Symposium, by Plato.
Cool quote from text:
“think only of the ambition of men, and you will wonder at the senselessness of their ways, unless you consider how they are stirred by the love of an immortality of fame.”
You can read Symposium here: http://faculty.sgc.edu/rkelley/SYMPOSIUM.pdf.
Apollodorus is conversing with an unnamed companion, and the companion requests that Apollodorus repeat the words of Aristodemus that have been once narrated to many others.
“But perhaps I had better begin at the beginning, and endeavor to give you the exact words of Aristodemus.”
The event that Aristodemus, and now Apollodorus, is referring to is Agathon’s symposium. Aristodemus was an acolyte of Socrates, and he had gone with Socrates to the symposium. Apollodorus continues a bit on the arrival of Aristodemus and Socrates, emphasizing how Socrates entered late and that many servants were sent to check on him. After Soctrates was properly situated, the group of men, namely; Socrates, Agathon, Eryximachus, Pheadrus, Aristodemus (does not give speech), Aristophanes, Alcibiades and Pausianias; began to drink a bit, and then Eryximachus, suggested by Pheadrus, proposes that each man give a speech about love and in honor of Eros (the god of love).
“and therefore I want to offer him a contribution; also I think that at the present moment we who are here assembled cannot do better than honour the god Eros. If you agree with me, there will be no lack of conversation;”
Phaedrus gives the first of the seven speeches. He begins by quoting Hesiod, Acusilaus and Parmenides, who witness that Eros is the eldest of the gods. Eros inspires honor in men, and that acting in dishonor will cause the most pain with one’s lover. Love, then, inspires people to act with honor.
“And I say that a lover who is detected in doing any dishonourable act… will be more pained at being detected by his beloved than at being seen by his father, or by his companions, or by any one else.”
“ The veriest coward would become an inspired hero, equal to the bravest, at such a time; Eros would inspire him.”
Pheadrus recalls the story of Alcetis and Achilles, who both sacrificed themselves for their lovers. He also states that Eros will reward you if you act with honor, such as having sent Achilles to the Island of the Blest.
Pausinias gives the next speech, contending that there are two classes of lovers, who descend from either the common Aphrodite or the heavenly Aphrodite, of which each has partnered Eros, which reaffirms the two classes of love. The first lover of the common Aphrodite is in search of sex, and is made up of either boys and women. The better lover of the heavenly Aphrodite is in search of intelligence, and seeks young men; and this cultivates long-lasting relationships.
“Those who are inspired by this love turn to the male, and delight in him who is [of] the more valiant and intelligent nature; any one may recognise the pure enthusiasts in the very character of their attachments. For they love not boys, but intelligent beings whose reason is beginning to be developed”
Pausinias continues by declaring which city-states are accepting of the better practice of homosexuality, and which are not. He deems that barbaric cities like Ionia are against it, while most cities, including Elis, Boeotia and Lacedaemon do admit it. Phaedrus then examines the customs of Athens. He states that Athenians have a custom where they do voluntary service in order to gain wisdom, and not money or political power, so he then deems that Athens accepts the higher class of love. He also adds that his philosophy of love contributes to Phaedrus', where the better class of love acts with great honor.
“To you, Phaedrus, I offer this my contribution in praise of love, which is as good as I could make extempore.”
Eryximachus is next, though it was meant to be Aristaphones, but he was dealing with hiccups. Eryximachus commences saying that love is the governor of all things, divine and human. In the human body specifically, there are two types of love: healthy and unhealthy, which mirror the honor/dishonor dichotomy of Pausanias. Medicine is used to get rid of the unhealthy love, which is not to be indulged, and a good physician’s goal is to utilize medicine to separate good love from foul.
“ And this is what the physician has to do, and in this the art of medicine consists, for medicine may be regarded generally as the knowledge of the loves and desires of the body, and how to satisfy them or not; and the best physician is he who is able to separate fair love from foul, or to convert one into the other; and he who knows how to eradicate and how to implant love, whichever is required, and can reconcile the most hostile elements in the constitution and make them loving friends, is a skilful practitioner.”
He then asserts that anything that contains an opposite, there is a love, as love is the governor of all things, and love has opposites. In music for example, good love is harmony while bad love is discord.
