Socrates in Athens
Symposium
Xenophon’s Symposium depicts a lighthearted group of friends attending a spontaneous
dinner-party in honor of Autolycus’ victory in an Olympic event. Entertainment is provided by
young talent dancing, singing, and performing feats of agility, while the conversation turns on
each guest explaining what he values most about himself: beauty, wealth, poverty, friends, and
traits of character are all offered and discussed. Socrates presents his central attribute as the
ability to be a “procurer” (essentially, a pimp); he explains that he is able to improve people and
make them better, more useful, more valuable to the city, and is in this analogous to a
successful pimp who is able to bring out the best in his stable of prostitutes. In a more serious
vein, Socrates explains the superior value of spiritual love over physical love, and the centrality
of virtue to genuine love. “(T)he greatest blessing that befalls the man who yearns to render his
favorite a good friend is the necessity of himself making virtue his habitual practice” (Symposium
viii.27). Weirdly, the evening ends with a demonstration of smooching between two of the young
musicians which is so hot that everyone rushes off home to his wife (if he has one) or professes
the intention to acquire a wife as soon as possible, if he is still single.
- The characters selected to attend this symposium are all carefully chosen - they are all
gentleman (kaloikagathoi) and are all united in their status but later their disagreements
lead them into conflict
- Socrates drives the conversation towards philosophical matters and values the craft of
match-making/his abilities as a kind of ‘pimp’ as he can arrange alliances both with
respect to marriage and to diplomacy between nations
- Kallias is an exceptionally rich Athenian who has paid a lot of money to sophists for
wisdom; he hosts the symposium as he lusts after Autolycus and is proud of his ability to
make men better by giving them money. In the dialogue, it is revealed that this makes
them just toward everyone apart from Kallias, however
- Antisthenes is a prominent Socratic writer whose works are believed to have inspired
Xenophon in part. He is one of Socrates’ companions and values his wealth as despite
only having a little, it is enough to satisfy his needs and affords him leisure which allows
him to spend time with Socrates.
- Autolycus is the young winner of the pankration whom Kallias invites along with his
father Lykon as guests of honour. He is most proud of his father
- Lykon is the father of Autolycus whom some believe was Socrates’ prosecutor during
his trial in 399 BC. He is most proud of his son and is demonstrated to be the wealthiest
man in the world as he would not give his son up for all the Great King’s wealth (3.13)
- Kritoboulos was sent to Socrates by his father for protection and values his beauty the
most as it encourages men toward all forms of virtue, not only justice
- Charmides values his poverty the most as he does not have to worry about losing his
possessions and lives at the expense of the state. He was one of the Thirty Tyrants (po
Spartans) who were responsible for the eventual deaths of Autolycus and Nikeratos
- Nikeratos is the some of the most prominent general in Athens and is later killed by the
Thirty Tyrants. He is proud of his ability to recite all of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey but is
, not able to prove that this is a skill that one must value. He is also portrayed as a very
greedy man
- Hermogenes is one of Socrates’ companions and is an extremely pious man who
values the gods’ favour
- Syrcausan and the performers - a group hired by Kallias to perform entertainment for
his guests - Syracusan’s skill in training his slave performers is admired by Socrates and
the performances serve as points of conversation throughout the dialogue
- Philippos the Jester arrives uninvited and distracts everyone from their fascination with
Autolycus’ beauty. He tries to elicit laughter from his guests twice but fails and only when
he cries does Kritoboulos begin to laugh. Philippos contrasts with Socrates, who is able
to make the guests laugh easily
Victoria Wohl, 2004, Dirty Dancing
- We are given the incongruous image of a dancing Socrates and a symposium which
climaxes with an erotic dance which stimulates the guests so much that they either run
off home to their wives or state that they want one
- Symposium taught through mimesis; younger members would learn from the older about
good virtue and good love
- Plato and Xenophon go at length to describe the distinction between the good and the
bad and pleasures deriving from the good and the bad
- One refers to Plato’s Laws - Just as war can teach young men how to be brave, by
engaging in symposia young men can learn to develop self control
- Music is recognised as something which is pleasurable but can be morally despicable;
therefore Socrates proposes that there be an authority figure to discern between the
different types of music, separating the immoral from the moral
- The honesty and virtue of this authority figure allows the audience to access the best
pleasure, improving the audience instead of corrupting it
- According to Plato, as music can be used as a tool for education, it can both improve its
audience whilst also maintaining social hierarchy; it represents a model for the state as a
whole, pleasure brought under control and made useful
- In the first line of the text of the Symposium, we are told that it is a representation of the
actions of good and noble men
- Socrates goes on a tirade against perfume; men should smell like men and women like
women. Women are already ‘sweet smelling’ and perfume makes both slave men and
freeborn men smell the same. Therefore, smell is moralised in a bizarre way as Plato
moralises music in Laws.
