Commentaries on Plato, Volume 1: Phaedrus and Ion

Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499), the Florentine scholar-philosopher-magus, was largely responsible for the Renaissance revival of Plato. The publication of his Latin translations of the dialogues in 1484 was an intellectual event of the first magnitude, making the Platonic canon accessible to western Europe after the passing of a millennium and establishing Plato as an authority for Renaissance thought.

This volume contains Ficino’s extended analysis and commentary on the Phaedrus, which he expl...