“Whence I infer that in music, in medicine, in all other things human as well as divine, both loves ought to be noted as far as may be, for they are both present.”
Aristophanes' speech attempts to answer why people say they feel whole after they have fallen in love. He says that primitive humanity contained a third sex, called the androgynous, which was a combination of male and female; however, each sex was composed of two bodies, whether it be a mix for the androgynous, or two of the same gender. The full males came from the sun, the full females from the earth and the combination from the moon.
“ 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 corresponding to this double nature, which had once a real existence, but is now lost, and the word ‘Androgynous’ is only preserved as a term of reproach.”
The people had a lot of might and strength, so they set out to attack the gods, which is told in the tale of Otus and Ephialtes by Homer. As retribution, Zeus chose to make them more humble, and he split them into separate bodies.
“ Zeus discovered a way. He said, ‘Methinks I have a plan which will humble their pride and improve their manners; humans shall continue to exist, but 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.’”
Now, the separate bodies, which are what current humans are, seek to find their other half in order to restore primal nature. The halves of the full females create lesbians, the halves of the full males create homosexuals and the halves of the androgynous create heterosexuals.
Aristophanes say that heterosexuals are most likely to be unfaithful, so gays are actually the best of men. He then states that when people find their partner, they want to stay together forever, so they should make sure to pray to the god of love so that they do not face the punishment of separation again.
“Wherefore, if we would praise him who has given to us the benefit, we must praise the god Eros, who is our greatest benefactor, both leading us in this life back to our own nature, and giving us high hopes for the future, for he promises that if we are pious, he will restore us to our original state, and heal us and make us happy and blessed.”
Agath gives the fifth speech, and he starts by saying that the other speakers are wrong in saying that Eros is the eldest of the gods, but instead Eros is the youngest, he is in no way old and wrinkled, but youthful and vibrant.
“Eros is young and also tender; he ought to have a poet like Homer to describe his tenderness”
He praises Eros for being the one that creates virtue among men, saying that in relation to love, men act voluntarily to do good and be just, temperate, courageous and wise. Eros leads men to better lives.
“ This is he who empties men of [alienation] and fills them with [the desire for intimacy], who makes them to meet together at banquets such as these: in sacrifices, feasts, dances, he is our lord, who sends courtesy and sends away discourtesy”
Agathon then says that he is the only one who could find love, for he is the sole person of youth and beauty.
Socrates then begins his speech by conversing with Agathon. Socrates and Agathon first agree that people do not wish for things they already have, but only what they do not possess. Socrates finds a hole in Agathon’s logic, in that if Agathon desires love, he himself must be old and ugly, for then he does not possess beauty and youth.
“Socrates: And does he possess, or does he not possess, that which he loves and desires?
Agathon: Probably not, I should say.
...Socrates: And would you call that beautiful which wants and does not possess beauty?
Agathon: Certainly not.”
Socrates then transitions to a story of a dialogue between him and Diotima of Mantinea, who actually instructed Socrates. In the conversation, Diotima tells Socrates that Eros is not actually a god, but a being who is a mix of mortality and immortality. Eros was born from the god of Poverty, who conceived a child with the god of Wealth; Poverty wanted to have a child with Wealth to gain his fortunes, and since Wealth is a lover of what is beautiful, having a child on the day of Aphrodite’s birth would aid in that endeavor. That’s a lot of god drama.
“accordingly she lay down
at his side and conceived Eros, who partly because he is naturally a lover of the beautiful, and
because Aphrodite is herself beautiful, and also because he was born on her birthday, is her
follower and attendant. And as his parentage is, so also are his fortunes.”
From Eros’ father, he inherited beauty, which is the ultimate wisdom (as “wisdom is a most beautiful thing”), and from his mother, he inherited foolishness, thereby giving him his dual nature of mortal and immortal, man and god.
After discussing the origin of Love, Diotima and Socrates agree that beauty is good, so Diotima asks Socrates why if all men want good, which is extracted from Socrates, then why do only some men want beauty. The answer, which Diotima provides, is that beauty itself is not a good, but it is used to achieve the end goal of procreation. Procreation is a mortal man’s way of immortalizing himself, and a person uses beauty to have a fortunate birth that will carry on his or her own existence. Everyone wants to be immortal and have good. Diotima elaborates upon this extensively.
