Phaedrus (Athenian)

Phaedrus (/ˈfiːdrəs, ˈfɛdrəs/), son of Pythocles, of the Myrrhinus deme (Greek: Φαῖδρος Πυθοκλέους Μυῤῥινούσιος, Phaĩdros Puthokléous Murrhinoúsios; c. 444 – 393 BC), was an ancient Athenian aristocrat associated with the inner-circle of the philosopher Socrates.

[2] Phaedrus, whose name translates to "bright" or "radiant" in particular how one might show light on something, "to reveal" at its earliest etymology,[3] was born to a wealthy family sometime in the mid-5th century BC, and was the first cousin of Plato's stepbrother Demos.

[1] He is present for the speeches delivered in Plato's Protagoras,[5] whose dramatic date of 433/432[1] suggests that Phaedrus was involved in prominent Athenian intellectual circles from a young age; the dialogue also notes his early interest in astronomy and long-standing friendship with the physician Eryximachus.

Some scholars had previously interpreted Andocides as naming Phaedrus in his list of mutilators of the Herms,[2] a contemporaneous Athenian scandal, but this is generally dismissed within present scholarship.

[1] In his eponymous Platonic dialogue, Phaedrus recites a speech attributed to Lysias, while he calls upon several classical myths to construct a tragic account of Eros in the Symposium.