But he who thinks that in the written word there is necessarily much which is not serious, and that neither poetry nor prose, spoken or written, is of any great value, if, like the compositions of the rhapsodes, they are only recited in order to be believed, and not with any view to criticism or instruction; and who thinks that even the best of writings are but a reminiscence of what we know, and that only in principles of justice and goodness and nobility taught and communicated orally for the sake of instruction and graven in the soul, which is the true way of writing, is there clearness and perfection and seriousness, and that such principles are a man's own and his legitimate offspring;-being, in the first place, the word which he finds in his own bosom; secondly, the brethren and descendants and relations of his others;-and who cares for them and no others-this is the right sort of man; and you and I, Phaedrus, would pray that we may become like him.
Phaedr.
That is most assuredly my desire and prayer.
Soc.
And now the play is played out; and of rhetoric enough.
Go and tell Lysias that to the fountain and school of the Nymphs we went down, and were bidden by them to convey a message to him and to other composers of speeches-to Homer and other writers of poems, whether set to music or not; and to Solon and others who have composed writings in the form of political discourses which they would term laws-to all of them we are to say that if their compositions are based on knowledge of the truth, and they can defend or prove them, when they are put to the test, by spoken arguments, which leave their writings poor in comparison of them, then they are to be called, not only poets, orators, legislators, but are worthy of a higher name, befitting the serious pursuit of their life.
Phaedr.
What name would you assign to them?
Soc.
Wise, I may not call them; for that is a great name which belongs to God alone,-lovers of wisdom or philosophers is their modest and befitting title.
Phaedr.
Very suitable.
Soc.
And he who cannot rise above his own compilations and compositions, which he has been long patching, and piecing, adding some and taking away some, may be justly called poet or speech-maker or law-maker.
Phaedr.
Certainly.
Soc.
Now go and tell this to your companion.
Phaedr.
But there is also a friend of yours who ought not to be forgotten.
Soc.
Who is he?
Phaedr.
Isocrates the fair:-What message will you send to him, and how shall we describe him?
Soc.
Isocrates is still young, Phaedrus; but I am willing to hazard a prophecy concerning him.
Phaedr.
What would you prophesy?
Soc.
I think that he has a genius which soars above the orations of Lysias, and that his character is cast in a finer mould.
My impression of him is that he will marvelously improve as he grows older, and that all former rhetoricians will be as children in comparison of him.
And I believe that he will not be satisfied with rhetoric, but that there is in him a divine inspiration which will lead him to things higher still.
For he has an element of philosophy in his nature.
This is the message of the gods dwelling in this place, and which I will myself deliver to Isocrates, who is my delight; and do you give the other to Lysias, who is yours.
Phaedr.
I will; and now as the heat is abated let us depart.
Soc.
Should we not offer up a prayer first of all to the local deities?
Phaedr.
Themes
◆Anamnesissoteriology
Platonic recollection: knowledge as the soul's recovery of what it knew before birth, with learning as remembering rather than acquisition.
The passage explicitly defines true writing as principles that are 'a reminiscence of what we know' and reside within the soul.
Eckhart's signature doctrine that the Father eternally begets the Son in the ground of the soul; the human interior as the actual site of the divine generative act, distinct from inner_light's static indwelling.
Socrates states that principles are 'the word which he finds in his own bosom,' locating the divine generative act within the human interior.
Ecstatic, non-rational receptivity to the divine figured as drunkenness — Plato's symposium wine, Rumi's sukr, Eckhart's 'sober drunkenness'; the passive/receptive metaphor for divine encounter, distinct from divine_madness's active possessing rapture.
The text references 'Nymphs' and describes a state of being bidden by them, using wine imagery associated with ecstatic receptivity to divine wisdom.
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
True writing is defined as principles that are 'a man's own and his legitimate offspring,' emphasizing direct internal knowledge over external recitation.