Symposium
by
Plato
Symposium
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[2] PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE:
[3] Apollodorus, who repeats to his companion the dialogue which he had heard
[4] from Aristodemus, and had already once narrated to Glaucon.
[5] Phaedrus, Pausanias, Eryximachus, Aristophanes, Agathon, Socrates,
[6] Alcibiades, A Troop of Revellers.
[7]
[8] SCENE: The House of Agathon.
[9]
[10]
[11] Concerning the things about which you ask to be informed I believe that I
[12] am not ill-prepared with an answer. For the day before yesterday I was
[13] coming from my own home at Phalerum to the city, and one of my
[14] acquaintance, who had caught a sight of me from behind, calling out
[15] playfully in the distance, said: Apollodorus, O thou Phalerian (Probably a
[16] play of words on (Greek), 'bald-headed.') man, halt! So I did as I was
[17] bid; and then he said, I was looking for you, Apollodorus, only just now,
[18] that I might ask you about the speeches in praise of love, which were
[19] delivered by Socrates, Alcibiades, and others, at Agathon's supper.
[20] Phoenix, the son of Philip, told another person who told me of them; his
[21] narrative was very indistinct, but he said that you knew, and I wish that
[22] you would give me an account of them. Who, if not you, should be the
[23] reporter of the words of your friend? And first tell me, he said, were you
[24] present at this meeting?
[25]
[26] Your informant, Glaucon, I said, must have been very indistinct indeed, if
[27] you imagine that the occasion was recent; or that I could have been of the
[28] party.
[29]
[30] Why, yes, he replied, I thought so.
[31]
[32] Impossible: I said. Are you ignorant that for many years Agathon has not
[33] resided at Athens; and not three have elapsed since I became acquainted
[34] with Socrates, and have made it my daily business to know all that he says
[35] and does. There was a time when I was running about the world, fancying
[36] myself to be well employed, but I was really a most wretched being, no
[37] better than you are now. I thought that I ought to do anything rather than
[38] be a philosopher.
[39]
[40] Well, he said, jesting apart, tell me when the meeting occurred.
[41]
[42] In our boyhood, I replied, when Agathon won the prize with his first
[43] tragedy, on the day after that on which he and his chorus offered the
[44] sacrifice of victory.
[45]
[46] Then it must have been a long while ago, he said; and who told you--did
[47] Socrates?
[48]
[49] No indeed, I replied, but the same person who told Phoenix;--he was a
[50] little fellow, who never wore any shoes, Aristodemus, of the deme of
[51] Cydathenaeum. He had been at Agathon's feast; and I think that in those
[52] days there was no one who was a more devoted admirer of Socrates.
[53] Moreover, I have asked Socrates about the truth of some parts of his
[54] narrative, and he confirmed them. Then, said Glaucon, let us have the tale
[55] over again; is not the road to Athens just made for conversation? And so
[56] we walked, and talked of the discourses on love; and therefore, as I said
[57] at first, I am not ill-prepared to comply with your request, and will have
[58] another rehearsal of them if you like. For to speak or to hear others
[59] speak of philosophy always gives me the greatest pleasure, to say nothing
[60] of the profit. But when I hear another strain, especially that of you rich
[61] men and traders, such conversation displeases me; and I pity you who are my
[62] companions, because you think that you are doing something when in reality
[63] you are doing nothing. And I dare say that you pity me in return, whom you
[64] regard as an unhappy creature, and very probably you are right. But I
[65] certainly know of you what you only think of me--there is the difference.
[66]
[67] COMPANION: I see, Apollodorus, that you are just the same--always speaking
[68] evil of yourself, and of others; and I do believe that you pity all
[69] mankind, with the exception of Socrates, yourself first of all, true in
[70] this to your old name, which, however deserved, I know not how you
[71] acquired, of Apollodorus the madman; for you are always raging against
[72] yourself and everybody but Socrates.
[73]
[74] APOLLODORUS: Yes, friend, and the reason why I am said to be mad, and out
[75] of my wits, is just because I have these notions of myself and you; no
[76] other evidence is required.
[77]
[78] COMPANION: No more of that, Apollodorus; but let me renew my request that
[79] you would repeat the conversation.
