Enneads vs Φαίδων: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Soul, Ancient Philosophy, Early works to 1800, Philosophy
Enneads
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The Six Enneads Plotinus - The Six Enneads is the collection of writings of Plotinus, edited and compiled by his student Porphyry. After correcting and naming each treatise, Porphyry wrote a biography of his master,…
Φαίδων
“PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE: Phaedo, who is the narrator of the dialogue to Echecrates of Phlius.”
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After an interval of some months or years, and at Phlius, a town of Peloponnesus, the tale of the last hours of Socrates is narrated to Echecrates and other Phliasians by Phaedo the 'beloved disciple.' The Dialogue…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Φαίδων is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 11 for Enneads.
- Φαίδων has the widest readership — 17232 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Enneads | Φαίδων | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 4.1 (17232) |
| Hardcover | 4.3 (3) | — |
Reception
| Enneads | Φαίδων | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 3 | 17232 |
| Editions | 51 | 291 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Written reviews | — | 5 |
| Wikipedia attention | 2541 | 5092 |
| Pages | 635 | 198 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Enneads or Φαίδων?
Φαίδων has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Φαίδων 4.1/5, Enneads 3.9/5).
Which is shorter to read: Enneads or Φαίδων?
Φαίδων is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Φαίδων (198 pages, ≈ 3 h 40 m); Enneads (635 pages, ≈ 11 h 46 m).
Which is harder to read: Enneads or Φαίδων?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Enneads: Demanding; Φαίδων: Demanding.