of which Hesiod and Parmenides speak, if they were done at
all, were done of necessity and not of love; had love been in
those days, there would have been no chaining or mutilation
of the gods, or other violence, but peace and sweetness, as
there is now in heaven, since the rule of Love began. Love
is young and also tender ; he ought to have a poet like Homer
to describe his tenderness, as Homer says of Ate, 18 that she is
a goddess and tender: —
" Her feet are tender, for she sets her steps,
Not on the ground but on the heads of men : "
which is an excellent proof of her tenderness, because she
walks not upon the hard but upon the soft. Let us adduce a
similar proof of the tenderness of Love ; for he walks not upon
the earth, nor yet upon the skulls of men, which are hard
enough, but in the hearts and souls of men : in them he walks
and dwells and has his home. Not in every soul without ex-
16 Iapetus (i-ap'e-tus): an ancient Greek divinity, son of Uranus (Heaven),
and Gaea (Earth). The Greeks regarded him as the ancestor of the human
race.
17 Kronos (kro'nos): brother of Iapetus, and father of Zeus.
18 Ate (a 'te): the goddess of infatuation; also the avenger of unrighteousness.
THE SYMPOSIUM 119
ception, for where there is hardness he departs, where there is
softness there he dwells ; and clinging always with his feet and
in all manner of ways in the softest of soft places, how can he
be other than the softest of all things? And he is the
youngest as well as the tenderest, and also he is of flex-
ile form ; for without flexure he could not enfold all things,
or wind his way into and out of every soul of man without
being discovered, if he were hard. And a proof of his flex-
ibility and symmetry of form is his grace, which is univer-
sally admitted to be in an especial manner the attribute of
Love ; ungrace and love are always at war with one another.
The fairness of his complexion is revealed by his habitation
among the flowers, for he dwells not amid unflowering or fad-
ing beauties, whether of body or soul or aught else, but in the
place of flowers and scents, there he dwells and abides. Enough
of his beauty, — of which, however, there is more to tell. But I
must now speak of his virtue : his greatest glory is that he can
neither do nor suffer wrong from any god or any man ; for he
suffers not by force if he suffers, for force comes not near him,
neither does he act by force. For all serve him of their own
free-will, and where there is love as well as obedience, there,
as the laws which are the lords of the city say, is justice. And
not only is he just but exceedingly temperate, for Temperance
is the acknowledged ruler of the pleasures and desires, and no
pleasure ever masters Love ; he is their master and they are
his servants ; and if he conquers them he must be temperate
indeed. As to courage, even the God of War is no match for
him ; he is the captive and Love is the lord, for love, the
love of Aphrodite, masters him, as the tale runs; and the
master is stronger than the servant. And if he conquers the
bravest of all he must be himself the bravest. Of his courage
and justice and temperance I have spoken ; but I have yet to
speak of his wisdom, and I must try to do my best, accord-
ing to the measure of my ability. For in the first place he is
a poet (and here, like Eryximachus, I magnify my art), and
he is also the source of poesy in others, which he could not be
if he were not himself a poet. And at the touch of him every
one becomes a poet, even though he had no music in him be-
fore ; this also is a proof that Love is a good poet and accom-
plished in all the musical arts ; for no one can give to another
that which he has not himself, or teach that of which he has
120 PLATO THE TEACHER
no knowledge. Who will deny that the creation of the ani-
mals is his doing ? Are they not all the works of his wisdom,
born and begotten of him ? And as to the artists, do we
7 not know that he only of them whom love inspires has the
light of fame ? — he whom love touches not walks in darkness.
The arts of medicine and archery and divination were dis-
covered by Apollo, 19 under the guidance of love and desire, so
that he too is a disciple of Love. Also the melody of the
Muses, 20 the metallurgy of Hephaestus, 21 the weaving of
Athene, 22 the empire of Zeus 23 over gods and men, are all
due to Love, who was the inventor of them. Love set in
order the empire of the gods, — the love of beauty, as is evi-
dent, for of deformity there is no love. And formerly, as I
was saying, dreadful deeds were done among the gods, because
of the rule of necessity ; but now since the birth of Love, and
from the love of the beautiful, has sprung every good in
heaven and earth. 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 I have a mind to
say of him in verse that he is the god who —
u Gives peace on earth and calms the stormy deep,
Who stills the waves and bids the sufferer sleep."
