The Chariot In Homer's Phaedrus
In the Phaedrus, the chariot represents the soul, driven by the charioteer who is man, its wisdom reasons for why we do what we do. Man (charioteer) guides its soul to keep both horse from going different ways and direct them to the same path. The two horses, white and black, represent mortal and immortal. The white horse is our spirit, immortal, wanting to rise to the heavens about and do what is right all the time. The black horse, on the other hand, is mortal, and it realizes that we will never be heaven worthy and it drags us back to Earth, to reality. The black horse, however, is challenging to control and is the hardest to train (Plato, 360 B.C.E., p.13). It represents mans wants and desires, for example, money, sex, food, etc.
Today,
Today,