Drinking, play, and consistency of law and conduct

Use in the book

Socrates reports that some people understand Minos' title of Zeus' confidant as drinking-companionship and shared play (319e). His rebuttal adduces an institutional sign: Cretans and, after learning from them, Spartans abstain from drinking parties and wine-associated play. He then states a particular law attributed to Minos: not to drink with one another to drunkenness (320a).

The broader cultural claim and the precise law are not identical formulations. The law's phrase eis methēn specifies the endpoint or extent of the joint drinking that is prohibited. An entry that glossed this specific Greek clause as “no drinking,” or as a complete prohibition of all drinking parties without qualification, would remove information the sentence expressly retains. The source's English translation gives the limitation correctly, even though its outline compresses the point more broadly.

The argument then turns from institutions to character. Minos is assumed to have enacted as lawful for his citizens what he accepted as fine. Socrates refuses to imagine him as a sorry fellow who believes one thing and does another contrary to it. Therefore, he concludes, the association with Zeus was verbal and educational, toward virtue. This is a reconstruction of conduct from law under an assumption of integrity. It is not an eyewitness report of what occurred in the cave, and it does not show that a lawgiver's prescriptions always reveal his private conduct regardless of character.

The contrast between play and education also has a precise scope. The rejected account makes drinking and play the meaning of the divine intimacy. Socrates does not undertake a general examination of whether any play can educate or any regulated drinking can be beneficial. The edition's parallels from the Laws concern local customs about drinking parties; they are contextual comparisons, not a license to import that dialogue's full treatment of wine here.

Places to read

1. 319eσυμπότην καὶ συμπαιστὴν εἶναι τοῦ Διός — The rival interpretation makes Minos Zeus' fellow drinker and playmate
2. 320aἀπέχονται συμποσίων καὶ ταύτης τῆς παιδιᾶς — Socrates' general statement concerns drinking parties and this kind of play
3. 320aμὴ συμπίνειν ἀλλήλοις εἰς μέθην — The actual law prohibits joint drinking to the point of drunkenness
4. 320aἃ ἐνόμιζεν καλὰ εἶναι, ταῦτα νόμιμα ἔθηκεν — His accepted standards and his prescriptions are aligned
5. 320bἐποίει δὲ ἄλλα παρ’ ἃ ἐνόμιζεν — The proposed inconsistency between conduct and conviction is denied
6. 320bδιὰ λόγων ἐπὶ παιδείᾳ εἰς ἀρετήν — Education replaces the disputed convivial interpretation

Translation in this edition

The full English clause, “not to drink with one another to the point of drunkenness,” should govern this entry. The distinct words paidia and paideia remain “play” and “education.” Phaulos at 320b should not be silently substituted for the printed phlauros, “poor,” in the final sentence at 321d.

Abstain — ἀπέχεσθαι (apechesthai)

ἀπέχεσθαι (apechesthai)

Abstain. To keep away from or abstain, with a genitive; used in Socrates' broad claim about Cretan and Spartan drinking customs. Attested: ἀπέχονται (320a). Drinking, play, and consistency of law and conduct.

Set down — τιθέναι (tithenai)

τιθέναι (tithenai)

Set down. To establish or enact; Minos is said to make lawful usages for his citizens from what he accepts as fine. Attested: ἔθηκεν (320a). Drinking, play, and consistency of law and conduct.

Citizens — πολίτης (politēs)

πολίτης (politēs)

Citizens. Members of the civic community for whom Minos enacts what he accepts as fine; the word identifies the recipients of his lawful prescriptions. Attested: πολίταις (320a). Drinking, play, and consistency of law and conduct.

Clear — δῆλος (dēlos)

δῆλος (dēlos)

Clear. Socrates presents the connection between what Minos accepted as fine and what he enacted for his citizens as clear; this asserted clarity is part of his reasoning against the convivial interpretation. Attested: δῆλον (320a). Drinking, play, and consistency of law and conduct.

Drink together — συμπίνειν (sympinein)

συμπίνειν (sympinein)

Drink together. To drink with others; the law forbids doing so to the point of drunkenness, not unqualifiedly every instance of drinking. Attested: συμπίνειν (320a). Drinking, play, and consistency of law and conduct.

Drinking parties — συμπόσιον (symposion)

συμπόσιον (symposion)

Drinking parties. A drinking party or social drinking; Socrates claims Cretans and Spartans abstain from such gatherings and wine-related play. Attested: συμποσίων (320a). Drinking, play, and consistency of law and conduct.

Drinking-companion — συμπότης (sympotēs)

συμπότης (sympotēs)

Drinking-companion. A fellow drinker; one part of the rival explanation of Zeus' confidant rejected by Socrates. Attested: συμπότην (319e). Drinking, play, and consistency of law and conduct.

Drunkenness — μέθη (methē)

μέθη (methē)

Drunkenness. Intoxication, the endpoint named in the prohibition against joint drinking; this limitation must not be dropped from the law's sense. Attested: μέθην (320a). Drinking, play, and consistency of law and conduct.

Play — παιδιά (paidia)

παιδιά (paidia)

Play. Play or amusement associated here with wine; distinct from paideia, education, which describes Socrates' preferred account of the association. Attested: παιδιᾶς (320a). Drinking, play, and consistency of law and conduct.

Playfellow — συμπαιστής (sympaistēs)

συμπαιστής (sympaistēs)

Playfellow. A companion in play, paired with drinking-companion in the rival interpretation of Minos' association. Attested: συμπαιστὴν (319e). Drinking, play, and consistency of law and conduct.

Sorry — φαῦλος (phaulos)

φαῦλος (phaulos)

Sorry. Inferior or contemptible; describes the inconsistent man Minos is assumed not to be, who does things contrary to his accepted standards. Attested: φαῦλος (320b). Drinking, play, and consistency of law and conduct.

Time — χρόνος (chronos)

χρόνος (chronos)

Time. In the phrase for all time, gives the sweeping temporal extent Socrates attributes to Crete’s happiness under the laws; it is his claim, not a chronology verified by the lexicon. Attested: χρόνον (320b). Drinking, play, and consistency of law and conduct.

Wine — οἶνος (oinos)

οἶνος (oinos)

Wine. Wine, specifying the kind of play discussed in the convivial interpretation; the exact law next prohibits drinking together to drunkenness. Attested: οἶνος (320a). Drinking, play, and consistency of law and conduct.

They say nothing (contextual phrase)

319e: οὐδὲν λέγουσιν. The idiom rejects the alternative interpreters' claim as empty or unsound; it does not mean that they are literally silent. They have just been described as construing the confidant as a drinking-companion and playfellow. Socrates proposes evidence against that construal, so the idiom marks an argumentative rejection rather than an absence of testimony. See Drinking and consistency.

To the point of drunkenness (contextual phrase)

320a: εἰς μέθην. The endpoint limits the specific Cretan rule quoted after the infinitive “not to drink together.” The law is not accurately restated as “never drink wine” or as an unrestricted prohibition of all gatherings. Socrates also makes a broader statement about Cretan and Spartan abstention from symposia, but the two formulations must remain distinct. See Drinking and consistency.

Accepting one thing and doing another (contextual phrase)

320b: ἐνόμιζεν μὲν ἕτερα, ἐποίει δὲ ἄλλα παρ’ ἃ ἐνόμιζεν. The balanced clauses describe the inconsistency Socrates refuses to attribute to Minos. The last phrase makes the action contrary to what was accepted, not merely different in vocabulary. This assumption helps infer Minos' conduct and association from his enactments; its argumentative role should not be hidden as if the biographical conclusion were separately documented. See Drinking and consistency.