batch.motif.greek-plato-phaedrus-jowett-gutenberg-l1781-l1894
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-phaedrus-jowett-gutenberg-l1781-l1894
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/phaedrus-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: PHAEDRUS / INTRODUCTION. / ON THE DECLINE OF GREEK LITERATURE. / PHAEDRUS;
lines 1781-1894
start: '1781'
end: '1894'
translation: Phaedrus
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Phaedrus presses Socrates to outdo Lysias on the lover and non-lover, swearing
by a plane-tree that he will withhold future discourses unless Socrates speaks.
Socrates agrees, veils his face, invokes the Muses, and begins a tale about a
fair youth addressed by a lover pretending to be a non-lover. The embedded speech
argues that counsel requires definition, distinguishes two ruling principles in
the soul, and defines love as irrational desire overcoming right opinion toward
the enjoyment of beauty.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Phaedrus accepts the premise that the lover is more disordered in wits than
the non-lover and promises Socrates a beaten-gold statue if Socrates makes a longer
and better speech than Lysias.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Phaedrus insists that he and Socrates will not leave the place until Socrates
has delivered the speech, noting that they are alone and that he is younger and
stronger.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Phaedrus swears by the plane-tree that unless Socrates repeats the discourse
before that tree, he will never tell Socrates another discourse.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Socrates says he is conquered and describes himself as a poor lover of discourse
who cannot allow himself to be starved.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Socrates says he will veil his face and hurry through the discourse because
seeing Phaedrus would make him ashamed and speechless.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:6
text: Socrates invokes the Muses for help in the tale that Phaedrus desires him
to rehearse.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:7
text: Socrates begins a tale about a very fair youth with many lovers, including
one cunning lover who persuaded the youth that he did not love him while actually
loving him.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:8
text: The embedded speaker states that good counsel must begin with knowing and
agreeing about what is being discussed, and proposes defining the nature and power
of love before judging its advantage or disadvantage.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:9
text: 'The embedded speaker describes two guiding and ruling principles in each
person: natural desire for pleasure and acquired opinion aspiring after the best;
reason-led opinion is called temperance, while reasonless desire that drags toward
pleasure is called excess.'
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:10
text: The embedded speaker defines love as an irrational desire that overcomes right
opinion and is led toward enjoyment of beauty, especially personal beauty.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:11
text: Socrates asks Phaedrus whether he seems inspired, and Phaedrus replies that
Socrates has an unusual flow of words.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Phaedrus
description: Socrates' interlocutor, who presses him to speak, swears by the plane-tree,
and responds to the speech.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:11
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Socrates
description: The speaker who resists, then agrees to speak, veils his face, invokes
the Muses, and delivers the tale and definition of love.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Lysias
description: A master of speechmaking mentioned as the person whose discourse Socrates
is challenged to surpass.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Muses
description: Divine figures invoked by Socrates for help in telling the tale.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: fair youth
description: A very fair youth in Socrates' tale who has many lovers.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: cunning lover pretending to be a non-lover
description: A special cunning lover in the tale who persuades the youth that he
does not love him, although he does.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: interlocutor and compeller of speech
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Phaedrus refuses to leave, threatens compulsion, and swears to withhold future
discourses unless Socrates speaks.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: reluctant speaker and tale-teller
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Socrates first resists, then agrees, veils his face, invokes the Muses, and
begins the tale.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: rival or benchmark speechmaker
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Phaedrus challenges Socrates to make a longer and better speech than Lysias.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: invoked divine helpers of speech
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Socrates calls on the Muses to help him in the tale.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: beloved youth in illustrative tale
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The tale presents a very fair youth with many lovers as the addressee of
the argument.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:6
label: deceptive lover in illustrative tale
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The tale describes a lover who claims not to love while actually loving and
argues that the youth should prefer a non-lover.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: plane-tree oath witness
literal_form: plane-tree
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: veiled face before speech
literal_form: veil over Socrates' face
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: beaten-gold statue reward
literal_form: statue of beaten gold and colossal offerings at Olympia
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:4
label: two ruling principles
literal_form: natural desire of pleasure and acquired opinion aspiring after the
best
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Challenge to surpass Lysias
summary: Phaedrus accepts the starting premise and promises a golden statue if Socrates
makes a longer and better speech than Lysias.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Compulsion and oath by the plane-tree
summary: Phaedrus presses Socrates to speak, says they will not leave, and swears
by the plane-tree to withhold future discourses unless Socrates speaks there.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Veiling and invocation
summary: Socrates agrees to speak, says he will veil his face to avoid shame, and
invokes the Muses for help with the tale.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: Tale of the fair youth and deceptive lover
summary: Socrates introduces a fair youth with many lovers and a cunning lover who
pretends to be a non-lover while urging the youth to prefer the non-lover.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Definition of love through inner conflict
summary: The embedded speech argues that good counsel requires definition, identifies
two ruling principles in the person, and defines love as irrational desire overcoming
right opinion toward beauty.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- ev:10
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Wisdom through definition before judgment
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The embedded speech says good counsel requires knowing what is being advised
about and agreeing first on the nature and power of love before judging its advantage
or disadvantage.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: This is a philosophical argumentative pattern rather than a mythic narrative
episode.
