (Socrates)
3. Soul (Chariot Allegory) (Socrates)
4. Self-control and desire (Socrates)
5. Art of rhetoric and dialectic ( Phaedrus & Socrates)

The following are some main points that Socrates made during the dialogue:

• The advantage of non-lover over lover (ruled by judgment, and fair)
• Love lead to desire, selfishness and madness
• Love lead to madness but is a "divine" madness, Socrates listed four types of divine madness:

               From Apollo, the gift of prophecy (Mantic)

               From Dionysus, the mystic rites and relief from the present hardship (Telestic)

               From Muses, poetry (Poetic)

               From Aphrodite, Love (Erotic)

• Love is a gift from god, and therefore is a “divine” madness
• The story of Chariot Allegory, the two horses of rational and irrational
• The pursuit of pleasure, even manifested with love is not “divine’ madness
• The straggle between self-control and the desire of the pleasures of the body
• The non-lovers offer only cheap, human dividends
• The art of speech making cannot be art without a grasp of the truth
• One must use similarities to pursuits the audience
• One must construct the sentence, and clear the statement of the subject.
• One must understand whom he is speaking or writing to, before making a proper speech or writing
• Socrates stated that "In reality, our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, which indeed is a divine gift”