Symposium

is worthy of all marvel. For the kind of man Achilles was, one might liken Brasidas and others to him;¹ and the kind Pericles was, in turn, one might liken both Nestor and Antenor to him — and there are others too — 221d and the rest one might liken in the same way.² But the kind of man this person here has turned out to be in his outlandishness, both himself and his speeches, if one sought, one would not find anyone even near, either among those now or among the ancients, unless perhaps one were to liken him to those I speak of, to no one among human beings, but to the sileni and satyrs, himself and his speeches.

“And indeed I left this out at the start too: that his speeches as well are most like the sileni that are opened. 221e For if anyone were willing to listen to Socrates’ speeches, they would appear quite laughable at first: such are the words and expressions they wrap round themselves on the outside, a hide, as it were, of an insolent satyr. For he talks of pack-asses and smiths of some sort and shoemakers and tanners, and always appears to say the same things by means of the same things,³ so that 222a every inexperienced and senseless person would laugh at the speeches. But if one sees them opened and gets inside them, he will find, first, that they alone of speeches have sense inside, and then that they are most divine and have in themselves the most statues of virtue, and reach furthest — or rather to all that it befits one to look into who is going to be beautiful and good.

“These, gentlemen, are the things for which I praise Socrates; and in turn, mixing in what I blame him for, I have told you how he treated me with insolence. And what is more, 222b it is not only me he has done this to, but also Charmides son of Glaucon, and Euthydemus son of Diocles, and very many others, whom this man deceives as though he were a lover, and himself becomes, rather, darling instead of lover.⁴ This, then, to you too