“Because to the mortal creature, generation is a sort of eternity and immortality”
“Marvel not then at the love which all men have of their offspring; for that universal love and interest is for the sake of immortality.”
Once can also immortalize oneself with his or her mind, where instead of children, one carries wisdom, virtue and civic order.
“There is Solon, too, who is the revered father of Athenian laws; and many others there are in many other places, both among Greeks and barbarians, who have given to the world many noble works, and have been the parents of virtue of every kind; and many temples have been raised in their honour for the sake of children such as theirs; which were never raised in honour of any one, for the sake of his mortal children.”
Lastly, Diotima explicates how a man should live in regard to beauty: the good side of love. He should first love the physical body, but as he grows up he should begin to love all bodies. Then, he will begin loving wise and beautiful minds, and soon knowledge, which will calm his soul. At last, he will realize the true vastness of beauty, and he shall fall in love with beauty itself, and not its mere representations.
“ And the true order of going, or being led by another, to the things of love, is to begin from the beauties of earth and mount upwards for the sake of that other beauty, using these as steps only, and from one going on to two, and from two to all fair forms, and from fair forms to fair practices, and from fair practices to fair notions, until from fair notions he arrives at the notion of absolute beauty, and at last knows what the essence of beauty is.”
Following Socrates’ speech, Alcibiades enters the scene. Alcibiades is drunk and becomes jealous of Agathon being near Socrates, Alcibiades wants some of that Socratic ass, so Socrates asks Agathon to protect him. Alcibiades, in wondering why everyone is much more sober than him, then learns of what everyone has been doing and decides to give the final speech, where he praises Socrates, even though at this point he is drunkenly angry at Socrates. Drinking can do some weird shit.
Alcibiades first compares Socrates to the ugly city of Seniles and a satyr spirit. Socrates, to him, is like a satyr because a satyr uses a flute to charm the souls of men. Socrates uses his words like a flute, and then he possesses every man’s view of life. In fact, Alcibiades admits that Socrates was the only person who made him feel vulnerable and ashamed.
“But you produce the same effect with your words only, and do not require the flute… [you] amaze and possess the souls of every man, woman, and child who comes within hearing of them. And if I were not afraid that you would think me hopelessly drunk, I would have sworn as well as spoken to the influence which they have always had and still have over me.”
Alcibiades continues on to talking of how he was interested in Socrates’ wisdom, but he really wanted Socrates sexually; however, Socrates is platonic, and therefore consistently denied him. Alcibiades references a night where he was alone with Socrates, and he thought about “doing it” with him. He even invited Socrates to sup with him, and when they were going to sleep, with no one around, Socrates just told him that they are deceiving each other and should “have fun.” After hearing this, Alcibiades elaborates upon how he was hurt, and yet made no attempt at sex.
“But look again, sweet friend, and see whether you are not deceived in me. The mind begins to grow critical when the bodily eye fails, and it will be a long time before you get old.”
It seems that Alcibiades has contempt for Socrates, but then he narrates a battle, where Socrates saved his life. Socrates then refused to accept a medal, which Alcibiades then received from the generals. He goes through the battle of Delium, another time where Socrates was very intellectual and was able to save his companion from an attack. He thinks that Socrates is very unique compared to many men, in both his wisdom and accomplishments.
“Many are the marvels which I might narrate in praise of Socrates; most of his ways might perhaps be paralleled in another man, but his absolute unlikeness to any human being that is or ever has been is perfectly astonishing.”
“This, friends, is my praise of Socrates. I have added my blame of him for his ill-treatment of me; and he has ill-treated 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 lover he has ended by making them pay their addresses to him. Wherefore I say to you, Agathon, ‘Be not deceived by him; learn from me and take warning, and do not be a fool and learn by experience, as the proverb says.’”
With such praise, Socrates postulates that Alcibiades is actually sober, which Agathon seconds. After that, a band of revelers entered, and everyone drank a lot of wine. Some soon left, such as Erixymachus and Pheadrus. Aristodemus (remember him) stayed and fell asleep, along with Socrates. On the next day, Socrates and Aristodemus left, and the day went about as usual.