From the book
Symposium
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe names let the reader reconstruct two branches of a reported story, not two independent eyewitness accounts.
- In the SymposiumGlaucon’s previous information came from a person who heard Phoenix.
- In this editionThe source note expressly leaves uncertain whether this Glaucon is Plato’s brother.
- A place to readThe earlier questioner and the report’s common source are distinguished.
Meaning
The names let the reader reconstruct two branches of a reported story, not two independent eyewitness accounts.
Use in the book
Glaucon’s previous information came from a person who heard Phoenix. He mistakes the gathering for a recent occasion, and Apollodorus corrects him. Both Phoenix’s report and Apollodorus’ derive from Aristodemus, though Apollodorus has also checked some matters with Socrates. Glaucon is not the unnamed companion addressed in the present frame, nor should he be identified solely from his name with every other Platonic Glaucon.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
The source note expressly leaves uncertain whether this Glaucon is Plato’s brother. Charmides is later called son of Glaucon at 222b; the shared name is not proof that his father is the questioner here.
Γλαύκων (Glaukōn)
Glaukōn — The acquaintance who asks Apollodorus for the story during an earlier walk.
- 172c — Γλαύκων. Apollodorus addresses the questioner by name.
Read: Glaucon and Phoenix.
Φοῖνιξ (Phoinix)
Phoinix — An earlier recipient of Aristodemus’ report, from whom another teller had heard it.
- 172b — Φοίνικος. Glaucon names Phoenix son of Philippus in his chain of hearsay.
- 173b — Φοίνικι. Apollodorus identifies Aristodemus as Phoenix’s source as well as his own.
Read: Glaucon and Phoenix.