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    Plato's Symposium
    Plato's Symposium
    Plato's Symposium
    Ebook73 pages48 minutes

    Plato's Symposium

    By Platón

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    About this ebook

    The dramatic nature of Plato's dialogues is delightfully evident in the "Symposium." The marriage between character and thought bursts forth as the guests gather at Agathon's house to celebrate the success of his first tragedy. With wit and insight, they each present their ideas about love — from Erixymachus's scientific naturalism to Aristophanes' comic fantasy. The unexpected arrival of Alcibiades breaks the spell cast by Diotima's ethereal climb up the staircase of love to beauty itself. Ecstasy and intoxication clash as Plato concludes with one of his most skillful displays of dialectic.-
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSAGA Egmont
    Release dateJul 30, 2020
    ISBN9788726627602
    Plato's Symposium

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      Book preview

      Plato's Symposium - Platón

      Platon

      Plato’s Symposium

      Translated by Albert A. Anderson

      SAGA Egmont

      Plato’s Symposium

      Συμπόσιον

      Copyright © 5th-4th century BC, 2020 Plato and SAGA Egmont

      All rights reserved

      ISBN: 9788726627602

      1. e-book edition, 2020

      Format: EPUB 2.0

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievial system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor, be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

      SAGA Egmont www.saga-books.com – a part of Egmont, www.egmont.com

      Characters

      APOLLODORUS; A FRIEND OF APOLLODORUS; ARISTODEMUS;

      PHAEDRUS; PAUSANIAS; ERYXIMACHUS; ARISTOPHANES; AGATHON;

      SOCRATES; DIOTIMA; ALCIBIADES

      Scene

      Agathon’s House

      [172] Apollodorus: Actually, I think I am well prepared to answer your question. The day before yesterday I was going from my home in Phalerum to the city when a friend of mine saw me from behind at a distance. He was in a jovial mood, so he shouted in an official voice:

      Friend: You, the man from Phalerum, halt!

      Apollodorus: So I stopped and allowed him to catch up with me.

      Friend: Apollodorus, I was just looking for you. I want to hear about the party at Agathon’s house. Tell me about the speeches on love made by Socrates, Alcibiades, and the others who were there. I was talking to someone who heard the story from Phoenix, the son of Philip, but his account was muddled. He said that you might know the story, so I thought you would be the best one to report the words of your dear friend Socrates. But first, tell me, were you really at the party?

      Apollodorus: Your account was certainly muddled if it led you to believe that the party was recent and that I could have been there.

      Friend: That’s the story I heard.

      Apollodorus: Agathon has not been in Athens for several years. Also, it has been fewer than three years since I have been following Socrates around and hanging on his every word and action. [173] Before that I ran around aimlessly, thinking I was doing something important, but I was worse off than anyone else. In those days I would have done anything rather than pursue philosophy. I was a lot like you are now!

      Friend: Apollodorus, please stop making fun of me and tell me when the party actually took place.

      Apollodorus: My friend, you and I were still children at the time — it was when Agathon won the prize for his first tragedy — the day after he and members of his cast had already celebrated their victory.

      Friend: That was a long time ago. But tell me, was it Socrates who told you the story?

      Apollodorus: No, it was not Socrates but Aristodemus of Cydathenaeum, He was at the party. He is the same person who told Phoenix, the little man who always went barefoot and seemed more devoted to Socrates than anyone else in those days. Later, I was able to confirm some parts of his account with Socrates.

      Friend: Then please tell me the whole story while we walk to Athens. It is a good way to pass the time.

      Apollodorus: If you want to hear it, I am well rehearsed to recount the speeches. I love to philosophize and even hear others do so. It is both pleasurable and profitable — much more so than all the talk about making money I hear from you rich people, which I find boring. I feel sorry for friends like you who believe you are working hard when you are actually doing nothing. No doubt you also feel sorry for me, and I may be in a bad way, as you think I am. But I don’t merely think that of you, I know it.

      Friend: I see you are the same as ever, Apollodorus — always finding fault with yourself and with everybody else. I think you pity yourself and every other human being, with the exception of Socrates. I’m not sure how you came to be called Apollodorus the madman, but you deserve it when you are always ranting and raving against yourself and everybody but Socrates.

      Apollodorus: Well, my friend, then it’s obvious that I am out of my mind! Why else would I have such ideas about myself as well as the rest of you?

      Friend: It’s not worth arguing about that now, Apollodorus. We agreed that you would give me a full report on those speeches about love.

      Apollodorus: Well, they went something like this — but perhaps it would be best for me to begin at the beginning and try to give you the whole story as it was told to me. [174] Aristodemus said he met Socrates, who had just taken a bath and was wearing elegant sandals, which was unusual. He asked where he was going all dressed up.

      Socrates: I’m going to a dinner party at Agathon’s house. I missed the celebration yesterday, because I dread crowds and avoid them when I can, so I promised I would come today instead. I dressed this way to honor my handsome host. Wouldn’t you like to join me, even though you were not invited?

      Aristodemus: I would, if you think it is all right.

      Socrates: Follow me then, and we will challenge the proverb that says:

      To the feasts of lesser men the good unbidden go.

      We will replace it with a new saying:

      To the feasts of the good unbidden go the good.

      Homer’s authority supports this change. He not only challenges but actually contradicts the old proverb. After presenting Agamemnon as the most courageous of people, he has Menelaus, a cowardly spearman, come uninvited to the sacrificial feast of Agamemnon — the worse to the better. ¹

      Aristodemus: Socrates, I’m afraid I will be the inferior person who, like Menelaus in Homer,

      To the feasts of the wise unbidden goes.

      I will say that you invited me, so you will have to explain my

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