[80]
[81] APOLLODORUS: Well, the tale of love was on this wise:--But perhaps I had
[82] better begin at the beginning, and endeavour to give you the exact words of
[83] Aristodemus:
[84]
[85] He said that he met Socrates fresh from the bath and sandalled; and as the
[86] sight of the sandals was unusual, he asked him whither he was going that he
[87] had been converted into such a beau:--
[88]
[89] To a banquet at Agathon's, he replied, whose invitation to his sacrifice of
[90] victory I refused yesterday, fearing a crowd, but promising that I would
[91] come to-day instead; and so I have put on my finery, because he is such a
[92] fine man. What say you to going with me unasked?
[93]
[94] I will do as you bid me, I replied.
[95]
[96] Follow then, he said, and let us demolish the proverb:--
[97]
[98] 'To the feasts of inferior men the good unbidden go;'
[99]
[100] instead of which our proverb will run:--
[101]
[102] 'To the feasts of the good the good unbidden go;'
[103]
[104] and this alteration may be supported by the authority of Homer himself, who
[105] not only demolishes but literally outrages the proverb. For, after
[106] picturing Agamemnon as the most valiant of men, he makes Menelaus, who is
[107] but a fainthearted warrior, come unbidden (Iliad) to the banquet of
[108] Agamemnon, who is feasting and offering sacrifices, not the better to the
[109] worse, but the worse to the better.
[110]
[111] I rather fear, Socrates, said Aristodemus, lest this may still be my case;
[112] and that, like Menelaus in Homer, I shall be the inferior person, who
[113]
[114] 'To the feasts of the wise unbidden goes.'
[115]
[116] But I shall say that I was bidden of you, and then you will have to make an
[117] excuse.
[118]
[119] 'Two going together,'
[120]
[121] he replied, in Homeric fashion, one or other of them may invent an excuse
[122] by the way (Iliad).
[123]
[124] This was the style of their conversation as they went along. Socrates
[125] dropped behind in a fit of abstraction, and desired Aristodemus, who was
[126] waiting, to go on before him. When he reached the house of Agathon he
[127] found the doors wide open, and a comical thing happened. A servant coming
[128] out met him, and led him at once into the banqueting-hall in which the
[129] guests were reclining, for the banquet was about to begin. Welcome,
[130] Aristodemus, said Agathon, as soon as he appeared--you are just in time to
[131] sup with us; if you come on any other matter put it off, and make one of
[132] us, as I was looking for you yesterday and meant to have asked you, if I
[133] could have found you. But what have you done with Socrates?
[134]
[135] I turned round, but Socrates was nowhere to be seen; and I had to explain
[136] that he had been with me a moment before, and that I came by his invitation
[137] to the supper.
[138]
[139] You were quite right in coming, said Agathon; but where is he himself?
[140]
[141] He was behind me just now, as I entered, he said, and I cannot think what
[142] has become of him.
[143]
[144] Go and look for him, boy, said Agathon, and bring him in; and do you,
[145] Aristodemus, meanwhile take the place by Eryximachus.
[146]
[147] The servant then assisted him to wash, and he lay down, and presently
[148] another servant came in and reported that our friend Socrates had retired
[149] into the portico of the neighbouring house. 'There he is fixed,' said he,
[150] 'and when I call to him he will not stir.'
[151]
[152] How strange, said Agathon; then you must call him again, and keep calling
[153] him.
[154]
[155] Let him alone, said my informant; he has a way of stopping anywhere and
[156] losing himself without any reason. I believe that he will soon appear; do
[157] not therefore disturb him.
[158]
[159] Well, if you think so, I will leave him, said Agathon. And then, turning
[160] to the servants, he added, 'Let us have supper without waiting for him.
