The Symposium of Plato

III. The Discourse of Phaedrus: 178 A—180 B.

Prologue: Eros is a great and wondrous god.

(a) He is wondrous in origin, being eldest of gods and unbegotten—witness what Homer and others say of him.

(b) He is the supreme benefactor of mankind, (1) as inspiring a high sense of honor in private, civic, and military life; (2) as inspiring self-sacrifice, which wins divine favor (e.g., Alcestis and Achilles, contrasted with the cowardly Orpheus).

Epilogue: Thus Eros is most ancient, venerable, and beneficent.

IV. The Discourse of Pausanias: 180 C—185 C.

Prologue: Eros being not single but dual, we must begin by defining which Eros is to be our theme.

(a) The dual nature of Eros follows from the dual nature of Aphrodite: as there is an Aphrodite Urania Heavenly Aphrodite. and an Aphrodite Pandemos Common/Public Aphrodite., so there is Eros Uranios and Eros Pandemos.

(b) From the principle that no action is in the abstract good or bad but derives its moral quality solely from the manner of its execution, it follows that Eros is bad or good according to the kind of love-making to which it prompts.

(c) The general characteristics: (1) Eros Pandemos is directed to women as well as boys, to the body rather than the soul, and to the unscrupulous satisfaction of lust; (2) whereas Eros Uranios shuns females and seeks only such males as are noble and nearly mature both in mind and body. It is the followers of Eros Pandemos who have brought paederastia Love between adult men and youths. into disrepute.

(d) The varying nomoi original: "νόμοι" meaning customs or laws. concerning Eros may be classified thus:

(1) In all Greek states except Athens the nomos original: "νόμος" meaning law or custom. is simple, either (a) approving paederastia, as in Elis and Boeotia; or (b) condemning it, as in Ionia and states subject to barbarian rule, where it is held to foster a dangerous spirit of independence (e.g., Harmodius and Aristogiton).

(2) At Athens, the nomos is complex. (a) Eros is approved, and its excesses condoned, when directed towards superior youths approaching manhood. (b) It appears to be condemned, in so far as parents forbid their boys to hold converse with "erastae" Lovers.. The explanation of this ambiguous attitude must be sought in the principle laid down above,