SYMPOSIUM
Some time has passed since the trial. Plato is walking through the olive grove outside Athens with his older brothers, Glaucon and Adeimantus, when Glaucon spots and calls out for Apollodorus, who is walking up ahead with a small group of companions.
“Apollodorus -- wait up!”
Apollodorus stops to wait for his friends, while Aristippus, Anniceris, Dion, Aster and several of the other young men of Athens continue on ahead, talking easily among themselves as they stroll together toward the city.
The Parthenon towers majestically atop the Acropolis in the distance, where Athena stands proudly watching over her city, the setting sun glimmering brilliantly off the tip of her spear.
“I'm glad to have run into you at last. I've been looking for you for ages,” Glaucon says as he catches up.
“Have you?”
“Yes. I'm told you remember the famous symposium at Agathon's, the time when Socrates and Alcibiades and the rest were at dinner there.”[SYM 172b]
“We can always count on you, dear Apollodorus, to report the whole story about your beloved Socrates.[SYM 172b] Who better than you to learn from about Socrates' conversations?” Adeimantus adds.
“So, were you there?” Glaucon pressed.
“Really, Glaucon, how could I have been? It's been ages since Agathon lived in Athens, and less than three years since I became friends with Socrates and got into the habit of keeping up with what he says and does every day.
Before that, I thought I was extremely busy, and I was convinced that I was leading a full and interesting life, when in fact, I was the most pathetic creature imaginable. My life was just a random whirl of activity -- just as yours is now, Glaucon. I did anything to avoid philosophical thought, just the same as you do -- philosophy's the last thing you'd spend your time on.[.”[ SYM 173]
APOLLODORUS: As a matter of fact, I don't know anything that gives me greater pleasure, or profit for that matter, than talking or listening to philosophy with my friends.[SYM 173c]
He turns back to Aristippus and Glaucon.
But when it comes to ordinary conversation, such as the stuff you talk about, which is to say, money or business -- well personally, I find it pretty tiresome. In fact, it bores me stiff.
The others laugh.
You're my friend, Glaucon, but I feel sorry for you and your friends here, if you make this error. Because you think you're getting somewhere, when you're not.[SYM 173c]
You, in turn, probably think me misguided as well, and you may well be right. However, I don't think you are misguided, my friends -- I know for certain you are.[SYM 173d]
And, if you listen to this story about Socrates' view of love, I will show you how I learned it
GLAUCON: Still the old Apollodorus we know and love -- never a good word for yourself or anyone else -- except for Socrates, of course. Perhaps that's why people think you're mad.[SYM 173e]
APOLLODORUS: Well, if I am, I have a lot of good company.
The boys, themselves all students of Socrates, laugh as they continue through the olive grove toward the city. Young Plato tags along behind, listening intently
GLAUCON: We won't argue about that now, my friend -- just do as I ask, and tell me what was said at Agathon's party.
Just then, Xenophon and Hermogenes come over the hill, and Apollodorus gestures for them to join the group.
APOLLODORUS: Xenophon, what luck! We were just talking about you.
GLAUCON: Weren't you among the guests at Agathon's famous dinner party way back when?
XENOPHON: No, but my friend Hermogenes here was there.
GLAUCON: Is this true? Do you recall it yourself?
HERMOGENES: Yes, I was there, but it was a long time ago -- and I'm afraid the wine flowed too freely that night, despite efforts to cut back.
GLAUCON: Nonsense. Beggars can't be choosers, my good man. It's a first hand account, after all -- so we'll take what we can get and not complain.
APOLLODORUS: Please, do tell. Walking into town like this is the perfect opportunity. As they say, the road to Athens is made for conversation! You who have memories can talk, and we who have none will listen.
ADEIMANTUS: When was this gathering?[SYM 173]
APOLLODORUS: It was when you and I were still children -- the day after the celebration when Agathon had won the prize with his first tragedy.[SYM 173]
GLAUCON: Oh, it was a long time ago, then… Who told you about it? Was it Socrates himself?
APOLLODORUS: No, no. I got it from a man called ARISTODEMUS of Cydathenaeum. Small man -- never wore shoes. But I've talked with Socrates too, and his account agreed with that of Aristodemus.[SYM 173b]
All recede into the dark, as Aristodemus emerges, walking barefoot, through the agora.
HERMOGENES (voiceover): Go ahead, Apollodorus. Tell us what you've heard, and I'll contribute what I remember -- though I doubt it'll be much.
APOLLODORUS (voiceover): Let me try to tell it to you right from the beginning then, as Aristodemus told it to me.[SYM 174]
We see Aristodemus come upon Socrates on the road leaving Athens, where there is a growing commotion.
He met Socrates, he said, all bathed and brushed, and wearing shoes -- a thing he hardly ever did.[SYM 174] And so he asked him where he was going looking so elegant.
SOCRATES: I'm going to dinner with Agathon. I avoided the celebration last night -- I couldn't take the crowd. But I said I'd come this evening.[SYM 174] I'm looking elegant because Agathon always looks elegant. What about you?
ARISTODEMUS: What about me?
SOCRATES: How do you feel about coming to dinner uninvited?[SYM 174b]
ARISTODEMUS: You know me, Socrates. I'll do anything you tell me.
Socrates throws his arm over his friends shoulder.
SOCRATES: Come on then. As the poets say, 'Good men come uninvited to lesser men's feasts'.[SYM 174c]
ARISTODEMUS: I'm afraid, in my case, it'll be a question of a nonentity coming to dinner uninvited with a much wiser man. You'd better decide what you'll say if you do take me. I'm not coming uninvited -- only as your guest.'[SYM 174c]
SOCRATES: Come then. Two heads are better than one. We'll think of something to say.[SYM 174d]
So off they went. There is much commotion and chatter in the streets. Soldiers are everywhere. The year is 416 BC (the * year of the * Olympiad).
ARISTODEMUS: What’s happening here?
BYSTANDER: The soldiers have just returned from Melos. It seems the more adventuristic among them behaved less than honorably.[Kagan, p.263]
SOCRATES (under his breath): What has he done now?
BYSTANDER: Apparently, the Alcibiades ordered Melos to join the Athenian Empire…or pay the price.
APOLLODORUS (voiceover): Melos had stayed aloof from Athens and her alliance for more than sixty years, as you know.
BYSTANDER: When the city refused, the generals -- without pressing need to do so -- laid siege to the island![Kagan, p.263] When the Melians finally surrendered, the Athenian generals killed all the men and sold the women and children into slavery.[Kagan, p.263]
SOCRATES: By Zeus!
Socrates is aghast, and Aristodemus appears heartsick
APOLLODORUS (voiceover): It was the most atrocious thing the Athenians ever did!
GLAUCON (voiceover): Never in the time of Pericles could such a thing have come to pass.[Kagan, p.263]
APOLLODORUS (voiceover): The action still haunts Athens today.[Kagan, p.263]
Seeing that Socrates is absorbed in his own thoughts, Aristodemus has gone on ahead. [SYM 174d] He has arrived and is waiting for Socrates at Agathon's front door, when suddenly it flies open.[SYM 174e
AGATHON: Aristodemus! Good to see you! You're just in time to have dinner with us. I hope that's what you've come for. If not, it'll have to wait for another time.[SYM 174e]
APOLLODORUS (voice over): As you can imagine, Aristodemus was slightly red in the face, for here he was, showing up by himself and uninvited, just what he had wanted to avoid.
AGATHON: Not to worry, my friend. I tried to get ahold of you yesterday, but you were nowhere to be found. Where’s Socrates? How come you haven't brought him with you?[SYM 174e]
ARISTODEMUS: As a matter of fact, I did come with Socrates. In fact, but for his invitation, I wouldn't have come at all.[SYM 174e]
Agathon looks past his newly arrived guest, glancing up and down the street.
AGATHON: Well I'm glad you did. But where has he gone?
Aristodemus turns around and looks behind him, but Socrates is nowhere to be found.
ARISTODEMUS: He was right behind me a minute ago. Where he is now is anybody’s guess.[SYM 174e]
With this, Agathon gestures for a servant, as he leads Aristodemus into the party, where that the others had already sat down to dinner.[SYM 174e]
AGATHON: Aristodemus, sit down and make yourself comfortable.[SYM 175]
While one servant is holding a bowl for Aristodemus to wash himself, Agathon turns to another.
Would you go and look for Socrates please? Ask him to come in.
The servant was off before Aristodemus could say…
ARISTODEMUS: No, leave him alone. He's always doing this. He'll be along.
AGATHON: Well, if you say so. I'll mind my own business, as Socrates would say to -- were he here -- and leave that of others for them to do.
Agathon turns to the servants.
The rest of us will eat now. You may serve us just as if we were your guests -- in whatever manner which you deem best. I'll not tell you how to do your job.[SYM 175b] Just give us a meal we'll enjoy, and we'll appreciate it.[SYM 175b]
The servants give one another a glance, rolling their eyes.
Just then, the servant who had gone looking for Socrates returned.
SERVANT: That Socrates you asked me to look for...
AGATHON: Yes?
SERVANT: He has gone wandering up to the front door of the wrong house. He's just standing there. I asked him to come in, but he didn't even notice me.[SYM 175
AGATHON: How odd. Still, don't give up. Keep on asking him.
ARISTODEMUS: Don't badger him. I don't think he'll be long.[SYM 175b] It doesn't matter where he is. He just wanders off and stands there, as if absolutely unwilling to abort a thought for the sake of the social custom of attending primarily to the world of the physical and conventional, rather than the world of ideals.[SYM 175b]
The others laugh.
APOLLODORUS (voice over): So they started having dinner, though still no sign of Socrates.
HERMOGENES (voice over): Agathon kept wanting to send people to look for him, but Aristodemus wouldn't let him.[SYM 175c]
APOLLODORUS (voice over): When finally Socrates did turn up, he hadn't been long by his standards. But even so, the rest were about halfway through dinner.[SYM 175d]
AGATHON: Socrates! Welcome! Come, sit by me! Then perhaps I shall absorb whatever it was you were thinking about outside. You must have found the answer, or you wouldn't have come in to join us.[SYM 175d]
SOCRATES: Wouldn't it be marvelous, Agathon, if ideas could be imparted simply by contact? Then those of us who had few of them could absorb them from those of you who have many…
The others laugh.
...just as liquid can flow from a full container to an empty one if you put a piece of string between them.[SYM 175e]
Socrates takes a seat next to Agathon, looking around to see who else is present, greeting each with a nod and a smile as he takes his place. Among those attending the symposium are the comic poet, Aristophanes, Socrates’ friend Phaedrus and his lover, the physician Eryximachus, and the Spartan general Pausanias, son of the famous general of the same name.
If that's the nature of ideas, my friend, then I think I'm lucky to be sitting next to you, and getting a nice, substantial transfusion. For you, Agathon, are brilliant, as thirty thousand Greeks who saw you yesterday can testify.[SYM 175e]
AGATHON: Don't be sarcastic, Socrates. And let's settle this question of ideas a bit later. Eat your dinner first.[SYM 175e]
APOLLODORUS (voice over): And so they dined, and while they did, the entertainment was brought in.[Sym 176]
The dancers and musicians enter. Among them is young Lais, the flute girl, who smiles warmly at her step-grandfather, Socrates. As she plays, the older men talk among themselves with enthusiasm as they watch the young men dance.
ARISTOPHANES: Rumor has it that Alcibiades plans to run seven chariots in the race at the Olympic games!
ARISTODEMUS: That’s more than any private citizen has ever entered.[Kagan, p.179]
Pausanias: Or any king!
APOLLODORUS (voice over): The expense of Alcibiades’ chariots were apparently a matter of great observation, and everyone was anxious to hear of the stud of prize racing horses that he kept. Until eventually their thoughts turned to drinking, and Pausanias made a suggestion.[SYM 176]
Pausanias: Gentlemen, I must admit to feeling rather frail after yesterday evening...
Everyone laughs.
...so I need a breather tonight, and I expect most of you do too.[SYM 176b]
ARISTOPHANES: I couldn't agree more. I'm one of those who sank without a trace last night![SYM 176b]
Aristophanes picks up his cup, and downs it without swallowing.
Eryximachus: You were pretty well soaked alright, and it looks like you’re well on you way there again. So perhaps you'll pardon me if I take this opportunity to say a few words on the true nature of inebriation. For my own experience in medicine has entirely satisfied me that vinous excess is detrimental to the human frame. And therefore, I can never be a willing party to heavy drinking…especially when I have not yet recovered from the excesses of the previous night.[SYM 176d]
Laughter Pausanias: Let’s follow the doctors orders then. How can we make our drinking as painless as possible?
Phaedrus: By refraining from it, I should think. Tonight, let the wine be served merely as refreshment. Nothing more.[SYM 176e]
Eryximachus: How does that suit the host?
AGATHON: That suits me just fine.
Eryximachus: I'm not worried about Socrates -- he's equally happy either way, so he won't mind what we do.[SYM 176c]
SOCRATES: You know me, gentlemen, drinking always gets my approval, since wine refreshes the heart and feeds the flame of good cheer like oil.
Aristophanes rises to reach out for the handsome boy who is pouring wine, then falls on his face before him..
But it’s clear that the human body is affected in just the same way as plants are -- give them too much, and they can't stand up or even breathe, and so never quite reach the fruiting stage, if you know what I mean.
A round of knowing laughter breaks out among the men.
Eryximachus: So if you hard drinkers would do us a favor -- we who are not in your league…
Everyone turns knowingly to Aristophanes, who is struggling to get up, only to fall over again.
…you'll lighten up for the evening, and put no compulsion on your fellows to drink to excess, especially those of us who still have a hangover from yesterday.[SYM 176e]
Phaedrus: Well I, for one, generally follow the doctors’ advice, at least on medical matters. And so will the rest of you, if you have any sense.
And let us dispense with the flute player too. She can play to the women upstairs, if she likes.
Lais happily takes her leave, smiling again at Socrates as she exits. The younger men watch her with hungry eyes, and the older men watch the younger men jealously. Socrates takes in the exchange, and hangs his head.[SYM 171]
For this evening -- since we are blessed with Socrates' company -- I suggest we stick to conversation.[SYM 176e]
Eryximachus: And I've an idea what we might talk about...
Eryximachus smiles at his beautiful young lover, Phaedrus.
…well, it isn't my idea, really. It's Phaedrus'. He gets quite worked up about it.[SYM 177] 'Don't you think it's odd, Eryximachus', he says, 'that most of the other gods have had hymns and songs of praise written to them by the poets, but never a word of praise of Eros, the oldest and greatest god? And not for want of good poets and great teachers, mind you.'[SYM 177b] 'What is surprising,' Phaedrus says, 'is that there should be so much enthusiasm for that kind of thing…
Everyone turns to Aristophanes, who has managed to get himself back up onto the couch, but is oblivious to the conversation going around and about him, as he is busy seducing the handsome servant boy who is the object of his immediate affections.
… and yet no one, up to the present day, has ever found himself able to praise Eros as he deserves. How is it that such a remarkable god has been so neglected?'[SYM 177c]
SOCRATES: You'll get no argument from me. Love is the only thing I know anything about. Let us hear your praise of Eros, my friend, and good luck to you.[SYM 177e]
APOLLODORUS (voice over): All agreed that the present gathering seemed an ideal opportunity to praise the god, so they quite happily spent their time in talk. Each of them taking a turn making a speech in praise of Eros.[SYM 177d]
Aristodemus didn't remember the exact details of everyone’s’ speech, nor can I remember precisely what he said. But I can give you the gist of those parts most worth remembering.[SYM 178]
'Phaedrus,' he said, 'began something like this':
PHAEDRUS: It's just that love, more than anything -- more than family, or position, or wealth -- implants in men the thing which must be their guide if they are to live a good life.[SYM 178]
SOCRATES: And what is that?
PHAEDRUS: It’s simply a horror of what is degrading, and a passionate desire for what is good. These are the very qualities that are essential if a state or an individual is to accomplish anything great, or even good.[SYM 178d]
Wouldn’t you agree, Socrates?
(Phaedrus continues without waiting for an answer)
In fact, if there were some way of arranging that a state, or an army, could be made up entirely of pairs of lovers -- well, is it possible to imagine a finer population?[SYM 179] Lovers are inspired with courage.[SYM 179] They are loyal,[SYM 179d] and they are the only people prepared to die for others.[SYM 179c] And this too is common to men and women alike.[SYM 179b]
As Homer says -- and rightly I think -- god breathes fire into some of his heroes. And it is just this quality -- whose origin is to be found within oneself -- that Eros imparts to lovers.[SYM 179b]
And this, gentlemen, is my claim -- that Love is the oldest and most glorious of the gods, the great giver of all goodness and happiness to men, alike to the living and to the dead.[SYM 180b]
(Pausanias lifts his glass in salute to Aristippus)
PAUSANIAS: Well, your account would be true, my boy, if there were only one kind of Love, but unfortunately, this is not the case.[SYM 180c] For there are two goddesses named Aphrodite, are there not? Both Pandemus, the earthly Aphrodite, who governs the passions of the vulgar, and Uranian, the heavenly goddess, whose attributes have nothing of the female, are altogether male, and are innocent of any hint of lewdness.[SYM 180e/181bc] Likewise, there must also be two kinds of Love.
In fact, it is in general true of any activity that it is neither good nor bad, in itself.[SYM 181] Take what we're doing now, for example -- that is to say, drinking, or singing, or talking. None of these is good or bad in itself, but each becomes so, depending on the way it is done. Am I not right? Well and rightly done, drinking is good -- wrongly done, it is bad.[SYM 181] Isn't that what you said, Socrates?
(Pausanias does not wait for a response)
Well, it's just the same with loving, and Eros. It's not all good, and doesn't all deserve praise. The Eros we should praise is the one which encourages people to love in the right way.[SYM 181]
SOCRATES: And what is that?
PAUSANIAS: This is the love which comes from the heavenly goddess. It is itself heavenly, and of great value to state and individual alike, since it compels both lovers to devote a lot of attention to their own moral improvement. [SYM 181b] They are prepared, I think, to be friends, and to live together for life.[SYM 181c]
Of course, good men voluntarily observe this rule, but the common lovers I am talking about should be compelled to do the same.[SYM 182] Some say really ought to be a law against the common lover – they are the ones who have brought sexual conventions in Sparta into ill repute.[SYM 181e]
In fact, in places such as Elis and Boeotia, for instance, where they are not sophisticated in their use of language, and even naturally inarticulate, it is simply laid down as law that it is right to take your lover as you please.[SYM 182] This, I suppose, makes things simpler for those who, being poor speakers, don't want to have to persuade their lovers to submit, or defend to others the fairness of their seductions.[SYM 182c] It doesn't suit such rulers that their subjects should think noble thoughts, nor that they should form the strong friendships or attachments which these activities, and in particular love, tend to produce.[SYM 182c]
On the other hand, in Ionia and many other places under the Persian rule, it is regarded as simply wrong. Perhaps because, with their system of government, they distrust sex, just as they distrust philosophy or any communal exercise.[SYM 182c]
All other sorts of love derive from the other goddess, the common one.[SYM 185c] It is this common lover who has brought this thing into disrepute, with his premature and unfair demands on the boy.] He falls in love with their bodies rather than their minds, and he’s as likely to fall in love with girls as boys.[SYM 181b] They are deceivers who take advantage of youthful folly, and then quite cheerfully abandon their victims in search of others. And who can know at what cost?[SYM 182]
You can tell the ones whose love is purely heavenly. They only fall in love with boys who are nearly grown up and can think for themselves.[SYM 181d
Aristophanes, who is more interested in the caresses of his especially young lover than in what is being said, suddenly recognizes he is being spoken about, and looks up with feigned innocence.
But surely nothing done with restraint and decency could reasonably incur our criticism?[SYM 182b] After all, if the lover has something to offer in the way of sound judgment and moral goodness, and if the boy is eager to accept this contribution to his education and growing wisdom, then, and only then, this favorable combination makes it right for a man to take a lover. But in no other situation is it right.[SYM 184e] The true position, I think, is that there isn't one single form of love. Love is neither right nor wrong in itself. Done rightly, it is right -- done wrongly, it is wrong.[SYM 183e]
It is wrong if you satisfy the wrong person, for the wrong reasons, and right if you satisfy the right person, for the right reasons. And this wrong person I call the common lover -- the one who loves the body rather than the mind. And the strangest thing is that, in most people's opinion, this lover has a unique dispensation from the gods to swear an oath and then to break it. Such a lover's vows, apparently, are not binding.[SYM 183b] His love is not lasting, since what he loves is not lasting either.[SYM 184]
On the other hand, the one who loves good character will love for life, since he has attached himself to what is lasting.[SYM 184]
And that's about the best I can offer on the subject of Eros, gentlemen. And what do you say to that, Socrates?
SOCRATES: I suppose there’s something of value in what you say.
Turning to Aristophanes.
Let us not ask then whether a face or a body is fair -- for all such things are in a flux. Let us continue to seek true beauty instead. Let us ask whether the true beauty is not always fair and beautiful.[CRAT 439c]
Aristophanes, is it not your turn to speak?
ARISTOPHANES: I'm afraid I have the hiccups, Socrates.
(gesturing to Eryximachus)
Let the doctor either cure me, or take my turn to speak.[SYM 185d]
ERYXIMACHUS: I'll do both. If, while I speak, you'll try holding your breadth for a long time. If that doesn't work, gargle with some water. Or if they are very severe, tickle your nose and make yourself sneeze until they stop.[SYM 185e]
ARISTOPHANES: Go ahead then, make your speech, and I'll be doing as you say.
Aristophanes takes a gulp of air, and holds his breadth.
ERYXIMACHUS rises and gathers himself.
First off, this two-fold nature of Eros seems to me to be a valuable distinction.
Holding.
ERYXIMACHUS:
But I cannot accept Pausanias' implication that Eros is found only in human hearts, and is aroused only by human beauty.[SYM 186]
Holding.
ERYXIMACHUS: Being a doctor by profession, I have learned throughout my career that Eros is aroused by many other things as well, and is found also in nature, in the physical life of all animals, plants, and virtually all living organisms.[SYM 186b]
Holding. Several of the young men are counting and taking bets.
ERYXIMACHUS: And as Pausanias was saying, it is right to satisfy the good and healthy elements in the body -- in fact, we call this 'medicine'.[SYM 186c]
Aristophanes lets his breadth out with a blast and a gasp…and a hiccup.
But it's the man who can distinguish healthy desires from unhealthy who is the best doctor.
Hiccup.
Moreover he needs the ability to change people's desires, so that they gain one and lose another. Medicine, then, as I say, is completely governed by this god.[SYM 186d]
Gargle.
He must, in fact, be able to reconcile and harmonize the most disparate elements in the body -- cold and hot, bitter and sweet, dry and wet, and so forth.[SYM 186d]
Hiccup.
Gesturing to the dancers and musicians about.
And likewise with gymnastics. And music too is no exception either. Take rhythm, for instance, which arises out of the conflict of quick and slow, but only when they cease to conflict.[SYM 187b]
Hiccup.
Here it is the art of music which imposes harmony on all the elements, by producing mutual attraction and agreement between them, whereas in the body, it's the art of medicine.[SYM 187c]
Hiccup.
ARISTOPHANES: For what it's worth.
Someone brings Aristophanes a peacock feather.
ERYXIMACHUS: Both, in their way, are knowledge of Eros as applied to different matters.[SYM 187c] And perhaps this is what Hericlitus means when he says that 'the One' is 'in conflict and harmony with itself'.[SYM 187]
Sneeze.
Hiccup. Eryximachus simply ignores the distraction, convinced of the serious importance of what he is saying.
