8/8/2019 In Phaedrus Cicada

1/1

InPhaedrus, a dialogue authored by Plato, a sagely Socrates and his student ofrhetoric

Phaedrus engage in thoughtful repartee in an earthy setting by a lush riverbank in the

shade of a tree occupied by a chorus of cicadas.[3]

These cicada are not supernumerary; they provide metaphorical richness, a salientmusical motifand liminal hierophany to the dialogue of Socrates and Phaedrus.

It is inPhaedrus that Socrates states that some of life's greatest blessings flow from

mania [4] specifically in the four kinds of mania: (1) prophetic; (2) poetic; (3) cathartic;

and (4) erotic. It is in this context that Socrates' Myth of the Cicadas is presented. The

Cicadas chirp and watch to see whether their music lulls humans to laziness or whether

the humans can resist their sweet song. Cicadas were originally humans who, in ancient

times, allowed the first Muses to enchant them into singing and dancing so long that they

stopped eating and sleeping and actually died without noticing it. The Muses rewarded

them with the gift of never needing food or sleep, but to sing from birth to death. The task

of the Cicadas is to watch humans to report who honors the Muses and who does not.

In the dialogue, Socrates affirms that nymphs and local divinities orspirits of place

inhabit the countryside; talks of the Muses and nature gods such as Pan; in addition he

indulges in an extended exegesis of his own dmon; waxes lyrical, connecting divine

inspiration to religion, poetry, art and love; all of which are informed and rendered in

poignant relief by cicada chorus.

[edit]

Notes

1. Dalby (2003: p.86) states that: "The cicada was a better-known food in Greece thanin Rome. The grubs or nymphs were nicer to eat than the mature insects, says

Aristotle. Boiled cicada was recommended in the treatment of bladder disorders.

The cicada (Cicada pebeia and C. Orni) is Greektettix, Latin cicada."

2. The cithara, as an instrument of professional musicians, is apotent attribute ofApollo.

3. Phaedrus is Plato's only dialogue where Socrates is conveyed in the country andoutside of Athens.

^ Plato's Phaedrus, R. Hackforth, 1952, Cambridge U. Press