SYMPOSIUM.

Who would not sooner have these children of the mind than the ordinary human ones? Compare Bacon’s Essays, 8: "Certainly the best works and of greatest merit for the public have proceeded from the unmarried or childless men; which both in affection and means have married and endowed the public."

"I will now initiate you," she said, "into the greater mysteries; for he who would proceed in due course should love first one fair form, and then many, and learn the connection of them. From beautiful bodies he should proceed to beautiful minds, and the beauty of laws and institutions, until he perceives that all beauty is of one kindred. From institutions he should go on to the sciences, until at last the vision is revealed to him of a single science of universal beauty; then he will behold the everlasting nature which is the cause of all, and will be near the end. In the contemplation of that supreme being of love he will be purified of earthly leaven, and will behold beauty, not with the bodily eye, but with the eye of the mind, and will bring forth true creations of virtue and wisdom, and be the friend of God and heir of immortality."

Such, Phaedrus, is the tale which I heard from the stranger of Mantinea, and which you may call the encomium of love, or what you please.

The company applauds the speech of Socrates, and Aristophanes is about to say something, when suddenly a band of revelers breaks into the court, and the voice of Alcibiades is heard asking for Agathon. He is led in drunk and welcomed by Agathon, whom he has come to crown with a garland. He is placed on a couch at his side, but suddenly, on recognizing Socrates, he starts up, and a sort of conflict is carried on between them, which Agathon is requested to appease. Alcibiades then insists that they shall drink, and has a large wine-cooler filled, which he first empties himself, and then fills again and passes to Socrates. He is informed of the nature of the entertainment and is ready to join, provided that, in the character of a drunken and disappointed lover, he may be allowed to sing the praises of Socrates.

He begins by comparing Socrates first to the masks of Silenus A mythological companion of Dionysus; his masks were ugly on the outside but held images of gods inside, which have images of the gods inside them, and secondly to Marsyas the flute-player A satyr known for his musical prowess; defeated by Apollo. Socrates produces the same effect with the voice that Marsyas did with the flute. He is the great speaker and enchanter who ravishes the souls of men; he is the convincer of hearts, as he has convinced Alcibiades, and made him ashamed of his mean and miserable life.