The Chariot Allegory in Plato's Phaedrus

In Plato’s Phaedrus, Socrates illustrates to Phaedrus the components of human soul with the use of a chariot allegory in which he likens the soul to a composite of a charioteer and two winged horses, one white and the other black. According to Socrates, these two horses, one of which is “noble and good and from like stock”, the other is “opposite and from opposite stock”, together with the charioteer, each representing a different parts of a soul, constitute a tripartite nature of human psyche (246b2-5). Immediately after putting this metaphor forward, Socrates, hinting at the innate conflicts among these three distinct parts, points out that, “for us chariot-driving must be difficult and irksome”(246b5-6). Noticeably, the cause of this hardship of driving is the notorious black horse, which, due to its disobedient and rebellious nature, seldom follows the guidance of the charioteer and later results in the fall or degeneration of the whole soul. Because of the unpleasantness it engenders and the undesirable aftermath it begets, one may argue that the black horse in Socrates’ allegory is unwanted, thus if it cannot be dismissed it needs to be suppressed throughout the time for the sake of maintaining a good soul. However, through close examination of the chariot allegory, its relations to love and the ascension of human soul, it is not uneasy to see the necessity of the seemingly devious black horse, that the most ideal control of it for the charioteer is more than just whip and curb.

According to Socrates, at the first beginning, the charioteer drove the chariot of soul in heaven under the company of a god. He strives hard to follow the divine gods to the “summit of heaven” to behold the “Justice”, “Moderation” and the “knowledge of the Being which really is”, for the soul is nourished by these “truths” and its wings are increased by “the divine which is beautiful, wise, good and everything of this sort” (246e1-4; 247d6-11). The charioteer discerns what is...