[161] Serve up whatever you please, for there is no one to give you orders;
[162] hitherto I have never left you to yourselves. But on this occasion imagine
[163] that you are our hosts, and that I and the company are your guests; treat
[164] us well, and then we shall commend you.' After this, supper was served,
[165] but still no Socrates; and during the meal Agathon several times expressed
[166] a wish to send for him, but Aristodemus objected; and at last when the
[167] feast was about half over--for the fit, as usual, was not of long duration
[168] --Socrates entered. Agathon, who was reclining alone at the end of the
[169] table, begged that he would take the place next to him; that 'I may touch
[170] you,' he said, 'and have the benefit of that wise thought which came into
[171] your mind in the portico, and is now in your possession; for I am certain
[172] that you would not have come away until you had found what you sought.'
[173]
[174] How I wish, said Socrates, taking his place as he was desired, that wisdom
[175] could be infused by touch, out of the fuller into the emptier man, as water
[176] runs through wool out of a fuller cup into an emptier one; if that were so,
[177] how greatly should I value the privilege of reclining at your side! For
[178] you would have filled me full with a stream of wisdom plenteous and fair;
[179] whereas my own is of a very mean and questionable sort, no better than a
[180] dream. But yours is bright and full of promise, and was manifested forth
[181] in all the splendour of youth the day before yesterday, in the presence of
[182] more than thirty thousand Hellenes.
[183]
[184] You are mocking, Socrates, said Agathon, and ere long you and I will have
[185] to determine who bears off the palm of wisdom--of this Dionysus shall be
[186] the judge; but at present you are better occupied with supper.
[187]
[188] Socrates took his place on the couch, and supped with the rest; and then
[189] libations were offered, and after a hymn had been sung to the god, and
[190] there had been the usual ceremonies, they were about to commence drinking,
[191] when Pausanias said, And now, my friends, how can we drink with least
[192] injury to ourselves? I can assure you that I feel severely the effect of
[193] yesterday's potations, and must have time to recover; and I suspect that
[194] most of you are in the same predicament, for you were of the party
[195] yesterday. Consider then: How can the drinking be made easiest?
[196]
[197] I entirely agree, said Aristophanes, that we should, by all means, avoid
[198] hard drinking, for I was myself one of those who were yesterday drowned in
[199] drink.
[200]
[201] I think that you are right, said Eryximachus, the son of Acumenus; but I
[202] should still like to hear one other person speak: Is Agathon able to drink
[203] hard?
[204]
[205] I am not equal to it, said Agathon.
[206]
[207] Then, said Eryximachus, the weak heads like myself, Aristodemus, Phaedrus,
[208] and others who never can drink, are fortunate in finding that the stronger
[209] ones are not in a drinking mood. (I do not include Socrates, who is able
[210] either to drink or to abstain, and will not mind, whichever we do.) Well,
[211] as of none of the company seem disposed to drink much, I may be forgiven
[212] for saying, as a physician, that drinking deep is a bad practice, which I
[213] never follow, if I can help, and certainly do not recommend to another,
[214] least of all to any one who still feels the effects of yesterday's carouse.
[215]
[216] I always do what you advise, and especially what you prescribe as a
[217] physician, rejoined Phaedrus the Myrrhinusian, and the rest of the company,
[218] if they are wise, will do the same.
[219]
[220] It was agreed that drinking was not to be the order of the day, but that
[221] they were all to drink only so much as they pleased.
[222]
[223] Then, said Eryximachus, as you are all agreed that drinking is to be
[224] voluntary, and that there is to be no compulsion, I move, in the next
[225] place, that the flute-girl, who has just made her appearance, be told to go
[226] away and play to herself, or, if she likes, to the women who are within
[227] (compare Prot.). To-day let us have conversation instead; and, if you will
[228] allow me, I will tell you what sort of conversation. This proposal having
[229] been accepted, Eryximachus proceeded as follows:--
[230]
[231] I will begin, he said, after the manner of Melanippe in Euripides,
[232]
[233] 'Not mine the word'
[234]
[235] which I am about to speak, but that of Phaedrus. For often he says to me
[236] in an indignant tone:--'What a strange thing it is, Eryximachus, that,
[237] whereas other gods have poems and hymns made in their honour, the great and
[238] glorious god, Love, has no encomiast among all the poets who are so many.
