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some good speeches first. Let Phaedrus begin the praise of Love, and good luck to him. All the company expressed their assent, and desired him to do as Socrates bade him. Aristodemus did not recollect all that was said, nor do I recollect all that he related to me ; but I will tell you what I thought most worthy of remembrance, and what the chief speakers said. Phaedrus began by affirming that Love is a mighty god, and wonderful among gods and men, but especially wonder- ful in his birth. For he is the eldest of the gods, which is an honour to him ; and a proof of his claim to this honour is, that of his parents there is no memorial ; neither poet nor prose-writer has ever affirmed that he had any. As Hesiod says : —

In other words, after Chaos, the Earth and Love, these two, came into being. Also Parmenides sings of Generation:



Love is the And Acusilaus agrees with Hesiod. Thus numerous are the gods and ^ witnesses who acknowledge Love to be the eldest of the the source gods. And not only is he the eldest, he is also the source of the greatest benefits to us. For I know not any greater good. blessing to a young man who is beginning life than a virtuous For an lover, or to the lover than a beloved youth. For the prin- k)TC°i^The which ought to be the guide of men who would nobly best incen- Hve — that principle, I say, neither kindred, nor honour, nor tive to vir- v^galth, nor any other motive is able to implant so well as love. Of what am I speaking ? Of the sense of honour and dishonour, without which neither states nor individuals ever do any good or great work. And I say that a lover who is detected in doing any dishonourable act, or sub- mitting through cowardice when any dishonour is done to him by another, will be more pained at being detected by his beloved than at being seen by his father, or by his com- panions, or by any one else. The beloved too, when he is found in any disgraceful situation, has the same feeling about his lover. And if there were only some way of contriving