This course will focus on a close reading of Plato’s Phaedrus, with the themes of writing and rhapsody in mind. Is philosophy more suited to one than the other? Is writing—whatever “writing” may entail—in some way necessary to the pursuit of truth? Socrates’ view in Plato’s Phaedrus is that writing is rhapsodic in its inability to defend itself, since a written work can only ever re-perform the same tune. That this is Plato’s Socrates’ written critique of writing (in the form of a spoken dialogue) suggests there is more to the story than meets the eye or ear, especially given Socrates’ late-in-life turn to composition and suggestions in Plato that insight might be equivalent to madness. We will think through myth and madness in the Phaedrus as the counterparts to the written “body” and its elusive “soul.” Other readings will include Socrates’ performative evisceration of a decorated rhapsode in Plato’s Ion; and essays by Derrida and Cixous. We will additionally consider the relevance of this topic to contemporary discussions about speech, silence and new hybrid modalities of the written word. Knowledge of Greek is not required for this course but it would be an asset.