Plato - Symposium (1 of 2)

In the opening of his Introduction to the Symposium, Prof. Jowett reveals himself as the philosopher poet he is.

Of all the works of Plato the “Symposium” is the most perfect in form, and may be truly thought to contain more than any commentator has ever dreamed of; or, as Goethe said of one of his own writings, more than the author himself knew.

??????????? We have discussed above the traditional order that Thrasyllus used to organize Plato’s Complete Works. The order of the Dialogues of Plato as they appear in the final Oxford University Press, 1892 edition of Jowett’s translations is never explained, but the last line of the Introduction to the Symposium offers us a hint, telling us it is one of three of the Dialogues that he considered to be written for a special purpose.

There are no means of determining the relative order in time of the “Phaedrus, Symposium, Phaedo.” The order which has been adopted in this translation rests on no other principle than the desire to bring together in a series the memorials of the life of Socrates.

??????????? The event of the Symposium is the traditional drinking party following a banquet, where elite Athenians are being entertained at the poet Agathon’s house in the ongoing celebration of his victory in the tragedy contest at the Dionysia in 416 BC. The dialogue is presented as a narrative story provided by Apollodorus, who himself had learned it from Aristodemus, a constant companion and most devoted follower of Socrates, who had been there. All seven characters in this drama are historical figures who also feature in some of Plato’s other dialogues, three of whom achieved lasting fame: the comic playwright Aristophanes, the infamous general Alcibiades, and of course, Socrates. Since most of the guests had celebrated to excess the night before, they were leery of more drinking and so decided instead to each offer a speech on the subject of Love to entertain one another. Readers are treated to lofty and increasingly creative dissertations from the six original guests until the party is riotously interrupted by the boisterously drunk Alcibiades, who offers his own fervid declaration of love and highest admiration for Socrates.

??????????? Phaedrus goes first and begins by declaring Love the eldest of the gods at 178b-180b by quoting the highest authorities and goes on to praise the specific gifts the god brings to humanity, inspiring them with courage and enabling them to achieve glory.

As Hesiod says: — 'First Chaos came, and then broad-bosomed Earth, the everlasting seat of all that is, and Love.' In other words, after Chaos, the Earth and Love, these two, came into being. Also Parmenides sings of Generation: 'First in the train of gods, he fashioned Love.' And Acousilaus agrees with Hesiod. … That courage which, as Homer says, the god breathes into the souls of some heroes, Love of his own nature infuses into the lover. Love will make men dare to die for their beloved … Now Achilles was quite aware, for he had been told by his mother, that he might avoid death and return home, and live to a good old age, if he abstained from slaying Hector. Nevertheless he gave his life to revenge his friend, and dared to die, not only in his defense, but after he was dead. Wherefore the gods honored him … and sent him to the Islands of the Blest. These are my reasons for affirming that Love is the eldest and noblest and mightiest of the gods; and the chiefest author and giver of virtue in life, and of happiness after death.

??????????? The next speaker is Pausanius, who begins by defining “two kinds of Love.” At 180d, he begins by noting that Love and Aphrodite are inseparable, and there are two goddesses named Aphrodite, an earthly one and a divine one, corresponding to two kinds of love. This is the distinction between lovers and beloved whose mutual attraction is based on physical rewards, and the more noble who are attracted and rewarded by providing education and wisdom. Pausanius proceeds through contrasting examples of each type, contrasting Greek and barbarian customs and values, and historical references such as the love-inspired overthrow of the tyrant Hippias in 514 BC, and he naturally cites the Iliad. His confident conclusion at 185c offers a succinct restatement of his argument.

The elder one, having no mother, who is called the heavenly Aphrodite—she is the daughter of Uranus; the younger, who is the daughter of Zeus and Dione—her we call common; and the Love who is her fellow-worker is rightly named common, as the other love is called heavenly. … Thus noble in every case is the acceptance of another for the sake of virtue. This is that love which is the love of the heavenly goddess, and is heavenly, and of great price to individuals and cities, making the lover and the beloved alike eager in the work of their own improvement. But all other loves are the offspring of the other, who is the common goddess.

??????????? The great writer Plato lightens our effort between these weighty philosophical treatises by presenting us with common and comical interludes, little events and personal interactions that feel perfectly natural, things that occur at any party we might attend. In this case, Aristophanes is in line to speak next, based simply on the order which the men randomly found themselves lying on the couches when the proposal for this series of speeches was given. In this case, “but either he had eaten too much, or from some other cause he had the hiccough.” Since Aristophanes was famous for mocking Socrates in his comic play The Clouds, we may think that Plato is repaying him in kind in this depiction.

