Philosophy · Plato

Symposium

Plato, c. 428–348 BCE — in Greek.

A drinking party of speeches on love (erōs, ἔρως) — ascending from desire for a body to desire for the beautiful itself.

The words most alive here

By how often they stand in this work, the commonest particles set aside. Each opens onto its own word.

δοκῶ μοι περὶ ὧν πυνθάνεσθε οὐκ ἀμελέτητος εἶναι.
Plato, Symposium 172 (DIORISIS sentence 1)
πρότερον δέ μοι, ἦ δʼ ὅς, εἰπέ, σὺ αὐτὸς παρεγένου τῇ συνουσίᾳ ταύτῃ ἢ οὔ;
Plato, Symposium 172 (DIORISIS sentence 10)
κἀγὼ εἶπον ὅτι παντάπασιν ἔοικέ σοι οὐδὲν διηγεῖσθαι σαφὲς ὁ διηγούμενος, εἰ νεωστὶ ἡγῇ τὴν συνουσίαν γεγονέναι ταύτην ἣν ἐρωτᾷς, ὥστε καὶ ἐμὲ παραγενέσθαι.
Plato, Symposium 172 (DIORISIS sentence 11)
ἐγώ γε δή, ἔφη.
Plato, Symposium 172 (DIORISIS sentence 12)
πόθεν, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, ὦ Γλαύκων;
Plato, Symposium 172 (DIORISIS sentence 13)
οὐκ οἶσθʼ ὅτι πολλῶν ἐτῶν Ἀγάθων ἐνθάδε οὐκ ἐπιδεδήμηκεν, ἀφʼ οὗ δʼ ἐγὼ Σωκράτει συνδιατρίβω καὶ ἐπιμελὲς πεποίημαι ἑκάστης ἡμέρας εἰδέναι ὅτι ἂν λέγῃ ἢ πράττῃ, οὐδέπω τρία ἔτη ἐστίν;
Plato, Symposium 172 (DIORISIS sentence 14)