Symposium - AIC

Gerard Boter
being”, which unites him to the animal world.
It is obvious to everyone without the need for proof that the body is subject to decay and
death. And for any composite which contains at least one mortal element it is impossible to be
immortal: the death of one element involves the death of the composite to which this element belongs.
This is stated clearly in Phaedo 70b2-4: “but to show that the soul (ψυχή) exists when the man
(ἄνθρωπος) has died, and possesses some power and intelligence―well, that, I feel, needs a great deal
of persuasive argument.” (Hackforth)
You may wonder why I insist on something which is so obvious. This is because the word
ἄνθρωπος occurs twice at the end of Diotima’s speech. The first time is at 211e4, where she speaks
about the man who is contemplating Beauty itself. 5 In the Phaedo, viewing the Forms in their perfect
state is reserved for the disembodied soul of the philosopher; in the Symposium it is expressly stated
that this is possible for the philosopher when he is living as a man. I will return to the Phaedo later.
The second occurrence of the word ἄνθρωπος at the end of Diotima’s speech is found in the
very last line, καὶ εἴπερ τῳ ἄλλῳ ἀνθρώπων ἀθανάτῳ καὶ ἐκείνῳ. Once more, Diotima stresses the
fact that the philosopher she is talking about is a man, that is, a composite of body and soul, living in
our material world. The philosopher, that is, is explicitly put on a par with the living beings―animals
and men―who were discussed in the preceding part of Diotima’s speech. In order to fully appreciate
the meaning of the final phrase, however, we must first have a closer look at the phrase εἴπερ τῳ ἄλλῳ
καὶ ἐκείνῳ itself.
3. εἴπερ τῳ ἄλλῳ καὶ ἐκείνῳ
Phrases of the type εἴπερ τις ἄλλος are treated in Kühner-Gerth, 6 who state that the phrase indicates
“dass das im Hauptsatze ausgesprochene Prädikat einer Person oder Sache mehr als irgend einer
anderen zukomme”; in practice, that is, the phrase means “more than anyone or anything else”.
Here are some instances. Just before our passage Diotima says (Smp. 211d1-3): ἐνταῦθα τοῦ
βίου, ὦ φίλε Σώκρατες, ἔφη ἡ Μαντινικὴ ξένη, εἴπερ που ἄλλοθι, βιωτὸν ἀνθρώπῳ, θεωµένῳ αὐτὸ
τὸ καλόν, “In that state of life above all others, my dear Socrates,” said the Mantinean woman, “a man
finds it truly worth while to live, as he contemplates essential beauty.” (Lamb) 7 In the exordium of
Demosthenes’ speech Against Timocrates we read (D. 24.4): ἐγὼ δ’, εἴπερ τινὶ τοῦτο καὶ ἄλλῳ
προσηκόντως εἴρηται, νοµίζω κἀµοὶ νῦν ἁρµόττειν εἰπεῖν, “But if that claim has ever been made
with propriety, I think that I am entitled to make it now.” (Vince) Further on in the same speech we
find (D. 24.96): ἔστιν ὑµῖν κύριος νόµος, καλῶς εἴπερ τις καὶ ἄλλος κείµενος, τοὺς ἔχοντας τά θ’
ἱερὰ καὶ τὰ ὅσια χρήµατα κτἑ, “You have a law in operation, as good a law as ever was enacted, that
holders of sacred or civil moneys etcetera.” (Vince) I might style this use of the phrase εἴπερ τις ἄλλος
as the “inclusive superlative”. It corresponds exactly to the English idiom by which Vince translates
the Demosthenes passage just mentioned: “as good a law as ever was enacted”, which in practice
amounts to “the best law ever enacted”. 8
Usually one or both elements of the phrase contain καί, as in the two passages from
Demosthenes. It is remarkable that in translations of such passages καί usually goes untranslated, as in
Vince’s translation of the first passage from Demosthenes. But it is necessary for fully appreciating
the sense: “if others too have ever made that claim with propriety [as in fact they have], then I am
entitled to make it now too.” Even if the phrase in practice usually means that someone deserves a
5 At 211d1 too, just before the passage under discussion, the word ἄνθρωπος also figures prominently: ἐνταῦθα τοῦ βίου, ὦ
φίλε Σώκρατες, ἔφη ἡ Μαντινικὴ ξένη, εἴπερ που ἄλλοθι, βιωτὸν ἀνθρώπῳ, θεωµένῳ αὐτὸ τὸ καλόν, “ ‘In that state of life
above all others, my dear Socrates,’ said the Mantinean woman, ‘a man finds it truly worth while to live, as he contemplates
essential beauty.’” (Lamb) For further discussion of this passage see below.
6 Kühner-Gerth 1898 3 , 2.573.
7 Rowe translates: “It is here, my dear Socrates,” said the visitor from Mantinea, “if anywhere, that life is worth living for a
human being, in contemplation of beauty itself.” That is, Rowe takes the phrase in the “exclusive sense”, for which see
below.
8 In fact, in passages as this one I believe that the superlative meaning is not necessarily present. Demosthenes wants to point
out that the law under discussion is a very good law; we need not assume that he really thinks that all other laws are inferior
to this law. Similarly, in X. Cyr. 5.1.6, the phrase ἀλλ’ ὡς ἡµεῖς γε νοµίζοµεν, εἴ τις καὶ ἄλλος ἀνήρ, καὶ Κῦρος ἄξιός
ἐστι θαυµάζεσθαι may just indicate that Cyrus is to be reckoned among admirable men; but we need not assume that
according to Xenophon he outdid all other famous men who ever lived. To put it in grammatical terms: the superlative may
often be absolute (“very good”) rather than relative (“best of all”). ― In terms of the speech act theory one might explain
matters as follows. In the passages from Demosthenes and Xenophon the illocution is equal to the perlocution, that is, “A is
as good as anyone” means that there are others equal to A, but nobody superior to A. In the passage from the Symposium the
perlocution goes further than the illocution, that is, “if anywhere, then here” means that “here” is superior to all other
circumstances, but (and this is essential) this does not mean that there no are other circumstances in which life is worth
living; it is only to state that nowhere is life worth living in the same degree as “here”.
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