Abstract

Plato both delineated the separate disciplines of poetry and philosophy and used poetry to enhance philosophic content conveyed in the dialogues. Although Plato is often critical of poetry's imitative function , he does not desert the use of poetic images to convey experiential knowledge, and thus to reinforce the philosophical content conveyed in the dialogues. ;Much recent scholarship has focused on interpretation based primarily on the dramatic elements of the dialogues. This trend leads in the work of many scholars to a de-emphasis of specifically stated philosophic content, or Platonic doctrine. The current study is an attempt to balance doctrinal and dramatic approaches to the interpretation of the Meno and Phaedrus. Dramatic elements and philosophic content in the Meno and Phaedrus work hand in hand to educate the reader. The fullest understanding of these and other Platonic dialogues requires an appreciation of both philosophic and dramatic elements