{
    "schema": "prokopton42-public-passage-v1",
    "id": "plato.phaedrus",
    "canonical_url": "https://prokopton42.com/en/works/plato/phaedrus/reference-245/",
    "language": "en",
    "title": "Phaedrus",
    "author": "Plato",
    "date": "c. 370-360 BCE",
    "summary": "Beside the Ilissus, Socrates and Phaedrus move from rival speeches on love to inquiry into soul, rhetoric, and writing. Inspired madness and the myth of the winged chariot connect desire, memory, and knowledge.",
    "learning": "Compare the three speeches on love, interpret the winged chariot, and connect dialectic, knowledge of soul, and criticism of writing.",
    "long_summary": "Socrates first answers a speech attributed to Lysias with criticism of the lover, then recants in a palinode presenting philosophical love as recollection of intelligible beauty. The soul’s motion appears through a charioteer and two horses.\n\nThe final section requires a good speaker to divide subjects and know kinds of soul. The myth of Theuth criticizes writing unable to answer questions. Yet that criticism occurs in a written dialogue, making the text an examination of its own medium.",
    "historical_context": "The corpus manifests do not yet establish the precise place and circumstances of composition. The images below document the author’s world or the text’s transmission. They do not claim to show the exact scene of writing.",
    "material_world_label": "Classical Greek world, 5th century BCE",
    "material_world": {
        "technology": "Bronze, iron, pottery, simple cranes, and shipbuilding sustain cities. Power still comes mainly from people, animals, wind, and water.",
        "science": "Geometry, astronomy, inquiry into nature, and rational argument advance without modern measuring instruments or standardized experiments.",
        "medicine": "Practitioners observe symptoms, diet, and seasons; healing sanctuaries and ritual treatment also remain common.",
        "transport": "Walking and animals dominate on land. Sailing ships and triremes connect islands, ports, and colonies.",
        "agriculture": "Small farms, grain, vines, olives, goats, and sheep shape the diet; harvests remain vulnerable to weather and war.",
        "communication": "Public speech, messengers, and handwritten letters carry news. Theatre, the civic square, and the banquet are major social media.",
        "clothing": "Women and men drape wool or linen as chitons, peploi, and cloaks. Garments are pinned, belted, and shaped by status rather than tailored like modern clothes."
    },
    "material_world_scenes": [
        {
            "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-01.webp",
            "title": "Technology, science, and care",
            "description": "Bronze, iron, pottery, simple cranes, and shipbuilding sustain cities. Power still comes mainly from people, animals, wind, and water. Geometry, astronomy, inquiry into nature, and rational argument advance without modern measuring instruments or standardized experiments. Practitioners observe symptoms, diet, and seasons; healing sanctuaries and ritual treatment also remain common."
        },
        {
            "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-02.webp",
            "title": "Travel and communication",
            "description": "Walking and animals dominate on land. Sailing ships and triremes connect islands, ports, and colonies. Public speech, messengers, and handwritten letters carry news. Theatre, the civic square, and the banquet are major social media."
        },
        {
            "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-03.webp",
            "title": "Farming and food",
            "description": "Small farms, grain, vines, olives, goats, and sheep shape the diet; harvests remain vulnerable to weather and war."
        },
        {
            "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-04.webp",
            "title": "Clothing, women and men",
            "description": "Women and men drape wool or linen as chitons, peploi, and cloaks. Garments are pinned, belted, and shaped by status rather than tailored like modern clothes."
