From the book
Symposium
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordAmbush and plotting make erotic interaction strategic.
- In the SymposiumAlcibiades first accuses Socrates of lying in wait for him, though the narrative has shown Socrates already at dinner.
- In this editionThe narrator’s account of arrival and the characters’ later accusations are not interchangeable evidence.
- A place to readPenia plots to conceive by Poros.
Meaning
Ambush and plotting make erotic interaction strategic. The vocabulary can expose a speaker’s projection as much as another person’s intention.
Use in the book
Alcibiades first accuses Socrates of lying in wait for him, though the narrative has shown Socrates already at dinner. His own recalled seduction is then expressly planned: private meetings, exercise, dinner, and a contrived overnight stay. Penia’s earlier plotting to obtain a child from Poros supplies a significant verbal parallel, but the stories differ in agency and result. The later speech itself is judged by Socrates to conceal a plan to control the company’s attachments.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
The narrator’s account of arrival and the characters’ later accusations are not interchangeable evidence. No claim that Socrates arranged Alcibiades’ unseen entrance or seating follows from the ambush metaphor.
ἐλλοχάω (ellochaō)
ellochaō — To lie in ambush; Alcibiades accuses Socrates of appearing where least expected.
- 213b — ἐλλοχῶν. His startled discovery of Socrates becomes an accusation of ambush.
Read: Plotting and ambush.
ἐπιβουλεύω (epibouleuō)
epibouleuō — To plot against or lay plans to obtain something from another.
- 217c — ἐπιβουλεύων. Alcibiades invites Socrates to dinner like a lover plotting for a darling.
Read: Plotting and ambush.