Plato: Phaedrus - Christopher J. Rowe

The dating of the Phaedrus has been hotly debated: sometimes it
has been counted among Plato's earliest works; sometimes with the
dialogues of the 'middle' period (Phaedo, Symposium, Republic);
sometimes with the late works (e.g. Sophist, Statesman). The
safest and easiest hypothesis is that it stands somewhere between
the latter two groups, in that it displays themes and
preoccupations in common with both. Love, knowledge and the
Forms, the nature and fate of the immortal soul: these are
subjects familiar from the constructive middle dialogues; on the
other hand, the discussion which frames Socrates' treatment of
them, about the relationship between rhetoric and philosophy,
about the value of writing, and about methodology, can in many
respects plausibly be linked with the approach of the later and
more critical dialogues. In modern times the Phaedrus has been
relatively neglected; yet the rich mixture of its themes, and the
consequent variations of style and tempo, make it one of the most
rewarding parts of the Platonic corpus. This same variety is also
the source of one of the major problems affecting our
understanding of the work; is it a real unity? If so, what are
the threads which hold the parts together? Greek text with facing-page
translation, commentary and notes.