He makes men to be of one mind at a banquet such as this,
fulfilling them with affection and emptying them of disaffec-
tion. In sacrifices, banquets, dances, he is our lord, — sup-
plying kindness and banishing unkindness, giving friendship
and forgiving enmity, the joy of the good, the wonder of the
wise, the amazement of the gods ; desired by those who have
no part in him, and precious to those who have the better part
in him j parent of delicacy, luxury, desire, fondness, softness,
grace ; careful of the good, uncareful of the evil. In every
word, work, wish, fear, — pilot, helper, defender, saviour ;
glory of gods and men, leader best and brightest : in whose
footsteps let every man follow, chanting a hymn and joining
19 One of the greatest and most beneficent of the Greek gods, commonly
called the god of light.
20 See Euthydemus, note 12.
21 See Protagoras, note 39.
22 See Protagoras, note 40.
23 See Protagoras, note 41.
THE SYMPOSIUM 121
in that fair strain with which Love charms the souls of gods
and men. Such is the discourse, Phaedrus, half playful, yet
having a certain measure of seriousness, which, accord-
ing to my ability, I dedicate to the God. l9
When Agathon had done speaking, Aristodemus said that
there was a general cheer ; the fair youth was thought to have
spoken in a manner worthy of himself, and of the God. And
Socrates, looking at Eryximachus, said : Tell me, son of
Acumenns, was I not a prophet ? Did I not anticipate that
Agathon would make a wonderful oration, and that I should
be in a strait ?
I think, said Eryximachus, that you were right in the first
anticipation, but not in the second.
Why, my dear friend, said Socrates, must not I or any one
be in a strait who has to speak after such a rich and varied
discourse as that ? I am especially struck with the beauty of
the concluding words — who could listen to them without
amazement ? When I reflected on the immeasurable inferior-
ity of my own powers, I was ready to run away for shame, if
there had been any escape. For I was reminded of Gorgias, 24
and at the end of his speech I fancied that Agathon was shak-
ing at me the Gorginian or Gorgonian head of the great master
of rhetoric, which was simply to turn me and my speech into
stone, as Homer says, and strike me dumb. And then I per-
ceived how foolish I had been in consenting to take my turn
with you in praising love, and saying that I too was a master
of the art, when I really had no idea of the meaning of the
word " praise," which appears to be another name for glorifi-
cation, whether true or false ; in which sense of the term I am
unable to praise anything. For I in my simplicity imagined
that the topics of praise should be true ; this was to be the
foundation, and that out of them the speaker was to choose the
best and arrange them in the best order. And I felt quite
proud, and thought that I could speak as well as another, as I
knew the nature of true praise. Whereas I see now that the
intention was to attribute to Love every species of greatness and
glory, whether really belonging to him or not, without regard
24 See Apology, note 7. Socrates here makes a play on the names Gor-
gias and Gorgon. The Gorgon was a legendary monster with hair of hiss-
ing snakes, and whose aspect was so terrible it turned all beholders to stone.
The Greeks carved the Gorgon's head on their armor, and on walls
and gates, in the belief that it would terrify and paralyze an enemy.
122 PLATO THE TEACHER
to truth or falsehood — that was no matter ; for the original
proposal seems to have been not that you should praise, but
only that you should appear to praise him. And you attribute
to Love every imaginable form of praise, and say that " he is all
this," " the cause of all this " in order that you may ex-
199 ~ hibit him as the fairest and best of all ; and this of course
202
imposes on the unwary, but not on those who know him :
and a noble and solemn hymn of praise have you rehearsed.
But as I misunderstood the nature of the praise when I said that
I would take my turn, I must beg to be absolved from the prom-
ise which (as Euripides would say) was a promise of the lips
and not of the mind. Farewell then to such a strain : for that
is not my way of praising ; no, indeed, I cannot attain to that.
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 ridic-
ulous by entering into any rivalry with you. Say then, Phae-
drus, 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?
