The Madness of Top 40

In the Phaedrus, Socrates gives two speeches on love after listening to a speech of seduction by Lysias (en absentia). In the second speech, Socrates speaks of madness, the soul, and the madness of love. We know from earlier in the speech, that love is one form of divine madness, originating with Aphrodite (244a-245c).

This madness, which originates on Earth, is a reminder of the true beauty one must have saw in the heavens during one of the 10,000 year cycles of reincarnation the soul must go through to regrow its wings to return to the place from which it came (2483-249d). This reminder of true beauty then leads the one who is stricken by this mania to call the object of beauty, in this case a boy, "lover" (249e).

To better illustrate the madness of love, Socrates tells the Myth of the Charioteer. In the myth, the soul is divided into three parts: two horses and the charioteer. The two horses represent the virtue and vice of all humans.

"the one in the more beautiful position is straight in form and well jointed, somewhat hook nosed, white to the sight, black eyed, a lover of honor with moderation and a sense of shame, and a comrade of truthful opinion, unbeaten, guided by command alone and speech. The other, in turn, is crooked, big and randomly slung together, strong necked, short necked, snub nosed, black skinned, gray eyed, bloodshot, a comrade of wantonness, and boasting, shaggy about the ears, deaf, barely yielding to the whip and goads." (253d-253e)


If the good horse is controlled by its sense of shame, then surely the "bad" horse will give into its carnal desires.  As the bad horse gives int these desires, it is the charioteer that is reminded of the experience of beauty with the gods and he must pull on the reigns to keep the horse under control. Over time, the horse is able to be controlled by the charioteer and then the soul can return to where it came.

Many popular songs deal with this "madness" of love. One "song" ( I use the term loosely in reference to most Top 40 songs) that embodies this is "Grenade" by Bruno Mars. In the chorus, Mars sings about sufferings acts of violence to please the object of his desire, most of which could result in death. Personally, this does not hint at a divine knowledge of love, but rather a very base form of what someone would consider love, based entirely on lust or "longing.

I'd catch a grenade for yaThrow my hand on a blade for yaI'd jump in front of a train for yaYou know I'd do anything for ya

I would go through all this painTake a bullet straight through my brainYes, I would die for you, babyBut you won't do the same

Is Bruno Mars keeping his horses obedient and is his soul any closer to being reunited with the gods? If he is writing songs like this, I think probably not.