And then there's farming? The seasons of the year likewise fully illustrate their joint operation. For when all the opposing elements hit upon the right Eros, in their relation to one another, they bring what is seasonable and healthy to men and the rest of the world. Then, all is as it should be -- which is akin to health.[SYM 188]
Sneeze.
In fact, the power of Eros is universal, and in particularly in the moral sphere, where Eros acts with good sense and justice and brings us complete happiness, enabling us to be companions and friends both of each other and of the gods.[SYM 188d]
Hiccup.
I’d go so far as to say that the whole relationship of gods and men to one another have as their sole concern the observance and correct treatment of Eros.[SYM 188c]
Sneeze.
Silence.
So there you have it. I have left out a great deal in my praise of Eros, mind you, but I will leave it to Aristophanes to fill the gap... But don't forget, Aristophanes, anything you say can and will be held against you.
ARISTOPHANES: Then I should say lips or buttocks, or something of that sort?
Laughter.
That’s what you would expect of me, but never mind that…at least for a moment. Let us be serious, for your medical advice has made me wonder how your orderly principle could possibly have called for such a appalling union of noise and irritation.
ERYXIMACHUS: Enough of your jokes
ARISTOPHANES: Yes, one wouldn't want to be funny at a time like this![SYM 189b]
Aristophanes rises to stretch his legs with exaggerated movement.
Well, as most of you know, it's my opinion that mankind is quite unaware of the power of Eros. If they were aware of it, they would build vast temples and alters, and make great offerings to him.[SYM 189c] But, as it is, none of these things is done.
Aristophanes walks through the group of young men, greeting each one individually with familiar smile.
Indeed, the animals are more aware of this power than we. 'For how could animals have survived unless they had apprehended the idea and had been endowed by Nature with intelligence to that end?'[Diogenes Laertius, p.289] If you will study intently the hen among poultry...she sits clucking on the eggs and wakens life into them. As for this wisdom of hers, the true state of the case is known to Nature alone, for the hen has learnt it from herself.... '
It is by such intelligence that they perceive others of their own kind, and reason about what is good for them, what their food is like, etc..[Diogenes Laertius, p.291] Which is why they say, 'Wisdom is not confined to one kind alone, but all living creatures likewise have understanding.[Diog, Laert., p.291]
Gesturing to the men sitting around another fire, whom Aristophanes apparently takes to be inferior to his kind.
ASPASIA; (entering from the side) No wonder you all seem so pleased with yourselves -- for a dog appears the fairest thing to another dog, and an ox to an ox, and an ass to an ass, and a pig to a pig.[Diogenes Laertius, p.291]
All laugh and greet Aspasia with enthusiasm.
SOCRATES: Welcome, friend and teacher. You’re just in time to enlighten us.
ASPASIA: What are we talking about today?
SOCRATES: Aristophanes is about to begin his oration on love.
ASPAISA: I wouldn’t want to have missed that. Don’t let me hold you back.
ARISTOPHANES: Well, I was just going to say that, of all the gods, Eros is the most friendly towards men. He is our helper, and cures those evils whose cure brings the greatest happiness to the human race.[SYM 189c]
Now I'll try to explain this power to you, and then you can go off and spread the word to others.[SYM 189d]
Everyone chuckles. Socrates rolls his eyes to Aspasia.
First of all, you need to know about human nature and what has happened to it. Our original nature was not as it is now, you see, but quite different.[SYM 189d] For one thing, there were once three sexes, rather than the two we have now.
The third sex was a combination of the other two.[SYM 189d-e] And this single combination, comprising both male and female alike, was, in form and name alike, hermaphrodite.
The name survives only as a term of abuse now. But then, each human being formed a complete whole, spherical, with back and ribs forming a circle. Each had four hands, four legs, and two faces -- identical in every way, but looking in opposite directions.[SYM 190]
Laughter.
You laugh, but I kid you not. They walked upright, as we do, in whichever direction they wanted. And when they started to run fast, they were just like people doing cartwheels. They stuck their legs and arms straight out all round, and supported on their eight limbs, went bowling along at high speeds.[SYM 190]
Laughter.
They were remarkable for their strength and vigor, but their ambition led them to make an assault upon the gods.[SYM 190b] So Zeus, wishing to make them weaker, humbler, cut each of them in two, to walk upright on two legs. And he gave them the warning that, if they gave him any more trouble, they would be cut in half again, so they will have to go hopping along on only one leg only.[SYM 190b]
With this the companions are rolling about with laughter.
Then he gave it to Apollo to turn the head around, so each could see where he had been separated. And Apollo healed the wound by gathering the rest of the skin together in the middle of the stomach, leaving the naval as a reminder of what happened in those far-off days.[SYM 190e]
Well, naturally, each half began looking for its other half. Which is why, when they find each other, they put their arms round one another and embraced in their desire to grow together again.[SYM 191]
Unfortunately, their genitals were on the wrong side, and their numbers began dying out. And seeing this, Zeus felt sorry for them, so he moved their genitals around to the front, more conveniently located so they might use them for reproduction by insemination -- rather than by discharge onto the ground, like grasshoppers, as had been up until then.[SYM 189e-192c]
The whole room is laughing at Aristophanes’ description and impersonation.
The idea was that if, in embracing, a man chanced upon a woman, they could produce children. And if man chanced upon a man, they could get full satisfaction…in other ways. And in either case, like ends of a magnet, we are drawn to one another’s beauty.
The dinner party has grown more lively, small groups are talking in amusement at Aristophanes story.
This is clearly why we have this innate love of one another. It brings us back to our original state, restores us to our true form. Until then, each of us is a mere fragment of a man, looking for our other half.[SYM 193b]
The entire group breaks out in applause, standing and laughing cheerfully. But Aristophanes gestures that he's not finished.
ARISTOPHANES: (turning to his young lover) And when a lover of any sort meets the real thing, he is completely overwhelmed by friendship and affection and desire, more or less refusing to be separated for any time at all.
His young lover looks to him expectantly, but Aristophanes turns away, gazing at the image of an Olympian in his mind.
These are the people who spend their whole lives together, and yet they cannot find words for what they want from one another. No one imagines that it is simply sexual intercourse, or that sex is the reason why one gets such enormous pleasure out of the other's company.[SYM 192c] No, it's obvious that the soul of each has some other desire, which it cannot express. It can only give hints and clues to its wishes.[SYM 192d] And if a god were to come and stand over them, as they lay there side by side, and offered to roll them into one and weld them together so that they could always be together, day and night, and live their two lives as one, what do you think they would say?[SYM 192e]
ARISTOPHANES’ YOUNG LOVER: That they could not imagine a happier fate -- to be merged in utter oneness with their beloved.[SYM 192e]
ARISTOPHANES: Then that's the explanation -- it's because our original nature was as I have described. It is because we were once complete, that we say we are in love and long for the time when we were one.[SYM 193]
But now, for our sins, the gods have scattered us in pieces, just as the Spartans scattered the Arcadians. And if we neglect the worship of the gods, my friends, there is every reason to fear that they will split us up again -- and we shall have to go around with our noses sawed asunder.[SYM 193]
Therefore, I will say again what I have said before -- that this is where happiness for the human race lies (and women no less than men) in the consummation of love, and in the healing of our dissevered nature by finding each his other half -- the love who is part of our original self, with whom we might return to our former state of wholeness.[SYM 193c]
Aristophanes companion smiles hopefully, as the amused crowd stands to applaud. But Aristophanes gestures again that he is not finished.
Of course, this is an ideal, and in an imperfect world we must settle for the nearest to this we can get...
Aristophanes turns to his companion, who on hearing this, has lost his hopeful smile.
...which is finding a boyfriend who is at least mentally congenial, which in itself is healing.[SYM 193d]
So praise Eros, who is our great benefactor, attracting us to what is part of ourselves, and gives us great hope for the future that he will reward respect for the gods by returning us to our original condition, healing us, and making us blessed and perfectly happy.[SYM 193d]
What’s more, it is our duty, one and all, to inspire in our friends reverence and piety for the gods, in order that we not incur the displeasure of the gods, and instead, be among the lucky ones who find their other halves.[SYM 193b]
The name of this desire and pursuit of completeness is Eros, or Love.[SYM 193] And I will thank you, Eryximachus, if you would please refrain from making fun of it.[SYM 193d]
ERYXIMACHUS: (rises, beginning the applause yet again) A most enjoyable speech! A very difficult one to follow, I should think, were it not Agathon and Socrates yet to speak.[SYM 193e]
SOCRATES: Easy for you to say -- having already given your speech. Imagine the shoes I'll be in by the time Agathon finishes his grand oration.[SYM 194]
AGATHON: Trying a little black magic, Socrates? Hoping to make me nervous if I think the audience has high expectations?[SYM 194]
SOCRATES: Nonsense, Agathon. I've seen you unperturbed before vast audiences of thirty thousand or more, so why should I think you would be nervous about the few of us here?[SYM 194b]
AGATHON: Anyone with any sense knows a small critical audience is far more daunting than a large uncritical one, Socrates.[SYM 194b]
SOCRATES: Which would explain why, in all your contacts with those you consider discriminating, you value their opinion more highly than that of the public. Though, after all, we are all part of 'the public', are we not?
AGATHON: Of course.
SOCRATES: So am I to understand that if you came across truly discriminating people (not us, of course) you would perhaps be daunted by them if you thought you were producing something second-rate? Am I right?[SYM 194c]
AGATHON: Of course.
SOCRATES: Whereas offering the public something second-rate would not worry you one bit?[SYM 194d]
AGATHON: (befuddled) Well...I...
PHAEDRUS: (interjecting as he rises) Agathon, if you answer him, you’ll be at this all day. For neither of you will give a thought to the rest of us, so long as you have each other to talk to.
For myself, much as I love hearing Socrates talk, it's my job to get a speech out of both of you. When that is done, then the two of you can get on with your discussion.[SYM 194d]
AGATHON: Quite right, Phaedrus. I can argue with Socrates any day… (feigning humility) …but what can I possibly add to all that been said?
Agathon rises and gathers himself.
PHEADRUS: No one yet has said what the giver of these benefits is really like, in himself.[SYM 195]
AGATHON: Well, for one thing, Eros is not the oldest of gods, Phaedrus, but the youngest -- in fact, eternally young.[SYM 195c]
Agathon begins pacing, and speaking as if with authority.
Indeed, the earliest troubles among the gods, which Hesiod and Parmenides write about, were the work of Necessity, not of Eros.[SYM 195c] (turning to Aristophanes) In fact, if Eros had been there there would have been none of this cutting or tying each other up, or any of the other acts of violence. There would have been friendship and peace.[SYM 195d]
For when Eros acts, he acts without force, since everyone serves Eros quite willingly. And it's agreed by 'our masters, the laws' that where there is mutual consent and agreement, there is justice. [SYM 195c]
In fact, force cannot touch Eros, any more than one could compel an erection. Eros must be charmed. He is the moving spirit behind all those occasions when we meet and gather together, at festivals, dances...sacrifices. He gives us the feeling, not only of longing, but of belonging. [SYM 197d]
Agathon continues, as if enjoying the sound of his own voice.
He is the implanter of gentleness, supplanter of fierceness; generous, gracious, gentle; and example to the wise, heedful of the good, a delight to the gods, craved by those without him, saved by those who have him, father of luxury, delicacy, elegance, charm, yearning, comfort and desire.
He is the best possible helmsman, comrade, ally, and savior, the glory of all gods and men, and the best and finest guide, whom every man should follow, while singing glorious praises to him and sharing the song which he sings to enchant the minds of men.[SYM 197e]
There is a burst of applause, though not from Socrates, who is taken aback, his mouth hanging open.
That is my speech, Phaedrus, my offering to the god of love.[SYM 197e]
SOCRATES: Good god -- such a flood of eloquence! (turning to Eryximachus) Wasn't I right that Agathon would leave me nothing to say? Maybe it wasn't all equally brilliant, but that bit of phraseology at the end was enough to silence anyone. For a moment there I was tempted to run off.
ERYXIMACHUS: It was a good speech, but you are only half right, Socrates, for I doubt you are left with nothing to say.[SYM 198]
Laughter.
SOCRATES: Well, perhaps you're right, but I realize now how silly it was to have agreed to take my turn with you in praising Eros -- and what's more, to have claimed to be an expert on Love! As it turns out, I know nothing at all about making such speeches of praise.[SYM 198d]
Socrates continues to sit, so the others lean in to hear.
SOCRATES: It seems, gentlemen, that I was naive enough to suppose that one should actually speak the truth about whatever it was that was being praised. That from the raw material, one should select the most important points, arrange them in as telling a form as possible, remembering that, if it's false, its immaterial.[SYM 198e]
(tongue in cheek)
However, it now appears that praising things well isn't like that at all. It seems rather to be a question of hyperbole and rhetoric -- regardless of truth and falsehood. The whole thing may be a pack of lies, for all it seems to matter![SYM 198e]
Good hearted grumbling among the previous speakers.
SOCRATES: So our original agreement, as it now seems, at least from what we've heard so far, was that each of us should pretend to praise Eros, rather than really praise her. In other words, we should merely flatter, rather than truly praise love.[SYM 198e]
Quiet chuckling at Socrates' lightly jibes at the oligarchs' way of speaking.
SOCRATES: (turning to Agathon) Isn't that right, my friend? Your object was to make her appear as noble and fine as possible -- in the eyes of the ignorant, presumably, since those who know about Eros clearly aren't going to believe you?[SYM 199]
AGATHON: What are you saying, Socrates? Is love not good?
SOCRATES: Not necessarily, as you will see if you remind me to tell you the story of my first love, who proved to me that Eros is neither beautiful or good.[SYM 201e]
The companions laugh, and are intrigued by the suggestion. Assuming they know just what he means, eyebrows around the room all go high. Socrates continues on as if nothing out of the ordinary had been said.
I'm sure the uninitiated are quite impressed by the magnificence of your commemorations, Agathon, I certainly don't propose to go on praising her like that -- I wouldn't know how to. I hope you'll forgive me, for it was my lips that promised, not my soul.
What I am prepared to do, if you will allow me, is to tell the truth -- not in competition with your speeches, but in whatever language comes naturally to mind.
Turning to Phaedrus.
What do you think, Phaedrus? Do you want a speech of that sort, one told in the way I described? For I don't mind telling you what I can of the truth about Love, if you're interested.[SYM 199b]
Phaedrus and the others signal for Socrates to go on.
PHAEDRUS: Make your speech any way you see fit, Socrates.
SOCRATES: May I ask a few questions first to make sure we're not a cross purposes?[SYM 199c]
PHAEDRUS: Ask away.
SOCRATES: I quite admire and approve, Agathon, your first remarks about our need to acquaint ourselves with the nature of Love, and then, with what it can do. But there is one thing I'm left unclear about.[SYM 199d]
AGATHON: What is that?
SOCRATES: Tell me then, Agathon, is it the nature of Love to be the love of something, or of nothing? As a mother or father is a parent of somebody, a daughter or a son,[SYM 199e] Or as a brother or sister is a sibling of another brother or sister?[SYM 200]
AGATHON: Yes, I should think so. Love is of something, naturally.
SOCRATES: Now, bearing in mind, if we can, what Love is the love of, tell me, does the lover long for what he is in love with?[SYM 200]
AGATHON: Of Course he longs for it.
SOCRATES: And does he still long for it when he has it, or only when he lacks it?
AGATHON: Hmmm -- when he lacks it, I suppose.
SOCRATES: So the lover is in Love only with what he lacks?
AGATHON: I suppose so.
SOCRATES: Then would you say that everything longs for what it lacks? Is that probable, or even certain.
AGATHON: That's about out as certain as anything could be, Socrates.
SOCRATES: And I can't help agreeing with you. But what about the case of a large and strong man -- do you think he does not desire to be a large and strong man?
AGATHON: (quizzically) Not if we were right just now.
SOCRATES: Quite so...because he wouldn't be lacking in this respect?
AGATHON: Exactly.
SOCRATES: And what about a swift man, or a healthy man? Will they desire to be the opposite of what they are -- slow or unhealthy?
AGATHON: Not at all.
SOCRATES: So it might be said, in these cases, that such men desire what they already have?
AGATHON: Undoubtedly.
SOCRATES: But isn't it the case, Agathon, that people with those qualities are bound, here and now, to have those qualities, whether or not they want them?
AGATHON: Well, yes, I suppose so.
SOCRATES: Then why should they bother to want them, do you suppose? Do they not only want to go on keeping what they have?[SYM 200d]
AGATHON: Of course.
SOCRATES: Then we still think that to feel a want, the object of our love and desire must be something we haven't got, that is, something we are lacking?[SYM 200e]
AGATHON: Yes, absolutely.
SOCRATES: Love is always of something, and of something one lacks?[SYM 201]
AGATHON: Yes.
SOCRATES: Alright, if you say so. But lets leave aside for the time being the implication that one cannot Love or rightly appreciate what one possesses too securely (which explains, by the way, why we seldom hear men say, 'I'm rich, and I'm happy with what I've got.'[SYM 200d] And more often hear them curse, “Damned blessings!”)
At any rate, keeping this in mind, tell me, Agathon, what you said were the objects of Eros, in your speech. (then responding to Agathon's quizzical look) I'll remind you, if you like. I think it amounted to this -- that the actions of the gods were governed, and trouble among them was ended, by their love of beauty. Is that roughly what you said?[SYM 201]
AGATHON: Yes, it was.
SOCRATES: Then love is the love of beauty, you would say, and there is no such thing as the love of ugliness?
AGATHON: That's right.
SOCRATES: But haven't we just agreed that Love is love of something which is lacked?
AGATHON: Yes, but….
SOCRATES: Then Love has no beauty, but is lacking it?[SYM 201b] And if beauty is also good, then Love has no good either? Is that right?[SYM 201c]
AGATHON: (looking worried) It must follow, I suppose.
SOCRATES: Can you still maintain that Love is beautiful and good?
AGATHON: 'You've made your point, Socrates -- that I didn't know what I was talking about.'[SYM 201c]
Laughter.
SOCRATES: It did sound marvelous though.
Laughter.
AGATHON: I can't argue with you Socrates. We'll take it as you say.
SOCRATES: Nonsense. What you mean, my friend, is that you can't argue with the truth. Any fool can argue with Socrates.[SYM 201d]
Laughter.
SOCRATES: You're a good sport, Agathon, and I will let you off the hook, so that I might take up this memory of my first love, which has been nagging at me since we began our discourse. Allow me to pass on to you the account of Eros I once heard given by a woman named Diotima, from Mantinea, then still a girl.[SYM 201d]
Some of you must remember her?
CRITO: I certainly do.
ASPASIA: She was a wise woman with magical powers. I knew her in my youth, as she often came to the house of a thousand veils in Megara, where I was consigned to serve by the Corinthians who had sacked my home of Melitus and killed my mother and father. Her skills as a midwife and physician were renowned.
SOCRATES: That is the one. In the days before the plague, she had come to the help of the Athenians in their sacrifices -- and managed to gain them a ten-year reprieve from the disease.[SYM 201d]
SOCRATES: Given what she taught me about the philosophy of love, I can attest that she was an expert on this subject, and on many others as well.[SYM 201d]
Suggestive laughter breaks out among the others.
SOCRATES: Think what you like, my good men, but listen to what she had to say before you jump to any conclusions.
Socrates rises, and shakes each leg out, appearing almost to be dancing. Not to be overshadowed, Philippus suddenly stood up and went through a parody of the dance -- letting legs, arms, and head fly all together.[XEN, p.234] The others cannot resist laughing.
Are you laughing at me? I told you I was a dancer. Do you not think I want for exercise? Is my stomach larger than it should be? It’s true that I've never had a trainer, but then, to your benefit, despite my advanced age, I have never even undressed in public?[XEN, p.233]
Laughter.
SOCRATES: Well, now that we've got that out of the way – I will say again, as I’ve said before -- love is a wonderful topic for conversation. I can't remember a time when I wasn't continuously in love with someone.[XEN, p.257]
Laughter.
At any rate, allow me to regress a bit, for I think it will be easiest for me to explain things as Diotima explained them when she was questioning me, since I gave her pretty much the same answers Agathon has just been giving to me.[SYM 201e]
'The advantage of questioning', she said, 'is that, if carried out consistently, it encourages others to think for themselves, to make up their minds about their own views.'[Xen, p.24] One may have pronounced principles, but principles should not take the form of dogma.[Xen, p.25] Questioning pricks the illusory conceit of knowledge, you see.[Xen, p.36] Such is the power of principle that we can ask questions of it, and thus, exercise the power to change the ways in which people think.[Xen, p.25]
Thus, it was by way of such questioning, using the same argument by which I was just appealing to Agathon, that Diotima proved to me that Eros is neither beautiful or good.[SYM 201e] For if love loves what it lacks, and it loves beauty and good, then it lacks beauty and good.
Several of the listeners look at one another quizzically.
PHAEDRUS: What do you mean, Socrates?
SOCRATES: That’s just what I said to her! 'What do you mean, Diotima?' I said. 'Is Eros ugly and bad?'
And she replied, as I would to you – ‘Careful what you say, unless you think what is not beautiful must necessarily be ugly?[SYM 202b]
PHAEDRUS: Why, naturally.
SOCRATES: So everything is either good or bad?
PHAEDRUS: Well, isn't it?
SOCRATES: Do you not think that there might be an intermediate state, between good and bad, just as between wisdom and ignorance?[SYM 202]
'What do you mean?' I said.
'Think of someone,' she said, 'who has an opinion about a fact that happens to be correct' -- just as we might think Phaedrus, or Pausanias, or Agathon has -- 'but is unable to give a reason for it -- you wouldn't call this knowledge, would you?'[SYM 202b]
And I replied, of course, 'No.'
‘Yet it isn't ignorance either, is it?’
I suppose not, I replied.
‘Does it not seem to you then,’ she said, ‘that correct opinion or true belief is the kind of thing that lies between understanding and ignorance, as one is becoming more of one and less of the other?[SYM 202] Well, the same is true of Eros,’ she said – ‘just because he isn't good or beautiful, you need not regard him as ugly and bad, but as something in between these extremes.’[SYM 202b]
'And yet,' I said, 'it's generally agreed that Eros is a great god.’
‘Who agrees? Do you mean people who've learned nothing about it? Or do you mean those people who know from experience what they're talking about?’[SYM 202b]
‘I mean everybody,’ I said, at which, she laughed outloud.
‘How can people agree, my dear Socrates, that Eros is a great god, when so many deny that he or she is a god at all?’[SYM 202c]
‘Who do you mean?’ I asked.
‘You and I, for starters.’
‘How so?’
‘Well, would you say that any gods are not happy and beautiful?’
‘Yes.”
‘And yet you admit that Love sometimes lacks, and therefore longs for just those qualities? So how can Love be a god?’[SYM 202d]
Well, she had me there, and the more I turned this over in my mind, the stickier the problem became. Finally I asked, ‘If love is not divine, is it mortal then?’
‘Not at all.’
‘What then?’
