§193τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ αἴτιον, ὅτι ἡ ἀρχαία φύσις ἡμῶν ἦν αὕτη καὶ ἦμεν ὅλοι· τοῦ ὅλου οὖν τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ καὶ διώξει ἔρως ὄνομα.
For this is the cause, that our original nature was this and we were whole; therefore, to the desire and pursuit of the whole, "Eros" is the name.
καὶ πρὸ τοῦ, ὥσπερ λέγω, ἓν ἦμεν, νυνὶ δὲ διὰ τὴν ἀδικίαν διῳκίσθημεν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, καθάπερ Ἀρκάδες ὑπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων·
And before this, as I say, we were one, but now because of injustice we have been dispersed by the god, just as Arcadians were by the Lacedaemonians.
φόβος οὖν ἔστιν, ἐὰν μὴ κόσμιοι ὦμεν πρὸς τοὺς θεούς, ὅπως μὴ καὶ αὖθις διασχισθησόμεθα, καὶ περίιμεν ἔχοντες ὥσπερ οἱ ἐν ταῖς στήλαις καταγραφὴν ἐκτετυπωμένοι, διαπεπρισμένοι κατὰ τὰς ῥῖνας, γεγονότες ὥσπερ λίσπαι.
There is a fear, then, if we are not orderly toward the gods, that we may be split in two once again, and go about looking like those carved in profile on steles, sawn through along our noses, having become like split-counters.
ἀλλὰ τούτων ἕνεκα πάντʼ ἄνδρα χρὴ ἅπαντα παρακελεύεσθαι εὐσεβεῖν περὶ θεούς, ἵνα τὰ μὲν ἐκφύγωμεν, τῶν δὲ τύχωμεν, ὡς ὁ Ἔρως ἡμῖν ἡγεμὼν καὶ στρατηγός.
But for these reasons, every man must exhort everyone to be pious toward the gods, so that we may escape the one and obtain the other, with Eros as our guide and commander.
ᾧ μηδεὶς ἐναντία πραττέτω— πράττει δʼ ἐναντία ὅστις θεοῖς ἀπεχθάνεται—φίλοι γὰρ γενόμενοι καὶ διαλλαγέντες τῷ θεῷ ἐξευρήσομέν τε καὶ ἐντευξόμεθα τοῖς παιδικοῖς τοῖς ἡμετέροις αὐτῶν, ὃ τῶν νῦν ὀλίγοι ποιοῦσι.
Let no one act contrary to him—and whoever is hateful to the gods acts contrary to him—for if we become friends and are reconciled with the god, we shall both find and meet our own beloveds, which few of those now do.
καὶ μή μοι ὑπολάβῃ Ἐρυξίμαχος, κωμῳδῶν τὸν λόγον, ὡς Παυσανίαν καὶ Ἀγάθωνα λέγω—ἴσως μὲν γὰρ καὶ οὗτοι τούτων τυγχάνουσιν ὄντες καί εἰσιν ἀμφότεροι τὴν φύσιν ἄρρενες—λέγω δὲ οὖν ἔγωγε καθʼ ἁπάντων καὶ ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν, ὅτι οὕτως ἂν ἡμῶν τὸ γένος εὔδαιμον γένοιτο, εἰ ἐκτελέσαιμεν τὸν ἔρωτα καὶ τῶν παιδικῶν τῶν αὑτοῦ ἕκαστος τύχοι εἰς τὴν ἀρχαίαν ἀπελθὼν φύσιν.
And let not Eryximachus interrupt me, making fun of my speech, as if I am referring to Pausanias and Agathon—for perhaps they indeed happen to be of this kind and are both male by nature—but I am speaking of everyone, both men and women, that our race would become happy in this way, if we were to fulfill our love and each were to obtain his own beloved, returning to our ancient nature.
εἰ δὲ τοῦτο ἄριστον, ἀναγκαῖον καὶ τῶν νῦν παρόντων τὸ τούτου ἐγγυτάτω ἄριστον εἶναι· τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶ παιδικῶν τυχεῖν κατὰ νοῦν αὐτῷ πεφυκότων·
And if this is best, it is necessary that what is closest to this among present options is also best; and this is to obtain a beloved who is naturally suited to one's own mind.
