From the book
Symposium
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe sea is a concrete image of expansiveness.
- In the SymposiumThe learner has moved beyond one body, person or practice and can see beauty in many kinds of knowledge.
- Reading contextThe learner has moved beyond one body, person or practice and can see beauty in many kinds of knowledge.
- A place to readExpansion, productive contemplation, strengthening and eventual single knowledge.
Meaning
The sea is a concrete image of expansiveness. Ungrudging describes the philosophical activity, not a material ocean containing beauty as a substance.
Use in the book
The learner has moved beyond one body, person or practice and can see beauty in many kinds of knowledge. Turning to the great sea frees thought from a servile fixation and produces many speeches and thoughts. This is still a productive stage before the single knowledge and the final vision. The sea should therefore not simply be equated with the final beautiful itself, which receives its distinct characterization next.
Places to read
- 210c–210eExpansion, productive contemplation, strengthening and eventual single knowledge.
ἄφθονος (aphthonos)
aphthonos — Ungrudging or abundant, not withholding productive activity.
- 210d — ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ ἀφθόνῳ. Philosophical fertility accompanies contemplation of the great sea.
Read: The great sea of beauty.
διανόημα (dianoēma)
dianoēma — A thought or product of thinking.
- 210d — διανοήματα. Thoughts are generated alongside beautiful and magnificent speeches.
Read: The great sea of beauty.
πέλαγος (pelagos)
pelagos — Open sea, an image for the expanded field of beauty available to philosophical thought.
- 210d — τὸ πολὺ πέλαγος. The learner turns towards beauty’s great sea rather than serving a single attachment.
Read: The great sea of beauty.