DiotimosReading Desk

Images and myth

Leader, pilot and companion

ἡγεμών (hēgemōn); κυβερνήτης (kybernētēs); ἐπιβάτης (epibatēs); σωτήρ (sōtēr)

The titles evoke leadership and companionship through danger rather than one technical account of causation.

From the book

Symposium

Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Browse this book’s lexicon →

Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordThe titles evoke leadership and companionship through danger rather than one technical account of causation.
  • In the SymposiumAristophanes makes Love leader and general toward recovery of one’s own, conditional on reconciliation with the gods.
  • In this editionThe edition preserves “pilot” and “marine” as distinct terms.
  • A place to readLove guides the hoped-for restoration.

Meaning

The titles evoke leadership and companionship through danger rather than one technical account of causation.

Use in the book

Aristophanes makes Love leader and general toward recovery of one’s own, conditional on reconciliation with the gods. Agathon accumulates a larger set of roles: pilot, marine, comrade and savior, following peace and festal gathering. The rapid accumulation is characteristic of his encomium. It should not be converted into the assertion that a pilot and a marine perform the same task or that each image independently proves Love’s goodness.

Places to read

  1. 193a–d2Love guides the hoped-for restoration.
  2. 197c–ePeace, festivity and the final cluster of protective roles.

Translation in this edition

The edition preserves “pilot” and “marine” as distinct terms. At 197e it also keeps “in speech” among the circumstances of assistance, following the supplied text rather than replacing it with a conjectured battlefield word.

ἐπιβάτης (epibatēs)

epibatēs — A marine or passenger aboard, here part of a cluster of protective companions rather than identical with the pilot.

  • 197e — ἐπιβάτης. A second maritime role in Agathon’s list.

Read: Leader, pilot and companion.

ἡγεμών (hēgemōn)

hēgemōn — A leader or guide, used for Love in restoration and in the festal or cosmic procession of praise.

  • 193b — ἡγεμὼν καὶ στρατηγός. Aristophanes gives Love guiding and commanding roles.
  • 197e — ἡγεμὼν. Agathon closes by making Love the finest leader.

Read: Leader, pilot and companion.

κυβερνήτης (kybernētēs)

kybernētēs — A pilot or steersman, one of Agathon’s images for Love’s assistance through life’s difficulties.

  • 197e — κυβερνήτης. Love guides in toil, fear, yearning and speech.

Read: Leader, pilot and companion.

σωτήρ (sōtēr)

sōtēr — A savior or preserver, completing the list of assistance.

  • 197e — σωτὴρ. Love is praised as the best savior.

Read: Leader, pilot and companion.