LIFE.

Even upon her wrinkles, sharp love sits.
O, you wretched ones who met that youth
On her first voyage, through what a fire did you pass!
original: "Ἧς καὶ ἐπὶ ῥυτίδων..." These lines are from an epigram addressed to Archianassa, a courtesan from Colophon whom Plato reportedly loved in his youth.

Kissing Agathon, I held my soul upon my lips;
For the poor thing came as if it were about to pass across.
original: "Τὴν ψυχὴν, Ἀγάθωνα φιλῶν..." Agathon was a tragic poet and friend of Plato. This poem suggests the intensity of their spiritual and physical connection.

I strike you with an apple: if you love me willingly,
Receive it, and share your virginity with me;
But if you intend that which I pray does not happen, take this very thing
And consider how short-lived beauty is.
I am an apple; someone who loves you throws me. Grant your consent,
Xanthippe, for both you and I are withering away.
While Xanthippe is famously the name of Socrates' wife, in this poetic context, it refers to a younger beloved.
They also say that the poem regarding the captured Eretrians is his:
We are of the Eretrian race of Euboea, but near Susa
We lie; alas, how far from our fatherland!
The Eretrians were Greeks uprooted by the Persians and resettled deep within the Persian Empire (near Susa) after the failed revolt in 490 BCE.

Cypris said to the Muses: "Young maidens, honor Aphrodite,
Or I will arm Love against you."
The Muses replied to Cypris: "Take those silly jokes to Ares;
That little boy of yours does not fly to us."
A playful contrast between the Muses (representing intellectual and artistic pursuits) and Aphrodite (representing physical desire).

A man who found gold left a noose; but the other,
Not finding the gold he had left, tied the noose he found.
A classic ironic epigram: one man finds treasure and abandons his suicide plan; the man who lost the treasure uses the first man's rope to hang himself.
But Molon, who bore a hostile spirit toward him, says: "It is not
surprising that Dionysius is in Corinth, but that
Plato is in Sicily." Molon was a rhetorician; his quip mocks Plato's frequent and often disastrous trips to the court of the tyrants in Syracuse, Sicily. It seems also that Xenophon was
not well-disposed toward him. For as if in a spirit of
rivalry, they wrote similar works: a Symposium, an Apology
of Socrates, and Moral Memoirs. Then one wrote a Republic,
while the other wrote the Education of Cyrus. And in his Laws,
Plato says the Education is a fiction; for he claims
Cyrus was not such a man. Xenophon portrayed Cyrus the Great as the ideal ruler; Plato suggests this was historically inaccurate. Although both of them constantly
mention Socrates, they never mention each other, except for
Xenophon mentioning Plato in the third book of his Memoirs. It is said
that Antisthenes, when he was about to read something he had written,
invited Plato to be present. And when Plato
asked what he was going to read, he said it was "On the impossibility
of contradiction." When Plato asked, "How then can you write on this
very subject?" and showed him that his argument was circular, Antisthenes
wrote a dialogue against Plato, titling it Sathon. original: "Σάθωνα" (Sathon). This title is a crude pun on Plato's name, derived from a word for the male anatomy, intended as a personal insult.
From that time on, they remained alienated from one another.
They say that Socrates himself, upon hearing Plato read his Lysis,
exclaimed: "By Heracles, how many things this young man
is lying about me!" For the man wrote not a few things
that Socrates never said. Plato also held a grudge
against Aristippus. In his book On the Soul, he
disparages him by saying he was not present when Socrates
was dying, though he was in Aegina, a place very close by.
He also had some rivalry with Aeschines. For they say
that Aeschines was held in high regard by Dionysius. When
Aeschines arrived in poverty, he was neglected
by Plato, but was recommended by Aristippus. Furthermore, the
discourses which Plato attributed to Crito in the prison—
when he advised Socrates to flee—Idomeneus says actually
belonged to Aeschines, but Plato attributed them to Crito because of his hatred for Aeschines.
Plato himself makes no mention of Aeschines in his writings,
except in the book On the Soul and in the Apology. Aristotle says the
style of Plato's discourses flows between poetry and prose. To him alone—

Chius and upon her wrinkles sat sharp love.
What flames, through what fires did those wretched men pass,
From whom that first youth was tasted!

Giving kisses to Agathon, I held my soul upon my lips:
For, aching, it was hastening as if about to depart.

I strike you with an apple: if you love me, receive
That thing, and share your virginity with me.
If you say this cannot happen, receive this apple, and
See how beauty perishes in a short time.
I am an apple, he who loves you throws me. Grant it, I pray,
Xanthippe: for soon beauty perishes for you and for me.
They say also that poem on the Eretrians caught in snares
is his,
We were of the Eretrian race of Euboea: and near Susa
We are buried, alas, so far from our fatherland!

Venus said to the Muses: "Nymphs, dread Venus,
Or armed Love will leap upon you."
To whom the Muses replied: "Take away these charming jokes, we pray:
That winged boy does not fly here to us."

He who found gold, casts away the noose; the other, having lost
The gold, fits to his neck the noose he found.
But indeed Molon, with a hostile mind toward him, says it
is not to be wondered at if Dionysius were at Corinth, but if Plato
were in Sicily. It seems also that Xenophon was by no means
of a friendly mind toward him. For as if out of a zeal for
contention, they wrote similar things: the Symposium, the Defense
of Socrates, and Moral Commentaries. To these, the former wrote
On the Republic, while the latter wrote of Cyrus's infancy, which in his Laws
Plato called a fiction: for he said Cyrus was not of that kind.
Then both, though they always have Socrates in their
mouths, you will nowhere find that they made mention of each other.
Only once does Xenophon mention Plato in the
third book of his Commentaries. It is told also that Antisthenes, when
he wished to recite something of those things he had written,
asked him to be present at the recitation. And when he asked what
kind of thing it was, he explained the title of his book: On that,
he said, which is not to contradict. "How then," said Plato, "do you
write about this very thing?" And when Plato showed that he was
going against his own opinion, Antisthenes wrote a dialogue against Plato,
entitling it Sathon. From then on they were of alienated
minds toward each other. They say Socrates, when
he had heard Plato's Lysis being recited, said, "O immortal gods,
how many things the youth lies about me!"
For that man wrote not a few things which Socrates did not
say. There was also a not-obscure rivalry between him and Aristippus.
For in the book On the Soul he accuses him because
he was absent from the dying Socrates, although he was staying in Aegina,
a place near Attica, during that time. There was also a contention
with Aeschines, as it is told, a listener of Socrates,
because when he was being treated magnificently by Dionysius, and having set out
to him destitute of all things, he was looked down upon by Plato,
but was commended by Aristippus. Furthermore, the
discourses which he made Crito speak in the prison,
when he advised flight to Socrates, Idomeneus relates to have been
of Aeschines, but truly to have been attributed to Crito by Plato out of hatred.
Indeed, nowhere in his books is Plato found to have made mention
of him, except in the book On the Immortality of the Soul, and in the Defense of Socrates, and that
thinly. Truly, Aristotle says the character of his style flows between poem and prose. To this man alone—