Aristodemus said that Paehdrus and the company bid him
take his own course.
[After his usual manner, Socrates avoided a long set speech
in the outset. He pretended that he had once met a very
wise woman by the name of Diotima 25 who had taught him
the nature of love. She led Socrates to the view that love
is not as the former speakers had declared, beautiful or good
or wise or divine. Love is child of the god Plenty and of Pov-
erty. Love is a mediator between the divine and human.]
" Love is a great spirit, and like all that is spiritual he is
intermediate between the divine and the mortal." "And
what w the nature of this spiritual power? " I said. " This
is the power," she said, " which interprets and conveys to
the gods the prayers and sacrifices of men, and to men
the commands and rewards of the gods ; and this power
spans the chasm which divides them, and in this all is bound
together, and through this the arts of the prophet and the
25 Diotima (di'o-ti'ma): spoken of below (211) as the stranger of Mantineia
(man'ti-ni'a).
THE SYMPOSIUM 123
priest, their sacrifices and mysteries and charms, and all proph-
ecy and incantation, find their way. For God mingles not
with man ; and through this power all the intercourse and
speech of God with man, whether awake or asleep, is carried
on. The wisdom which understands this is spiritual \ all
other wisdom, such as that of arts or handicrafts, is mean and
vulgar."
[Love is not wise or good or beautiful, but is in passionate
search for wisdom, goodness and beauty.]
" The truth of the matter is just this: No god is a philos-
opher or seeker after wisdom, for he is wise already ; nor does
any one else who is wise seek after wisdom. Neither
do the ignorant seek after wisdom. For herein is the 2 ° 4 "
evil of ignorance, that he who is neither good nor wise
is nevertheless satisfied : he feels no want, and has therefore no
desire." "But who then, Diotima," I said, "are the
lovers of wisdom, if they are neither the wise nor the fool-
ish? " "A child may answer that question," she replied ;
"they are those who, like Love, are in a mean between the
two. 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. And this again is a
quality which Love inherits from his parents ; for his father
is wealthy and wise, and his mother poor and foolish. Such,
my dear Socrates, is the nature of the spirit Love. The error
in your conception of him was very natural, and as I imagine
from what you say, has arisen out of a confusion of love and
the beloved — this made you think that love was all beau-
tiful. For the beloved is the truly beautiful, delicate, and
perfect and blessed; but the principle of love is of another
nature, and is such as I have described."
[But love is not love of the beautiful and good only. Love
is essentially love of "birth in beauty." "To the mortal
creature, generation is a sort of eternity and immortality,"
and all true love is essentially love of immortality. Some be-
get earthly children, but some are more creative in their souls
than in their bodies. ' ' Such creators are poets and all artists
124 PLATO THE TEACHER
who are deserving the name inventor. But the greatest and
fairest sort of wisdom by far is that which is concerned with
the ordering of states and families, and which is called tem-
perance and justice." He who in youth has the seed of these
implanted in him desires to implant them in others. " When
he finds a fair and noble and well-nurtured soul .
he is full of fair speech about virtue and the nature and pur-
suits of a good man ; and he tries to educate him ;
and they are bound together by a far nearer tie and have a
closer friendship than those who beget mortal children, for the
children who are their common offspring are fairer and more
immortal."]
"These are the lesser mysteries of love, into which even
you, Socrates, may enter ; to the greater and more hidden
ones which are the crown of these, and to which, if you
pursue them in aright spirit, they will lead, I know not
whether you will be able to attain. But I will do my utmost
to inform you, and do you follow if you can. For he who
would proceed rightly in this matter should begin in youth to
turn to beautiful forms ; and first, if his instructor guide him
rightly **he should learn to love one such form only — out of
that he should create fair thoughts j and soon he will himself
perceive that the beauty of one form is truly related to the
beauty of another ; and then if beauty in general is his pur-
suit, how foolish would he be not to recognize that the beauty
in every form is one and the same ! And when he perceives
this he will abate his violent love of the one, which he will
despise and deem a small thing, and will become a lover of
. all beautiful forms ; this will lead him on to consider that the
? beauty of the mind is more honorable than the beauty of the
outward form. So that if a virtuous soul have but a little
comeliness, he will be content to love and tend him, and will
search out and bring to the birth thoughts which may improve
the young, until his beloved is compelled to contemplate and
see the beauty of institutions and laws, and understand that
all is of one kindred, and that personal beauty is only a trifle;
and after laws and institutions he will lead him on to the
sciences, that he may see their beauty, being not like a ser-
vant in love with the beauty of one youth or man or institu-
tion, himself a slave mean and calculating, but looking at the
THE SYMPOSIUM 1 25
abundance of beauty and drawing towards the sea of beauty,
and creating and beholding many fair and noble thoughts and
notions in boundless love of wisdom ; until at length he grows
and waxes strong, and at last the vision is revealed to him of
a single science, which is the science of beauty everywhere.