- Smell is also placed into a social hierarchy, so sensory pleasure is modulated, with its
sex appeal turning into a lesson on morality and elite sociality
- As the dancer becomes agitated and jealous at the men at the symposium being more
entertained by one another rather than by his dancing, this represents the chasm
between the pleasures of philosophical discourse and the pleasures deriving from dance
- To win this competition, philosophy draws dance into its purview; it transforms the
pleasures of dance into lessons on philosophy
Symposium
Xenophon’s Symposium depicts a lighthearted group of friends attending a spontaneous
dinner-party in honor of Autolycus’ victory in an Olympic event. Entertainment is provided by
young talent dancing, singing, and performing feats of agility, while the conversation turns on
each guest explaining what he values most about himself: beauty, wealth, poverty, friends, and
traits of character are all offered and discussed. Socrates presents his central attribute as the
ability to be a “procurer” (essentially, a pimp); he explains that he is able to improve people and
make them better, more useful, more valuable to the city, and is in this analogous to a
successful pimp who is able to bring out the best in his stable of prostitutes. In a more serious
vein, Socrates explains the superior value of spiritual love over physical love, and the centrality
of virtue to genuine love. “(T)he greatest blessing that befalls the man who yearns to render his
favorite a good friend is the necessity of himself making virtue his habitual practice” (Symposium
viii.27). Weirdly, the evening ends with a demonstration of smooching between two of the young
musicians which is so hot that everyone rushes off home to his wife (if he has one) or professes
the intention to acquire a wife as soon as possible, if he is still single.
- The characters selected to attend this symposium are all carefully chosen - they are all
gentleman (kaloikagathoi) and are all united in their status but later their disagreements
lead them into conflict
- Socrates drives the conversation towards philosophical matters and values the craft of
match-making/his abilities as a kind of ‘pimp’ as he can arrange alliances both with
respect to marriage and to diplomacy between nations
- Kallias is an exceptionally rich Athenian who has paid a lot of money to sophists for
wisdom; he hosts the symposium as he lusts after Autolycus and is proud of his ability to
make men better by giving them money. In the dialogue, it is revealed that this makes
them just toward everyone apart from Kallias, however
- Antisthenes is a prominent Socratic writer whose works are believed to have inspired
Xenophon in part. He is one of Socrates’ companions and values his wealth as despite
only having a little, it is enough to satisfy his needs and affords him leisure which allows
him to spend time with Socrates.
- Autolycus is the young winner of the pankration whom Kallias invites along with his
father Lykon as guests of honour. He is most proud of his father
- Lykon is the father of Autolycus whom some believe was Socrates’ prosecutor during
his trial in 399 BC. He is most proud of his son and is demonstrated to be the wealthiest
man in the world as he would not give his son up for all the Great King’s wealth (3.13)
- Kritoboulos was sent to Socrates by his father for protection and values his beauty the
most as it encourages men toward all forms of virtue, not only justice
- Charmides values his poverty the most as he does not have to worry about losing his
possessions and lives at the expense of the state. He was one of the Thirty Tyrants (po
Spartans) who were responsible for the eventual deaths of Autolycus and Nikeratos
- Nikeratos is the some of the most prominent general in Athens and is later killed by the
Thirty Tyrants. He is proud of his ability to recite all of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey but is
, not able to prove that this is a skill that one must value. He is also portrayed as a very
greedy man
- Hermogenes is one of Socrates’ companions and is an extremely pious man who
values the gods’ favour
- Syrcausan and the performers - a group hired by Kallias to perform entertainment for
his guests - Syracusan’s skill in training his slave performers is admired by Socrates and
the performances serve as points of conversation throughout the dialogue
- Philippos the Jester arrives uninvited and distracts everyone from their fascination with
Autolycus’ beauty. He tries to elicit laughter from his guests twice but fails and only when
he cries does Kritoboulos begin to laugh. Philippos contrasts with Socrates, who is able
to make the guests laugh easily
Victoria Wohl, 2004, Dirty Dancing
- We are given the incongruous image of a dancing Socrates and a symposium which
climaxes with an erotic dance which stimulates the guests so much that they either run
off home to their wives or state that they want one
- Symposium taught through mimesis; younger members would learn from the older about
good virtue and good love
- Plato and Xenophon go at length to describe the distinction between the good and the
bad and pleasures deriving from the good and the bad
- One refers to Plato’s Laws - Just as war can teach young men how to be brave, by
engaging in symposia young men can learn to develop self control
- Music is recognised as something which is pleasurable but can be morally despicable;
therefore Socrates proposes that there be an authority figure to discern between the
different types of music, separating the immoral from the moral
- The honesty and virtue of this authority figure allows the audience to access the best
pleasure, improving the audience instead of corrupting it
- According to Plato, as music can be used as a tool for education, it can both improve its
audience whilst also maintaining social hierarchy; it represents a model for the state as a
whole, pleasure brought under control and made useful
- In the first line of the text of the Symposium, we are told that it is a representation of the
actions of good and noble men
- Socrates goes on a tirade against perfume; men should smell like men and women like
women. Women are already ‘sweet smelling’ and perfume makes both slave men and
freeborn men smell the same. Therefore, smell is moralised in a bizarre way as Plato
moralises music in Laws.
- Smell is also placed into a social hierarchy, so sensory pleasure is modulated, with its
sex appeal turning into a lesson on morality and elite sociality
- As the dancer becomes agitated and jealous at the men at the symposium being more
entertained by one another rather than by his dancing, this represents the chasm
between the pleasures of philosophical discourse and the pleasures deriving from dance
- To win this competition, philosophy draws dance into its purview; it transforms the
pleasures of dance into lessons on philosophy