‘Need it be either? Can it not be midway between mortal and immortal?’[SYM 202d]
‘Eros is a spirit,’ she said, ‘and a very powerful one at that. And just as spirits are midway between what is divine and what is human, what is god and what is man, so Eros is something between a mortal and an immortal.[SYM 202e] Between wisdom and folly.[SYM 204] Such spirits are many and varied, and Eros is simply one of them'.[SYM 202e-203]
‘Very well, dear lady,’ I conceded, ‘no doubt you are right. But in that case, what power has Eros?[SYM 202e] What good can Love be to humanity?’[SYM 204d]
‘Why, my dear boy, this spirit is a means of communication between gods and humans. It takes requests and offerings to the gods, and brings back instructions and benefits in return, and since they are between the two estates, they weld both sides together and merge them into one great whole.’[SYM 202e]
For if we were right in our thinking earlier, then none of the gods are lifelong seekers after truth -- for being already wise, and beautiful, and good, they do not long for the virtues they have never missed. They must depend instead on spirits -- for the divine will not mingle directly with the human. All association, communication and intercourse between men and gods, waking or sleeping, takes place through such spirits as Eros.[SYM 203]
Unlike the gods, the spirit of Love is never too sure of what he or she possesses, and so is a lover of all, wisdom, beauty and good.[SYM 204b] In this way, the lover is very different from the beloved, whom you described as utterly beautiful, perfect, delicate and prosperous.[SYM 204c]
‘This is why Eros is the medium of all prophecy and religion, of all rites of sacrifice, initiation, and incantation, of divination and of sorcery. [ SYM 204] This kind of knowledge is knowledge of the spirit, and one who has it is said to have spiritual power -- and it is a powerful and unpredictable force.[SYM 205d Whereas any other knowledge is purely utilitarian, and its power is merely mechanical.’[SYM 202e-203]
Then she told me a story that quite puzzeled and astonished me – about the birth of Aphrodite, and the celebration of the gods.
When Parotid was born, she explained, Resource, son of Craft, came to the celebration. And after supper, Need came begging at the door, because there was good cheer inside. Now Resource, having drunk to excess, wandered out into the garden of Zeus, and fell asleep. Whereupon Need, thinking that to have a child by Resource would help ease her poverty, lay down beside him, and Love was conceived. And it is said that Love, being born on her birthday, was thereafter a follower and servant of Aphrodite.[SYM 203c]
This is why Eros, being the son of Need, is fated to be always insecure, always partaking in his mother's poverty. This is why he is not delicate and lovely, but barefoot and homeless, sleeping on the cold and naked earth, in doorways, and beneath the very stars of heaven.[SYM 203d] And because he brings his fathers resourcefulness to his designs upon the beautiful and the good, this makes him a master of device and artifice, adept at seduction.[SYM 203d]
So Love, you see, is never altogether in or out of need, and stands always midway between wisdom and ignorance. Moreover, he is neither mortal nor immortal, because in the space of a day he will -- by virtue of his father's nature -- be now born, and now dying, and now born again. And what he gains will ebb away as fast.[SYM 204]
‘Very well then, dear lady,’ I said, ‘no doubt you are right, and so much for the nature and the origin of Love. The question now is, what is it that the lover of the beautiful is longing for?[SYM 204d]. Merely to make the beautiful his own? If this is the case, then what good can Love be to humanity?[SYM 204c] What is it that the lover of the good will gain by making the good his own?
‘Happiness?’[SYM 204e]
‘Is there any need for us to ask why anyone would want to be happy?’
‘I think not,’ I replied.
‘Good. But tell me, Socrates,' she went on. 'Do you think that everyone desires to make the good his or her own, and thus to be happy?'[SYM 205]
‘Yes, I think in that respect, we are all alike.’[SYM 205b]
But if we all love the same thing, does that mean that we are all in love? Or do we mean that some of us are in love, and others are not? Indeed, why do we not describe everyone as lovers?.[SYM 205b]
I admit, on this point, I was puzzled.
‘Nothing to worry about,’ she said. ‘What we've been doing is giving the name of Love to what is only one single aspect of it -- and we make the same mistake with a lot of other names. We abstract a part of it, and call it by the name of the whole -- and then for the other parts we use different names.’[SYM 205b]
Take a concept like ‘creativity’, 'creation', or 'composition'. Any activity which brings anything at all into existence is an example of creation, wouldn't you say?[SYM 205c] Hence, the exercise of any skill is composition, and those who practice it are composers. Still, creative people are not all called composers, but have different names, and 'composer' is one subdivision of the whole class.' Don't you agree?[SYM 205c]
Well then, it's the same with 'Love'. For 'Love -- that renowned and all-beguiling power,' includes every kind of longing for happiness and for the good.[SYM 205d] There are many ways of pursuing this desire -- through money-making, physical fitness, and philosophy, for instance -- but we don't call these devotees 'lovers', or describe their activity as 'loving'. Instead, we give the name 'lover' to the person who devotes himself to what is only one of Love's many activities, though the name should apply to all the rest as well.[SYM 205cd] Those who pursue one particular mode of loving, and make that their concern, have taken over the name of the whole -- love, loving and lovers.[SYM 205d]
There is a theory that lovers are people in search of their other half -- you've heard this?
Yes, I have.
Well, as I see it, love never longs for anything -- half or whole -- but the good. For men will have their very hands and feet cut off, if they become convinced that it would be good for them. In fact, we prize all of our belongings only in as much as we believe they are good for us. Indeed, it is this good that we love, when we love. Do you disagree?[SYM 206]
No, I completely agree. Everyone loves the good. And 'love' is the desire for permanent possession of it, for immortality.[SYM 207]
We are all of us prolific, Socrates, in body and in soul, when we reach that age when nature urges us to procreate. But we cannot be quickened by ugliness, but only by the beautiful. And conception takes place when man and woman come together, and this activity is incompatible with any kind of discord. Beauty is in harmony with the divine, while ugliness is at odds. And so when beauty is drawn near, we grow genial and blithe. While ugliness overcomes us with heaviness and gloom, and cannot be brought to bed. Do you understand what I am saying?[SYM 206e]
Of course, you've noticed what an extraordinary effect the breeding instinct has -- and how obsessed animals, birds and humans become with this desire, first to mate, and then to rear their offspring?[SYM 207b]
Yes, I certainly have, I replied.
When the procreant is big with child, he is strangely stirred by the beautiful. But you see, Socrates, that love is not exactly a longing for the beautiful itself, as you suggested. Rather, it is a longing for the conception and generation that the beautiful effects.[SYM 206e]
And why all this longing for propagation? Because, I think, this is the one deathless and eternal element in our mortality. And since we have agreed that the lover longs for the good to be his forever, it follows that we are bound to long for immortality, as well as for the good. It seems fair to say, then, that Love is the longing for immortality.[SYM 207d]
So at a certain age our nature desires to give birth. To do so, it insists on what is beautiful, for it cannot employ a medium perceived to be ugly. And in this, there is a germ of immortality in mortal creatures -- the divine element. What is mortal tries, to the best of its ability, to be everlasting and immortal. It does this in the only way it can -- by always leaving a successor to replace what decays.
The activity we are talking about is the use of what is beautiful for the purpose of reproduction, whether physical or mental. Reproduction, she said, both physical and mental, is a universal human activity.[SYM 207e]
Now, think of what we call the life-span and identity of an individual creature. A man is said to be the same individual from childhood until old age -- is he not? -- though his body is always changing, and every day he is becoming a new man. The old man is ceasing to exist, as you can see by his hair, his flesh, his bones, his blood. And yet he is still called the same person -- despite being perpetually reconstituted as parts of him decay. And the same thing happens to his soul. Wouldn't you think?[SYM 207e]
Yes.
Now those whose creative urge is physical tend to produce children. Sexual intercourse between man and woman is this reproduction. Do you understand what I'm saying, Socrates?[SYM 207d]
Very clearly.
In others, the reproductive impulse is mental or spiritual, and goes under the general heading of 'thought'. [SYM 207e] And when we come to knowledge, the situation is even odder. For the same thing happens with each individual piece of knowledge. Forgetting is loss of knowledge, and studying preserves knowledge by creating memory afresh in us to replace what is lost. What we call studying presupposes that knowledge is transient.
Hence, we have the illusion of continuing knowledge.[SYM 208] For this, Socrates, is the mechanism by which mortal creatures can taste immortality.[SYM 208b] The nobler people are, the more strongly they feel it. They desire immortality.[SYM 208e] The desire for undying nobility, and the good reputation which goes with it, is a universal human motive. And for these ends they will fight, to the death if need be, against far stronger opponents. They will go to any lengths, the weakest of them willing to stand up to the strongest in defense of their young, and even starve themselves and die for them, to bring up their offspring well.[SYM 207b]
And would they have done these things if they hadn't thought they were leaving behind them an undying memory -- which we still possess -- of their courage?[SYM 208d]
I suppose not.
Such a person then, if he comes across a beautiful, noble, well-formed mind, and finds the combination particularly attractive, will drop everything and embark on long conversations with their companion -- always about goodness -- trying to teach one another about the nature and behavior of the good person.[SYM 209]
Like you and I?
Yes, like you and I. And now that he's made contact with someone beautiful to him in this way, he joins with his friend in bringing his conception to maturity.[SYM 209]
I understand.
In consequence, such people have a far stronger bond between them than there generally is between the parents of children.[SYM 209]
At this point, I’m sure I blushed. It was kind of her, I thought, to let me down so gently.
Laughter.
And they form much firmer friendships, because they are jointly responsible for finer, and more lasting, offspring -- which are, at this state, beautiful discussions and conversations.[SYM 209c]
And next they realize that the beauty of one body is akin to that of any body, and that if he's going to pursue beauty of appearance, it is the height of folly not to regard the beauty which is in all bodies as one and the same. This insight will convert him into a lover of all beauty, breaking his tie to a single physical kind.[SYM 209c]
Whereas before he was dominated by the individual case, now he directs his eyes to what is beautiful in general, as he turns to gaze upon the limitless ocean of beauty.[SYM 210b]
(gesturing out over the city, toward the ocean and the setting sun)
The next stage -- which not everyone reaches -- is to put a higher value on mental than on physical beauty. The right qualities of mind, even in the absence of any great physical beauty, will be enough to awaken his love and affection. And then they will generate the kind of discussions which are improving to the young.[SYM 210c]
And so on, and so forth. The aim for such a one is that, at the next step, he should be compelled to contemplate the beauty of customs and institutions -- and from human institutions his teacher should direct him to knowledge, so that he may, in turn, see the beauty of different types of knowledge.[SYM 211c]
And by far the finest and most important item among them is the art of political and domestic economy -- what we call good judgment, and justice.[SYM 208d-209] And about these they produce many fine and inspiring thoughts and arguments, as they give their undivided attention to philosophy.
And when a person has reached this point in his education in love, studying the different types of beauty in correct order, he will come to the final end and goal of this education. Then suddenly he will see a beauty of a breathtaking nature, Socrates, the beauty which is the justification of all his efforts so far.[SYM 211c]
And here he gains in strength and stature until his attention is caught by that one special knowledge -- the knowledge of true beauty -- knowledge of the true self.[SYM 211c]
And that, if ever, is the moment, my dear Socrates, when a man's life is worth living, as he contemplates beauty itself.[SYM 211d] It is eternal, neither coming to be nor passing away, neither increasing nor decreasing. Moreover it is not beautiful in part, and ugly in part, nor it is beautiful at one time, and not at another -- nor beautiful in some respects, but not in others, nor beautiful here and ugly there, as if beautiful in some people's eyes, but not in others.
It will not appear to him as the beauty of a face, or hands, or anything physical -- nor as an idea or branch of knowledge, nor as existing in any determinate place, such as a living creature, or the earth, or heaven, anything or anywhere like that.[SYM 211d]
It exists, for all time, by itself and with itself, unique. And all instantiations of beauty derive from it, but in such a way that their creation or destruction does not strengthen or weaken it, or affect it in any way at all.
Such is the experience of the man who approaches, or is guided, towards love in the right way -- beginning with the particular examples of beauty, but always returning from them to the search for that one beauty.
And if a man progresses (as he will do, if he goes about his love affairs in the right way) from the love of lesser beauties, and begins to catch sight of this true beauty -- then he is within reach of the final revelation.[SYM 211b]
So he uses them like a ladder, climbing from the love and trust of one person to love of two, and from two to love of all physical beauty. And from physical beauty to beauty in human behavior; thence to beauty in subjects of study such as institutions and political practice. And from them he arrives finally at that branch of knowledge which studies nothing but ultimate truth. Then at last he understands what true beauty is.[SYM 211b]
Now it cannot fail to strike you that only then will it be possible for him, seeing beauty as it should be seen, to produce, not likenesses of goodness (since it is no likeness he has before him), but the real thing (since he has the real thing before him).
'For it is virtue's self that quickens him,' she said, 'not virtue's semblance.'[SYM 212]
'And it is this -- producing, reproducing, and caring for real goodness,' Diotima said, 'which earns him the friendship of gods and men alike, and makes him, if anyone, immortal as the truest of lovers.'[SYM 212]
So much I gathered, gentlemen, at one time or another from Diotima's dissertations upon Love.
There you are, then, Phaedrus and the rest of you. That is my speech. That's what Diotima said to me, and I, for one, find it convincing. And it's because I'm convinced that I now try to persuade other people as well that man, in his search for this goal, could hardly hope to find a better ally than Eros.[SYM]
So I ask you, each of you, suppose it were granted to someone to see beauty itself quite clearly, in its pure and undiluted form -- not clogged up with human flesh and coloring. Imagine one were able to see the divine beauty itself in its unique essence.
Don't you think he would find it a wonderful way to live...looking at it, contemplating it as it should be contemplated, and spending his time in its company?[SYM 211e]
Well, you can call it by any name you please -- I myself call it Eros, and I honor it, and make the pursuit of it my chief concern, and like Diotima, I encourage others to do the same.[SYM 212b-c] And it's because I'm convinced we should all honor Eros, that I praise the power and vigor of it to the limits of my ability.[SYM 212c]
Socrates' companions break out in applause, but he shushes them as is his way.
FADE BACK to the the group of young men who are remember as they walk through the olive grove.
APOLLODORUS: (Voice Over) Well, as you can imagine, Socrates' oration was greeted with enthusiastic applause, and Aristophanes had started saying something about Socrates' reference to his own speech, when suddenly there was a commotion outside.[SYM 212c] Almost at once there came a tremendous sound of hammering at the outer door, and they heard Alcibiades' voice from the courtyard, accompanied by the notes of a flute and the sound of festive brawling in the streets.
Now many of us were surprised at this, for we had heard an order was out against him. But sure enough, it was Alcibiades, and he was drunk and shouting at the top of his voice, asking where Agathon was, and demanding to be taken to see him.
One of the flute girls and some others helped him stagger in, and suddenly, he appeared there in the doorway -- wearing a mass of ribbons and an enormous wreath of ivy and violets sprouting on his head.[SYM 212d]
ALCIBIADES: (stumbling, his arm over Phaedo's shoulder) Greetings, gentlemen! I'm pretty well bottled already, so if you'd rather I didn't join the party, only say the word and I'll go away...just as soon as I've hung this wreath on Agathon's head -- which is what I've really come for.[SYM 212d]
(slurring his words) I couldn't come yesterday, but now, well, here I am...with ribbons in my hair, so that I can take a garland from my own head, and crown the man whom I hereby proclaim the cleverest and mansomist ham in Athens...and may I say...well, anyway, I'm going to crown him.[SYM 212e]
Laughter.
Go ahead, have your laugh, don't mind me. I'm not so drunk that I don't know what I'm saying...(leaning in and whispering to Phaedo)...what was I saying?
Socrates and young Phaedo exchange knowing looks.
Well, never mind that -- as a wise man once said, if it's the truth, it will come back.
(to young Phaedo) Am I right?
Phaedo nods.
So what do you say, gentlemen? Can I come in? And shall we all have a drink together, or shan't we?[SYM 213]
APOLLODORUS: (Voice Over) As Aristodemus told it, everyone started talking at once, telling him to come in and sit down. And soon Agathon called him over.
AGATHON: (to his servant) Take Alcibiades' shoes off. He can make a third at this table.
So he sat down next to Agathon, between him and Socrates, who had moved aside to make room. With the ribbons in front of his eyes, Alcibiades doesn't see Socrates.
Alcibiades sits down, greets Agathon, and puts the garland on his head.[SYM 213]
ALCIBIADES: Excellent, but who else is drinking at our table? (turning and seeing Socrates, he leaps to his feet) Great Zeus! What’s this? Socrates – you’ve been lying here in wait for me again, haven’t you -- just as you used to? It's the same old game of popping out at me when I least expect you, isn't it?[SYM 213c]
So what are you doing here? And come to think of it (gesturing to Agathon) how did you manage to get yourself a place next to the most attractive person in the room?[SYM 213c]
You ought to be next to someone like Aristophanes there -- he sets out to make himself ridiculous, and succeeds.[SYM 213c] Shouldn't you be with him?
SOCRATE: (to Agathon) I'm going to need your protection, Agathon. I'm afraid I've found the love of this man a bit of a nightmare -- his kind of passion scares me stiff.'
From the first day I became his friend, I only have to look at someone who's in the least attractive, or say a single word to him, and he flies into a fit of jealousy, and starts behaving outrageously. He insults me, yet he can barely keep his hands off me.
So make sure he doesn't do anything rash now. Reconcile us, if you can, or defend me if he gets violent.[SYM 213d]
ALCIBIADES: There can be no reconciliation between you and me, Socrates.
However, I'll get my revenge another time. For the moment, give me some of those ribbons, Agathon, so I can make a garland for this remarkable head as well.(stumbling and slurring his words slightly) He is an international grand master of words -- and not just the day before yesterday, like you, Agathon, but all the time. We can't have him complaining that I crowned you, and not him.[SYM 213e]
As he says this, Alcibiades takes some of the ribbons, makes a garland for Socrates, and sits down.
Well, gentlemen. You seem to me to be quite sober. We can't have that. So I'm going to choose a Master of Ceremonies, to see you all get enough to drink.[SYM 213e] (looking around) And I choose myself!
Agathon, let them bring me a large cup, if you've got one.
Alcibiades suddenly catches sight of an ice-bucket holding upwards of half a gallon.
No, wait! No need for that. (to Phaedo) Phaedo, bring me that ice-bucket.
Giving Socrates a knowing look, Phaedo reluctantly complies with his master's wish.
Phaedo fills the bucket, whereupon Alcibiades starts off by draining it himself.
Fill it up again for Socrates.[SYM 214]
AGATHON: A useless ploy against Socrates, Alcibiades. It doesn't matter how much you give him to drink, he'll drink it and be none the worse for wear.'
Phaedo fills the bucket for Socrates, who drinks it down.[SYM 214]
ERYXIMACHUS: We had decided, before you came, Alcibiades, that each of us in turn should make the best speech he could about Eros, in praise of him. We've all made our speeches, but you.[SYM 214c]
ALCIBIADES: That's a good idea, Eryximachus. But it's grossly unfair to ask me, drunk, to compete with you sober. Also, my dear friend, I hope you didn't pay any attention to Socrates' remarks just now. Presumably you realize the situation is the exact opposite of what he said. He is the one who will resort to violence if I praise anyone else in his presence.[SYM 214d]
ERAZIMACHUS: Is that right?
SOCRATES: Oh, do be quiet, Alcibiades. Or is it that you simply can't hold your peace?
Laughter.
ALCIBIADES: Don't worry, Socrates, I wouldn't dream of praising anyone else if you're here.
ERYXIMACHUS: Well, do that then, if you like. Praise Socrates.[SYM 214d]
ALCIBIADES: (rising) Really? You think I should? Here in front of you all?
SOCRATES: (surprised, turning to Eryximachus) Hey! What are you up to? He'll get his own back from me, if he can, trying to make a fool of me with his praise.
ALCIBIADES: I can't wait to start. And I'm going to tell the truth. Do you mind that?[SYM 214e]
SOCRATES: From you, it would be a welcome change.
ALCIBIADES: Good. And if I say anything that's not true, you can interrupt me, if you like, and tell me I'm wrong. I shan't get anything wrong on purpose, but don't be surprised if my memory of things is a little higgledy-piggledy.[SYM 215]
It's not easy, even sober, to give an account of someone as strange as you.[SYM 215]
Alcibiades rises and begins looking over Socrates from all angles.
And now, my boys, I shall begin my praise of Socrates using similes. I expect he'll think I'm making fun of him, but, as it happens, I'm using this particular simile not because it's funny, but because it's true.[SYM 215]
I think he is very much like one of those busts of Silenus, which sculptors have on their shelves. You know what I mean -- they hold pipes and flutes in their mouths, and you can open them in the middle, where you'll find images of gods inside them.[SYM 215b]
His listeners nod.
Then again, Socrates is also like the flute-playing satyr, Marsyas. (turning to Socrates) You yourself will not deny, Socrates, that your face is like that of a satyr. Aye, but the resemblance goes deeper than that.
You are a piper too? Don't you deny it. I can bring witnesses. You may not play the pipes, like Marsyas, who had only to put his flute to his lips to bewitch mankind -- which can still be done, by the way, by anyone who can play the same tunes.[SYM 215c]
But you have the same effect on people! Only what you do is much more amazing -- for you do it with nothing but a few simple words, without the aid of any instrument at all.[SYM 215d]
He has only to open his mouth to delight men
Isn't it true? He charms the souls of men by the powers of his breath, and the players of his music do so also.
Alcibiades begins to wander among the other guests, and Socrates lowers his head and folds his arms, listening skeptically. Gesturing to Phaedo and Aristodemus.
We can all listen to anyone else talking, and it has virtually no effect on us, no matter what he's talking about, or how good a speaker he is -- we don't really give a damn what he says.
(to Socrates) Whereas the mere fragments of you and your words, Socrates, even at second-hand, and however imperfectly repeated, amaze and possess the souls of every man, woman, and child who comes within hearing of them.[SYM 215e]
(to the rest) Admit it -- his is the only music which carries people away. Such is the divine power it brings, and it makes no difference whether it's played by an expert, or by a mere flute-girl.
And for my own part, gentlemen (though you will think me hopelessly drunk), I would like to tell you on my honor (many eyes roll, since honor is not something Alcibiades is known for) the true influence that his words have always had on me in the past, and still do have to this day.
Alcibiades begins pacing reflectively.
All this may be told without shame to any one, though what follows I could hardly tell you if I were sober. Yet as the proverb says, 'In vino veritas,' and all that.
It seems wrong, after all I've said, to leave out any example of his superior behavior.
Moreover I have felt the serpent's sting -- and he who has suffered, as they say, is willing to tell his fellow-sufferers only, as they alone will be likely to understand him, and will not be extreme in judging of the sayings or doings which have been wrung from his agony.
For my heart leaps within me more than that of any Corybantian reveler, Socrates, and my eyes rain tears when I hear your words...(to Phaedo) and I know that many others feel the same.
I have heard Pericles and other great orators, and I thought that they spoke well, but my soul was not stirred by them, nor my beliefs turned upside down and inside out, nor was I brought to the disturbing realization that my whole life is that of a coward and a slave, and I am the lowest of the low.[SYM 216]
But this Marsyas has often brought me to such a pass, when I have felt that this life I have chosen is not worth living. You can't deny it, Socrates.
Even now I know, in my heart of hearts, that if I were to listen to him, I couldn't resist him. The same thing would happen again. He would force me to admit that while I'm spending my time on politics, I am neglecting all the things that are crying out for attention in myself. Even now, I know it's true, I carry on in public life, doing nothing to improve myself.[SYM 216]
And I am always conscious that if I do not shut my ears against him, and fly as from the voice of this siren, my fate would be like that of the others...(gesturing to the younger men)...he would transfix me, and I should grow old sitting at his feet. For he makes me confess that I ought not to live as I do, neglecting the wants of my own soul.
Socrates is the only man in the world who can make me feel that shame. For I know I ought to do the things he tells me to, and yet, the moment I'm out of his sight, I forget, and begin again as I was. For when I leave his presence, the love of popularity gets the better of me.
And so when I see him again, I'm embarrassed, when I remember all the conclusions we've reached in the past, and I run for my life, and avoid him. Which is why I hold my ears and tear myself away from him.[SYM 216c]
Phaedo stands nearby, hands behind his back, gazing quietly at the floor.