??????????? Eryximachus, the physician is next in line, so after prescribing remedies for Aristophanes to try “hold your breath, and if after you have done so for some time the hiccough is no better, then gargle with a little water; and if it still continues, tickle your nose with something and sneeze”, the doctor proceeds with a scientific theory of love, as befitting his profession. After stating that Pausanius offered an accurate beginning but a lame ending on two types of loves, he opens his speech on the foundation of his own physical understanding at 186a. After expanding his analysis through fields as diverse as health and disease, harmony and friendship, the seasons and the elements, he concludes at 188d.

But my art further informs me that the double love is not merely an affection of the soul of man towards the fair, or towards anything, but is to be found in the bodies of all animals and in productions of the earth, and I may say in all that is; such is the conclusion which I seem to have gathered from my own art of medicine, whence I learn how great and wonderful and universal is the deity of love, whose empire extends over all things, divine as well as human. … Such is the great and mighty, or rather omnipotent force of love in general. And the love, more especially, which is concerned with the good, and which is perfected in company with temperance and justice, whether among gods or men, has the greatest power, and is the source of all our happiness and harmony, and makes us friends with the gods who are above us, and with one another.

??????????? Aristophanes, now recovered from his hiccups, proceeds to his speech. As with everything Plato writes, we see this tale as the poet’s creation, and his attribution of this wild story to Aristophanes may be more retribution for the comic’s mocking of his beloved teacher, Socrates. To explain the natural attraction of love, we are treated to an ludicrous creation myth. Aristophanes begins his tale at 189e.

The sexes were not two as they are now, but originally three in number; there was man, woman, and the union of the two, having a name … 'Androgynous' … only preserved as a term of reproach. In the second place, the primeval man was round, his back and sides forming a circle; and he had four hands and four feet, one head with two faces, looking opposite ways, set on a round neck and precisely alike; also four ears, two privy members, and the remainder to correspond. He could walk upright as men now do, backwards or forwards as he pleased, and he could also roll over and over at a great pace, turning on his four hands and four feet, eight in all, like tumblers going over and over with their legs in the air; this was when he wanted to run fast. … Doubt reigned in the celestial councils. Should they kill them and annihilate the race with thunderbolts, as they had done the giants, then there would be an end of the sacrifices and worship which men offered to them; … Zeus discovered a way. He said: … I will cut them in two and then they will be diminished in strength and increased in numbers; this will have the advantage of making them more profitable to us. They shall walk upright on two legs, and if they continue insolent and will not be quiet, I will split them again and they shall hop about on a single leg.'

??????????? Aristophanes continues his speech, explaining love as these god-separated halves searching for one another, and the consequences for human beings of this eternal longing. He also provides examples of what happens when such halves finds each other, and the nature of the relationships that ensue between males and females. This seemingly ridiculous speech is followed by that of Agathon, the host of the party and the poet whose victory in the competition of tragedies the guests are celebrating. From the silly tones of the comic, Plato takes us to the lofty tenor of the poet. Agathon begins at 195a by correcting the earlier speakers and concludes at 197c-e with the highest praise for the god Love.

The previous speakers, instead of praising the god Love, or unfolding?his nature, appear to have congratulated mankind on the benefits which?he confers upon them. But I would rather praise the god first, and then?speak of his gifts; this is always the right way of praising everything.?May I say without impiety or offence, that of all the blessed gods he is?the most blessed because he is the fairest and best? And he is the fairest:?for, in the first place, he is the youngest …

Therefore, Phaedrus, I say of Love?that he is the fairest and best in himself, and the cause of what is fairest?and best in all other things. And there comes into my mind a line of poetry?in which he is said to be the god who - “Gives peace on earth and calms the stormy deep, Who stills the winds and bids the sufferer sleep.” … the friend of the good, the wonder of?the wise, the amazement of the gods; … parent of?delicacy, luxury, desire, fondness, softness, grace; … savior, pilot,?comrade, helper; glory of gods and men, leader best and brightest: in whose?footsteps let every man follow, sweetly singing in his honor and joining?in that sweet strain with which love charms the souls of gods and men.

??????????? As Agathon finishes, we are informed that “Aristodemus said that there was?a general cheer; the young man was thought to have spoken in a manner worthy?of himself, and of the god.”?