[239] There are the worthy sophists too--the excellent Prodicus for example, who
[240] have descanted in prose on the virtues of Heracles and other heroes; and,
[241] what is still more extraordinary, I have met with a philosophical work in
[242] which the utility of salt has been made the theme of an eloquent discourse;
[243] and many other like things have had a like honour bestowed upon them. And
[244] only to think that there should have been an eager interest created about
[245] them, and yet that to this day no one has ever dared worthily to hymn
[246] Love's praises! So entirely has this great deity been neglected.' Now in
[247] this Phaedrus seems to me to be quite right, and therefore I want to offer
[248] him a contribution; also I think that at the present moment we who are here
[249] assembled cannot do better than honour the god Love. If you agree with me,
[250] there will be no lack of conversation; for I mean to propose that each of
[251] us in turn, going from left to right, shall make a speech in honour of
[252] Love. Let him give us the best which he can; and Phaedrus, because he is
[253] sitting first on the left hand, and because he is the father of the
[254] thought, shall begin.
[255]
[256] No one will vote against you, Eryximachus, said Socrates. How can I oppose
[257] your motion, who profess to understand nothing but matters of love; nor, I
[258] presume, will Agathon and Pausanias; and there can be no doubt of
[259] Aristophanes, whose whole concern is with Dionysus and Aphrodite; nor will
[260] any one disagree of those whom I see around me. The proposal, as I am
[261] aware, may seem rather hard upon us whose place is last; but we shall be
[262] contented if we hear some good speeches first. Let Phaedrus begin the
[263] praise of Love, and good luck to him. All the company expressed their
[264] assent, and desired him to do as Socrates bade him.
[265]
[266] Aristodemus did not recollect all that was said, nor do I recollect all
[267] that he related to me; but I will tell you what I thought most worthy of
[268] remembrance, and what the chief speakers said.
[269]
[270] Phaedrus began by affirming that Love is a mighty god, and wonderful among
[271] gods and men, but especially wonderful in his birth. For he is the eldest
[272] of the gods, which is an honour to him; and a proof of his claim to this
[273] honour is, that of his parents there is no memorial; neither poet nor
[274] prose-writer has ever affirmed that he had any. As Hesiod says:--
[275]
[276] 'First Chaos came, and then broad-bosomed Earth,
[277] The everlasting seat of all that is,
[278] And Love.'
[279]
[280] In other words, after Chaos, the Earth and Love, these two, came into
[281] being. Also Parmenides sings of Generation:
[282]
[283] 'First in the train of gods, he fashioned Love.'
[284]
[285] And Acusilaus agrees with Hesiod. Thus numerous are the witnesses who
[286] acknowledge Love to be the eldest of the gods. And not only is he the
[287] eldest, he is also the source of the greatest benefits to us. For I know
[288] not any greater blessing to a young man who is beginning life than a
[289] virtuous lover, or to the lover than a beloved youth. For the principle
[290] which ought to be the guide of men who would nobly live--that principle, I
[291] say, neither kindred, nor honour, nor wealth, nor any other motive is able
[292] to implant so well as love. Of what am I speaking? Of the sense of honour
[293] and dishonour, without which neither states nor individuals ever do any
[294] good or great work. And I say that a lover who is detected in doing any
[295] dishonourable act, or submitting through cowardice when any dishonour is
[296] done to him by another, will be more pained at being detected by his
[297] beloved than at being seen by his father, or by his companions, or by any
[298] one else. The beloved too, when he is found in any disgraceful situation,
[299] has the same feeling about his lover. And if there were only some way of
[300] contriving that a state or an army should be made up of lovers and their
[301] loves (compare Rep.), they would be the very best governors of their own
[302] city, abstaining from all dishonour, and emulating one another in honour;
[303] and when fighting at each other's side, although a mere handful, they would
[304] overcome the world. For what lover would not choose rather to be seen by
[305] all mankind than by his beloved, either when abandoning his post or
[306] throwing away his arms? He would be ready to die a thousand deaths rather
[307] than endure this. Or who would desert his beloved or fail him in the hour
[308] of danger? The veriest coward would become an inspired hero, equal to the
[309] bravest, at such a time; Love would inspire him. That courage which, as
[310] Homer says, the god breathes into the souls of some heroes, Love of his own
[311] nature infuses into the lover.