οὗ δὴ τὸν αἴτιον θεὸν ὑμνοῦντες δικαίως ἂν ὑμνοῖμεν ἔρωτα, ὃς ἔν τε τῷ παρόντι ἡμᾶς πλεῖστα ὀνίνησιν εἰς τὸ οἰκεῖον ἄγων, καὶ εἰς τὸ ἔπειτα ἐλπίδας μεγίστας παρέχεται, ἡμῶν παρεχομένων πρὸς θεοὺς εὐσέβειαν, καταστήσας ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν ἀρχαίαν φύσιν καὶ ἰασάμενος μακαρίους καὶ εὐδαίμονας ποιῆσαι.
Praising the god who is the cause of this, we would justly praise Eros, who both in the present benefits us the most by leading us to our own, and for the future provides the greatest hopes, if we show piety toward the gods, that he will restore us to our ancient nature and, having healed us, make us blessed and happy.
οὗτος, ἔφη, ὦ Ἐρυξίμαχε, ὁ ἐμὸς λόγος ἐστὶ περὶ Ἔρωτος, ἀλλοῖος ἢ ὁ σός.
"This, Eryximachus," he said, "is my speech about Eros, different from yours.
ὥσπερ οὖν ἐδεήθην σου, μὴ κωμῳδήσῃς αὐτόν, ἵνα καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀκούσωμεν τί ἕκαστος ἐρεῖ, μᾶλλον δὲ τί ἑκάτερος· Ἀγάθων γὰρ καὶ Σωκράτης λοιποί. ἀλλὰ πείσομαί σοι, ἔφη φάναι τὸν Ἐρυξίμαχον· καὶ γάρ μοι ὁ λόγος ἡδέως ἐρρήθη.
So, as I begged of you, do not make fun of it, so that we may also hear what each of the remaining ones will say, or rather, what each of the two will say; for Agathon and Socrates are left." "But I will obey you," Eryximachus said, according to him; "for indeed the speech was pleasantly spoken to me.
καὶ εἰ μὴ συνῄδη Σωκράτει τε καὶ Ἀγάθωνι δεινοῖς οὖσι περὶ τὰ ἐρωτικά, πάνυ ἂν ἐφοβούμην μὴ ἀπορήσωσι λόγων διὰ τὸ πολλὰ καὶ παντοδαπὰ εἰρῆσθαι· νῦν δὲ ὅμως θαρρῶ. §194τὸν οὖν Σωκράτη εἰπεῖν καλῶς γὰρ αὐτὸς ἠγώνισαι, ὦ Ἐρυξίμαχε· εἰ δὲ γένοιο οὗ νῦν ἐγώ εἰμι, μᾶλλον δὲ ἴσως οὗ ἔσομαι ἐπειδὰν καὶ Ἀγάθων εἴπῃ εὖ, καὶ μάλʼ ἂν φοβοῖο καὶ ἐν παντὶ εἴης ὥσπερ ἐγὼ νῦν. φαρμάττειν βούλει με, ὦ Σώκρατες, εἰπεῖν τὸν Ἀγάθωνα, ἵνα θορυβηθῶ διὰ τὸ οἴεσθαι τὸ θέατρον προσδοκίαν μεγάλην ἔχειν ὡς εὖ ἐροῦντος ἐμοῦ. ἐπιλήσμων μεντἂν εἴην, ὦ Ἀγάθων, εἰπεῖν τὸν Σωκράτη, εἰ ἰδὼν τὴν σὴν ἀνδρείαν καὶ μεγαλοφροσύνην ἀναβαίνοντος ἐπὶ τὸν ὀκρίβαντα μετὰ τῶν ὑποκριτῶν, καὶ βλέψαντος ἐναντία τοσούτῳ θεάτρῳ, μέλλοντος ἐπιδείξεσθαι σαυτοῦ λόγους, καὶ οὐδʼ ὁπωστιοῦν ἐκπλαγέντος, νῦν οἰηθείην σε θορυβήσεσθαι ἕνεκα ἡμῶν ὀλίγων ἀνθρώπων. τί δέ, ὦ Σώκρατες;
And if I did not know that Socrates and Agathon are formidable in matters of love, I should be very afraid that they might run out of words because so many and various things have been said; but now, nevertheless, I am confident." Then Socrates said, according to him: "For you yourself competed well, Eryximachus; but if you were to come to where I am now, or rather, perhaps, where I shall be when Agathon too has spoken well, you would indeed fear greatly and be in every way as I am now." Agathon said, "You want to bewitch me, Socrates, so that I may be flustered by thinking that the theater has a great expectation of me, as if I am going to speak well." Socrates said: "I should indeed be forgetful, Agathon, if, having seen your courage and high-mindedness when you mounted the platform with the actors and looked in the face of so large an audience, being about to display your own words, and not being in the least dismayed, I were now to think you would be flustered because of us, a few men." "What then, Socrates?" Agathon said.