- id: motif:2
label: Inner duality of reason and desire
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
basis: The passage presents two ruling principles in each person, one desire for
pleasure and the other opinion aspiring to the best, sometimes in harmony and
sometimes at war.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: The duality is psychological and ethical, not personified as separate
mythic beings in this passage.
- id: motif:3
label: Invocation of divine helpers for inspired speech
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Socrates calls on the Muses to help him tell the tale, and Phaedrus later
says Socrates has an unusual flow of words after Socrates asks whether he seems
inspired.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:11
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage contains an invocation and a statement about inspiration,
but does not narrate a direct divine appearance or intervention.
- id: motif:4
label: Beloved addressed by disguised lover
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The tale describes a fair youth with many lovers and one cunning lover who
pretends not to love him while actually loving him and arguing for the non-lover's
preference.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: This is introduced as an illustrative rhetorical tale; no available taxonomy
reference directly matches the pattern without overextension.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 1781-1787
quote_or_summary: Phaedrus allows Socrates to begin from the premise that the lover
is more disordered than the non-lover and promises him a beaten-gold statue if
he makes a longer and better speech than Lysias.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/phaedrus-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 1795-1803
quote_or_summary: Phaedrus says they will not leave the place until Socrates has
unbosomed himself of the speech, adding that they are alone and that he is stronger
and younger, and warning Socrates not to compel violence.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/phaedrus-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: 1814-1819
quote_or_summary: '"By this plane-tree I swear, that unless you repeat the discourse
here in the face of this very plane-tree, I will never tell you another"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/phaedrus-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 1820-1827
quote_or_summary: Socrates says he is conquered, calls himself a poor lover of discourse,
and says he cannot allow himself to be starved after Phaedrus' oath.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/phaedrus-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: 1830-1835
quote_or_summary: '"I will veil my face and gallop through the discourse as fast
as I can"'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/phaedrus-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 1838-1844
quote_or_summary: Socrates invokes the Muses, asking them to help him in the tale
that Phaedrus desires him to rehearse.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/phaedrus-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 1845-1853
quote_or_summary: Socrates begins a tale about a very fair youth with many lovers
and a cunning lover who pretended not to love him while actually loving him, and
who argued that the youth should accept the non-lover rather than the lover.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/phaedrus-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: 1855-1866
quote_or_summary: The embedded speech says good counsel begins with knowing what
one is advising about, and proposes defining the nature and power of love before
deciding whether love brings advantage or disadvantage.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/phaedrus-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: 1867-1884
quote_or_summary: The embedded speech distinguishes natural desire for pleasure
from acquired opinion aspiring after the best; when reason-led opinion rules it
is temperance, and when reasonless desire rules and drags toward pleasure it is
excess.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/phaedrus-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: 1885-1892
quote_or_summary: The embedded speech defines love as irrational desire that overcomes
right opinion and is led to the enjoyment of beauty, especially personal beauty.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/phaedrus-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: 1893-1894
quote_or_summary: Socrates asks whether he seems inspired, and Phaedrus answers
that Socrates seems to have a very unusual flow of words.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/phaedrus-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: The passage is primarily philosophical dialogue and rhetorical framing. Motif
candidates are limited to patterns directly supported by the passage; no external
comparison claims were made.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
Used only supplied passage text and metadata. Taxonomy references were applied only where directly supported: tree, wisdom, and duality.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-phaedrus-jowett-gutenberg__l1781-l1894
passage_sha256=4119544950e477f8b272f28b7aa18084b47220bb120427818d129af140b2f795