        }
    ],
    "intellectual_tradition": {
        "id": "platonism",
        "label": "Socratic and Platonic thought"
    },
    "period": {
        "id": "ancient",
        "label": "Antiquity"
    },
    "languages": [
        "grc",
        "en",
        "fr"
    ],
    "manifestations": [
        {
            "coverage": "complete",
            "file": "data/corpus/normalized/plato/phaedrus/representations/grc.ndjson",
            "language": "grc",
            "records": 53,
            "role": "original",
            "sha256": "5bd1e7e9adc97217c70106184ae220484549f5128a85008079096582de446091",
            "source_id": "perseus-plato-phaedrus-grc"
        },
        {
            "coverage": "complete",
            "file": "data/corpus/normalized/plato/phaedrus/representations/en.ndjson",
            "language": "en",
            "records": 53,
            "role": "historical_translation",
            "sha256": "332a397c46cf00b332851316b94a38efaa98d26f847f923e84803499f4b8fd0d",
            "source_id": "perseus-plato-phaedrus-en"
        },
        {
            "coverage": "complete",
            "file": "data/corpus/normalized/plato/phaedrus/representations/ai-generated/fr-gpt-5-6-sol-corpus-passage-translation-v1.ndjson",
            "generated_on": "2026-09-11",
            "language": "fr",
            "model": "gpt-5.6-sol",
            "official_status": "non_official",
            "prompt_version": "corpus-passage-translation-v1",
            "provider": "codex_subscription",
            "records": 53,
            "role": "ai_generated_translation_non_official",
            "sha256": "c31c02a32d09f4754215908cdc5f71844103df8a5d86355726e14dffbbea2324",
            "source_id": "prokopton42-codex-translation:gpt-5.6-sol:corpus-passage-translation-v1",
            "translation_type": "ai_generated_translation"
        },
        {
            "coverage": "complete",
            "file": "data/corpus/normalized/plato/phaedrus_fr_carrier/representations/fr.ndjson",
            "language": "fr",
            "records": 1,
            "role": "historical_translation",
            "sha256": "23b7d4c5c4eb89f61caeed948a7e761751acb0a4df2e253a45112be8a4c6c507",
            "source_id": "wikisource-cousin-phaedrus-fr-01"
        },
        {
            "coverage": "complete",
            "file": "data/corpus/normalized/plato/phaedrus_fr_carrier/representations/ai-generated/en-gpt-5-6-sol-corpus-passage-translation-v1.ndjson",
            "generated_on": "2026-09-11",
            "language": "en",
            "model": "gpt-5.6-sol",
            "official_status": "non_official",
            "prompt_version": "corpus-passage-translation-v1",
            "provider": "codex_subscription",
            "records": 1,
            "role": "ai_generated_translation_non_official",
            "sha256": "67585bf3bb56ad2c2f197d63412a44e15f5bfabbc79f5e96a9a448397bc64ee8",
            "source_id": "prokopton42-codex-translation:gpt-5.6-sol:corpus-passage-translation-v1",
            "translation_type": "ai_generated_translation"
        }
    ],
    "concepts": [
        {
            "id": "care_of_soul",
            "label": "Care of the soul"
        },
        {
            "id": "death",
            "label": "Death"
        },
        {
            "id": "education",
            "label": "Education"
        },
        {
            "id": "faith",
            "label": "Faith"
        },
        {
            "id": "family",
            "label": "Family"
        },
        {
            "id": "fear",
            "label": "Fear"
        },
        {
            "id": "forms",
            "label": "Intelligible forms"
        },
        {
            "id": "friendship",
            "label": "Friendship"
        },
        {
            "id": "god",
            "label": "God"
        },
        {
            "id": "logos_nature",
            "label": "Logos of nature"
        },
        {
            "id": "love",
            "label": "Love"
        },
        {
            "id": "messiah",
            "label": "Messiah"
        },
        {
            "id": "philosophical_eros",
            "label": "Philosophical eros"
        },
        {
            "id": "prohairesis",
            "label": "Moral choice"
        },
        {
            "id": "reason",
            "label": "Reason"
        },
        {
            "id": "rhetoric",
            "label": "Rhetoric"
        },
        {
            "id": "self_governance",
            "label": "Self-governance"
        },
        {
            "id": "sin",
            "label": "Sin"
        },
        {
            "id": "truth",
