Images and myth

Acusilaus

Ἀκουσίλεως (Akousileōs)

The name provides corroboration within Phaedrus’ sequence of authorities.

From the book

Symposium

Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Browse this book’s lexicon →

Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordThe name provides corroboration within Phaedrus’ sequence of authorities.
  • In the SymposiumAcusilaus is made to concur with Hesiod that Earth and Love came after Chaos.
  • In this editionBurnet relocates this sentence from its manuscript position after the Parmenides quotation and adopts a verb from Stobaeus, as the edition’s note explains.
  • A place to readThe corroborating genealogy.

Meaning

The name provides corroboration within Phaedrus’ sequence of authorities.

Use in the book

Acusilaus is made to concur with Hesiod that Earth and Love came after Chaos. This supports the claim that Love belongs among the oldest gods; it does not by itself establish the moral benefits Phaedrus next attributes to Love. Agathon later contests the chronological thesis itself.

Places to read

  1. 178b–c2The corroborating genealogy.
  2. 195b–cAgathon rejects Phaedrus’ antiquity claim.

Translation in this edition

Burnet relocates this sentence from its manuscript position after the Parmenides quotation and adopts a verb from Stobaeus, as the edition’s note explains. This is a reported editorial arrangement, not a newly collated reading.

Ἀκουσίλεως (Akousileōs)

Akousileōs — Acusilaus, a prose genealogist invoked as agreeing with Hesiod about Earth and Love after Chaos; this is the printed nominative form.

  • 178b — Ἀκουσίλεως. Phaedrus’ additional witness for Love’s antiquity.

Read: Acusilaus.