From the book
Symposium
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe plural name belongs to the familiar danger of irresistible listening.
- In the SymposiumHe knows that if he gives Socrates his ears he will be unable to withstand the resulting self-recognition.
- In this editionThe source note recalls the Odyssey, in which Odysseus blocks his companions’ ears while he himself listens bound to the mast.
- A place to readFlight from a compelling voice is joined to shame and the pull of public honour.
Meaning
The plural name belongs to the familiar danger of irresistible listening. Alcibiades makes the image a means of explaining his flight.
Use in the book
He knows that if he gives Socrates his ears he will be unable to withstand the resulting self-recognition. He therefore stops them and escapes, lest he grow old sitting beside him. The danger is presented from the conflicted listener’s perspective: the speech is also what exposes his need to change. The image should not be converted into Plato’s assertion that Socrates corrupts hearers or that remaining beside him is literally fatal.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
The source note recalls the Odyssey, in which Odysseus blocks his companions’ ears while he himself listens bound to the mast. Alcibiades’ self-description is a free comparison, not an exact reenactment of every detail.
Σειρήν (Seirēn)
Seirēn — A Siren, whose compelling song supplies a comparison for the voice Alcibiades both wants and resists.
- 216a — τῶν Σειρήνων. Alcibiades stops his ears as if escaping from the Sirens.
Read: Sirens.