Commentary on Plato's Symposium

that he consecrated the first fruits of his studies to him: to Phaedrus, I say, he dedicated the epigram, the elegies, and the first book on beauty called the Phaedrus. Therefore, being made similar to Phaedrus—not by my own doing, as I do not attribute so much to myself, but primarily by the impending lot, and then by the consent of you all—with such happy omens, I shall declare the oration of Phaedrus before all the others, fulfilling then the parts of Antonio and Ficino.

Three things, most gentle spirits, every good philosopher and imitator of Plato considers in every action: the past, the present, and the following. If these are good, they praise the thing; if sad, they vituperate and blame it. For that praise is perfect which recounts the ancient origin of the thing, narrates the present being, and shows the following successes. Each thing is praised by its antiquity as noble, by its present as great, and by its following as useful. Hence, from those three things, these three in praise are concluded, namely: nobility, greatness, and utility. For this reason, our Phaedrus, having contemplated the present excellence of love, called it a great God, added that it is marvelous, and to both gods and men, and with reason. For one marvels at great things, and certainly he is great under whose empire both gods and men stand subjected, since both the gods and men love; which both Orpheus and Hesiod signified, saying that by love the minds of mortals and immortals alike are tamed. It is called, furthermore, marvelous, because everyone loves that whose beauty is marvelous. The gods, or (as our people say) the angels of the