We often think of the soul being some sort of life-force, giving us life. In the eyes of Plato, there is so much to this description. In Phaedrus, Plato uses Socrates in dialogue with Phaedrus in order to hint at the real art of using rhetoric. His dialogue actually hints at the idea of rhetoric being used for individual development. However, the most important part of this passage has to do with Plato’s metaphor about the human soul. In Phaedrus, Socrates explains the myth of the charioteer with wings. Picture a team consisting of winged horses led by a charioteer. This is what the soul looks like: a charioteer leading two winged horses in love with some sort of characteristic. The charioteer is led by the pursuit and love of wisdom. This is the governing body of the philosopher. One of the winged horses is led by the love of honor and nobility. A military-type of person who has a service-over-self mentality would be led by this part of the soul. The other winged horse is led by the appetite or lust loving part. People led by this tend to be never have any sort of peace of mind and constantly pursuing pleasure.
Human nature is likely fall into one or two of these categories. Naturally we would like to be the charioteer, wise and in charge of our emotions. It is a balancing act that makes us human. We sacrifice one or two parts of the soul in pursuit of only one. However, if someone wants to gain a better position in this battle, rhetoric is a possible answer. In Herrick, there is a specific section regarding rhetoric as soulcraft. Herrick describes the act of speech-making a developmental process of the soul. A speech must adapt to the complexity of the soul, reacting almost to the audience in the emotional sense.