...because he's the only man who can appeal to my better nature (not that most of you would reckon I had a better nature).[SYM 216c]
Laughter, as Alcibiades wonders and thinks outloud.
From then on, I have been completely under his spell.[SYM 216c] In fact, many a time I would have cheerfully seen him dead...(eye contact) and yet I know that if he did die, I'd be the most upset of all.
So I ask you, what is a man to do?[SYM 216c] There's no denying, he has helped me see my best self, and there is no one else who does the same.
And I am by no means the only person to be affected like this by his satyr's music and his remarkable powers.
who, you remember, was flayed alive for daring to compete in a musical contest with the gods. It is said the Maeander River sprang from the tears of the woodland animals that mourned him.[SYM 215b]
SOCRATES: Your remarks are reminding me of another satyr's tale, Alcibiades.
ALCIBIADES: Oh?
SOCRATES: You remember the fable -- Aesop told it -- about the cold and lost man who met a Satyr in the woods, and the Satyr offered him lodging for the night. And on the way to the Satyrs cell, the man raised his cold hands to his mouth: "What do you do that for?" said the Satyr. To which the man replied:
"My hands are numb with the cold, and my breath warms them."
And when they arrived at the Satyr's home, the Satyr put a smoking dish of porridge before him. But when the Man raised his spoon to his mouth he began blowing upon it.: "And what do you do that for?" said the Satyr.
"The porridge is too hot, and my breath will cool it,” the man replied.
"Imagine this," the Satyr said, "a man who can blow hot and cold with the same breath. I shall not trust it," he said, and threw the man out.
ALCIBIADES: Very funny, Socrates -- how like you to say such a thing. (turning to the others) He spends his whole life talking like this, his tongue in his cheek, playing his little game of irony, and laughing up his sleeve at all the world.[SYM 216e]
SOCRATES laughs.
But seriously, my companions and fellow drunks, when he is opened, what temperance there is residing within! [SYM 216e] For one thing, he doesn't care a row of pins about good looks, or money, or any of the honors that most people care about.
I wonder if any of you really knows the man, the real Socrates -- the figure inside. I saw it once, and it struck me as utterly godlike and golden and beautiful and wonderful. Is he not like a Silenus in this?[SYM 217]
Let me tell you what I saw when I looked inside him. And I'm going to tell you the truth here, so listen well -- and you tell them Socrates, if I begin telling lies.[SYM 217b]
In those days, I must say, I had an extremely high opinion of my own good looks. I was quite proud of myself because I thought he was smitten by me, and at the thought of receiving the knowledge and pleasures of such a great man – for was my plan, you see – so I did what I had never done up to then – I sent away my attendant, and arranged to see him alone.[SYM 217]
Socrates raises his eyebrows.
Well, gentlemen, I can tell you, I was very excited, thinking that when he and I were alone together, I should hear him speak the language which lovers use to their loves. But nothing like that happened at all. In fact, he conversed as usual, and spent the day with me and then simply went away.[SYM 217c]
So I invited him to the gymnasium with me, thinking I might make some progress that way. But, though he exercised and wrestled with me there, often completely on our own, but it got me nowhere at all.[SYM 217c]
Lastly, as I had come this far, and having put my hand to the plow, I wasn't going to look back till I was absolutely certain how I stood. And frankly, by this point, I literally quivered at the thought of his beauty. I was determined to not give up on him now. So I decided I must take stronger measures to see how matters stood between him and me.
So I invited him to dinner with me, just as if he were a fair youth, and I a designing lover. He took some time to agree even to this, but finally, I did get him to come.[SYM 217d]
The first time he came, we had dinner, and then he got up to go. I lost my nerve that time, so I let him.[SYM 217e]
But the next time he came, Phaedo prepared the meal especially for Socrates, and I kept him talking into the night. And when he tried to go...well, I lost my nerve that time too.[SYM 217e]
But the next time -- the very next time I made him stay, saying it was too late to leave. That night he stayed on the couch next to mine, though there was no one else sleeping in the room.[SYM 217e]
Then and there I was bitten -- and by more than viper's tooth. For ever after I have known in my soul, or in my heart, or in some other part, that worst of pangs, more violent in ingenuous youth than any serpent's tooth...
Yes, I mean the pang of philosophy, whose bite, when it gets a grip on a young and intelligent mind, is irresistible.[SYM 217e]
And you that I see around me, Phaedrus and Agathon and Eryximachus and Pausanias and Aristodemus and Aristophanes -- all of you -- and I need not say Socrates himself -- you have all had a taste of this wild passion, this sacred rage, for philosophy. So you'll understand me, and forgive what I did then, and tell you now, for it's sake.[SYM 218]
Anyone who is easily shocked will just have to put something over their ears.[SYM 218c] For there we were then, gentlemen. The lamp had gone out and the servants had gone to bed, and I thought that it was time to abandon subtlety.[SYM 218c]
So I gave him a gentle shake, and I said:
'Socrates, are you asleep?'
'No,' he said.
'Do you know what I think?
'What do you think?'
'I think,' I replied, 'that, of all the lovers whom I have ever had, you are the only one who is really worthy of me. And you appear to be too modest to ask for what you want.
Now I feel that I should be a fool to refuse you this, or any other favor, and therefore, I come to lay at your feet all that I have, and all that my friends have, in the hope that you will assist me in the way of virtue -- for I desire above all else to make the best of myself.
And since nothing matters more to me than my own improvement, I can't imagine a better helper than you.[SYM 218d]
Well, he heard me out, and the said with that ironic simplicity of his:
My dear Alcibiades, I've no doubt there's a lot in what you say, and you're right in thinking that I have some kind of power that would make a better man of you. But you must see in me some rare beauty of a kind infinitely higher than any which I see in you. And therefore, if you mean to exchange beauty for beauty, you'll have to do better than that -- for I would be taking bronze for gold -- trading the mere appearance of beauty, in exchange for the real thing.[SYM 219]
Hearing this, I was dumbfounded, as you can imagine. But, of course, he was right…and I was foiled. So I said:
‘Well, I have told you my real feelings, Socrates. You must decide what you think best for us both.'
'That sounds reasonable enough,' he said. 'We must think it over between us, and do whatever seems best for the two of us -- about this and everything else.'[SYM 219b]
Well, that was enough for me. I knew where I stood. I'd met a man whose equal, in intelligence and control, I didn't think I should ever meet again.[SYM 219e] And what could I do? I couldn't have a row with him -- that would just lose me his friendship. Nor could I see any way of attracting him. For I well knew that, just as Ajax could not be wounded by steel, much less by money, so my only chance of captivating Socrates by my personal attractions had faded, and I was at my wit's end.[SYM 219e]
So I got up, and before he could say anything more. I lay down with him under his threadbare cloak, wrapped myself around him, and (as it was winter) wrapped my cloak around us both. And there I spent the whole night with this wonderful monster of a man in my arms -- still telling me the truth -- Socrates, you cannot deny it -- he was more than equal to my advances. He rejected them outright, laughing at my good looks, and treated them with all the contempt they deserved.[SYM 219c]
And I have to admit, as far as looks went, members of the jury (and I call you that because that's what you're here for -- to try this man on the charge of arrogance -- for I thought I was quite something.
Well, you won't believe it, gentlemen, but in truth, we fell asleep! And when I woke up the next morning, I'd slept with Socrates all night long, but absolutely nothing had happened -- any more than if I'd slept with my father or elder brother.[SYM 219d]
Imagine how I felt after that? I was humiliated, and yet full of admiration for the man's character -- his restraint and strength of mind.
Laughter at Alcibiades betrayal of his own arrogance, astonished as he is that anyone could resist his charms.
I tell you, no one was ever more hopelessly in love with another.
Socrates roles his eyes to Phaedo, who laughs quietly, sitting at his post at the door.
Well, all this happened before he and I went on the military expedition to Potidaea, of course -- where we messed together, and I had the opportunity of observing his extraordinary power of sustaining fatigue.[SYM 220]
In the first place, there was his toughness -- not only greater than mine, but greater than anyone's.[SYM 220]
Once, being cut off from our supplies, we were compelled to go without food -- and on such occasions, which often happen in time of war, he was superior not only to me, but to everybody there. There was no one to be compared to him.[SYM 220]
Yet at a festival when there was plenty, he was the only person who had any real powers of enjoyment. Though not willing to drink, he could – if compelled – beat us all at that too![SYM 220]
Wonderful to relate! No human being had ever seen Socrates drunk! I've no doubt you'll see confirmation of that here this evening.[SYM 220]
As for the weather, his fortitude in enduring cold was astonishing. There was a severe frost, for the winter in that region is really tremendous, and no one went outside, or if they did, they went muffled up to the eyeballs, with their feet wrapped up in wool or sheepskin. In the midst of this, Socrates wore the cloak he always wore and walked barefoot over the ice with less fuss than the other soldiers who had shoes. The men didn't like it at all, of course, thinking he was getting at them, but he never noticed a whit.[SYM 220b]
I have told you one tale, and now I must tell you another, which is worth hearing, 'Of the doings and sufferings of the enduring man' while he was on the expedition at Potidaea.
For one morning he was thinking about something which he apparently could not resolve, and he would not give it up, but continued thinking in the same spot from early dawn on into the day.[SYM 220c]
AGATHON (knowingly amused) Imagine that.
At noon attention was drawn to him, and the rumor ran through the wondering crowd that Socrates had been standing and thinking about something ever since the break of day.
Finally, in the evening after supper, some Ionians, out of curiosity, brought out their mats and, it being summer, slept in the open air that they might watch him and see whether he would stand all night.[SYM 220d]
And sure enough, he did indeed stand there until the following morning when the dawn broke and the sun rose. And with the return of light he offered up a prayer to the sun, and went on his way.[SYM 220e]
AGATHON: Well, we shall count ourselves fortunate then.
Laughter.
ALCIBIADES: I am also bound to tell of his courage in battle -- for it was he who saved my life. In fact, he rescued me and my arms. It was the engagement in which I received the prize of valor -- for I was wounded but he would not leave me. He ought to have received the prize of valor which the generals wanted to confer on me -- partly on account of my rank, and I told them so. This, again Socrates will not impeach or deny -- but he was more eager than the generals that I, and not he, should have the prize.[SYM 220e]
There was yet another occasion on which his behavior was very remarkable -- you should have seen him, gentlemen, on the retreat from Delium, where he served among the heavy-armed. I had a better opportunity of seeing him there than at Potidaea, for I was myself on horseback, and therefore comparatively out of danger.
He and Laches were retreating, for the troops were in flight, and I met them and told them not to be discouraged, and promised to remain with them...[SYM 221b]
I particularly observed how superior he was to Laches in presence of mind. Which is how he and his companion escaped unhurt -- for this is the sort of man who is never touched, even in war. You should have seen him, Aristophanes, for he was in battle just as you describe him to be in the streets of Athens -- 'marching along with his head in the air', calmly contemplating enemies as well as friends -- making very intelligible to anybody, even from a distance, that whoever would attack him would be likely to meet with a stout resistance.
I'm sure I could go on praising Socrates all night, and tell you even more surprising things. And perhaps many of his qualities can be found in other people, it's true. Yet it is remarkable how unlike he is to anyone else, past or present. You could go a long way and not find a match, dead or living, for Socrates -- not only himself, but his words.
For his words too are like the images of Silenus which open to reveal great surprise -- they are ridiculous when you first hear them, and he is always repeating the same things in the different ways-- it's all donkeys and bronzesmiths, shoemakers and tanners.[SYM 221e] But these are just the outer skin of this trouble-making satyr. Look beneath the surface, and get inside them, and you'll find they are the only arguments that make any sense, and that they are supremely inspiring, containing countless models of excellence and pointers toward it, extending to the whole duty of a good and honorable man.[SYM 222]
This, friends, is my praise of Socrates. I have added my blame of him for his ill-treatment of me. And not only me, but Charmides the son of Glaucon, and Euthydemus the son of Diocles, and many others in the same way -- beginning as their prospective lover, he has ended by making them pay their respect to him. So take my advice, Agathon, and don't be seduced. Learn from our experience, rather than as Homer's 'fool who learned too late'.[SYM 222b]
APOLLODORUS: (Voice Over) Well, when Alcibiades had finished, there was a laugh at his candor -- for he seemed to be still in love with Socrates.
SOCRATES: You're not so drunk after all, Alcibiades, or you would never have gone so far about to hide the real purpose of your satyr's praises.[SYM 222e] For all this long story is only an ingenious circumlocution, of which the point comes in by the way at the end -- you want to come between Agathon and I.[SYM 222e]
AGATHON: I do think you're right, Socrates. Remember how he sat in the middle between us? (rising) So let me come round and sit next to you.[SYM 223]
SOCRATES: (to Agathon) Yes, please do…don't let him come between us. Then, as you praised me, I in turn will praise my neighbor on the right. But I must entreat you, my boy, do be a good chap and let my friend alone -- you mustn't grudge him the praise I'm going to give him.[SYM 223]
AGATHON: You won't catch me missing a chance to get a tribute from Socrates.
Laughter.
ALCIBIADES: So, you're determined to drive me off the field, are you? Well, it's the same old story -- wherever Socrates is...(looking at Socrates longingly)...no one else has any chance.'[SYM 223b]
Things soon become incredibly noisy and disorderly.
APOLLODORUS: (voice over) Well, at that point, according to Aristodemus’ account, a great crowd of people on their way home from a party turned up at the door and came in to join the party.
Alcibiades rises, and looks long at Socrates before leaving. Socrates did not meet the sad scoundrels’ eyes, but kept his own on the empty doorway for some time after.
They couldn't resist having too much to drink after that. Some of the others went home, including Eryximachus and Phaedrus and some of the others.[SYM 223b]
And at sunrise, though everyone had gone home or to sleep, Aristodemus said he woke up to find that Socrates was still awake, still talking, though it was almost light and the cocks were crowing.[ALC 223c]
Aristodemus wakes up and tries to get his bearings.
By then, nearly all had departed, but for Agathon, Aristophanes, and Socrates, who were drinking out of an enormous bowl which they kept passing round from left to right.
Socrates was arguing with the others, and holding the floor, and the gist of it was that he was forcing the two dramatists to admit that the same man is capable of writing both comedy and tragedy. Comedy begets tragedy, and vice versa, more often than we might think, he was saying. But even Agathon and Aristophanes were falling asleep, by then, and were scarcely in a state to be following the argument.
And when they too began to nod and dropped off to sleep, Socrates tucked them both up comfortably and left, followed by Aristodemus, who went with him to the Lyceum for a bath, and spent the day with him as usual, until, toward evening, Socrates made his way home to rest.[SYM 223d]
***END SYMPOSIUM
Back to path through the olive grove, where Apollodorus, Plato and his older brothers are just arriving in the city.
APOLLODORUS: And there you have it, Glaucon -- what Aristodemus had to say about Socrates and love.
And would you agree with my rendition, Phaedo? Is this how it happened?
PHAEDO: I remember, and too well, what happened next, for this was the last time Alcibiades would spend with Socrates. For it was only the next day that Alcibiades fled to *.
Critias' thugs had, by this time, exile 5000 democrats, put 1500 others to death, and had set out to kill any Athenian who is politically or personally distasteful to them, and Alcibiades was certainly at the top of that list.[Dur p.451] Meanwhile, the resistance army was planning to attack the city and take down the oligarchs. Critias would be dead soon, but Alcibiades knew that that would not save him, for the Spartans and Persians had sent their own assassins to see him off into the underworld.
I went to his quarters and packed up some of his finer possessions, as he went to retrieve Timandra -- a woman of a noble birth and gentle nature, some say, whom he had debauched at a very young age.[ Plu/Alc p.28] from her servatude, at last. By this time, Timandra had more reason to fear the pent up wrath of Critias’ wife than she has in recent years to fear Critias himself-- who had grown gentle toward her in his old age, and seemed almost to be protecting her from his wife's sadistic jealousy.
Timandra could no longer give Alcibiades her heart, which had long since been bent and broken, but she picked up her few things anyway, and followed him out the door of the quarters in which she had been enslaved since childhood. Beyond hope for any escape to the freedom she had dreamed of all her life, Timandra probably knew she was simply enslaved by another master. For Alcibiades had never freed any of the many slaves he had ransomed -- including me. Even the best of them -- those he called his friends -- were put out to field or sent to the mines, rather than allowed to retire with respect in old age.
At any rate, Pharnabazus had arranged with the king to procure them safe conduct into the small village in Phrygia where they might continue to dwell for some time.[Plu/Alc p.26] And as they departed for the refuge that had been prepared for him in Bithynia,[Dur p.450] Timandra asked me to deliver a message to her daughter, Lais, regarding her whereabouts. And so I tried, but by this time, Lais had already gone to the mountians to join Thrasybulus’ resistance army.
It’s unclear who finally did away with him.
THRASYBULUS
You have often heard the people say it -- "Best rear no lion in your state, 'tis true -- but treat him like a lion if you do."[Plu/Alc p.10]
In the meantime, the crushed Athenians were miserable at their loss of empire. Deprived of liberty when Lysander set up thirty despotic rulers in the city, they felt themselves in their ruin.[Plu/Alc p.26] Yet in this sad state of affairs, the people still had some faint hopes left them, as long as Alcibiades was safe, and might still save them.
The crushed Athenians begin to turn to those thoughts which, while safety was yet possible, they would not entertain. They acknowledge and bewail their former errors and follies, and judge this second ill-treatment of Alcibiades to be the most inexcusable. For he was rejected -- this time -- without any fault committed by himself, and only because they were incensed against his subordinate for having shamefully lost a few ships. In rejecting Alcibiades, they much more shamefully deprived the commonwealth of its most valiant and accomplished general.
They persuaded themselves that, if he could find any favorable opportunity, he would not endure the insolence of the Spartans, and the outrages of the Thirty. Nor was it an absurd thing in the people to entertain such imaginations, when the Thirty themselves were so solicitous to be informed and to get intelligence of all his actions and designs.[Plu/Alc p.26]
Meanwhile, the message from Timandra is intercepted by those would-be assassins who are hot on Alcibiades trail. Phaedo and his companion, Aristippus, when they are discovered on board a ship bound for *, are badly beaten for want of the message, and about to be robbed as well. But when they realize that the oligarchic vessel is manned by pirates, Aristippus takes out Alcibiades' money and valuables, and begins at once to count them, and then, as if by inadvertence, lets them fall into the sea -- whereupon the most greedy of the crew go in after them.
Phaedo looks at Aristippus in surprise, and the latter responds:
aristippus
(to Phaedo)
Better for the money to perish on account of us, than for us to perish on account of the money.[Diog. Laer., p.207].
And while the oligarchic assassins are thrown off by Alcibiades' wiley change of plans, Lais sets out in pursuit of them, hoping to safeguard her mother.
After cutting off her hair to disguise her gender and thus give herself easier passage, Lais follows Alcibiades and Timandra all the way to the Persian court, where she herself is informed (by appeal to his friendship with Aspasia) by the general, Pharnabazus, of where Alcibiades and her mother are holed up.
CUT TO Phrygia, where Alcibiades and Timandra have sought refuge and are residing in a small cottage in a village, where the Persian general Pharnabazus has sent them to hide.
CLOSE UP of Timandra and Alcibiades. We can see that, in the course of their time together here, Alcibiades has grown ever more at ease with himself, more sincere, and he is glad that he has brought this woman, with whom he shares a lifetime of memories, about which they have never spoken, until now. And here, in their cottage...on the beach...in the warm the summer sun...the late night mist...the early morning rain...Alcibiades is reduced, at last, to the self that might have been. And together with Timandra, he retires, happy as a man with his improving karma could be.
And while he sleeps, he has a dream in which he sees himself attired in his mistress's habit, and holding him in her arms, she dresses his head and paints his face as if he had been a woman.
Alcibiades wakes with a start, and recognizing the meaning of the dream, begins crying like a baby for his many regrets, memories of which flash through his mind, one after another -- his brother, his dog, his son, his slaves, Timandra, Lais, Socrates, Athens herself -- and he wishes it were not too late to take Socrates' advice.
Meanwhile, those who were sent to assassinate Alcibiades have lost the trail, and only pick it up again by following Lais, who is on a mission to preserve her mother, and leads them inadvertently to the cottage. But without courage enough to enter the cottage where the lovers are holed up, the assassins surround it, and set it aflame.
Suddenly, Timandra discovers the cottage to be on fire, and Alcibiades gets together great quantities of clothes and furniture, and throws them on the fire to choke it.
Then -- to the horror of those who are outside looking in, Alcibiades delivers Timandra out into the night.
Lais is aghast to see her mother struck by the barrage of spears and arrows that await Alcibiades there, and she casts herself into the fire to save her long-suffering mother. But it is too late for Timandra, who dies in her daughters' arms. Looking long at her beautiful face -- peaceful and, strangely, happy -- Lais is reduced to hopeless sobs.
Alcibiades emerges, naked, sword drawn, having wrapped his cloak about his left arm, and holding his sword in his right, hoping for the privilege of fighting for his life.
The assassins are caught unprepared, and as soon as they see him, retreat, for none of them dares engage him hand to hand.
But Lais rises, tears running down her face, and lets go of her arrow, slaying Alcibiades, before he could use his outstretched sword, or do any more damage to the people and the city she loved. At which point, all the assassins besiege him at once with their spears and javelins.[Plu, *]
And as Alcibiades takes his dying breadth, there is a LONG FADE into the crackling flames, as Lais locks eyes with him who was her lover, her father, and the man who almost single-handedly brought down the greatest city in all the Hellas.
And when he is gone, Lais takes up the bodies of her parents, and, covers and wraps them in her own robes, dresses their heads and paints their faces, and buries them as decently and as honorably as her circumstances would allow.[Plu/Alc, p.15] And all of Athens came out to mourn.
CUT BACK TO FRAME, where Phaedo is remembering these events to Plato and his brothers.
phaedo
(tears in his eyes)
And so, at 46, the man who would be remembered as both "the greatest genius and the most tragic failure in the military history of Greece" -- was dead.[Dur p.451]
FADE TO Alcibiades' funeral.
anytus
His liberality's, his public shows, and other provisions for the people, were such as nothing could exceed. The glory of his ancestors, the force of his eloquence, the grace of his person, and his strength of body, joined with his great courage and knowledge in military affairs...
CUT TO Socrates at the funeral, his arm around the shoulder of young Lais.
socrates
(interjects)
Yes, all this and more had prevailed upon the Athenians to endure patiently his excesses, to indulge him many things, and, according to their habit, to give the softest names to his faults, attributing them to youth and nature.[Plu/Alc p.10] But, in the end, the truth came in a fiery flash, just as many had predicted it would, for Alcibiades' intercene conflict ruined him and his country.[Rep*]
phaedo (v.o.)
And so Socrates was left wondering at the irony of it all, for saving Alcibiades' life had seemed like the right thing to do, at the time.
CLOSE UP of Lais.
phaedo (v.o.)
There are some, of course, who impute the cause of Alcibiades' death, neither to Lysander, nor the Spartans, nor to the Persian King, who may have himself been persuaded by Lysander to kill his guest.[Plu/Alc p.28]
CLOSE UP of Lais, and Socrates, remembering her mother in various stages of her life, a smiling and laughing child, an angry and crying woman.
From Lais' POV, she is remembering Alcibiades in those places only she would have seen...sneaking into her mother's quarters as a child, then somewhat later, into her own...seeing him in all his glory arriving in Athens, purple sails and all...then seeing him emering from the flaming cottage...
phaedo (v.o.)
Rather, they say -- and probably closer to the truth -- that it was on behalf of the young woman Alcibiades was keeping
Some say it was her family who, unable to endure the indignity any longer, had set fire by night to the house where he was keeping her -- slaying them both as he endeavored to save only himself from the flames.[Plu/Alc p.28]
Some time has passed since the trial. Plato is walking through the olive grove outside Athens with his older brothers, Glaucon and Adeimantus, when Glaucon spots and calls out for Apollodorus, who is walking up ahead with a small group of companions.
