Socrates Plays Stesichorus

I examine a number of overlooked linguistic, philological, performative and even metrical factors, and I conclude that the first half of the Phaedrus is, among other things, a consistent re-enacting of Stesichorus’ Helen poem in performance. Plato builds on the traditional opposition between Stesichorus and Homer, and thus conceptualizes philosophy as a topical or flexible discourse to be set against the notion of fixed and crystallized discourse as exemplified by epic rhapsodies.