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Arrows, capture, and Ajax

βέλος (belos); ἄτρωτος (atrōtos); ἁλίσκομαι (haliskomai); Αἴας (Aias)

Weapons and capture translate an attempted seduction into an unsuccessful campaign.

From the book

Symposium

Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordWeapons and capture translate an attempted seduction into an unsuccessful campaign.
  • In the SymposiumAlcibiades believes his declaration has hit its target, then finds that bodily closeness and offered beauty do not secure Socrates.
  • In this editionBurnet prints plural “arrows” from B at 219b; other witnesses have the singular.
  • A place to readImagined arrows, invulnerability, failed capture, and bewilderment describe Alcibiades’ defeat.

Meaning

Weapons and capture translate an attempted seduction into an unsuccessful campaign. The metaphors identify Alcibiades’ strategic imagination, not an actual bodily wound.

Use in the book

Alcibiades believes his declaration has hit its target, then finds that bodily closeness and offered beauty do not secure Socrates. He already knows money is still less effective: Socrates is invulnerable to it at every point, beyond the comparison with Ajax’s protection from iron. The account moves immediately to actual campaigning, where Socrates saves the genuinely wounded Alcibiades. Metaphorical aggression and real protective action therefore stand in pointed contrast.

Places to read

  1. 219b–e2Imagined arrows, invulnerability, failed capture, and bewilderment describe Alcibiades’ defeat.
  2. 220d–e2Socrates saves Alcibiades when he is actually wounded in battle.

Translation in this edition

Burnet prints plural “arrows” from B at 219b; other witnesses have the singular. The note explains Ajax’s vulnerability at one point in a lost tragedy, but the present comparison’s essential feature is Socrates’ resistance to bribery.

Αἴας (Aias)

Aias — Ajax, the heroic standard of bodily invulnerability in the comparison.

  • 219e — Αἴας. The hero’s resistance to iron is surpassed by Socrates’ resistance to money.

Read: Arrows, capture, and Ajax.

ἁλίσκομαι (haliskomai)

haliskomai — To be caught or captured; erotic and political inducements are described as instruments of capture.

  • 219e — ἁλώσεσθαι. Alcibiades wrongly expected Socrates to be captured by his beauty.

Read: Arrows, capture, and Ajax.

ἄτρωτος (atrōtos)

atrōtos — Unwounded or invulnerable; here resistant to money as an inducement.

  • 219e — ἄτρωτος. Socrates is more invulnerable to money than Ajax to iron.

Read: Arrows, capture, and Ajax.

βέλος (belos)

belos — A missile or arrow; Alcibiades imagines his persuasive declaration as a shot that has wounded Socrates.

  • 219b — βέλη. His spoken proposal is compared to arrows he has released.

Read: Arrows, capture, and Ajax.