“Apollodorus -- wait up!”
Apollodorus stops to wait for his friends, while Aristippus, Anniceris, Dion, Aster and several of the other young men of Athens continue on ahead, talking easily among themselves as they stroll together toward the city.
The Parthenon towers majestically atop the Acropolis in the distance, where Athena stands proudly watching over her city, the setting sun glimmering brilliantly off the tip of her spear.
“I'm glad to have run into you at last. I've been looking for you for ages,” Glaucon says as he catches up.
“Have you?”
“Yes. I'm told you remember the famous symposium at Agathon's, the time when Socrates and Alcibiades and the rest were at dinner there.”[SYM 172b]
“We can always count on you, dear Apollodorus, to report the whole story about your beloved Socrates.[SYM 172b] Who better than you to learn from about Socrates' conversations?” Adeimantus adds.
“So, were you there?” Glaucon pressed.
“Really, Glaucon, how could I have been? It's been ages since Agathon lived in Athens, and less than three years since I became friends with Socrates and got into the habit of keeping up with what he says and does every day.
Before that, I thought I was extremely busy, and I was convinced that I was leading a full and interesting life, when in fact, I was the most pathetic creature imaginable. My life was just a random whirl of activity -- just as yours is now, Glaucon. I did anything to avoid philosophical thought, just the same as you do -- philosophy's the last thing you'd spend your time on.[.”[ SYM 173]
APOLLODORUS: As a matter of fact, I don't know anything that gives me greater pleasure, or profit for that matter, than talking or listening to philosophy with my friends.[SYM 173c]
He turns back to Aristippus and Glaucon.
But when it comes to ordinary conversation, such as the stuff you talk about, which is to say, money or business -- well personally, I find it pretty tiresome. In fact, it bores me stiff.
The others laugh.
You're my friend, Glaucon, but I feel sorry for you and your friends here, if you make this error. Because you think you're getting somewhere, when you're not.[SYM 173c]
You, in turn, probably think me misguided as well, and you may well be right. However, I don't think you are misguided, my friends -- I know for certain you are.[SYM 173d]
And, if you listen to this story about Socrates' view of love, I will show you how I learned it
GLAUCON: Still the old Apollodorus we know and love -- never a good word for yourself or anyone else -- except for Socrates, of course. Perhaps that's why people think you're mad.[SYM 173e]
APOLLODORUS: Well, if I am, I have a lot of good company.
The boys, themselves all students of Socrates, laugh as they continue through the olive grove toward the city. Young Plato tags along behind, listening intently
GLAUCON: We won't argue about that now, my friend -- just do as I ask, and tell me what was said at Agathon's party.
Just then, Xenophon and Hermogenes come over the hill, and Apollodorus gestures for them to join the group.
APOLLODORUS: Xenophon, what luck! We were just talking about you.
GLAUCON: Weren't you among the guests at Agathon's famous dinner party way back when?
XENOPHON: No, but my friend Hermogenes here was there.
GLAUCON: Is this true? Do you recall it yourself?
HERMOGENES: Yes, I was there, but it was a long time ago -- and I'm afraid the wine flowed too freely that night, despite efforts to cut back.
GLAUCON: Nonsense. Beggars can't be choosers, my good man. It's a first hand account, after all -- so we'll take what we can get and not complain.
APOLLODORUS: Please, do tell. Walking into town like this is the perfect opportunity. As they say, the road to Athens is made for conversation! You who have memories can talk, and we who have none will listen.
ADEIMANTUS: When was this gathering?[SYM 173]
APOLLODORUS: It was when you and I were still children -- the day after the celebration when Agathon had won the prize with his first tragedy.[SYM 173]
GLAUCON: Oh, it was a long time ago, then… Who told you about it? Was it Socrates himself?
APOLLODORUS: No, no. I got it from a man called ARISTODEMUS of Cydathenaeum. Small man -- never wore shoes. But I've talked with Socrates too, and his account agreed with that of Aristodemus.[SYM 173b]
All recede into the dark, as Aristodemus emerges, walking barefoot, through the agora.
HERMOGENES (voiceover): Go ahead, Apollodorus. Tell us what you've heard, and I'll contribute what I remember -- though I doubt it'll be much.
APOLLODORUS (voiceover): Let me try to tell it to you right from the beginning then, as Aristodemus told it to me.[SYM 174]
We see Aristodemus come upon Socrates on the road leaving Athens, where there is a growing commotion.
He met Socrates, he said, all bathed and brushed, and wearing shoes -- a thing he hardly ever did.[SYM 174] And so he asked him where he was going looking so elegant.
SOCRATES: I'm going to dinner with Agathon. I avoided the celebration last night -- I couldn't take the crowd. But I said I'd come this evening.[SYM 174] I'm looking elegant because Agathon always looks elegant. What about you?
ARISTODEMUS: What about me?
SOCRATES: How do you feel about coming to dinner uninvited?[SYM 174b]
ARISTODEMUS: You know me, Socrates. I'll do anything you tell me.
Socrates throws his arm over his friends shoulder.
SOCRATES: Come on then. As the poets say, 'Good men come uninvited to lesser men's feasts'.[SYM 174c]
ARISTODEMUS: I'm afraid, in my case, it'll be a question of a nonentity coming to dinner uninvited with a much wiser man. You'd better decide what you'll say if you do take me. I'm not coming uninvited -- only as your guest.'[SYM 174c]
SOCRATES: Come then. Two heads are better than one. We'll think of something to say.[SYM 174d]
So off they went. There is much commotion and chatter in the streets. Soldiers are everywhere. The year is 416 BC (the * year of the * Olympiad).
ARISTODEMUS: What’s happening here?
BYSTANDER: The soldiers have just returned from Melos. It seems the more adventuristic among them behaved less than honorably.[Kagan, p.263]
SOCRATES (under his breath): What has he done now?
BYSTANDER: Apparently, the Alcibiades ordered Melos to join the Athenian Empire…or pay the price.
APOLLODORUS (voiceover): Melos had stayed aloof from Athens and her alliance for more than sixty years, as you know.
BYSTANDER: When the city refused, the generals -- without pressing need to do so -- laid siege to the island![Kagan, p.263] When the Melians finally surrendered, the Athenian generals killed all the men and sold the women and children into slavery.[Kagan, p.263]
SOCRATES: By Zeus!
Socrates is aghast, and Aristodemus appears heartsick
APOLLODORUS (voiceover): It was the most atrocious thing the Athenians ever did!
GLAUCON (voiceover): Never in the time of Pericles could such a thing have come to pass.[Kagan, p.263]
APOLLODORUS (voiceover): The action still haunts Athens today.[Kagan, p.263]
Seeing that Socrates is absorbed in his own thoughts, Aristodemus has gone on ahead. [SYM 174d] He has arrived and is waiting for Socrates at Agathon's front door, when suddenly it flies open.[SYM 174e
AGATHON: Aristodemus! Good to see you! You're just in time to have dinner with us. I hope that's what you've come for. If not, it'll have to wait for another time.[SYM 174e]
APOLLODORUS (voice over): As you can imagine, Aristodemus was slightly red in the face, for here he was, showing up by himself and uninvited, just what he had wanted to avoid.
AGATHON: Not to worry, my friend. I tried to get ahold of you yesterday, but you were nowhere to be found. Where’s Socrates? How come you haven't brought him with you?[SYM 174e]
ARISTODEMUS: As a matter of fact, I did come with Socrates. In fact, but for his invitation, I wouldn't have come at all.[SYM 174e]
Agathon looks past his newly arrived guest, glancing up and down the street.
AGATHON: Well I'm glad you did. But where has he gone?
Aristodemus turns around and looks behind him, but Socrates is nowhere to be found.
ARISTODEMUS: He was right behind me a minute ago. Where he is now is anybody’s guess.[SYM 174e]
With this, Agathon gestures for a servant, as he leads Aristodemus into the party, where that the others had already sat down to dinner.[SYM 174e]
AGATHON: Aristodemus, sit down and make yourself comfortable.[SYM 175]
While one servant is holding a bowl for Aristodemus to wash himself, Agathon turns to another.
Would you go and look for Socrates please? Ask him to come in.
The servant was off before Aristodemus could say…
ARISTODEMUS: No, leave him alone. He's always doing this. He'll be along.
AGATHON: Well, if you say so. I'll mind my own business, as Socrates would say to -- were he here -- and leave that of others for them to do.
Agathon turns to the servants.
The rest of us will eat now. You may serve us just as if we were your guests -- in whatever manner which you deem best. I'll not tell you how to do your job.[SYM 175b] Just give us a meal we'll enjoy, and we'll appreciate it.[SYM 175b]
The servants give one another a glance, rolling their eyes.
Just then, the servant who had gone looking for Socrates returned.
SERVANT: That Socrates you asked me to look for...
AGATHON: Yes?
SERVANT: He has gone wandering up to the front door of the wrong house. He's just standing there. I asked him to come in, but he didn't even notice me.[SYM 175
AGATHON: How odd. Still, don't give up. Keep on asking him.
ARISTODEMUS: Don't badger him. I don't think he'll be long.[SYM 175b] It doesn't matter where he is. He just wanders off and stands there, as if absolutely unwilling to abort a thought for the sake of the social custom of attending primarily to the world of the physical and conventional, rather than the world of ideals.[SYM 175b]
The others laugh.
APOLLODORUS (voice over): So they started having dinner, though still no sign of Socrates.
HERMOGENES (voice over): Agathon kept wanting to send people to look for him, but Aristodemus wouldn't let him.[SYM 175c]
APOLLODORUS (voice over): When finally Socrates did turn up, he hadn't been long by his standards. But even so, the rest were about halfway through dinner.[SYM 175d]
AGATHON: Socrates! Welcome! Come, sit by me! Then perhaps I shall absorb whatever it was you were thinking about outside. You must have found the answer, or you wouldn't have come in to join us.[SYM 175d]
SOCRATES: Wouldn't it be marvelous, Agathon, if ideas could be imparted simply by contact? Then those of us who had few of them could absorb them from those of you who have many…
The others laugh.
...just as liquid can flow from a full container to an empty one if you put a piece of string between them.[SYM 175e]
Socrates takes a seat next to Agathon, looking around to see who else is present, greeting each with a nod and a smile as he takes his place. Among those attending the symposium are the comic poet, Aristophanes, Socrates’ friend Phaedrus and his lover, the physician Eryximachus, and the Spartan general Pausanias, son of the famous general of the same name.
If that's the nature of ideas, my friend, then I think I'm lucky to be sitting next to you, and getting a nice, substantial transfusion. For you, Agathon, are brilliant, as thirty thousand Greeks who saw you yesterday can testify.[SYM 175e]
AGATHON: Don't be sarcastic, Socrates. And let's settle this question of ideas a bit later. Eat your dinner first.[SYM 175e]
APOLLODORUS (voice over): And so they dined, and while they did, the entertainment was brought in.[Sym 176]
The dancers and musicians enter. Among them is young Lais, the flute girl, who smiles warmly at her step-grandfather, Socrates. As she plays, the older men talk among themselves with enthusiasm as they watch the young men dance.
ARISTOPHANES: Rumor has it that Alcibiades plans to run seven chariots in the race at the Olympic games!
ARISTODEMUS: That’s more than any private citizen has ever entered.[Kagan, p.179]
Pausanias: Or any king!
APOLLODORUS (voice over): The expense of Alcibiades’ chariots were apparently a matter of great observation, and everyone was anxious to hear of the stud of prize racing horses that he kept. Until eventually their thoughts turned to drinking, and Pausanias made a suggestion.[SYM 176]
Pausanias: Gentlemen, I must admit to feeling rather frail after yesterday evening...
Everyone laughs.
...so I need a breather tonight, and I expect most of you do too.[SYM 176b]
ARISTOPHANES: I couldn't agree more. I'm one of those who sank without a trace last night![SYM 176b]
Aristophanes picks up his cup, and downs it without swallowing.
Eryximachus: You were pretty well soaked alright, and it looks like you’re well on you way there again. So perhaps you'll pardon me if I take this opportunity to say a few words on the true nature of inebriation. For my own experience in medicine has entirely satisfied me that vinous excess is detrimental to the human frame. And therefore, I can never be a willing party to heavy drinking…especially when I have not yet recovered from the excesses of the previous night.[SYM 176d]
Laughter Pausanias: Let’s follow the doctors orders then. How can we make our drinking as painless as possible?
Phaedrus: By refraining from it, I should think. Tonight, let the wine be served merely as refreshment. Nothing more.[SYM 176e]
Eryximachus: How does that suit the host?
AGATHON: That suits me just fine.
Eryximachus: I'm not worried about Socrates -- he's equally happy either way, so he won't mind what we do.[SYM 176c]
SOCRATES: You know me, gentlemen, drinking always gets my approval, since wine refreshes the heart and feeds the flame of good cheer like oil.
Aristophanes rises to reach out for the handsome boy who is pouring wine, then falls on his face before him..
But it’s clear that the human body is affected in just the same way as plants are -- give them too much, and they can't stand up or even breathe, and so never quite reach the fruiting stage, if you know what I mean.
A round of knowing laughter breaks out among the men.
Eryximachus: So if you hard drinkers would do us a favor -- we who are not in your league…
Everyone turns knowingly to Aristophanes, who is struggling to get up, only to fall over again.
…you'll lighten up for the evening, and put no compulsion on your fellows to drink to excess, especially those of us who still have a hangover from yesterday.[SYM 176e]
Phaedrus: Well I, for one, generally follow the doctors’ advice, at least on medical matters. And so will the rest of you, if you have any sense.
And let us dispense with the flute player too. She can play to the women upstairs, if she likes.
Lais happily takes her leave, smiling again at Socrates as she exits. The younger men watch her with hungry eyes, and the older men watch the younger men jealously. Socrates takes in the exchange, and hangs his head.[SYM 171]
For this evening -- since we are blessed with Socrates' company -- I suggest we stick to conversation.[SYM 176e]
Eryximachus: And I've an idea what we might talk about...
Eryximachus smiles at his beautiful young lover, Phaedrus.
…well, it isn't my idea, really. It's Phaedrus'. He gets quite worked up about it.[SYM 177] 'Don't you think it's odd, Eryximachus', he says, 'that most of the other gods have had hymns and songs of praise written to them by the poets, but never a word of praise of Eros, the oldest and greatest god? And not for want of good poets and great teachers, mind you.'[SYM 177b] 'What is surprising,' Phaedrus says, 'is that there should be so much enthusiasm for that kind of thing…
Everyone turns to Aristophanes, who has managed to get himself back up onto the couch, but is oblivious to the conversation going around and about him, as he is busy seducing the handsome servant boy who is the object of his immediate affections.
… and yet no one, up to the present day, has ever found himself able to praise Eros as he deserves. How is it that such a remarkable god has been so neglected?'[SYM 177c]
SOCRATES: You'll get no argument from me. Love is the only thing I know anything about. Let us hear your praise of Eros, my friend, and good luck to you.[SYM 177e]
APOLLODORUS (voice over): All agreed that the present gathering seemed an ideal opportunity to praise the god, so they quite happily spent their time in talk. Each of them taking a turn making a speech in praise of Eros.[SYM 177d]
Aristodemus didn't remember the exact details of everyone’s’ speech, nor can I remember precisely what he said. But I can give you the gist of those parts most worth remembering.[SYM 178]
'Phaedrus,' he said, 'began something like this':
PHAEDRUS: It's just that love, more than anything -- more than family, or position, or wealth -- implants in men the thing which must be their guide if they are to live a good life.[SYM 178]
SOCRATES: And what is that?
PHAEDRUS: It’s simply a horror of what is degrading, and a passionate desire for what is good. These are the very qualities that are essential if a state or an individual is to accomplish anything great, or even good.[SYM 178d]
Wouldn’t you agree, Socrates?
(Phaedrus continues without waiting for an answer)
In fact, if there were some way of arranging that a state, or an army, could be made up entirely of pairs of lovers -- well, is it possible to imagine a finer population?[SYM 179] Lovers are inspired with courage.[SYM 179] They are loyal,[SYM 179d] and they are the only people prepared to die for others.[SYM 179c] And this too is common to men and women alike.[SYM 179b]
As Homer says -- and rightly I think -- god breathes fire into some of his heroes. And it is just this quality -- whose origin is to be found within oneself -- that Eros imparts to lovers.[SYM 179b]
And this, gentlemen, is my claim -- that Love is the oldest and most glorious of the gods, the great giver of all goodness and happiness to men, alike to the living and to the dead.[SYM 180b]
(Pausanias lifts his glass in salute to Aristippus)
PAUSANIAS: Well, your account would be true, my boy, if there were only one kind of Love, but unfortunately, this is not the case.[SYM 180c] For there are two goddesses named Aphrodite, are there not? Both Pandemus, the earthly Aphrodite, who governs the passions of the vulgar, and Uranian, the heavenly goddess, whose attributes have nothing of the female, are altogether male, and are innocent of any hint of lewdness.[SYM 180e/181bc] Likewise, there must also be two kinds of Love.
In fact, it is in general true of any activity that it is neither good nor bad, in itself.[SYM 181] Take what we're doing now, for example -- that is to say, drinking, or singing, or talking. None of these is good or bad in itself, but each becomes so, depending on the way it is done. Am I not right? Well and rightly done, drinking is good -- wrongly done, it is bad.[SYM 181] Isn't that what you said, Socrates?
(Pausanias does not wait for a response)
Well, it's just the same with loving, and Eros. It's not all good, and doesn't all deserve praise. The Eros we should praise is the one which encourages people to love in the right way.[SYM 181]
SOCRATES: And what is that?
PAUSANIAS: This is the love which comes from the heavenly goddess. It is itself heavenly, and of great value to state and individual alike, since it compels both lovers to devote a lot of attention to their own moral improvement. [SYM 181b] They are prepared, I think, to be friends, and to live together for life.[SYM 181c]
Of course, good men voluntarily observe this rule, but the common lovers I am talking about should be compelled to do the same.[SYM 182] Some say really ought to be a law against the common lover – they are the ones who have brought sexual conventions in Sparta into ill repute.[SYM 181e]
In fact, in places such as Elis and Boeotia, for instance, where they are not sophisticated in their use of language, and even naturally inarticulate, it is simply laid down as law that it is right to take your lover as you please.[SYM 182] This, I suppose, makes things simpler for those who, being poor speakers, don't want to have to persuade their lovers to submit, or defend to others the fairness of their seductions.[SYM 182c] It doesn't suit such rulers that their subjects should think noble thoughts, nor that they should form the strong friendships or attachments which these activities, and in particular love, tend to produce.[SYM 182c]
On the other hand, in Ionia and many other places under the Persian rule, it is regarded as simply wrong. Perhaps because, with their system of government, they distrust sex, just as they distrust philosophy or any communal exercise.[SYM 182c]
All other sorts of love derive from the other goddess, the common one.[SYM 185c] It is this common lover who has brought this thing into disrepute, with his premature and unfair demands on the boy.] He falls in love with their bodies rather than their minds, and he’s as likely to fall in love with girls as boys.[SYM 181b] They are deceivers who take advantage of youthful folly, and then quite cheerfully abandon their victims in search of others. And who can know at what cost?[SYM 182]
You can tell the ones whose love is purely heavenly. They only fall in love with boys who are nearly grown up and can think for themselves.[SYM 181d
Aristophanes, who is more interested in the caresses of his especially young lover than in what is being said, suddenly recognizes he is being spoken about, and looks up with feigned innocence.
But surely nothing done with restraint and decency could reasonably incur our criticism?[SYM 182b] After all, if the lover has something to offer in the way of sound judgment and moral goodness, and if the boy is eager to accept this contribution to his education and growing wisdom, then, and only then, this favorable combination makes it right for a man to take a lover. But in no other situation is it right.[SYM 184e] The true position, I think, is that there isn't one single form of love. Love is neither right nor wrong in itself. Done rightly, it is right -- done wrongly, it is wrong.[SYM 183e]
It is wrong if you satisfy the wrong person, for the wrong reasons, and right if you satisfy the right person, for the right reasons. And this wrong person I call the common lover -- the one who loves the body rather than the mind. And the strangest thing is that, in most people's opinion, this lover has a unique dispensation from the gods to swear an oath and then to break it. Such a lover's vows, apparently, are not binding.[SYM 183b] His love is not lasting, since what he loves is not lasting either.[SYM 184]
On the other hand, the one who loves good character will love for life, since he has attached himself to what is lasting.[SYM 184]
And that's about the best I can offer on the subject of Eros, gentlemen. And what do you say to that, Socrates?
SOCRATES: I suppose there’s something of value in what you say.
Turning to Aristophanes.
Let us not ask then whether a face or a body is fair -- for all such things are in a flux. Let us continue to seek true beauty instead. Let us ask whether the true beauty is not always fair and beautiful.[CRAT 439c]
Aristophanes, is it not your turn to speak?
ARISTOPHANES: I'm afraid I have the hiccups, Socrates.
(gesturing to Eryximachus)
Let the doctor either cure me, or take my turn to speak.[SYM 185d]
ERYXIMACHUS: I'll do both. If, while I speak, you'll try holding your breadth for a long time. If that doesn't work, gargle with some water. Or if they are very severe, tickle your nose and make yourself sneeze until they stop.[SYM 185e]
ARISTOPHANES: Go ahead then, make your speech, and I'll be doing as you say.
Aristophanes takes a gulp of air, and holds his breadth.
ERYXIMACHUS rises and gathers himself.
First off, this two-fold nature of Eros seems to me to be a valuable distinction.
Holding.
ERYXIMACHUS:
But I cannot accept Pausanias' implication that Eros is found only in human hearts, and is aroused only by human beauty.[SYM 186]
Holding.
ERYXIMACHUS: Being a doctor by profession, I have learned throughout my career that Eros is aroused by many other things as well, and is found also in nature, in the physical life of all animals, plants, and virtually all living organisms.[SYM 186b]
Holding. Several of the young men are counting and taking bets.
ERYXIMACHUS: And as Pausanias was saying, it is right to satisfy the good and healthy elements in the body -- in fact, we call this 'medicine'.[SYM 186c]
Aristophanes lets his breadth out with a blast and a gasp…and a hiccup.
But it's the man who can distinguish healthy desires from unhealthy who is the best doctor.
Hiccup.
Moreover he needs the ability to change people's desires, so that they gain one and lose another. Medicine, then, as I say, is completely governed by this god.[SYM 186d]
Gargle.
He must, in fact, be able to reconcile and harmonize the most disparate elements in the body -- cold and hot, bitter and sweet, dry and wet, and so forth.[SYM 186d]
Hiccup.
Gesturing to the dancers and musicians about.
And likewise with gymnastics. And music too is no exception either. Take rhythm, for instance, which arises out of the conflict of quick and slow, but only when they cease to conflict.[SYM 187b]
Hiccup.
Here it is the art of music which imposes harmony on all the elements, by producing mutual attraction and agreement between them, whereas in the body, it's the art of medicine.[SYM 187c]
Hiccup.
ARISTOPHANES: For what it's worth.
Someone brings Aristophanes a peacock feather.
ERYXIMACHUS: Both, in their way, are knowledge of Eros as applied to different matters.[SYM 187c] And perhaps this is what Hericlitus means when he says that 'the One' is 'in conflict and harmony with itself'.[SYM 187]
Sneeze.
Hiccup. Eryximachus simply ignores the distraction, convinced of the serious importance of what he is saying.