τὸν Ἀγάθωνα φάναι, οὐ δήπου με οὕτω θεάτρου μεστὸν ἡγῇ ὥστε καὶ ἀγνοεῖν ὅτι νοῦν ἔχοντι ὀλίγοι ἔμφρονες πολλῶν ἀφρόνων φοβερώτεροι; οὐ μεντἂν καλῶς ποιοίην, φάναι, ὦ Ἀγάθων, περὶ σοῦ τι ἐγὼ ἄγροικον δοξάζων· ἀλλʼ εὖ οἶδα ὅτι εἴ τισιν ἐντύχοις οὓς ἡγοῖο σοφούς, μᾶλλον ἂν αὐτῶν φροντίζοις ἢ τῶν πολλῶν.
"Surely you do not think me so full of the theater as to be ignorant that, to a man of sense, a few wise people are more fearsome than many fools?" "Indeed, I should not be doing well," he said, "Agathon, if I thought anything rude about you; but I know well that if you met any whom you considered wise, you would care more for them than for the multitude.
ἀλλὰ μὴ οὐχ οὗτοι ἡμεῖς ὦμεν—ἡμεῖς μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἐκεῖ παρῆμεν καὶ ἦμεν τῶν πολλῶν—εἰ δὲ ἄλλοις ἐντύχοις σοφοῖς, τάχʼ ἂν αἰσχύνοιο αὐτούς, εἴ τι ἴσως οἴοιο αἰσχρὸν ὂν ποιεῖν· ἢ πῶς λέγεις; ἀληθῆ λέγεις, φάναι.
But take care lest we are not those wise ones—for we too were present there and were part of the multitude—but if you met other wise people, you would perhaps be ashamed before them if you thought you were doing something shameful; or how do you mean?" "You speak the truth," he said.
τοὺς δὲ πολλοὺς οὐκ ἂν αἰσχύνοιο εἴ τι οἴοιο αἰσχρὸν ποιεῖν; καὶ τὸν Φαῖδρον ἔφη ὑπολαβόντα εἰπεῖν ὦ φίλε Ἀγάθων, ἐὰν ἀποκρίνῃ Σωκράτει, οὐδὲν ἔτι διοίσει αὐτῷ ὁπῃοῦν τῶν ἐνθάδε ὁτιοῦν γίγνεσθαι, ἐὰν μόνον ἔχῃ ὅτῳ διαλέγηται, ἄλλως τε καὶ καλῷ.
"And would you not be ashamed before the multitude if you thought you were doing something shameful?" And he said that Phaedrus, interrupting, said: "Dear Agathon, if you answer Socrates, it will no longer make any difference to him how anything whatsoever goes on here, as long as he has someone to converse with, especially one who is beautiful.
ἐγὼ δὲ ἡδέως μὲν ἀκούω Σωκράτους διαλεγομένου, ἀναγκαῖον δέ μοι ἐπιμεληθῆναι τοῦ ἐγκωμίου τῷ Ἔρωτι καὶ ἀποδέξασθαι παρʼ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου ὑμῶν τὸν λόγον· ἀποδοὺς οὖν ἑκάτερος τῷ θεῷ οὕτως ἤδη διαλεγέσθω. ἀλλὰ καλῶς λέγεις, ὦ Φαῖδρε, φάναι τὸν Ἀγάθωνα, καὶ οὐδέν με κωλύει λέγειν· Σωκράτει γὰρ καὶ αὖθις ἔσται πολλάκις διαλέγεσθαι.
But while I gladly listen to Socrates conversing, I must see to the praise of Eros and receive a speech from each one of you; let each of you two, therefore, render his tribute to the god before you hold your discussion." "Indeed, you speak well, Phaedrus," Agathon said, "and nothing prevents me from speaking; for there will be plenty of opportunities to converse with Socrates hereafter."