[312]
[313] Love will make men dare to die for their beloved--love alone; and women as
[314] well as men. Of this, Alcestis, the daughter of Pelias, is a monument to
[315] all Hellas; for she was willing to lay down her life on behalf of her
[316] husband, when no one else would, although he had a father and mother; but
[317] the tenderness of her love so far exceeded theirs, that she made them seem
[318] to be strangers in blood to their own son, and in name only related to him;
[319] and so noble did this action of hers appear to the gods, as well as to men,
[320] that among the many who have done virtuously she is one of the very few to
[321] whom, in admiration of her noble action, they have granted the privilege of
[322] returning alive to earth; such exceeding honour is paid by the gods to the
[323] devotion and virtue of love. But Orpheus, the son of Oeagrus, the harper,
[324] they sent empty away, and presented to him an apparition only of her whom
[325] he sought, but herself they would not give up, because he showed no spirit;
[326] he was only a harp-player, and did not dare like Alcestis to die for love,
[327] but was contriving how he might enter Hades alive; moreover, they
[328] afterwards caused him to suffer death at the hands of women, as the
[329] punishment of his cowardliness. Very different was the reward of the true
[330] love of Achilles towards his lover Patroclus--his lover and not his love
[331] (the notion that Patroclus was the beloved one is a foolish error into
[332] which Aeschylus has fallen, for Achilles was surely the fairer of the two,
[333] fairer also than all the other heroes; and, as Homer informs us, he was
[334] still beardless, and younger far). And greatly as the gods honour the
[335] virtue of love, still the return of love on the part of the beloved to the
[336] lover is more admired and valued and rewarded by them, for the lover is
[337] more divine; because he is inspired by God. Now Achilles was quite aware,
[338] for he had been told by his mother, that he might avoid death and return
[339] home, and live to a good old age, if he abstained from slaying Hector.
[340] Nevertheless he gave his life to revenge his friend, and dared to die, not
[341] only in his defence, but after he was dead. Wherefore the gods honoured
[342] him even above Alcestis, and sent him to the Islands of the Blest. These
[343] are my reasons for affirming that Love is the eldest and noblest and
[344] mightiest of the gods; and the chiefest author and giver of virtue in life,
[345] and of happiness after death.
[346]
[347] This, or something like this, was the speech of Phaedrus; and some other
[348] speeches followed which Aristodemus did not remember; the next which he
[349] repeated was that of Pausanias. Phaedrus, he said, the argument has not
[350] been set before us, I think, quite in the right form;--we should not be
[351] called upon to praise Love in such an indiscriminate manner. If there were
[352] only one Love, then what you said would be well enough; but since there are
[353] more Loves than one,--should have begun by determining which of them was to
[354] be the theme of our praises. I will amend this defect; and first of all I
[355] will tell you which Love is deserving of praise, and then try to hymn the
[356] praiseworthy one in a manner worthy of him. For we all know that Love is
[357] inseparable from Aphrodite, and if there were only one Aphrodite there
[358] would be only one Love; but as there are two goddesses there must be two
[359] Loves. And am I not right in asserting that there are two goddesses? The
[360] elder one, having no mother, who is called the heavenly Aphrodite--she is
[361] the daughter of Uranus; the younger, who is the daughter of Zeus and Dione
[362] --her we call common; and the Love who is her fellow-worker is rightly
[363] named common, as the other love is called heavenly. All the gods ought to
[364] have praise given to them, but not without distinction of their natures;
[365] and therefore I must try to distinguish the characters of the two Loves.