And then there's farming? The seasons of the year likewise fully illustrate their joint operation. For when all the opposing elements hit upon the right Eros, in their relation to one another, they bring what is seasonable and healthy to men and the rest of the world. Then, all is as it should be -- which is akin to health.[SYM 188]
Sneeze.
In fact, the power of Eros is universal, and in particularly in the moral sphere, where Eros acts with good sense and justice and brings us complete happiness, enabling us to be companions and friends both of each other and of the gods.[SYM 188d]
Hiccup.
I’d go so far as to say that the whole relationship of gods and men to one another have as their sole concern the observance and correct treatment of Eros.[SYM 188c]
Sneeze.
Silence.
So there you have it. I have left out a great deal in my praise of Eros, mind you, but I will leave it to Aristophanes to fill the gap... But don't forget, Aristophanes, anything you say can and will be held against you.
ARISTOPHANES: Then I should say lips or buttocks, or something of that sort?
Laughter.
That’s what you would expect of me, but never mind that…at least for a moment. Let us be serious, for your medical advice has made me wonder how your orderly principle could possibly have called for such a appalling union of noise and irritation.
ERYXIMACHUS: Enough of your jokes
ARISTOPHANES: Yes, one wouldn't want to be funny at a time like this![SYM 189b]
Aristophanes rises to stretch his legs with exaggerated movement.
Well, as most of you know, it's my opinion that mankind is quite unaware of the power of Eros. If they were aware of it, they would build vast temples and alters, and make great offerings to him.[SYM 189c] But, as it is, none of these things is done.
Aristophanes walks through the group of young men, greeting each one individually with familiar smile.
Indeed, the animals are more aware of this power than we. 'For how could animals have survived unless they had apprehended the idea and had been endowed by Nature with intelligence to that end?'[Diogenes Laertius, p.289] If you will study intently the hen among poultry...she sits clucking on the eggs and wakens life into them. As for this wisdom of hers, the true state of the case is known to Nature alone, for the hen has learnt it from herself.... '
It is by such intelligence that they perceive others of their own kind, and reason about what is good for them, what their food is like, etc..[Diogenes Laertius, p.291] Which is why they say, 'Wisdom is not confined to one kind alone, but all living creatures likewise have understanding.[Diog, Laert., p.291]
Gesturing to the men sitting around another fire, whom Aristophanes apparently takes to be inferior to his kind.
ASPASIA; (entering from the side) No wonder you all seem so pleased with yourselves -- for a dog appears the fairest thing to another dog, and an ox to an ox, and an ass to an ass, and a pig to a pig.[Diogenes Laertius, p.291]
All laugh and greet Aspasia with enthusiasm.
SOCRATES: Welcome, friend and teacher. You’re just in time to enlighten us.
ASPASIA: What are we talking about today?
SOCRATES: Aristophanes is about to begin his oration on love.
ASPAISA: I wouldn’t want to have missed that. Don’t let me hold you back.
ARISTOPHANES: Well, I was just going to say that, of all the gods, Eros is the most friendly towards men. He is our helper, and cures those evils whose cure brings the greatest happiness to the human race.[SYM 189c]
Now I'll try to explain this power to you, and then you can go off and spread the word to others.[SYM 189d]
Everyone chuckles. Socrates rolls his eyes to Aspasia.
First of all, you need to know about human nature and what has happened to it. Our original nature was not as it is now, you see, but quite different.[SYM 189d] For one thing, there were once three sexes, rather than the two we have now.
The third sex was a combination of the other two.[SYM 189d-e] And this single combination, comprising both male and female alike, was, in form and name alike, hermaphrodite.
The name survives only as a term of abuse now. But then, each human being formed a complete whole, spherical, with back and ribs forming a circle. Each had four hands, four legs, and two faces -- identical in every way, but looking in opposite directions.[SYM 190]
Laughter.
You laugh, but I kid you not. They walked upright, as we do, in whichever direction they wanted. And when they started to run fast, they were just like people doing cartwheels. They stuck their legs and arms straight out all round, and supported on their eight limbs, went bowling along at high speeds.[SYM 190]
Laughter.
They were remarkable for their strength and vigor, but their ambition led them to make an assault upon the gods.[SYM 190b] So Zeus, wishing to make them weaker, humbler, cut each of them in two, to walk upright on two legs. And he gave them the warning that, if they gave him any more trouble, they would be cut in half again, so they will have to go hopping along on only one leg only.[SYM 190b]
With this the companions are rolling about with laughter.
Then he gave it to Apollo to turn the head around, so each could see where he had been separated. And Apollo healed the wound by gathering the rest of the skin together in the middle of the stomach, leaving the naval as a reminder of what happened in those far-off days.[SYM 190e]
Well, naturally, each half began looking for its other half. Which is why, when they find each other, they put their arms round one another and embraced in their desire to grow together again.[SYM 191]
Unfortunately, their genitals were on the wrong side, and their numbers began dying out. And seeing this, Zeus felt sorry for them, so he moved their genitals around to the front, more conveniently located so they might use them for reproduction by insemination -- rather than by discharge onto the ground, like grasshoppers, as had been up until then.[SYM 189e-192c]
The whole room is laughing at Aristophanes’ description and impersonation.
The idea was that if, in embracing, a man chanced upon a woman, they could produce children. And if man chanced upon a man, they could get full satisfaction…in other ways. And in either case, like ends of a magnet, we are drawn to one another’s beauty.
The dinner party has grown more lively, small groups are talking in amusement at Aristophanes story.
This is clearly why we have this innate love of one another. It brings us back to our original state, restores us to our true form. Until then, each of us is a mere fragment of a man, looking for our other half.[SYM 193b]
The entire group breaks out in applause, standing and laughing cheerfully. But Aristophanes gestures that he's not finished.
ARISTOPHANES: (turning to his young lover) And when a lover of any sort meets the real thing, he is completely overwhelmed by friendship and affection and desire, more or less refusing to be separated for any time at all.
His young lover looks to him expectantly, but Aristophanes turns away, gazing at the image of an Olympian in his mind.
These are the people who spend their whole lives together, and yet they cannot find words for what they want from one another. No one imagines that it is simply sexual intercourse, or that sex is the reason why one gets such enormous pleasure out of the other's company.[SYM 192c] No, it's obvious that the soul of each has some other desire, which it cannot express. It can only give hints and clues to its wishes.[SYM 192d] And if a god were to come and stand over them, as they lay there side by side, and offered to roll them into one and weld them together so that they could always be together, day and night, and live their two lives as one, what do you think they would say?[SYM 192e]
ARISTOPHANES’ YOUNG LOVER: That they could not imagine a happier fate -- to be merged in utter oneness with their beloved.[SYM 192e]
ARISTOPHANES: Then that's the explanation -- it's because our original nature was as I have described. It is because we were once complete, that we say we are in love and long for the time when we were one.[SYM 193]
But now, for our sins, the gods have scattered us in pieces, just as the Spartans scattered the Arcadians. And if we neglect the worship of the gods, my friends, there is every reason to fear that they will split us up again -- and we shall have to go around with our noses sawed asunder.[SYM 193]
Therefore, I will say again what I have said before -- that this is where happiness for the human race lies (and women no less than men) in the consummation of love, and in the healing of our dissevered nature by finding each his other half -- the love who is part of our original self, with whom we might return to our former state of wholeness.[SYM 193c]
Aristophanes companion smiles hopefully, as the amused crowd stands to applaud. But Aristophanes gestures again that he is not finished.
Of course, this is an ideal, and in an imperfect world we must settle for the nearest to this we can get...
Aristophanes turns to his companion, who on hearing this, has lost his hopeful smile.
...which is finding a boyfriend who is at least mentally congenial, which in itself is healing.[SYM 193d]
So praise Eros, who is our great benefactor, attracting us to what is part of ourselves, and gives us great hope for the future that he will reward respect for the gods by returning us to our original condition, healing us, and making us blessed and perfectly happy.[SYM 193d]
What’s more, it is our duty, one and all, to inspire in our friends reverence and piety for the gods, in order that we not incur the displeasure of the gods, and instead, be among the lucky ones who find their other halves.[SYM 193b]
The name of this desire and pursuit of completeness is Eros, or Love.[SYM 193] And I will thank you, Eryximachus, if you would please refrain from making fun of it.[SYM 193d]
ERYXIMACHUS: (rises, beginning the applause yet again) A most enjoyable speech! A very difficult one to follow, I should think, were it not Agathon and Socrates yet to speak.[SYM 193e]
SOCRATES: Easy for you to say -- having already given your speech. Imagine the shoes I'll be in by the time Agathon finishes his grand oration.[SYM 194]
AGATHON: Trying a little black magic, Socrates? Hoping to make me nervous if I think the audience has high expectations?[SYM 194]
SOCRATES: Nonsense, Agathon. I've seen you unperturbed before vast audiences of thirty thousand or more, so why should I think you would be nervous about the few of us here?[SYM 194b]
AGATHON: Anyone with any sense knows a small critical audience is far more daunting than a large uncritical one, Socrates.[SYM 194b]
SOCRATES: Which would explain why, in all your contacts with those you consider discriminating, you value their opinion more highly than that of the public. Though, after all, we are all part of 'the public', are we not?
AGATHON: Of course.
SOCRATES: So am I to understand that if you came across truly discriminating people (not us, of course) you would perhaps be daunted by them if you thought you were producing something second-rate? Am I right?[SYM 194c]
AGATHON: Of course.
SOCRATES: Whereas offering the public something second-rate would not worry you one bit?[SYM 194d]
AGATHON: (befuddled) Well...I...
PHAEDRUS: (interjecting as he rises) Agathon, if you answer him, you’ll be at this all day. For neither of you will give a thought to the rest of us, so long as you have each other to talk to.
For myself, much as I love hearing Socrates talk, it's my job to get a speech out of both of you. When that is done, then the two of you can get on with your discussion.[SYM 194d]
AGATHON: Quite right, Phaedrus. I can argue with Socrates any day… (feigning humility) …but what can I possibly add to all that been said?
Agathon rises and gathers himself.
PHEADRUS: No one yet has said what the giver of these benefits is really like, in himself.[SYM 195]
AGATHON: Well, for one thing, Eros is not the oldest of gods, Phaedrus, but the youngest -- in fact, eternally young.[SYM 195c]
Agathon begins pacing, and speaking as if with authority.
Indeed, the earliest troubles among the gods, which Hesiod and Parmenides write about, were the work of Necessity, not of Eros.[SYM 195c] (turning to Aristophanes) In fact, if Eros had been there there would have been none of this cutting or tying each other up, or any of the other acts of violence. There would have been friendship and peace.[SYM 195d]
For when Eros acts, he acts without force, since everyone serves Eros quite willingly. And it's agreed by 'our masters, the laws' that where there is mutual consent and agreement, there is justice. [SYM 195c]
In fact, force cannot touch Eros, any more than one could compel an erection. Eros must be charmed. He is the moving spirit behind all those occasions when we meet and gather together, at festivals, dances...sacrifices. He gives us the feeling, not only of longing, but of belonging. [SYM 197d]
Agathon continues, as if enjoying the sound of his own voice.
He is the implanter of gentleness, supplanter of fierceness; generous, gracious, gentle; and example to the wise, heedful of the good, a delight to the gods, craved by those without him, saved by those who have him, father of luxury, delicacy, elegance, charm, yearning, comfort and desire.
He is the best possible helmsman, comrade, ally, and savior, the glory of all gods and men, and the best and finest guide, whom every man should follow, while singing glorious praises to him and sharing the song which he sings to enchant the minds of men.[SYM 197e]
There is a burst of applause, though not from Socrates, who is taken aback, his mouth hanging open.
That is my speech, Phaedrus, my offering to the god of love.[SYM 197e]
SOCRATES: Good god -- such a flood of eloquence! (turning to Eryximachus) Wasn't I right that Agathon would leave me nothing to say? Maybe it wasn't all equally brilliant, but that bit of phraseology at the end was enough to silence anyone. For a moment there I was tempted to run off.
ERYXIMACHUS: It was a good speech, but you are only half right, Socrates, for I doubt you are left with nothing to say.[SYM 198]
Laughter.
SOCRATES: Well, perhaps you're right, but I realize now how silly it was to have agreed to take my turn with you in praising Eros -- and what's more, to have claimed to be an expert on Love! As it turns out, I know nothing at all about making such speeches of praise.[SYM 198d]
Socrates continues to sit, so the others lean in to hear.
SOCRATES: It seems, gentlemen, that I was naive enough to suppose that one should actually speak the truth about whatever it was that was being praised. That from the raw material, one should select the most important points, arrange them in as telling a form as possible, remembering that, if it's false, its immaterial.[SYM 198e]
(tongue in cheek)
However, it now appears that praising things well isn't like that at all. It seems rather to be a question of hyperbole and rhetoric -- regardless of truth and falsehood. The whole thing may be a pack of lies, for all it seems to matter![SYM 198e]
Good hearted grumbling among the previous speakers.
SOCRATES: So our original agreement, as it now seems, at least from what we've heard so far, was that each of us should pretend to praise Eros, rather than really praise her. In other words, we should merely flatter, rather than truly praise love.[SYM 198e]
Quiet chuckling at Socrates' lightly jibes at the oligarchs' way of speaking.
SOCRATES: (turning to Agathon) Isn't that right, my friend? Your object was to make her appear as noble and fine as possible -- in the eyes of the ignorant, presumably, since those who know about Eros clearly aren't going to believe you?[SYM 199]
AGATHON: What are you saying, Socrates? Is love not good?
SOCRATES: Not necessarily, as you will see if you remind me to tell you the story of my first love, who proved to me that Eros is neither beautiful or good.[SYM 201e]
The companions laugh, and are intrigued by the suggestion. Assuming they know just what he means, eyebrows around the room all go high. Socrates continues on as if nothing out of the ordinary had been said.
I'm sure the uninitiated are quite impressed by the magnificence of your commemorations, Agathon, I certainly don't propose to go on praising her like that -- I wouldn't know how to. I hope you'll forgive me, for it was my lips that promised, not my soul.
What I am prepared to do, if you will allow me, is to tell the truth -- not in competition with your speeches, but in whatever language comes naturally to mind.
Turning to Phaedrus.
What do you think, Phaedrus? Do you want a speech of that sort, one told in the way I described? For I don't mind telling you what I can of the truth about Love, if you're interested.[SYM 199b]
Phaedrus and the others signal for Socrates to go on.
PHAEDRUS: Make your speech any way you see fit, Socrates.
SOCRATES: May I ask a few questions first to make sure we're not a cross purposes?[SYM 199c]
PHAEDRUS: Ask away.
SOCRATES: I quite admire and approve, Agathon, your first remarks about our need to acquaint ourselves with the nature of Love, and then, with what it can do. But there is one thing I'm left unclear about.[SYM 199d]
AGATHON: What is that?
SOCRATES: Tell me then, Agathon, is it the nature of Love to be the love of something, or of nothing? As a mother or father is a parent of somebody, a daughter or a son,[SYM 199e] Or as a brother or sister is a sibling of another brother or sister?[SYM 200]
AGATHON: Yes, I should think so. Love is of something, naturally.
SOCRATES: Now, bearing in mind, if we can, what Love is the love of, tell me, does the lover long for what he is in love with?[SYM 200]
AGATHON: Of Course he longs for it.
SOCRATES: And does he still long for it when he has it, or only when he lacks it?
AGATHON: Hmmm -- when he lacks it, I suppose.
SOCRATES: So the lover is in Love only with what he lacks?
AGATHON: I suppose so.
SOCRATES: Then would you say that everything longs for what it lacks? Is that probable, or even certain.
AGATHON: That's about out as certain as anything could be, Socrates.
SOCRATES: And I can't help agreeing with you. But what about the case of a large and strong man -- do you think he does not desire to be a large and strong man?
AGATHON: (quizzically) Not if we were right just now.
SOCRATES: Quite so...because he wouldn't be lacking in this respect?
AGATHON: Exactly.
SOCRATES: And what about a swift man, or a healthy man? Will they desire to be the opposite of what they are -- slow or unhealthy?
AGATHON: Not at all.
SOCRATES: So it might be said, in these cases, that such men desire what they already have?
AGATHON: Undoubtedly.
SOCRATES: But isn't it the case, Agathon, that people with those qualities are bound, here and now, to have those qualities, whether or not they want them?
AGATHON: Well, yes, I suppose so.
SOCRATES: Then why should they bother to want them, do you suppose? Do they not only want to go on keeping what they have?[SYM 200d]
AGATHON: Of course.
SOCRATES: Then we still think that to feel a want, the object of our love and desire must be something we haven't got, that is, something we are lacking?[SYM 200e]
AGATHON: Yes, absolutely.
SOCRATES: Love is always of something, and of something one lacks?[SYM 201]
AGATHON: Yes.
SOCRATES: Alright, if you say so. But lets leave aside for the time being the implication that one cannot Love or rightly appreciate what one possesses too securely (which explains, by the way, why we seldom hear men say, 'I'm rich, and I'm happy with what I've got.'[SYM 200d] And more often hear them curse, “Damned blessings!”)
At any rate, keeping this in mind, tell me, Agathon, what you said were the objects of Eros, in your speech. (then responding to Agathon's quizzical look) I'll remind you, if you like. I think it amounted to this -- that the actions of the gods were governed, and trouble among them was ended, by their love of beauty. Is that roughly what you said?[SYM 201]
AGATHON: Yes, it was.
SOCRATES: Then love is the love of beauty, you would say, and there is no such thing as the love of ugliness?
AGATHON: That's right.
SOCRATES: But haven't we just agreed that Love is love of something which is lacked?
AGATHON: Yes, but….
SOCRATES: Then Love has no beauty, but is lacking it?[SYM 201b] And if beauty is also good, then Love has no good either? Is that right?[SYM 201c]
AGATHON: (looking worried) It must follow, I suppose.
SOCRATES: Can you still maintain that Love is beautiful and good?
AGATHON: 'You've made your point, Socrates -- that I didn't know what I was talking about.'[SYM 201c]
Laughter.
SOCRATES: It did sound marvelous though.
Laughter.
AGATHON: I can't argue with you Socrates. We'll take it as you say.
SOCRATES: Nonsense. What you mean, my friend, is that you can't argue with the truth. Any fool can argue with Socrates.[SYM 201d]
Laughter.
SOCRATES: You're a good sport, Agathon, and I will let you off the hook, so that I might take up this memory of my first love, which has been nagging at me since we began our discourse. Allow me to pass on to you the account of Eros I once heard given by a woman named Diotima, from Mantinea, then still a girl.[SYM 201d]
Some of you must remember her?
CRITO: I certainly do.
ASPASIA: She was a wise woman with magical powers. I knew her in my youth, as she often came to the house of a thousand veils in Megara, where I was consigned to serve by the Corinthians who had sacked my home of Melitus and killed my mother and father. Her skills as a midwife and physician were renowned.
SOCRATES: That is the one. In the days before the plague, she had come to the help of the Athenians in their sacrifices -- and managed to gain them a ten-year reprieve from the disease.[SYM 201d]
SOCRATES: Given what she taught me about the philosophy of love, I can attest that she was an expert on this subject, and on many others as well.[SYM 201d]
Suggestive laughter breaks out among the others.
SOCRATES: Think what you like, my good men, but listen to what she had to say before you jump to any conclusions.
Socrates rises, and shakes each leg out, appearing almost to be dancing. Not to be overshadowed, Philippus suddenly stood up and went through a parody of the dance -- letting legs, arms, and head fly all together.[XEN, p.234] The others cannot resist laughing.
Are you laughing at me? I told you I was a dancer. Do you not think I want for exercise? Is my stomach larger than it should be? It’s true that I've never had a trainer, but then, to your benefit, despite my advanced age, I have never even undressed in public?[XEN, p.233]
Laughter.
SOCRATES: Well, now that we've got that out of the way – I will say again, as I’ve said before -- love is a wonderful topic for conversation. I can't remember a time when I wasn't continuously in love with someone.[XEN, p.257]
Laughter.
At any rate, allow me to regress a bit, for I think it will be easiest for me to explain things as Diotima explained them when she was questioning me, since I gave her pretty much the same answers Agathon has just been giving to me.[SYM 201e]
'The advantage of questioning', she said, 'is that, if carried out consistently, it encourages others to think for themselves, to make up their minds about their own views.'[Xen, p.24] One may have pronounced principles, but principles should not take the form of dogma.[Xen, p.25] Questioning pricks the illusory conceit of knowledge, you see.[Xen, p.36] Such is the power of principle that we can ask questions of it, and thus, exercise the power to change the ways in which people think.[Xen, p.25]
Thus, it was by way of such questioning, using the same argument by which I was just appealing to Agathon, that Diotima proved to me that Eros is neither beautiful or good.[SYM 201e] For if love loves what it lacks, and it loves beauty and good, then it lacks beauty and good.
Several of the listeners look at one another quizzically.
PHAEDRUS: What do you mean, Socrates?
SOCRATES: That’s just what I said to her! 'What do you mean, Diotima?' I said. 'Is Eros ugly and bad?'
And she replied, as I would to you – ‘Careful what you say, unless you think what is not beautiful must necessarily be ugly?[SYM 202b]
PHAEDRUS: Why, naturally.
SOCRATES: So everything is either good or bad?
PHAEDRUS: Well, isn't it?
SOCRATES: Do you not think that there might be an intermediate state, between good and bad, just as between wisdom and ignorance?[SYM 202]
'What do you mean?' I said.
'Think of someone,' she said, 'who has an opinion about a fact that happens to be correct' -- just as we might think Phaedrus, or Pausanias, or Agathon has -- 'but is unable to give a reason for it -- you wouldn't call this knowledge, would you?'[SYM 202b]
And I replied, of course, 'No.'
‘Yet it isn't ignorance either, is it?’
I suppose not, I replied.
‘Does it not seem to you then,’ she said, ‘that correct opinion or true belief is the kind of thing that lies between understanding and ignorance, as one is becoming more of one and less of the other?[SYM 202] Well, the same is true of Eros,’ she said – ‘just because he isn't good or beautiful, you need not regard him as ugly and bad, but as something in between these extremes.’[SYM 202b]
'And yet,' I said, 'it's generally agreed that Eros is a great god.’
‘Who agrees? Do you mean people who've learned nothing about it? Or do you mean those people who know from experience what they're talking about?’[SYM 202b]
‘I mean everybody,’ I said, at which, she laughed outloud.
‘How can people agree, my dear Socrates, that Eros is a great god, when so many deny that he or she is a god at all?’[SYM 202c]
‘Who do you mean?’ I asked.
‘You and I, for starters.’
‘How so?’
‘Well, would you say that any gods are not happy and beautiful?’
‘Yes.”
‘And yet you admit that Love sometimes lacks, and therefore longs for just those qualities? So how can Love be a god?’[SYM 202d]
Well, she had me there, and the more I turned this over in my mind, the stickier the problem became. Finally I asked, ‘If love is not divine, is it mortal then?’
‘Not at all.’
‘What then?’