To this I will proceed ; please to give me your very best at-
tention.
" For he who has been instructed thus far in the things of
love, and who has learned to see the beautiful in due order
and succession, when he comes toward the end will suddenly
perceive a nature of wondrous beauty — and this, Socrates, is
that final cause of all our former toils, which in the
211
first place is everlasting — not growing and decaying, or
waxing and waning ; in the next place not fair in one point
of view and foul in another, or at one time or in one relation
or at one place fair, at another time or in another relation or
at another place foul, as if fair to some and foul to others, or
in the likeness of a face or hands or any other part of the
bodily frame, or in any form of speech or knowledge, nor ex-
isting in any other being; as for example, an animal, whether
in earth or heaven, but beauty only, absolute, separate, sim-
ple, and everlasting, which without diminution and without
increase, or any change, is imparted to the ever-growing and
perishing beauties of all other things. He who under the in-
fluence of true love rising upward from these begins to see that
beauty, is not far from the end. And the true order of going
or being led by another to the things of love, is to use the
beauties of earth as steps along which he mounts upwards for
the sake of that other beauty, going from one to two, and from
two to all fair forms, and from fair forms to fair actions, and
from fair actions to fair notions, until from fair notions he ar-
rives at the notion of absolute beauty, and at last knows what
the essence of beauty is. This, my dear Socrates," said the
stranger of Mantineia, "is that life above all others which
man should live, in the contemplation of beauty absolute ; a
beauty which if you once beheld, you would see not to be
after the measure of gold, and garments, and fair boys and
youths, which when you now behold you are in fond amaze-
ment, and you and many a one are content to live seeing only
and conversing with them without meat or drink, if that were
possible — you only want to be with them and to look at them.
126 PLATO THE TEACHER
But what if man had eyes to see the true beauty — the divine
beauty, I mean, pure and clear and unalloyed, not clogged
with the pollutions of mortality, and all the colors and vani-
ties of human life — thither looking, and holding con-
1 verse with the true beauty divine and simple, and bring-
ing into being and educating true creations of virtue and
not idols only? Do you not see that 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 j for
he has hold not of an image but of a reality, and bringing
forth and educating true virtue to become the friend of God
and be immortal, if mortal man may. Would that be an ig-
noble life?"
Such, Phaedrus — and I speak not only to you, but to all men
— were the words of Diotima ; and I am persuaded of their
truth. And being persuaded of them, I try to persuade others,
that in the attainment of this end human nature will not eas-
ily find a better helper than Love. And therefore, also, I say
that every man ought to honor him as I myself honor him,
and walk in his ways, and exhort others to do the same,
even as I praise the power and spirit of love according to the
measure of my ability now and ever.
The words which I have spoken, you, Phaedrus, may call an
encomium of love, or anything else which you please.
When Socrates had done speaking, the company applauded,
and Aristophanes was beginning to say something in answer to
the allusion which Socrates had made to his own speech, when
suddenly there was a great knocking at the door of the house,
as of revelers, and the sound of a flute-girl was heard. Aga-
thon told the attendants to go and see who were the intruders.
