Philosophy-Symbolism

The Charioteer of Delphi

Symbolism of Reason and the Soul in Love.

The Charioteer of Delphi is one of the statues surviving from Ancient Greece. It is considered one of the finest examples of ancient bronze life-size statues. Delphi Archeological Museum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charioteer_of_Delphi

The ancient Greeks viewed love as more than just a human emotion. They saw it as a fundamental and universal force comparable to the energy that drives the cosmos. In their understanding, love, or Eros, was revered as a powerful deity symbolizing the force that propels all aspects of the universe.

The archetypal form of the soul, as symbolically represented by the Charioteer of Delphi, is a breathtaking sight. In ancient Greece, this depiction of the soul was echoed in numerous texts, and one of the best descriptions can be found in Plato’s dialogue, the Phaedrus.

In this dialogue, Socrates and his young student Phaedrus are the protagonists. They mainly discuss love and how it affects the soul.

This is how Socrates described the soul falling in love:

The winged chariot of the soul

The soul is an immortal substance that moves in heavenly space, divided into three parts. Two parts have the form of horses, and the third is a Charioteer. One of the horses symbolizes the sensual element of man and the baseness of the flesh, while the other is spiritual, related to the gods, and capable of contemplating heavenly beauty.