I wish to express my gratitude to Gregory Nagy, the editor of this series, for his encouragement and for sharing with me his many insights on the role of lyric poetry during Plato’s time. I would also like to acknowledge my debt to Charles Segal and Ian Rutherford, each of whom offered me valuable comments and suggestions on a wide variety of topics. Albert Henrichs also greatly influenced my understanding of Plato’s style.

The editors of Harvard Studies in Classical Philology and Classical World kindly granted permission to reprint chapters three and four respectively, which previously appeared in their publications. Excerpts from R. Hackforth’s translation of the Phaedrus are reprinted with the permission of Cambridge University Press; excerpts from W.K.C. Guthrie’s translation of the Protagoras are reprinted with the kind permission of Penguin Books, Ltd.

I would like to thank Karen Johnson and Robin Adler of Rowman & Littlefield for their guidance, and Maura Giles for her assistance in preparing my manuscript for publication. The Center for Hellenic Studies made it possible for me to finish this book during my stay there as a Summer Fellow in 1997. I am also grateful to the American Association of University Women for its financial support. Finally, I wish to acknowledge the very generous support I have received from Florida International University.