In Phaedrus, a dialogue authored by Plato, a sagely Socrates and his student of rhetoric

Phaedrus engage in thoughtful repartee in an earthy setting by a lush riverbank in the

shade of a tree occupied by a chorus of cicadas.[3]

These cicada are not supernumerary; they provide metaphorical richness, a salient
musical motif and liminal hierophany to the dialogue of Socrates and Phaedrus.

It is in Phaedrus that Socrates states that some of life's greatest blessings flow from
mania [4] specifically in the four kinds of mania: (1) prophetic; (2) poetic; (3) cathartic;
and (4) erotic. It is in this context that Socrates' Myth of the Cicadas is presented. The
Cicadas chirp and watch to see whether their music lulls humans to laziness or whether
the humans can resist their sweet song. Cicadas were originally humans who, in ancient
times, allowed the first Muses to enchant them into singing and dancing so long that they
stopped eating and sleeping and actually died without noticing it. The Muses rewarded
them with the gift of never needing food or sleep, but to sing from birth to death. The task
of the Cicadas is to watch humans to report who honors the Muses and who does not.

In the dialogue, Socrates affirms that nymphs and local divinities or spirits of place
inhabit the countryside; talks of the Muses and nature gods such as Pan; in addition he
indulges in an extended exegesis of his own dæmon; waxes lyrical, connecting divine
inspiration to religion, poetry, art and love; all of which are informed and rendered in
poignant relief by cicada chorus.

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Notes

1. ^ Dalby (2003: p.86) states that: "The cicada was a better-known food in Greece than
in Rome. The grubs or nymphs were nicer to eat than the mature insects, says
Aristotle. Boiled cicada was recommended in the treatment of bladder disorders.
The cicada (Cicada pebeia and C. Orni) is Greek tettix, Latin cicada."
2. ^ The cithara, as an instrument of professional musicians, is a potent attribute of
Apollo.
3. ^ Phaedrus is Plato's only dialogue where Socrates is conveyed in the country and
outside of Athens.
^ Plato's Phaedrus, R. Hackforth, 1952, Cambridge U. Press