‘Need it be either? Can it not be midway between mortal and immortal?’[SYM 202d]
‘Eros is a spirit,’ she said, ‘and a very powerful one at that. And just as spirits are midway between what is divine and what is human, what is god and what is man, so Eros is something between a mortal and an immortal.[SYM 202e] Between wisdom and folly.[SYM 204] Such spirits are many and varied, and Eros is simply one of them'.[SYM 202e-203]
‘Very well, dear lady,’ I conceded, ‘no doubt you are right. But in that case, what power has Eros?[SYM 202e] What good can Love be to humanity?’[SYM 204d]
‘Why, my dear boy, this spirit is a means of communication between gods and humans. It takes requests and offerings to the gods, and brings back instructions and benefits in return, and since they are between the two estates, they weld both sides together and merge them into one great whole.’[SYM 202e]
For if we were right in our thinking earlier, then none of the gods are lifelong seekers after truth -- for being already wise, and beautiful, and good, they do not long for the virtues they have never missed. They must depend instead on spirits -- for the divine will not mingle directly with the human. All association, communication and intercourse between men and gods, waking or sleeping, takes place through such spirits as Eros.[SYM 203]
Unlike the gods, the spirit of Love is never too sure of what he or she possesses, and so is a lover of all, wisdom, beauty and good.[SYM 204b] In this way, the lover is very different from the beloved, whom you described as utterly beautiful, perfect, delicate and prosperous.[SYM 204c]
‘This is why Eros is the medium of all prophecy and religion, of all rites of sacrifice, initiation, and incantation, of divination and of sorcery. [ SYM 204] This kind of knowledge is knowledge of the spirit, and one who has it is said to have spiritual power -- and it is a powerful and unpredictable force.[SYM 205d Whereas any other knowledge is purely utilitarian, and its power is merely mechanical.’[SYM 202e-203]
Then she told me a story that quite puzzeled and astonished me – about the birth of Aphrodite, and the celebration of the gods.
When Parotid was born, she explained, Resource, son of Craft, came to the celebration. And after supper, Need came begging at the door, because there was good cheer inside. Now Resource, having drunk to excess, wandered out into the garden of Zeus, and fell asleep. Whereupon Need, thinking that to have a child by Resource would help ease her poverty, lay down beside him, and Love was conceived. And it is said that Love, being born on her birthday, was thereafter a follower and servant of Aphrodite.[SYM 203c]
This is why Eros, being the son of Need, is fated to be always insecure, always partaking in his mother's poverty. This is why he is not delicate and lovely, but barefoot and homeless, sleeping on the cold and naked earth, in doorways, and beneath the very stars of heaven.[SYM 203d] And because he brings his fathers resourcefulness to his designs upon the beautiful and the good, this makes him a master of device and artifice, adept at seduction.[SYM 203d]
So Love, you see, is never altogether in or out of need, and stands always midway between wisdom and ignorance. Moreover, he is neither mortal nor immortal, because in the space of a day he will -- by virtue of his father's nature -- be now born, and now dying, and now born again. And what he gains will ebb away as fast.[SYM 204]
‘Very well then, dear lady,’ I said, ‘no doubt you are right, and so much for the nature and the origin of Love. The question now is, what is it that the lover of the beautiful is longing for?[SYM 204d]. Merely to make the beautiful his own? If this is the case, then what good can Love be to humanity?[SYM 204c] What is it that the lover of the good will gain by making the good his own?
‘Happiness?’[SYM 204e]
‘Is there any need for us to ask why anyone would want to be happy?’
‘I think not,’ I replied.
‘Good. But tell me, Socrates,' she went on. 'Do you think that everyone desires to make the good his or her own, and thus to be happy?'[SYM 205]
‘Yes, I think in that respect, we are all alike.’[SYM 205b]
But if we all love the same thing, does that mean that we are all in love? Or do we mean that some of us are in love, and others are not? Indeed, why do we not describe everyone as lovers?.[SYM 205b]
I admit, on this point, I was puzzled.
‘Nothing to worry about,’ she said. ‘What we've been doing is giving the name of Love to what is only one single aspect of it -- and we make the same mistake with a lot of other names. We abstract a part of it, and call it by the name of the whole -- and then for the other parts we use different names.’[SYM 205b]
Take a concept like ‘creativity’, 'creation', or 'composition'. Any activity which brings anything at all into existence is an example of creation, wouldn't you say?[SYM 205c] Hence, the exercise of any skill is composition, and those who practice it are composers. Still, creative people are not all called composers, but have different names, and 'composer' is one subdivision of the whole class.' Don't you agree?[SYM 205c]
Well then, it's the same with 'Love'. For 'Love -- that renowned and all-beguiling power,' includes every kind of longing for happiness and for the good.[SYM 205d] There are many ways of pursuing this desire -- through money-making, physical fitness, and philosophy, for instance -- but we don't call these devotees 'lovers', or describe their activity as 'loving'. Instead, we give the name 'lover' to the person who devotes himself to what is only one of Love's many activities, though the name should apply to all the rest as well.[SYM 205cd] Those who pursue one particular mode of loving, and make that their concern, have taken over the name of the whole -- love, loving and lovers.[SYM 205d]
There is a theory that lovers are people in search of their other half -- you've heard this?
Yes, I have.
Well, as I see it, love never longs for anything -- half or whole -- but the good. For men will have their very hands and feet cut off, if they become convinced that it would be good for them. In fact, we prize all of our belongings only in as much as we believe they are good for us. Indeed, it is this good that we love, when we love. Do you disagree?[SYM 206]
No, I completely agree. Everyone loves the good. And 'love' is the desire for permanent possession of it, for immortality.[SYM 207]
We are all of us prolific, Socrates, in body and in soul, when we reach that age when nature urges us to procreate. But we cannot be quickened by ugliness, but only by the beautiful. And conception takes place when man and woman come together, and this activity is incompatible with any kind of discord. Beauty is in harmony with the divine, while ugliness is at odds. And so when beauty is drawn near, we grow genial and blithe. While ugliness overcomes us with heaviness and gloom, and cannot be brought to bed. Do you understand what I am saying?[SYM 206e]
Of course, you've noticed what an extraordinary effect the breeding instinct has -- and how obsessed animals, birds and humans become with this desire, first to mate, and then to rear their offspring?[SYM 207b]
Yes, I certainly have, I replied.
When the procreant is big with child, he is strangely stirred by the beautiful. But you see, Socrates, that love is not exactly a longing for the beautiful itself, as you suggested. Rather, it is a longing for the conception and generation that the beautiful effects.[SYM 206e]
And why all this longing for propagation? Because, I think, this is the one deathless and eternal element in our mortality. And since we have agreed that the lover longs for the good to be his forever, it follows that we are bound to long for immortality, as well as for the good. It seems fair to say, then, that Love is the longing for immortality.[SYM 207d]
So at a certain age our nature desires to give birth. To do so, it insists on what is beautiful, for it cannot employ a medium perceived to be ugly. And in this, there is a germ of immortality in mortal creatures -- the divine element. What is mortal tries, to the best of its ability, to be everlasting and immortal. It does this in the only way it can -- by always leaving a successor to replace what decays.
The activity we are talking about is the use of what is beautiful for the purpose of reproduction, whether physical or mental. Reproduction, she said, both physical and mental, is a universal human activity.[SYM 207e]
Now, think of what we call the life-span and identity of an individual creature. A man is said to be the same individual from childhood until old age -- is he not? -- though his body is always changing, and every day he is becoming a new man. The old man is ceasing to exist, as you can see by his hair, his flesh, his bones, his blood. And yet he is still called the same person -- despite being perpetually reconstituted as parts of him decay. And the same thing happens to his soul. Wouldn't you think?[SYM 207e]
Yes.
Now those whose creative urge is physical tend to produce children. Sexual intercourse between man and woman is this reproduction. Do you understand what I'm saying, Socrates?[SYM 207d]
Very clearly.
In others, the reproductive impulse is mental or spiritual, and goes under the general heading of 'thought'. [SYM 207e] And when we come to knowledge, the situation is even odder. For the same thing happens with each individual piece of knowledge. Forgetting is loss of knowledge, and studying preserves knowledge by creating memory afresh in us to replace what is lost. What we call studying presupposes that knowledge is transient.
Hence, we have the illusion of continuing knowledge.[SYM 208] For this, Socrates, is the mechanism by which mortal creatures can taste immortality.[SYM 208b] The nobler people are, the more strongly they feel it. They desire immortality.[SYM 208e] The desire for undying nobility, and the good reputation which goes with it, is a universal human motive. And for these ends they will fight, to the death if need be, against far stronger opponents. They will go to any lengths, the weakest of them willing to stand up to the strongest in defense of their young, and even starve themselves and die for them, to bring up their offspring well.[SYM 207b]
And would they have done these things if they hadn't thought they were leaving behind them an undying memory -- which we still possess -- of their courage?[SYM 208d]
I suppose not.
Such a person then, if he comes across a beautiful, noble, well-formed mind, and finds the combination particularly attractive, will drop everything and embark on long conversations with their companion -- always about goodness -- trying to teach one another about the nature and behavior of the good person.[SYM 209]
Like you and I?
Yes, like you and I. And now that he's made contact with someone beautiful to him in this way, he joins with his friend in bringing his conception to maturity.[SYM 209]
I understand.
In consequence, such people have a far stronger bond between them than there generally is between the parents of children.[SYM 209]
At this point, I’m sure I blushed. It was kind of her, I thought, to let me down so gently.
Laughter.
And they form much firmer friendships, because they are jointly responsible for finer, and more lasting, offspring -- which are, at this state, beautiful discussions and conversations.[SYM 209c]
And next they realize that the beauty of one body is akin to that of any body, and that if he's going to pursue beauty of appearance, it is the height of folly not to regard the beauty which is in all bodies as one and the same. This insight will convert him into a lover of all beauty, breaking his tie to a single physical kind.[SYM 209c]
Whereas before he was dominated by the individual case, now he directs his eyes to what is beautiful in general, as he turns to gaze upon the limitless ocean of beauty.[SYM 210b]
(gesturing out over the city, toward the ocean and the setting sun)
The next stage -- which not everyone reaches -- is to put a higher value on mental than on physical beauty. The right qualities of mind, even in the absence of any great physical beauty, will be enough to awaken his love and affection. And then they will generate the kind of discussions which are improving to the young.[SYM 210c]
And so on, and so forth. The aim for such a one is that, at the next step, he should be compelled to contemplate the beauty of customs and institutions -- and from human institutions his teacher should direct him to knowledge, so that he may, in turn, see the beauty of different types of knowledge.[SYM 211c]
And by far the finest and most important item among them is the art of political and domestic economy -- what we call good judgment, and justice.[SYM 208d-209] And about these they produce many fine and inspiring thoughts and arguments, as they give their undivided attention to philosophy.
And when a person has reached this point in his education in love, studying the different types of beauty in correct order, he will come to the final end and goal of this education. Then suddenly he will see a beauty of a breathtaking nature, Socrates, the beauty which is the justification of all his efforts so far.[SYM 211c]
And here he gains in strength and stature until his attention is caught by that one special knowledge -- the knowledge of true beauty -- knowledge of the true self.[SYM 211c]
And that, if ever, is the moment, my dear Socrates, when a man's life is worth living, as he contemplates beauty itself.[SYM 211d] It is eternal, neither coming to be nor passing away, neither increasing nor decreasing. Moreover it is not beautiful in part, and ugly in part, nor it is beautiful at one time, and not at another -- nor beautiful in some respects, but not in others, nor beautiful here and ugly there, as if beautiful in some people's eyes, but not in others.
It will not appear to him as the beauty of a face, or hands, or anything physical -- nor as an idea or branch of knowledge, nor as existing in any determinate place, such as a living creature, or the earth, or heaven, anything or anywhere like that.[SYM 211d]
It exists, for all time, by itself and with itself, unique. And all instantiations of beauty derive from it, but in such a way that their creation or destruction does not strengthen or weaken it, or affect it in any way at all.
Such is the experience of the man who approaches, or is guided, towards love in the right way -- beginning with the particular examples of beauty, but always returning from them to the search for that one beauty.
And if a man progresses (as he will do, if he goes about his love affairs in the right way) from the love of lesser beauties, and begins to catch sight of this true beauty -- then he is within reach of the final revelation.[SYM 211b]
So he uses them like a ladder, climbing from the love and trust of one person to love of two, and from two to love of all physical beauty. And from physical beauty to beauty in human behavior; thence to beauty in subjects of study such as institutions and political practice. And from them he arrives finally at that branch of knowledge which studies nothing but ultimate truth. Then at last he understands what true beauty is.[SYM 211b]
Now it cannot fail to strike you that only then will it be possible for him, seeing beauty as it should be seen, to produce, not likenesses of goodness (since it is no likeness he has before him), but the real thing (since he has the real thing before him).
'For it is virtue's self that quickens him,' she said, 'not virtue's semblance.'[SYM 212]
'And it is this -- producing, reproducing, and caring for real goodness,' Diotima said, 'which earns him the friendship of gods and men alike, and makes him, if anyone, immortal as the truest of lovers.'[SYM 212]
So much I gathered, gentlemen, at one time or another from Diotima's dissertations upon Love.
There you are, then, Phaedrus and the rest of you. That is my speech. That's what Diotima said to me, and I, for one, find it convincing. And it's because I'm convinced that I now try to persuade other people as well that man, in his search for this goal, could hardly hope to find a better ally than Eros.[SYM]
So I ask you, each of you, suppose it were granted to someone to see beauty itself quite clearly, in its pure and undiluted form -- not clogged up with human flesh and coloring. Imagine one were able to see the divine beauty itself in its unique essence.
Don't you think he would find it a wonderful way to live...looking at it, contemplating it as it should be contemplated, and spending his time in its company?[SYM 211e]
Well, you can call it by any name you please -- I myself call it Eros, and I honor it, and make the pursuit of it my chief concern, and like Diotima, I encourage others to do the same.[SYM 212b-c] And it's because I'm convinced we should all honor Eros, that I praise the power and vigor of it to the limits of my ability.[SYM 212c]
Socrates' companions break out in applause, but he shushes them as is his way.
FADE BACK to the the group of young men who are remember as they walk through the olive grove.
APOLLODORUS: (Voice Over) Well, as you can imagine, Socrates' oration was greeted with enthusiastic applause, and Aristophanes had started saying something about Socrates' reference to his own speech, when suddenly there was a commotion outside.[SYM 212c] Almost at once there came a tremendous sound of hammering at the outer door, and they heard Alcibiades' voice from the courtyard, accompanied by the notes of a flute and the sound of festive brawling in the streets.
Now many of us were surprised at this, for we had heard an order was out against him. But sure enough, it was Alcibiades, and he was drunk and shouting at the top of his voice, asking where Agathon was, and demanding to be taken to see him.
One of the flute girls and some others helped him stagger in, and suddenly, he appeared there in the doorway -- wearing a mass of ribbons and an enormous wreath of ivy and violets sprouting on his head.[SYM 212d]
ALCIBIADES: (stumbling, his arm over Phaedo's shoulder) Greetings, gentlemen! I'm pretty well bottled already, so if you'd rather I didn't join the party, only say the word and I'll go away...just as soon as I've hung this wreath on Agathon's head -- which is what I've really come for.[SYM 212d]
(slurring his words) I couldn't come yesterday, but now, well, here I am...with ribbons in my hair, so that I can take a garland from my own head, and crown the man whom I hereby proclaim the cleverest and mansomist ham in Athens...and may I say...well, anyway, I'm going to crown him.[SYM 212e]
Laughter.
Go ahead, have your laugh, don't mind me. I'm not so drunk that I don't know what I'm saying...(leaning in and whispering to Phaedo)...what was I saying?
Socrates and young Phaedo exchange knowing looks.
Well, never mind that -- as a wise man once said, if it's the truth, it will come back.
(to young Phaedo) Am I right?
Phaedo nods.
So what do you say, gentlemen? Can I come in? And shall we all have a drink together, or shan't we?[SYM 213]
APOLLODORUS: (Voice Over) As Aristodemus told it, everyone started talking at once, telling him to come in and sit down. And soon Agathon called him over.
AGATHON: (to his servant) Take Alcibiades' shoes off. He can make a third at this table.
So he sat down next to Agathon, between him and Socrates, who had moved aside to make room. With the ribbons in front of his eyes, Alcibiades doesn't see Socrates.
Alcibiades sits down, greets Agathon, and puts the garland on his head.[SYM 213]
ALCIBIADES: Excellent, but who else is drinking at our table? (turning and seeing Socrates, he leaps to his feet) Great Zeus! What’s this? Socrates – you’ve been lying here in wait for me again, haven’t you -- just as you used to? It's the same old game of popping out at me when I least expect you, isn't it?[SYM 213c]
So what are you doing here? And come to think of it (gesturing to Agathon) how did you manage to get yourself a place next to the most attractive person in the room?[SYM 213c]
You ought to be next to someone like Aristophanes there -- he sets out to make himself ridiculous, and succeeds.[SYM 213c] Shouldn't you be with him?
SOCRATE: (to Agathon) I'm going to need your protection, Agathon. I'm afraid I've found the love of this man a bit of a nightmare -- his kind of passion scares me stiff.'
From the first day I became his friend, I only have to look at someone who's in the least attractive, or say a single word to him, and he flies into a fit of jealousy, and starts behaving outrageously. He insults me, yet he can barely keep his hands off me.
So make sure he doesn't do anything rash now. Reconcile us, if you can, or defend me if he gets violent.[SYM 213d]
ALCIBIADES: There can be no reconciliation between you and me, Socrates.
However, I'll get my revenge another time. For the moment, give me some of those ribbons, Agathon, so I can make a garland for this remarkable head as well.(stumbling and slurring his words slightly) He is an international grand master of words -- and not just the day before yesterday, like you, Agathon, but all the time. We can't have him complaining that I crowned you, and not him.[SYM 213e]
As he says this, Alcibiades takes some of the ribbons, makes a garland for Socrates, and sits down.
Well, gentlemen. You seem to me to be quite sober. We can't have that. So I'm going to choose a Master of Ceremonies, to see you all get enough to drink.[SYM 213e] (looking around) And I choose myself!
Agathon, let them bring me a large cup, if you've got one.
Alcibiades suddenly catches sight of an ice-bucket holding upwards of half a gallon.
No, wait! No need for that. (to Phaedo) Phaedo, bring me that ice-bucket.
Giving Socrates a knowing look, Phaedo reluctantly complies with his master's wish.
Phaedo fills the bucket, whereupon Alcibiades starts off by draining it himself.
Fill it up again for Socrates.[SYM 214]
AGATHON: A useless ploy against Socrates, Alcibiades. It doesn't matter how much you give him to drink, he'll drink it and be none the worse for wear.'
Phaedo fills the bucket for Socrates, who drinks it down.[SYM 214]
ERYXIMACHUS: We had decided, before you came, Alcibiades, that each of us in turn should make the best speech he could about Eros, in praise of him. We've all made our speeches, but you.[SYM 214c]
ALCIBIADES: That's a good idea, Eryximachus. But it's grossly unfair to ask me, drunk, to compete with you sober. Also, my dear friend, I hope you didn't pay any attention to Socrates' remarks just now. Presumably you realize the situation is the exact opposite of what he said. He is the one who will resort to violence if I praise anyone else in his presence.[SYM 214d]
ERAZIMACHUS: Is that right?
SOCRATES: Oh, do be quiet, Alcibiades. Or is it that you simply can't hold your peace?
Laughter.
ALCIBIADES: Don't worry, Socrates, I wouldn't dream of praising anyone else if you're here.
ERYXIMACHUS: Well, do that then, if you like. Praise Socrates.[SYM 214d]
ALCIBIADES: (rising) Really? You think I should? Here in front of you all?
SOCRATES: (surprised, turning to Eryximachus) Hey! What are you up to? He'll get his own back from me, if he can, trying to make a fool of me with his praise.
ALCIBIADES: I can't wait to start. And I'm going to tell the truth. Do you mind that?[SYM 214e]
SOCRATES: From you, it would be a welcome change.
ALCIBIADES: Good. And if I say anything that's not true, you can interrupt me, if you like, and tell me I'm wrong. I shan't get anything wrong on purpose, but don't be surprised if my memory of things is a little higgledy-piggledy.[SYM 215]
It's not easy, even sober, to give an account of someone as strange as you.[SYM 215]
Alcibiades rises and begins looking over Socrates from all angles.
And now, my boys, I shall begin my praise of Socrates using similes. I expect he'll think I'm making fun of him, but, as it happens, I'm using this particular simile not because it's funny, but because it's true.[SYM 215]
I think he is very much like one of those busts of Silenus, which sculptors have on their shelves. You know what I mean -- they hold pipes and flutes in their mouths, and you can open them in the middle, where you'll find images of gods inside them.[SYM 215b]
His listeners nod.
Then again, Socrates is also like the flute-playing satyr, Marsyas. (turning to Socrates) You yourself will not deny, Socrates, that your face is like that of a satyr. Aye, but the resemblance goes deeper than that.
You are a piper too? Don't you deny it. I can bring witnesses. You may not play the pipes, like Marsyas, who had only to put his flute to his lips to bewitch mankind -- which can still be done, by the way, by anyone who can play the same tunes.[SYM 215c]
But you have the same effect on people! Only what you do is much more amazing -- for you do it with nothing but a few simple words, without the aid of any instrument at all.[SYM 215d]
He has only to open his mouth to delight men
Isn't it true? He charms the souls of men by the powers of his breath, and the players of his music do so also.
Alcibiades begins to wander among the other guests, and Socrates lowers his head and folds his arms, listening skeptically. Gesturing to Phaedo and Aristodemus.
We can all listen to anyone else talking, and it has virtually no effect on us, no matter what he's talking about, or how good a speaker he is -- we don't really give a damn what he says.
(to Socrates) Whereas the mere fragments of you and your words, Socrates, even at second-hand, and however imperfectly repeated, amaze and possess the souls of every man, woman, and child who comes within hearing of them.[SYM 215e]
(to the rest) Admit it -- his is the only music which carries people away. Such is the divine power it brings, and it makes no difference whether it's played by an expert, or by a mere flute-girl.
And for my own part, gentlemen (though you will think me hopelessly drunk), I would like to tell you on my honor (many eyes roll, since honor is not something Alcibiades is known for) the true influence that his words have always had on me in the past, and still do have to this day.
Alcibiades begins pacing reflectively.
All this may be told without shame to any one, though what follows I could hardly tell you if I were sober. Yet as the proverb says, 'In vino veritas,' and all that.
It seems wrong, after all I've said, to leave out any example of his superior behavior.
Moreover I have felt the serpent's sting -- and he who has suffered, as they say, is willing to tell his fellow-sufferers only, as they alone will be likely to understand him, and will not be extreme in judging of the sayings or doings which have been wrung from his agony.
For my heart leaps within me more than that of any Corybantian reveler, Socrates, and my eyes rain tears when I hear your words...(to Phaedo) and I know that many others feel the same.
I have heard Pericles and other great orators, and I thought that they spoke well, but my soul was not stirred by them, nor my beliefs turned upside down and inside out, nor was I brought to the disturbing realization that my whole life is that of a coward and a slave, and I am the lowest of the low.[SYM 216]
But this Marsyas has often brought me to such a pass, when I have felt that this life I have chosen is not worth living. You can't deny it, Socrates.
Even now I know, in my heart of hearts, that if I were to listen to him, I couldn't resist him. The same thing would happen again. He would force me to admit that while I'm spending my time on politics, I am neglecting all the things that are crying out for attention in myself. Even now, I know it's true, I carry on in public life, doing nothing to improve myself.[SYM 216]
And I am always conscious that if I do not shut my ears against him, and fly as from the voice of this siren, my fate would be like that of the others...(gesturing to the younger men)...he would transfix me, and I should grow old sitting at his feet. For he makes me confess that I ought not to live as I do, neglecting the wants of my own soul.
Socrates is the only man in the world who can make me feel that shame. For I know I ought to do the things he tells me to, and yet, the moment I'm out of his sight, I forget, and begin again as I was. For when I leave his presence, the love of popularity gets the better of me.
And so when I see him again, I'm embarrassed, when I remember all the conclusions we've reached in the past, and I run for my life, and avoid him. Which is why I hold my ears and tear myself away from him.[SYM 216c]
Phaedo stands nearby, hands behind his back, gazing quietly at the floor.
...because he's the only man who can appeal to my better nature (not that most of you would reckon I had a better nature).[SYM 216c]
Laughter, as Alcibiades wonders and thinks outloud.