            "label": "Truth"
        },
        {
            "id": "wisdom",
            "label": "Wisdom"
        }
    ],
    "source_work_ids": [
        "plato.phaedrus",
        "plato.phaedrus_fr_carrier"
    ],
    "passages": 53,
    "word_count": 23263,
    "word_counts_by_language": {
        "en": 23263,
        "fr": 22820,
        "grc": 17029
    },
    "editorial_status": "gpt_5_6_semantic_draft_v1",
    "structure": {
        "citation_scheme": "plato-stephanus-page-v1",
        "kind": "native",
        "levels": [
            {
                "key": "stephanus_page",
                "label_fr": "Page Stephanus",
                "label_en": "Stephanus page"
            }
        ],
        "leaf_fr": "Passage",
        "leaf_en": "Passage"
    },
    "canonical_passage_id": "passage:plato.phaedrus:245",
    "canonical_ref": "245",
    "canonical_parent_ref": null,
    "canonical_parent_id": null,
    "representations": [
        {
            "language": "grc",
            "text": "ΣΩ. τρίτη δὲ ἀπὸ Μουσῶν κατοκωχή τε καὶ μανία, λαβοῦσα ἁπαλὴν καὶ ἄβατον ψυχήν, ἐγείρουσα καὶ ἐκβακχεύουσα κατά τε ᾠδὰς καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἄλλην ποίησιν, μυρία τῶν παλαιῶν ἔργα κοσμοῦσα τοὺς ἐπιγιγνομένους παιδεύει· ὃς δʼ ἂν ἄνευ μανίας Μουσῶν ἐπὶ ποιητικὰς θύρας ἀφίκηται, πεισθεὶς ὡς ἄρα ἐκ τέχνης ἱκανὸς ποιητὴς ἐσόμενος, ἀτελὴς αὐτός τε καὶ ἡ ποίησις ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν μαινομένων ἡ τοῦ σωφρονοῦντος ἠφανίσθη. τοσαῦτα μέν σοι καὶ ἔτι πλείω ἔχω μανίας γιγνομένης ἀπὸ θεῶν λέγειν καλὰ ἔργα. ὥστε τοῦτό γε αὐτὸ μὴ φοβώμεθα, μηδέ τις ἡμᾶς λόγος θορυβείτω δεδιττόμενος ὡς πρὸ τοῦ κεκινημένου τὸν σώφρονα δεῖ προαιρεῖσθαι φίλον· ἀλλὰ τόδε πρὸς ἐκείνῳ δείξας φερέσθω τὰ νικητήρια, ὡς οὐκ ἐπʼ ὠφελίᾳ ὁ ἔρως τῷ ἐρῶντι καὶ τῷ ἐρωμένῳ ἐκ θεῶν ἐπιπέμπεται. ἡμῖν δὲ ἀποδεικτέον αὖ τοὐναντίον, ὡς ἐπʼ εὐτυχίᾳ τῇ μεγίστῃ παρὰ θεῶν ἡ τοιαύτη μανία δίδοται· ἡ δὲ δὴ ἀπόδειξις ἔσται δεινοῖς μὲν ἄπιστος, σοφοῖς δὲ πιστή. δεῖ οὖν πρῶτον ψυχῆς φύσεως πέρι θείας τε καὶ ἀνθρωπίνης ἰδόντα πάθη τε καὶ ἔργα τἀληθὲς νοῆσαι· ἀρχὴ δὲ ἀποδείξεως ἥδε. ψυχὴ πᾶσα ἀθάνατος. τὸ γὰρ ἀεικίνητον ἀθάνατον· τὸ δʼ ἄλλο κινοῦν καὶ ὑπʼ ἄλλου κινούμενον, παῦλαν ἔχον κινήσεως, παῦλαν ἔχει ζωῆς. μόνον δὴ τὸ αὑτὸ κινοῦν, ἅτε οὐκ ἀπολεῖπον ἑαυτό, οὔποτε λήγει κινούμενον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὅσα κινεῖται τοῦτο πηγὴ καὶ ἀρχὴ κινήσεως. ἀρχὴ δὲ ἀγένητον. ἐξ ἀρχῆς γὰρ ἀνάγκη πᾶν τὸ γιγνόμενον γίγνεσθαι, αὐτὴν δὲ μηδʼ ἐξ ἑνός· εἰ γὰρ ἔκ του ἀρχὴ γίγνοιτο, οὐκ ἂν ἔτι ἀρχὴ γίγνοιτο. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀγένητόν ἐστιν, καὶ ἀδιάφθορον αὐτὸ ἀνάγκη εἶναι. ἀρχῆς γὰρ δὴ ἀπολομένης οὔτε αὐτή ποτε ἔκ του οὔτε ἄλλο ἐξ ἐκείνης γενήσεται, εἴπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς δεῖ τὰ πάντα γίγνεσθαι. οὕτω δὴ κινήσεως μὲν ἀρχὴ τὸ αὐτὸ αὑτὸ κινοῦν. τοῦτο δὲ οὔτʼ ἀπόλλυσθαι οὔτε γίγνεσθαι δυνατόν, ἢ πάντα τε οὐρανὸν πᾶσάν τε γῆν εἰς ἓν συμπεσοῦσαν στῆναι καὶ μήποτε αὖθις ἔχειν ὅθεν κινηθέντα γενήσεται. ἀθανάτου δὲ πεφασμένου τοῦ ὑφʼ ἑαυτοῦ κινουμένου, ψυχῆς οὐσίαν τε καὶ λόγον τοῦτον αὐτόν τις λέγων οὐκ αἰσχυνεῖται.",
            "edition": "perseus-plato-phaedrus-grc",
            "source_id": "perseus-plato-phaedrus-grc",
            "translation_type": "original"
        },
        {
            "language": "en",
            "text": "Socrates. And a third kind of possession and madness comes from the Muses. This takes hold upon a gentle and pure soul, arouses it and inspires it to songs and other poetry, and thus by adorning countless deeds of the ancients educates later generations. But he who without the divine madness comes to the doors of the Muses, confident that he will be a good poet by art, meets with no success, and the poetry of the sane man vanishes into nothingness before that of the inspired madmen. All these noble results of inspired madness I can mention, and many more. Therefore let us not be afraid on that point, and let no one disturb and frighten us by saying that the reasonable friend should be preferred to him who is in a frenzy. Let him show in addition that love is not sent from heaven for the advantage of lover and beloved alike, and we will grant him the prize of victory. We, on our part, must prove that such madness is given by the gods for our greatest happiness; and our proof will not be believed by the merely clever, but will be accepted by the truly wise. First, then, we must learn the truth about the soul divine and human by observing how it acts and is acted upon. And the beginning of our proof is as follows: Every soul is immortal. For that which