Symposium - AIC

Premise
Between Henology and Agathology.
Aristophanes and Diotima Compared
on the Conception of the Good and on Dialectics
(Symp. 189a1-193e2 e 201d1-212c3)*
Claudia Luchetti
θεραπεία δὲ δὴ παντὶ παντὸς µία, τὰς οἰκείας
ἑκάστῳ τροφὰς καὶ κινήσεις ἀποδιδόναι. τῷ δ' ἐν
ἡµῖν θείῳ συγγενεῖς εἰσιν κινήσεις αἱ τοῦ παντὸς
διανοήσεις καὶ περιφοραί· ταύταις δὴ
συνεπόµενον ἕκαστον δεῖ, τὰς περὶ τὴν γένεσιν ἐν
τῇ κεφαλῇ διεφθαρµένας ἡµῶν περιόδους
ἐξορθοῦντα διὰ τὸ καταµανθάνειν τὰς τοῦ παντὸς
ἁρµονίας τε καὶ περιφοράς, τῷ κατανοουµένῳ τὸ
κατανοοῦν ἐξοµοιῶσαι κατὰ τὴν ἀρχαίαν φύσιν,
ὁµοιώσαντα δὲ τέλος ἔχειν τοῦ προτεθέντος
ἀνθρώποις ὑπὸ θεῶν ἀρίστου βίου πρός τε τὸν
παρόντα καὶ τὸν ἔπειτα χρόνον.
Timaios, 90c6-d7
τεθεάµεθα µέντοι διακείµενον αὐτό, ὥσπερ οἱ τὸν
θαλάττιον Γλαῦκον ὁρῶντες οὐκ ἂν ἔτι ῥᾳδίως
αὐτοῦ ἴδοιεν τὴν ἀρχαίαν φύσιν, ὑπὸ τοῦ τά τε
παλαιὰ τοῦ σώµατος µέρη τὰ µὲν ἐκκεκλάσθαι, τὰ
δὲ συντετρῖφθαι καὶ πάντως λελωβῆσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν
κυµάτων, ἄλλα δὲ προσπεφυκέναι, ὄστρεά τε καὶ
φυκία καὶ πέτρας, ὥστε παντὶ µᾶλλον θηρίῳ
ἐοικέναι ἢ οἷος ἦν φύσει, οὕτω καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν
ἡµεῖς θεώµεθα διακειµένην ὑπὸ µυρίων κακῶν.
ἀλλὰ δεῖ, ὦ Γλαύκων, ἐκεῖσε βλέπειν. - Ποῖ; ἦ δ'
ὅς. - Εἰς τὴν φιλοσοφίαν αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐννοεῖν ὧν
ἅπτεται καὶ οἵων ἐφίεται ὁµιλιῶν, ὡς συγγενὴς
οὖσα τῷ τε θείῳ καὶ ἀθανάτῳ καὶ τῷ ἀεὶ ὄντι, καὶ
οἵα ἂν γένοιτο τῷ τοιούτῳ πᾶσα ἐπισποµένη καὶ
ὑπὸ ταύτης τῆς ὁρµῆς ἐκκοµισθεῖσα ἐκ τοῦ
πόντου ἐν ᾧ νῦν ἐστίν
Politeia X, 611d1-e5
In this Paper I aim at giving above all a philosophical interpretation of some of the facets and the clear
connections between the speeches of Aristophanes and Socrates-Diotima about the nature of Eros.
The subtle Ariadnes thread, pull by Plato all through the Symposion, with the probable intention,
didactic and protreptic at once, to keep the attention of the reader concentrated on the existence of
deeper conceptual connections between the two ‘encomia’ of Love, has already been highlighted 1 : we
start from the inversion of the order of the speeches of Aristophanes and Eryximachus (185c4-e5),
through the explicit recall of Diotima, which is essential to comprehend both analogies and distances
between the two positions (205d10-e3), to the declaration, of Aristophanes and Socrates as well, of
their will to talk in a radically different way from that of those who preceded them (see respectively
189c2-3 and in particular 199a6-b5), until Aristophanes failed attempt to take the floor after Socrates
(212c4-d5), being “suddenly” interrupted (ἐξαίφνης, 212c6) from the arrival of Alcibiades on the
scene, and finally to the conversation among three which culminates, as the day has already begun, in
the authentic enigma of Socrates’ theory of the Unity of tragedy an comedy (223d3-6). It is quite clear
*I wish to express explicitly my gratitude to Plato, for having left us, apart from the challenge of grasping the bond between
them, which is certainly no easy challenge, a dialogue, the only one, in which he speaks, separately and together, about the
One and the Good.
1 To avoid an excessive heaviness of this presentation, I limited myself to indicate in the Bibliography a list of few texts
which I consider to be essential to deepen the topics discussed here. However, my tendency to privilege a direct and
systematic confrontation with the dialogues, led me to follow, in some respects, an atypical path.