[366] Now actions vary according to the manner of their performance. Take, for
[367] example, that which we are now doing, drinking, singing and talking--these
[368] actions are not in themselves either good or evil, but they turn out in
[369] this or that way according to the mode of performing them; and when well
[370] done they are good, and when wrongly done they are evil; and in like manner
[371] not every love, but only that which has a noble purpose, is noble and
[372] worthy of praise. The Love who is the offspring of the common Aphrodite is
[373] essentially common, and has no discrimination, being such as the meaner
[374] sort of men feel, and is apt to be of women as well as of youths, and is of
[375] the body rather than of the soul--the most foolish beings are the objects
[376] of this love which desires only to gain an end, but never thinks of
[377] accomplishing the end nobly, and therefore does good and evil quite
[378] indiscriminately. The goddess who is his mother is far younger than the
[379] other, and she was born of the union of the male and female, and partakes
[380] of both. But the offspring of the heavenly Aphrodite is derived from a
[381] mother in whose birth the female has no part,--she is from the male only;
[382] this is that love which is of youths, and the goddess being older, there is
[383] nothing of wantonness in her. Those who are inspired by this love turn to
[384] the male, and delight in him who is the more valiant and intelligent
[385] nature; any one may recognise the pure enthusiasts in the very character of
[386] their attachments. For they love not boys, but intelligent beings whose
[387] reason is beginning to be developed, much about the time at which their
[388] beards begin to grow. And in choosing young men to be their companions,
[389] they mean to be faithful to them, and pass their whole life in company with
[390] them, not to take them in their inexperience, and deceive them, and play
[391] the fool with them, or run away from one to another of them. But the love
[392] of young boys should be forbidden by law, because their future is
[393] uncertain; they may turn out good or bad, either in body or soul, and much
[394] noble enthusiasm may be thrown away upon them; in this matter the good are
[395] a law to themselves, and the coarser sort of lovers ought to be restrained
[396] by force; as we restrain or attempt to restrain them from fixing their
[397] affections on women of free birth. These are the persons who bring a
[398] reproach on love; and some have been led to deny the lawfulness of such
[399] attachments because they see the impropriety and evil of them; for surely
[400] nothing that is decorously and lawfully done can justly be censured. Now
[401] here and in Lacedaemon the rules about love are perplexing, but in most
[402] cities they are simple and easily intelligible; in Elis and Boeotia, and in
[403] countries having no gifts of eloquence, they are very straightforward; the
[404] law is simply in favour of these connexions, and no one, whether young or
[405] old, has anything to say to their discredit; the reason being, as I
[406] suppose, that they are men of few words in those parts, and therefore the
[407] lovers do not like the trouble of pleading their suit. In Ionia and other
[408] places, and generally in countries which are subject to the barbarians, the
[409] custom is held to be dishonourable; loves of youths share the evil repute
[410] in which philosophy and gymnastics are held, because they are inimical to
[411] tyranny; for the interests of rulers require that their subjects should be
[412] poor in spirit (compare Arist. Politics), and that there should be no
[413] strong bond of friendship or society among them, which love, above all
[414] other motives, is likely to inspire, as our Athenian tyrants learned by
[415] experience; for the love of Aristogeiton and the constancy of Harmodius had
[416] a strength which undid their power. And, therefore, the ill-repute into
[417] which these attachments have fallen is to be ascribed to the evil condition
[418] of those who make them to be ill-reputed; that is to say, to the self-
[419] seeking of the governors and the cowardice of the governed; on the other
[420] hand, the indiscriminate honour which is given to them in some countries is
[421] attributable to the laziness of those who hold this opinion of them. In
[422] our own country a far better principle prevails, but, as I was saying, the
[423] explanation of it is rather perplexing. For, observe that open loves are
[424] held to be more honourable than secret ones, and that the love of the
[425] noblest and highest, even if their persons are less beautiful than others,
[426] is especially honourable. Consider, too, how great is the encouragement
[427] which all the world gives to the lover; neither is he supposed to be doing
[428] anything dishonourable; but if he succeeds he is praised, and if he fail he
[429] is blamed. And in the pursuit of his love the custom of mankind allows him
[430] to do many strange things, which philosophy would bitterly censure if they
[431] were done from any motive of interest, or wish for office or power. He may
[432] pray, and entreat, and supplicate, and swear, and lie on a mat at the door,
[433] and endure a slavery worse than that of any slave--in any other case
[434] friends and enemies would be equally ready to prevent him, but now there is
[435] no friend who will be ashamed of him and admonish him, and no enemy will
[436] charge him with meanness or flattery; the actions of a lover have a grace
[437] which ennobles them; and custom has decided that they are highly
[438] commendable and that there no loss of character in them; and, what is
[439] strangest of all, he only may swear and forswear himself (so men say),