" If they are friends of ours," he said, " invite them in, but
if not say that the drinking is over." A little while after-
wards they heard the voice of Alcibiades resounding in the
court; he was in a great state of intoxication, and kept roar-
ing and shouting ' ' Where is Agathon ? Lead me to Agathon, ' '
and at length, supported by the flute-girl and some of his
companions, he found his way to them. " Hail, friends! "
he said, appearing at the door crowned with a massive garland
of ivy and wall-flowers, and having his head flowing with rib-
bons. "Will you have a very drunken man as a companion
of your revels ? Or shall I crown Agathon, as was my inten-
THE SYMPOSIUM 127
tion in coming, and go my way ? For I was unable to come
yesterday, and therefore I come to-day, carrying on my head
these ribbons, that taking them from my own head, I may
crown the head of this fairest and wisest of men, as I may be
allowed to call him. Will you laugh at me because I am
drunk? Yet I know very well that I am speaking the 2I
truth, although you may laugh. But first tell me whether I
shall come in on the understanding that I am drunk. Will
you drink with me or not? "
The company were vociferous in begging that he would
take his place among them, and Agathon specially invited
him. Thereupon he was led in by the people who were with
him ; and as he was being led he took the crown and ribbons
from his head, intending to crown Agathon, and had them
before his eyes ; this prevented him from seeing Socrates, who
made way for him, and Alcibiades took the vacant place be-
tween Agathon and Socrates, and in taking the place he em-
braced Agathon and crowned him. Take off his sandals, said
Agathon, and let him make a third on the same couch.
By all means ; but who makes the third partner in our rev-
els ? said Alcibiades, turning round and i Parting up as he caught
sight of Socrates. By Heracles, he said, what is this? here is
Socrates always lying in wait for me, and always, as his way is,
coming out at all sorts of unsuspected places : and now, what
have you to say for yourself, and why are you lying here,
where I perceive that you have contrived to find a place, not
by a professor or lover of jokes, like Aristophanes, but by the
fairest of the company ?
Socrates turned to Agathon and said : I must ask you to
protect me, Agathon ; for this passion of his has grown quite
a serious matter. Since I became his admirer I have never
been allowed to speak to any other fair one, or so much as to
look at them. If I do he goes wild with envy and jealousy,
and not only abuses me but can hardly keep his hands off me,
and at this moment he may do me some harm. Please to see
to this, and either reconcile me to him, or, if he attempts
violence, protect me, as I am in bodily fear of his mad and
passionate attempts.
There can never be reconciliation between you and me, said
Alcibiades ; but for the present I will defer your chastisement.
And I must beg you, Agathon, to give me back some of the
128 PLATO THE TEACHER
ribbons that I may crown the marvelous head of this universal
despot, — I would not have him complain of me for crowning
you, and neglecting him, who in conversation is the conquer-
or of all mankind j and this not once only, as you were the
day before yesterday, but always. Then taking some of the
ribbons, he crowned Socrates, and again reclined. When he
had lain down again, he said : You seem, my friends, to be
sober, which is a thing not to be endured ; you must drink, —
for that was the agreement which I made with you, — and I
elect myself master of the feast until you are well drunk.
Let us have a large goblet, Agathon, or rather, he said, ad-
dressing the attendant, bring me that wine-cooler. The wine-
cooler was a vessel holding more than two quarts which
l * caught his eye, — this he filled and emptied, and bid the
attendant fill it again for Socrates. Observe, my friends, said
Alcibiades, that my ingenious device will have no effect on
Socrates, for he can drink any quantity of wine and not be at
all nearer being drunk. Socrates drank the cup which the
attendant filled for him.
Eryximachus said : What is this, Alcibiades? Are we to
have neither conversation nor singing over our cups; but
simply to drink as if we were thirsty ?
Alcibiades replied : Hail, worthy son of a most wise and
worthy sire !
The same to you, said Eryximachus ; but what shall we do ?
That I leave to you, said Alcibiades.
"The wise physician skilled our wounds to heal."
shall prescribe and we will obey. What do you want ?
Well, Eryximachus said : Before you appeared a resolution
was agreed to by us that each one in turn should speak a dis-
course in praise of love, and as good a one as he could : this
was passed round from left to right ; and as all of us have
spoken, and you have not spoken but have well drunken, you
ought to speak, and then impose upon Socrates any task which