Mythos and logos in Plato's 'Phaedo

I argue that most Anglophone scholarship on Plato's Phaedo has ignored or subordinated the dramatic elements, focusing on a select number of themes or subjects thought to constitute the dialogue's primary philosophical content: the theory of Forms, the immortality of the soul, and the hypothetical method, the last of which has been thought to establish the former two doctrines. Most English scholarship has focused on the analysis of arguments presumed to constitute such doctrines, abstracted and isolated from their dramatic context. These scholars adhere to the methodology of traditional analytic philosophy. I offer detailed explanations of their methodology, identifying strengths and weaknesses.;I explore changes in Phaedo interpretation beginning in the 1980's, changes due primarily to the influence of Leo Strauss. Strauss rejected the methodology of the analysts. He was skeptical that Plato had any doctrines or a philosophical system and was exceedingly cautious of reading such things into the dialogues. He believed that in order to understand the substance of the dialogues one had to understand their form. Thus, Straussian interpretation takes seriously the dramatic dimensions of the dialogues ignored by analytic philosophers. I present Strauss' critique of analytic Platonic scholarship and his hermeneutic approach, indicating my general agreement with Strauss regarding both while explicating the limitations of his methodology.;I argue for integrating analytic and Straussian approaches, claiming it is necessary for a more comprehensive understanding of any dialogue, rather than choosing one over the other or even treating both but treating them separately. Just as the inclusion of argument analysis should not come at the exclusion of utilizing the dramatic elements of the dialogues, neither should the latter come at the exclusion of the former. The close relationship between the two should be understood and utilized although that has not been accomplished thus far in Anglophone Phaedo scholarship. Throughout my dissertation, I synthesize both approaches and offer original contributions constituting my own approach to reading Plato's dialogues, demonstrating the success of my approach by applying it in my reading of Phaedo .