Thinking about Greek stuff, I recall that Pirsig referred to himself as “Phaedrus” in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
I enjoy the book. I’ve read them a few times, and reading them makes me feel smart.
Anyway, I figured Phaedrus was some Greek philosopher related to rhetoric, the area of study of the main character/Pirsig.
Why not dig in.
Here’s what GPT5.1 says:
In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the narrator uses “Phaedrus” as the name for his earlier, pre-breakdown self—the hyper-intellectual persona obsessed with defining “Quality.” He borrows the name from the historical Phaedrus of Plato’s dialogues, a young Athenian who appears most prominently in Plato’s Phaedrus. In that dialogue, Socrates and Phaedrus explore rhetoric, truth, beauty, and the nature of the soul—exactly the kinds of philosophical questions the narrator’s former self grappled with.
Here he is on Wikipedia:
A summary fro GPT5.1:
In Plato’s dialogues, Phaedrus is a young Athenian nobleman best known from the dialogue that bears his name, where he engages Socrates in discussions about love, rhetoric, and the nature of the soul. Although he is not a major political figure, he is important because he serves as a catalyst for some of Plato’s most influential ideas: Socrates’ critique of persuasive speech divorced from truth, his vision of the soul as a charioteer pulled by conflicting impulses, and his argument that genuine love elevates the soul toward the Good. Phaedrus’ receptive, curious, and occasionally naïve character allows Socrates to develop these themes richly, making him a crucial interlocutor through whom Plato explores the relationship between passion, reason, and philosophical insight.
Nice. Should have done that years ago.