Memory, Myth, and Rhetoric in Plato'sPhaedrus

Thomas S. Frentz University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

Abstract

In loving memory of Janice Hocker Rushing Operating within the tension created by two antithetical readings of the Phaedrus, I argue that neither view fully captures Plato's final word on memory, myth, or rhetoric. Using the entire dialogue as a model, I discover a conversational form of rhetoric as “living myth” that leads Socrates and Phaedrus, as well as readers of the dialogue, towards self-knowledge of the soul. To reach these conclusions, I operate with a decidedly spiritual framework, and argue that such a critical perspective may well be useful in interpreting meanings in other important rhetorical texts.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2006-09-01
DOI
10.1080/02773940500511546
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