??????????? The sixth speaker is the inimitable Socrates, the genius whose ultimate insight is that he knows nothing. In this instance, he expresses doubt, saying he is not equal to the moment. Turning to Eryximachus, he refers to his earlier stated fear of following Agathon: “… was there not reason in my fears? and was I not?a true prophet when I said that Agathon would make a wonderful oration,?and that I should be in a strait? … I am especially struck with the beauty of the concluding words - who could?listen to them without amazement?”

??????????? True to his humility, Socrates puts the words of his speech in the form of recounting lessons in love he learned from a fascinating woman, Diotima of Mantinea, a prophetess and teacher of the mysteries. But, as Agathon did, he opens his speech with an objection and clarifies that he did not understand the goals of the contest when he first agreed to speak on Love. He says the other speakers “attribute to Love every imaginable?form of praise.” After declaring he cannot offer a speech like this, he asks for dispensation to speak in his unique style at 199b, much as he asked the court to accept his speech in the beginning of the Apology, he asks Phaedrus, as the leader of this contest, for permission to speak in his “own manner.”

I do not praise?in that way; no, indeed, I cannot. But if you like to hear the truth about?love, I am ready to speak in my own manner, though I will not make myself?ridiculous by entering into any rivalry with you. Say then, Phaedrus, whether?you would like, to have the truth about love, spoken in any words and in?any order which may happen to come into my mind at the time. Will that?be agreeable to you?

??????????? Plato’s plan of presenting this series of speeches on love now reaches its apogee, and it is an especially rich touch that even Socrates depends on a higher authority as he relays the mystic insights of Diotima. Dialectic is the ultimate method of seeking knowledge in discussion, and Diotima’s method of questioning her listener to construct her insights is certainly reminiscent of Socrates’ own practice. She makes an example of something that is neither of two extremes, neither wisdom nor ignorance she declares to be “Right opinion.” Understanding now this middle way, at 202e-203a Socrates asks Diotima about Love.

"What is he, Diotima?" "He is a great spirit (daimon),?and like all spirits he is intermediate between the divine and the mortal."?"And what," I said, "is his power?" "He interprets," she replied, "between?gods and men, conveying and taking across to the gods the prayers and sacrifices?of men, and to men the commands and replies of the gods; ... For God mingles not with man; but through Love all the?intercourse, and converse of god with man, whether awake or asleep, is?carried on. The wisdom which understands this is spiritual….

??????????? Diotima continues along these lines at 204b and puts philosophy in the highest place among human endeavors, a familiar ideal of Socrates and Plato.

"But - who then, Diotima,"?I said, "are the lovers of wisdom, if they are neither the wise nor the?foolish?" "A child may answer that question," she replied; "they are those?who are in a mean between the two; Love is one of them. For wisdom is a?most beautiful thing, and Love is of the beautiful; and therefore Love?is also a philosopher: or lover of wisdom, and being a lover of wisdom?is in a mean between the wise and the ignorant.?

??????????? Diotima explains that love draws people together to have children, because children are one of humanity’s paths to immortality. “Marvel not at the love which all men have of their offspring; for that universal love and interest is for the sake of immortality.” Another path, which will inspire readers of the Iliad to remember the aspirations of Achilles, is fame, “… all men do things … in hope of the glorious fame of immortal virtue, for they desire to be immortal.”

??????????? Diotima then speaks of an even higher source of glory, which is ordering states and families. At 209d, she brings these ideas together.

Who, when he thinks of Homer and Hesiod and other great poets, would not rather have their children than ordinary human ones? Who would not emulate them in the creation of children such as theirs, which have preserved their memory and given them everlasting glory? Or who would not have such children as Lycurgus left behind him to be the saviors, not only of Lacedaemon, but of Hellas, as one may say? There is Solon, too, who is the revered father of Athenian laws…

??????????? Diotima’s progression ascends to ever higher levels of understanding and insight, casually explaining the foregoing as “These are the lesser mysteries of love, into which even you, Socrates, may enter.” She says she doesn’t know if Socrates can attain the deeper understandings. At this point, Diotima’s teaching moves to Plato’s ultimate theories of Ideas, the concept of the eternal and substance-less Forms, arriving at an epiphanic crescendo at 211e-212b.

But what if man had eyes to see the true beauty - the divine beauty, I mean, pure and dear and unalloyed, not clogged with the pollutions of mortality and all the colors and vanities of human life - thither looking, and holding converse with the true beauty simple and divine? Remember how in that communion only, beholding beauty with the eye of the mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty, but realities (for he has hold not of an image but of a reality), and bringing forth and nourishing true virtue to become the friend of God and be immortal, if mortal man may.