From then on, I have been completely under his spell.[SYM 216c] In fact, many a time I would have cheerfully seen him dead...(eye contact) and yet I know that if he did die, I'd be the most upset of all.
So I ask you, what is a man to do?[SYM 216c] There's no denying, he has helped me see my best self, and there is no one else who does the same.
And I am by no means the only person to be affected like this by his satyr's music and his remarkable powers.
who, you remember, was flayed alive for daring to compete in a musical contest with the gods. It is said the Maeander River sprang from the tears of the woodland animals that mourned him.[SYM 215b]
SOCRATES: Your remarks are reminding me of another satyr's tale, Alcibiades.
ALCIBIADES: Oh?
SOCRATES: You remember the fable -- Aesop told it -- about the cold and lost man who met a Satyr in the woods, and the Satyr offered him lodging for the night. And on the way to the Satyrs cell, the man raised his cold hands to his mouth: "What do you do that for?" said the Satyr. To which the man replied:
"My hands are numb with the cold, and my breath warms them."
And when they arrived at the Satyr's home, the Satyr put a smoking dish of porridge before him. But when the Man raised his spoon to his mouth he began blowing upon it.: "And what do you do that for?" said the Satyr.
"The porridge is too hot, and my breath will cool it,” the man replied.
"Imagine this," the Satyr said, "a man who can blow hot and cold with the same breath. I shall not trust it," he said, and threw the man out.
ALCIBIADES: Very funny, Socrates -- how like you to say such a thing. (turning to the others) He spends his whole life talking like this, his tongue in his cheek, playing his little game of irony, and laughing up his sleeve at all the world.[SYM 216e]
SOCRATES laughs.
But seriously, my companions and fellow drunks, when he is opened, what temperance there is residing within! [SYM 216e] For one thing, he doesn't care a row of pins about good looks, or money, or any of the honors that most people care about.
I wonder if any of you really knows the man, the real Socrates -- the figure inside. I saw it once, and it struck me as utterly godlike and golden and beautiful and wonderful. Is he not like a Silenus in this?[SYM 217]
Let me tell you what I saw when I looked inside him. And I'm going to tell you the truth here, so listen well -- and you tell them Socrates, if I begin telling lies.[SYM 217b]
In those days, I must say, I had an extremely high opinion of my own good looks. I was quite proud of myself because I thought he was smitten by me, and at the thought of receiving the knowledge and pleasures of such a great man – for was my plan, you see – so I did what I had never done up to then – I sent away my attendant, and arranged to see him alone.[SYM 217]
Socrates raises his eyebrows.
Well, gentlemen, I can tell you, I was very excited, thinking that when he and I were alone together, I should hear him speak the language which lovers use to their loves. But nothing like that happened at all. In fact, he conversed as usual, and spent the day with me and then simply went away.[SYM 217c]
So I invited him to the gymnasium with me, thinking I might make some progress that way. But, though he exercised and wrestled with me there, often completely on our own, but it got me nowhere at all.[SYM 217c]
Lastly, as I had come this far, and having put my hand to the plow, I wasn't going to look back till I was absolutely certain how I stood. And frankly, by this point, I literally quivered at the thought of his beauty. I was determined to not give up on him now. So I decided I must take stronger measures to see how matters stood between him and me.
So I invited him to dinner with me, just as if he were a fair youth, and I a designing lover. He took some time to agree even to this, but finally, I did get him to come.[SYM 217d]
The first time he came, we had dinner, and then he got up to go. I lost my nerve that time, so I let him.[SYM 217e]
But the next time he came, Phaedo prepared the meal especially for Socrates, and I kept him talking into the night. And when he tried to go...well, I lost my nerve that time too.[SYM 217e]
But the next time -- the very next time I made him stay, saying it was too late to leave. That night he stayed on the couch next to mine, though there was no one else sleeping in the room.[SYM 217e]
Then and there I was bitten -- and by more than viper's tooth. For ever after I have known in my soul, or in my heart, or in some other part, that worst of pangs, more violent in ingenuous youth than any serpent's tooth...
Yes, I mean the pang of philosophy, whose bite, when it gets a grip on a young and intelligent mind, is irresistible.[SYM 217e]
And you that I see around me, Phaedrus and Agathon and Eryximachus and Pausanias and Aristodemus and Aristophanes -- all of you -- and I need not say Socrates himself -- you have all had a taste of this wild passion, this sacred rage, for philosophy. So you'll understand me, and forgive what I did then, and tell you now, for it's sake.[SYM 218]
Anyone who is easily shocked will just have to put something over their ears.[SYM 218c] For there we were then, gentlemen. The lamp had gone out and the servants had gone to bed, and I thought that it was time to abandon subtlety.[SYM 218c]
So I gave him a gentle shake, and I said:
'Socrates, are you asleep?'
'No,' he said.
'Do you know what I think?
'What do you think?'
'I think,' I replied, 'that, of all the lovers whom I have ever had, you are the only one who is really worthy of me. And you appear to be too modest to ask for what you want.
Now I feel that I should be a fool to refuse you this, or any other favor, and therefore, I come to lay at your feet all that I have, and all that my friends have, in the hope that you will assist me in the way of virtue -- for I desire above all else to make the best of myself.
And since nothing matters more to me than my own improvement, I can't imagine a better helper than you.[SYM 218d]
Well, he heard me out, and the said with that ironic simplicity of his:
My dear Alcibiades, I've no doubt there's a lot in what you say, and you're right in thinking that I have some kind of power that would make a better man of you. But you must see in me some rare beauty of a kind infinitely higher than any which I see in you. And therefore, if you mean to exchange beauty for beauty, you'll have to do better than that -- for I would be taking bronze for gold -- trading the mere appearance of beauty, in exchange for the real thing.[SYM 219]
Hearing this, I was dumbfounded, as you can imagine. But, of course, he was right…and I was foiled. So I said:
‘Well, I have told you my real feelings, Socrates. You must decide what you think best for us both.'
'That sounds reasonable enough,' he said. 'We must think it over between us, and do whatever seems best for the two of us -- about this and everything else.'[SYM 219b]
Well, that was enough for me. I knew where I stood. I'd met a man whose equal, in intelligence and control, I didn't think I should ever meet again.[SYM 219e] And what could I do? I couldn't have a row with him -- that would just lose me his friendship. Nor could I see any way of attracting him. For I well knew that, just as Ajax could not be wounded by steel, much less by money, so my only chance of captivating Socrates by my personal attractions had faded, and I was at my wit's end.[SYM 219e]
So I got up, and before he could say anything more. I lay down with him under his threadbare cloak, wrapped myself around him, and (as it was winter) wrapped my cloak around us both. And there I spent the whole night with this wonderful monster of a man in my arms -- still telling me the truth -- Socrates, you cannot deny it -- he was more than equal to my advances. He rejected them outright, laughing at my good looks, and treated them with all the contempt they deserved.[SYM 219c]
And I have to admit, as far as looks went, members of the jury (and I call you that because that's what you're here for -- to try this man on the charge of arrogance -- for I thought I was quite something.
Well, you won't believe it, gentlemen, but in truth, we fell asleep! And when I woke up the next morning, I'd slept with Socrates all night long, but absolutely nothing had happened -- any more than if I'd slept with my father or elder brother.[SYM 219d]
Imagine how I felt after that? I was humiliated, and yet full of admiration for the man's character -- his restraint and strength of mind.
Laughter at Alcibiades betrayal of his own arrogance, astonished as he is that anyone could resist his charms.
I tell you, no one was ever more hopelessly in love with another.
Socrates roles his eyes to Phaedo, who laughs quietly, sitting at his post at the door.
Well, all this happened before he and I went on the military expedition to Potidaea, of course -- where we messed together, and I had the opportunity of observing his extraordinary power of sustaining fatigue.[SYM 220]
In the first place, there was his toughness -- not only greater than mine, but greater than anyone's.[SYM 220]
Once, being cut off from our supplies, we were compelled to go without food -- and on such occasions, which often happen in time of war, he was superior not only to me, but to everybody there. There was no one to be compared to him.[SYM 220]
Yet at a festival when there was plenty, he was the only person who had any real powers of enjoyment. Though not willing to drink, he could – if compelled – beat us all at that too![SYM 220]
Wonderful to relate! No human being had ever seen Socrates drunk! I've no doubt you'll see confirmation of that here this evening.[SYM 220]
As for the weather, his fortitude in enduring cold was astonishing. There was a severe frost, for the winter in that region is really tremendous, and no one went outside, or if they did, they went muffled up to the eyeballs, with their feet wrapped up in wool or sheepskin. In the midst of this, Socrates wore the cloak he always wore and walked barefoot over the ice with less fuss than the other soldiers who had shoes. The men didn't like it at all, of course, thinking he was getting at them, but he never noticed a whit.[SYM 220b]
I have told you one tale, and now I must tell you another, which is worth hearing, 'Of the doings and sufferings of the enduring man' while he was on the expedition at Potidaea.
For one morning he was thinking about something which he apparently could not resolve, and he would not give it up, but continued thinking in the same spot from early dawn on into the day.[SYM 220c]
AGATHON (knowingly amused) Imagine that.
At noon attention was drawn to him, and the rumor ran through the wondering crowd that Socrates had been standing and thinking about something ever since the break of day.
Finally, in the evening after supper, some Ionians, out of curiosity, brought out their mats and, it being summer, slept in the open air that they might watch him and see whether he would stand all night.[SYM 220d]
And sure enough, he did indeed stand there until the following morning when the dawn broke and the sun rose. And with the return of light he offered up a prayer to the sun, and went on his way.[SYM 220e]
AGATHON: Well, we shall count ourselves fortunate then.
Laughter.
ALCIBIADES: I am also bound to tell of his courage in battle -- for it was he who saved my life. In fact, he rescued me and my arms. It was the engagement in which I received the prize of valor -- for I was wounded but he would not leave me. He ought to have received the prize of valor which the generals wanted to confer on me -- partly on account of my rank, and I told them so. This, again Socrates will not impeach or deny -- but he was more eager than the generals that I, and not he, should have the prize.[SYM 220e]
There was yet another occasion on which his behavior was very remarkable -- you should have seen him, gentlemen, on the retreat from Delium, where he served among the heavy-armed. I had a better opportunity of seeing him there than at Potidaea, for I was myself on horseback, and therefore comparatively out of danger.
He and Laches were retreating, for the troops were in flight, and I met them and told them not to be discouraged, and promised to remain with them...[SYM 221b]
I particularly observed how superior he was to Laches in presence of mind. Which is how he and his companion escaped unhurt -- for this is the sort of man who is never touched, even in war. You should have seen him, Aristophanes, for he was in battle just as you describe him to be in the streets of Athens -- 'marching along with his head in the air', calmly contemplating enemies as well as friends -- making very intelligible to anybody, even from a distance, that whoever would attack him would be likely to meet with a stout resistance.
I'm sure I could go on praising Socrates all night, and tell you even more surprising things. And perhaps many of his qualities can be found in other people, it's true. Yet it is remarkable how unlike he is to anyone else, past or present. You could go a long way and not find a match, dead or living, for Socrates -- not only himself, but his words.
For his words too are like the images of Silenus which open to reveal great surprise -- they are ridiculous when you first hear them, and he is always repeating the same things in the different ways-- it's all donkeys and bronzesmiths, shoemakers and tanners.[SYM 221e] But these are just the outer skin of this trouble-making satyr. Look beneath the surface, and get inside them, and you'll find they are the only arguments that make any sense, and that they are supremely inspiring, containing countless models of excellence and pointers toward it, extending to the whole duty of a good and honorable man.[SYM 222]
This, friends, is my praise of Socrates. I have added my blame of him for his ill-treatment of me. And not only me, but Charmides the son of Glaucon, and Euthydemus the son of Diocles, and many others in the same way -- beginning as their prospective lover, he has ended by making them pay their respect to him. So take my advice, Agathon, and don't be seduced. Learn from our experience, rather than as Homer's 'fool who learned too late'.[SYM 222b]
APOLLODORUS: (Voice Over) Well, when Alcibiades had finished, there was a laugh at his candor -- for he seemed to be still in love with Socrates.
SOCRATES: You're not so drunk after all, Alcibiades, or you would never have gone so far about to hide the real purpose of your satyr's praises.[SYM 222e] For all this long story is only an ingenious circumlocution, of which the point comes in by the way at the end -- you want to come between Agathon and I.[SYM 222e]
AGATHON: I do think you're right, Socrates. Remember how he sat in the middle between us? (rising) So let me come round and sit next to you.[SYM 223]
SOCRATES: (to Agathon) Yes, please do…don't let him come between us. Then, as you praised me, I in turn will praise my neighbor on the right. But I must entreat you, my boy, do be a good chap and let my friend alone -- you mustn't grudge him the praise I'm going to give him.[SYM 223]
AGATHON: You won't catch me missing a chance to get a tribute from Socrates.
Laughter.
ALCIBIADES: So, you're determined to drive me off the field, are you? Well, it's the same old story -- wherever Socrates is...(looking at Socrates longingly)...no one else has any chance.'[SYM 223b]
Things soon become incredibly noisy and disorderly.
APOLLODORUS: (voice over) Well, at that point, according to Aristodemus’ account, a great crowd of people on their way home from a party turned up at the door and came in to join the party.
Alcibiades rises, and looks long at Socrates before leaving. Socrates did not meet the sad scoundrels’ eyes, but kept his own on the empty doorway for some time after.
They couldn't resist having too much to drink after that. Some of the others went home, including Eryximachus and Phaedrus and some of the others.[SYM 223b]
And at sunrise, though everyone had gone home or to sleep, Aristodemus said he woke up to find that Socrates was still awake, still talking, though it was almost light and the cocks were crowing.[ALC 223c]
Aristodemus wakes up and tries to get his bearings.
By then, nearly all had departed, but for Agathon, Aristophanes, and Socrates, who were drinking out of an enormous bowl which they kept passing round from left to right.
Socrates was arguing with the others, and holding the floor, and the gist of it was that he was forcing the two dramatists to admit that the same man is capable of writing both comedy and tragedy. Comedy begets tragedy, and vice versa, more often than we might think, he was saying. But even Agathon and Aristophanes were falling asleep, by then, and were scarcely in a state to be following the argument.
And when they too began to nod and dropped off to sleep, Socrates tucked them both up comfortably and left, followed by Aristodemus, who went with him to the Lyceum for a bath, and spent the day with him as usual, until, toward evening, Socrates made his way home to rest.[SYM 223d]
***END SYMPOSIUM
Back to path through the olive grove, where Apollodorus, Plato and his older brothers are just arriving in the city.
APOLLODORUS: And there you have it, Glaucon -- what Aristodemus had to say about Socrates and love.
And would you agree with my rendition, Phaedo? Is this how it happened?
PHAEDO: I remember, and too well, what happened next, for this was the last time Alcibiades would spend with Socrates. For it was only the next day that Alcibiades fled to *.
Critias' thugs had, by this time, exile 5000 democrats, put 1500 others to death, and had set out to kill any Athenian who is politically or personally distasteful to them, and Alcibiades was certainly at the top of that list.[Dur p.451] Meanwhile, the resistance army was planning to attack the city and take down the oligarchs. Critias would be dead soon, but Alcibiades knew that that would not save him, for the Spartans and Persians had sent their own assassins to see him off into the underworld.
I went to his quarters and packed up some of his finer possessions, as he went to retrieve Timandra -- a woman of a noble birth and gentle nature, some say, whom he had debauched at a very young age.[ Plu/Alc p.28] from her servatude, at last. By this time, Timandra had more reason to fear the pent up wrath of Critias’ wife than she has in recent years to fear Critias himself-- who had grown gentle toward her in his old age, and seemed almost to be protecting her from his wife's sadistic jealousy.
Timandra could no longer give Alcibiades her heart, which had long since been bent and broken, but she picked up her few things anyway, and followed him out the door of the quarters in which she had been enslaved since childhood. Beyond hope for any escape to the freedom she had dreamed of all her life, Timandra probably knew she was simply enslaved by another master. For Alcibiades had never freed any of the many slaves he had ransomed -- including me. Even the best of them -- those he called his friends -- were put out to field or sent to the mines, rather than allowed to retire with respect in old age.
At any rate, Pharnabazus had arranged with the king to procure them safe conduct into the small village in Phrygia where they might continue to dwell for some time.[Plu/Alc p.26] And as they departed for the refuge that had been prepared for him in Bithynia,[Dur p.450] Timandra asked me to deliver a message to her daughter, Lais, regarding her whereabouts. And so I tried, but by this time, Lais had already gone to the mountians to join Thrasybulus’ resistance army.
It’s unclear who finally did away with him.
THRASYBULUS
You have often heard the people say it -- "Best rear no lion in your state, 'tis true -- but treat him like a lion if you do."[Plu/Alc p.10]
In the meantime, the crushed Athenians were miserable at their loss of empire. Deprived of liberty when Lysander set up thirty despotic rulers in the city, they felt themselves in their ruin.[Plu/Alc p.26] Yet in this sad state of affairs, the people still had some faint hopes left them, as long as Alcibiades was safe, and might still save them.
The crushed Athenians begin to turn to those thoughts which, while safety was yet possible, they would not entertain. They acknowledge and bewail their former errors and follies, and judge this second ill-treatment of Alcibiades to be the most inexcusable. For he was rejected -- this time -- without any fault committed by himself, and only because they were incensed against his subordinate for having shamefully lost a few ships. In rejecting Alcibiades, they much more shamefully deprived the commonwealth of its most valiant and accomplished general.
They persuaded themselves that, if he could find any favorable opportunity, he would not endure the insolence of the Spartans, and the outrages of the Thirty. Nor was it an absurd thing in the people to entertain such imaginations, when the Thirty themselves were so solicitous to be informed and to get intelligence of all his actions and designs.[Plu/Alc p.26]
Meanwhile, the message from Timandra is intercepted by those would-be assassins who are hot on Alcibiades trail. Phaedo and his companion, Aristippus, when they are discovered on board a ship bound for *, are badly beaten for want of the message, and about to be robbed as well. But when they realize that the oligarchic vessel is manned by pirates, Aristippus takes out Alcibiades' money and valuables, and begins at once to count them, and then, as if by inadvertence, lets them fall into the sea -- whereupon the most greedy of the crew go in after them.
Phaedo looks at Aristippus in surprise, and the latter responds:
aristippus
(to Phaedo)
Better for the money to perish on account of us, than for us to perish on account of the money.[Diog. Laer., p.207].
And while the oligarchic assassins are thrown off by Alcibiades' wiley change of plans, Lais sets out in pursuit of them, hoping to safeguard her mother.
After cutting off her hair to disguise her gender and thus give herself easier passage, Lais follows Alcibiades and Timandra all the way to the Persian court, where she herself is informed (by appeal to his friendship with Aspasia) by the general, Pharnabazus, of where Alcibiades and her mother are holed up.
CUT TO Phrygia, where Alcibiades and Timandra have sought refuge and are residing in a small cottage in a village, where the Persian general Pharnabazus has sent them to hide.
CLOSE UP of Timandra and Alcibiades. We can see that, in the course of their time together here, Alcibiades has grown ever more at ease with himself, more sincere, and he is glad that he has brought this woman, with whom he shares a lifetime of memories, about which they have never spoken, until now. And here, in their cottage...on the beach...in the warm the summer sun...the late night mist...the early morning rain...Alcibiades is reduced, at last, to the self that might have been. And together with Timandra, he retires, happy as a man with his improving karma could be.
And while he sleeps, he has a dream in which he sees himself attired in his mistress's habit, and holding him in her arms, she dresses his head and paints his face as if he had been a woman.
Alcibiades wakes with a start, and recognizing the meaning of the dream, begins crying like a baby for his many regrets, memories of which flash through his mind, one after another -- his brother, his dog, his son, his slaves, Timandra, Lais, Socrates, Athens herself -- and he wishes it were not too late to take Socrates' advice.
Meanwhile, those who were sent to assassinate Alcibiades have lost the trail, and only pick it up again by following Lais, who is on a mission to preserve her mother, and leads them inadvertently to the cottage. But without courage enough to enter the cottage where the lovers are holed up, the assassins surround it, and set it aflame.
Suddenly, Timandra discovers the cottage to be on fire, and Alcibiades gets together great quantities of clothes and furniture, and throws them on the fire to choke it.
Then -- to the horror of those who are outside looking in, Alcibiades delivers Timandra out into the night.
Lais is aghast to see her mother struck by the barrage of spears and arrows that await Alcibiades there, and she casts herself into the fire to save her long-suffering mother. But it is too late for Timandra, who dies in her daughters' arms. Looking long at her beautiful face -- peaceful and, strangely, happy -- Lais is reduced to hopeless sobs.
Alcibiades emerges, naked, sword drawn, having wrapped his cloak about his left arm, and holding his sword in his right, hoping for the privilege of fighting for his life.
The assassins are caught unprepared, and as soon as they see him, retreat, for none of them dares engage him hand to hand.
But Lais rises, tears running down her face, and lets go of her arrow, slaying Alcibiades, before he could use his outstretched sword, or do any more damage to the people and the city she loved. At which point, all the assassins besiege him at once with their spears and javelins.[Plu, *]
And as Alcibiades takes his dying breadth, there is a LONG FADE into the crackling flames, as Lais locks eyes with him who was her lover, her father, and the man who almost single-handedly brought down the greatest city in all the Hellas.
And when he is gone, Lais takes up the bodies of her parents, and, covers and wraps them in her own robes, dresses their heads and paints their faces, and buries them as decently and as honorably as her circumstances would allow.[Plu/Alc, p.15] And all of Athens came out to mourn.
CUT BACK TO FRAME, where Phaedo is remembering these events to Plato and his brothers.
phaedo
(tears in his eyes)
And so, at 46, the man who would be remembered as both "the greatest genius and the most tragic failure in the military history of Greece" -- was dead.[Dur p.451]
FADE TO Alcibiades' funeral.
anytus
His liberality's, his public shows, and other provisions for the people, were such as nothing could exceed. The glory of his ancestors, the force of his eloquence, the grace of his person, and his strength of body, joined with his great courage and knowledge in military affairs...
CUT TO Socrates at the funeral, his arm around the shoulder of young Lais.
socrates
(interjects)
Yes, all this and more had prevailed upon the Athenians to endure patiently his excesses, to indulge him many things, and, according to their habit, to give the softest names to his faults, attributing them to youth and nature.[Plu/Alc p.10] But, in the end, the truth came in a fiery flash, just as many had predicted it would, for Alcibiades' intercene conflict ruined him and his country.[Rep*]
phaedo (v.o.)
And so Socrates was left wondering at the irony of it all, for saving Alcibiades' life had seemed like the right thing to do, at the time.
CLOSE UP of Lais.
phaedo (v.o.)
There are some, of course, who impute the cause of Alcibiades' death, neither to Lysander, nor the Spartans, nor to the Persian King, who may have himself been persuaded by Lysander to kill his guest.[Plu/Alc p.28]
CLOSE UP of Lais, and Socrates, remembering her mother in various stages of her life, a smiling and laughing child, an angry and crying woman.
From Lais' POV, she is remembering Alcibiades in those places only she would have seen...sneaking into her mother's quarters as a child, then somewhat later, into her own...seeing him in all his glory arriving in Athens, purple sails and all...then seeing him emering from the flaming cottage...
phaedo (v.o.)
Rather, they say -- and probably closer to the truth -- that it was on behalf of the young woman Alcibiades was keeping
Some say it was her family who, unable to endure the indignity any longer, had set fire by night to the house where he was keeping her -- slaying them both as he endeavored to save only himself from the flames.[Plu/Alc p.28]