Jim Barcelona's Philosophy and Food Blog

I dusted off my Greek lexicon and grammar books, and started to translate the Phaedrus. Not too far from the beginning, Socrates refers to himself as a "tou twn logwn erastou." (228c2) This roughly translates to "an erotic lover of words." The word for word in Greek can be "logos." It can also be "epos," too. In the Apology, Socrates often says, "ouk alethes epos epein." (Not a word did they speak truly.) Logos in Greek implies account or argument.

I was translating some of the Phaedrus at the Blue Front Cafe on Haight Street. This place has really good gyros and schwerma platters. I had the lighter of fare of just an Orangina this time because I was going to meet Dave, Sharon and Jess at Ploy II for some delicious Thai Cuisine.

Anyway, people would walk by with their shopping bags more full and heavy than usual because it's the holiday buying season. I would see couples, groups of people, individuals pass by, and asked myself, "What is erotic about words?" What is erotic about an account?

There's no denying that words strewn together in the right way can be very erotic, but Socrates is claiming that he is a lover of words in general. For him, there is something erotic about every logos. What is that erotic something?