is ever moving is immortal but that which moves something else or is moved by something else, when it ceases to move, ceases to live. Only that which moves itself, since it does not leave itself, never ceases to move, and this is also the source and beginning of motion for all other things which have motion. But the beginning is ungenerated. For everything that is generated must be generated from a beginning, but the beginning is not generated from anything; for if the beginning were generated from anything, it would not be generated from a beginning. And since it is ungenerated, it must be also indestructible; for if the beginning were destroyed, it could never be generated from anything nor anything else from it, since all things must be generated from a beginning. Thus that which moves itself must be the beginning of motion. And this can be neither destroyed nor generated, otherwise all the heavens and all generation must fall in ruin and stop and never again have any source of motion or origin. But since that which is moved by itself has been seen to be immortal, one who says that this self-motion is the essence and the very idea of the soul, will not be disgraced.",
            "translator": "Benjamin Jowett",
            "edition": "perseus-plato-phaedrus-en",
            "source_id": "perseus-plato-phaedrus-en",
            "translation_type": "historical_human_translation"
        },
        {
            "language": "fr",
            "text": "Socrate. Une troisième sorte de possession et de folie vient des Muses. Elle s’empare d’une âme douce et pure, l’éveille et l’inspire pour les chants et les autres formes de poésie ; en ornant ainsi d’innombrables exploits des anciens, elle instruit les générations suivantes. Mais celui qui, sans la folie divine, se présente aux portes des Muses, assuré que l’art suffira à faire de lui un bon poète, n’obtient aucun succès, et la poésie de l’homme sain d’esprit disparaît dans le néant devant celle des hommes inspirés par la folie. Je peux citer tous ces nobles effets de la folie inspirée, et beaucoup d’autres encore. Ne craignons donc rien sur ce point, et que personne ne nous trouble ni ne nous effraie en disant qu’il faut préférer l’ami raisonnable à celui qui est en délire. Qu’il montre en outre que l’amour n’est pas envoyé du ciel pour l’avantage commun de l’amoureux et du bien-aimé, et nous lui accorderons le prix de la victoire. Pour notre part, nous devons prouver qu’une telle folie est donnée par les dieux en vue de notre plus grand bonheur. Notre démonstration ne sera pas crue par les simples habiles, mais elle sera acceptée par les véritables sages.\n\nIl nous faut donc d’abord apprendre la vérité sur l’âme divine et humaine en observant comment elle agit et comment elle pâtit. Voici le commencement de notre démonstration : toute âme est immortelle. Car ce qui se meut toujours est immortel ; mais ce qui meut autre chose ou est mû par autre chose cesse de vivre lorsqu’il cesse de se mouvoir. Seul ce qui se meut soi-même, puisqu’il ne se délaisse jamais, ne cesse jamais de se mouvoir ; et il constitue aussi la source et le principe du mouvement pour toutes les autres choses qui se meuvent. Or le principe est inengendré. Car tout ce qui est engendré doit l’être à partir d’un principe, mais le principe n’est engendré à partir de rien ; car si le principe était engendré à partir de quelque chose, il ne serait pas engendré à partir d’un principe. Et puisqu’il est inengendré, il doit aussi être indestructible. Car si le principe était détruit, il ne pourrait jamais être engendré à partir de rien, ni rien d’autre être engendré à partir de lui, puisque toutes choses doivent être engendrées à partir d’un principe. Ainsi, ce qui se meut soi-même doit être le principe du mouvement. Cela ne peut être ni détruit ni engendré ; sans quoi le ciel entier et toute génération devraient s’effondrer, s’arrêter et ne plus jamais trouver aucune source ni aucune origine de mouvement. Mais puisqu’il est apparu que ce qui est mû par soi-même est immortel, celui qui dira que ce mouvement de soi est l’essence et l’idée même de l’âme n’aura pas à en rougir.",
            "translator": "Codex gpt-5.6-sol",
            "edition": "Prokopton42 non-official AI translation, 2026-09-11",
            "source_id": "prokopton42-codex-translation:gpt-5.6-sol:corpus-passage-translation-v1",
            "translation_type": "ai_generated_translation",
            "official_status": "non_official",
            "generation_model": "gpt-5.6-sol"
        }
    ],
    "content_checksum": "7446c32afe3e724db43c0787b4811aae8591e0d7901f71e2fa12e1edaa15c301"
}