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Plato

Symposium

Ancient Greek with an independent English translation.

SymposiumSymposium · 204d–205b

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Symposium · 204d–205b

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Ancient Greek

p. 92

Ἔρως, ἔστι δὲ τῶν καλῶν, ὡς σὺ φῄς. εἰ δέ τις ἡμᾶς ἔροιτο· Τί τῶν καλῶν ἐστιν ὁ Ἔρως, ὦ Σώκρατές τε καὶ Διοτίμα; ὧδε δὲ σαφέστερον· ἐρᾷ ὁ ἐρῶν τῶν καλῶν· τί ἐρᾷ;

Καὶ ἐγὼ εἶπον ὅτι Γενέσθαι αὑτῷ.

Ἀλλ’ ἔτι ποθεῖ, ἔφη, ἡ ἀπόκρισις ἐρώτησιν τοιάνδε· Τί ἔσται ἐκείνῳ ᾧ ἂν γένηται τὰ καλά;

Οὐ πάνυ ἔφην ἔτι ἔχειν ἐγὼ πρὸς ταύτην τὴν ἐρώτησιν προχείρως ἀποκρίνασθαι.

204eἈλλ’, ἔφη, ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις μεταβαλὼν ἀντὶ τοῦ καλοῦ τῷ ἀγαθῷ χρώμενος πυνθάνοιτο· Φέρε, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἐρᾷ ὁ ἐρῶν τῶν ἀγαθῶν· τί ἐρᾷ;

Γενέσθαι, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, αὑτῷ.

Καὶ τί ἔσται ἐκείνῳ ᾧ ἂν γένηται τἀγαθά;

Τοῦτ’ εὐπορώτερον, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, ἔχω ἀποκρίνασθαι, ὅτι εὐδαίμων ἔσται.

205aΚτήσει γάρ, ἔφη, ἀγαθῶν οἱ εὐδαίμονες εὐδαίμονες, καὶ οὐκέτι προσδεῖ ἐρέσθαι Ἵνα τί δὲ βούλεται εὐδαίμων εἶναι ὁ βουλόμενος; ἀλλὰ τέλος δοκεῖ ἔχειν ἡ ἀπόκρισις.

Ἀληθῆ λέγεις, εἶπον ἐγώ.

Ταύτην δὴ τὴν βούλησιν καὶ τὸν ἔρωτα τοῦτον πότερα κοινὸν οἴει εἶναι πάντων ἀνθρώπων, καὶ πάντας τἀγαθὰ βούλεσθαι αὑτοῖς εἶναι ἀεί, ἢ πῶς λέγεις;

Οὕτως, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ· κοινὸν εἶναι πάντων.

Τί δὴ οὖν, ἔφη, ὦ Σώκρατες, οὐ πάντας ἐρᾶν φαμεν, 205b εἴπερ γε πάντες τῶν αὐτῶν ἐρῶσι καὶ ἀεί, ἀλλά τινάς φαμεν ἐρᾶν, τοὺς δ’ οὔ;

Θαυμάζω, ἦν δ’ ἐγώ, καὶ αὐτός.

Ἀλλὰ μὴ θαύμαζ’, ἔφη· ἀφελόντες γὰρ ἄρα τοῦ ἔρωτός

92

Symposium

p. 93

Love; and he is of beautiful things, as you say. But if someone were to ask us, “In what way is Love of beautiful things, Socrates and Diotima?” — or, more clearly, like this: “The one in love is in love with beautiful things: what is it he is in love with?”’

“And I said, ‘That they become his.’

“‘But the answer still yearns,’ she said, ‘for a question of this kind: what will he have whose they become, the beautiful things?’

“I said I was no longer quite able to answer this question readily.

204e“‘Well,’ she said, ‘it is as if someone changed and, using the good in place of the beautiful, inquired: “Come, Socrates, the one in love is in love with good things: what is it he is in love with?”’

“‘That they become his,’ I said.

“‘And what will he have whose they become, the good things?’

“‘This I can answer with more resource,’ I said: ‘that he will be happy.’

205a“‘For it is by the possession of good things,’ she said, ‘that the happy are happy, and there is no further need to ask, “And to what end does the one who wants to be happy want it?” The answer seems to have reached its end.’

“‘What you say is true,’ I said.

“‘This wish, then, and this love — do you think it common to all human beings, and that all want good things to be theirs always, or how do you put it?’

“‘So,’ I said: ‘that it is common to all.’

“‘Why then, Socrates,’ she said, ‘do we not say that all are in love, 205b if indeed all are in love with the same things and always, but say that some are in love and some not?’

“‘I marvel at it myself,’ I said.

“‘No, do not marvel,’ she said; ’for, after all, we take from love

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About This Reading Edition

The complete Symposium, 172a–223d: at Agathon’s banquet the guests praise Love, Socrates recounts Diotima’s teaching, and Alcibiades praises Socrates. Burnet’s Greek faces a new Diotimos Editions English translation, with an introduction, key words, outline, glossary, critical apparatus, and linked translator notes.

Historical Text and Translation

Greek: Plato, Symposium, in John Burnet, Platonis Opera, volume II (Oxford, 1901; second edition, 1910), in a later impression printed by John Johnson and issued by Humphrey Milford no earlier than January 1935, as described by the supplied edition. Its Greek was taken from the Perseus Digital Library transcription and checked against photographs of that impression; Burnet’s readings and critical apparatus are retained. The digital Greek transcription and its modifications are attributed to the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, under CC BY-SA 4.0. English translation and editorial matter: Diotimos Editions, 2026.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

The ancient Greek work and Burnet’s printed edition are in the public domain. The Perseus digital Greek transcription and its modifications are reused under CC BY-SA 4.0, as verified from the official Perseus repository license. The supplied edition reports checking its transcription against Burnet’s printed pages. The new English translation and editorial matter are credited to Diotimos Editions, 2026; no open license for those new contributions is stated in the supplied files.