§206οὐ γὰρ τὸ ἑαυτῶν οἶμαι ἕκαστοι ἀσπάζονται, εἰ μὴ εἴ τις τὸ μὲν ἀγαθὸν οἰκεῖον καλεῖ καὶ ἑαυτοῦ, τὸ δὲ κακὸν ἀλλότριον· ὡς οὐδέν γε ἄλλο ἐστὶν οὗ ἐρῶσιν ἅνθρωποι ἢ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ.
"For I do not think that each person embraces what is their own, unless indeed someone calls the good one's own and of oneself, and the bad foreign; since there is nothing else indeed that men love than the good.
ἢ σοὶ δοκοῦσιν; μὰ Δίʼ οὐκ ἔμοιγε, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ.
Or do they seem so to you?" "By Zeus, not to me," I said.
ἆρʼ οὖν, ἦ δʼ ἥ, οὕτως ἁπλοῦν ἐστι λέγειν ὅτι οἱ ἄνθρωποι τἀγαθοῦ ἐρῶσιν; ναί, ἔφην.
"Is it then," she said, "so simple to say that men love the good?" "Yes," I said.
τί δέ;
"What then?
οὐ προσθετέον, ἔφη, ὅτι καὶ εἶναι τὸ ἀγαθὸν αὑτοῖς ἐρῶσιν; προσθετέον. ἆρʼ οὖν, ἔφη, καὶ οὐ μόνον εἶναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀεὶ εἶναι; καὶ τοῦτο προσθετέον. ἔστιν ἄρα συλλήβδην, ἔφη, ὁ ἔρως τοῦ τὸ ἀγαθὸν αὑτῷ εἶναι ἀεί. ἀληθέστατα, ἔφην ἐγώ, λέγεις.
Must we not add," she said, "that they love also that the good be theirs?" "It must be added." "Is it then," she said, "not only to be, but also to be always?" "This too must be added." "Love then is, in sum," she said, "for the good to be always one's own." "You speak most truly," I said.
ὅτε δὴ τοῦτο ὁ ἔρως ἐστὶν ἀεί, ἦ δʼ ἥ, τῶν τίνα τρόπον διωκόντων αὐτὸ καὶ ἐν τίνι πράξει ἡ σπουδὴ καὶ ἡ σύντασις ἔρως ἂν καλοῖτο;
"Since indeed love is always this," she said, "for those who pursue it, in what manner and in what action would their eagerness and intensity be called love?
τί τοῦτο τυγχάνει ὂν τὸ ἔργον;
What does this work happen to be?
ἔχεις εἰπεῖν; οὐ μεντἂν σέ, ἔφην ἐγώ, ὦ Διοτίμα, ἐθαύμαζον ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ καὶ ἐφοίτων παρὰ σὲ αὐτὰ ταῦτα μαθησόμενος. ἀλλὰ ἐγώ σοι, ἔφη, ἐρῶ.
Can you tell?" "Indeed, Diotima," I said, "I would not be marveling at you for your wisdom and coming to you to learn these very things." "But I will tell you," she said.
ἔστι γὰρ τοῦτο τόκος ἐν καλῷ καὶ κατὰ τὸ σῶμα καὶ κατὰ τὴν ψυχήν. μαντείας, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, δεῖται ὅτι ποτε λέγεις, καὶ οὐ μανθάνω. ἀλλʼ ἐγώ, ἦ δʼ ἥ, σαφέστερον ἐρῶ.
"For this is birth in beauty, both according to the body and according to the soul." "It needs a diviner," I said, "whatever you mean, and I do not understand." ¦206c "But I," she said, "will speak more clearly.
κυοῦσιν γάρ, ἔφη, ὦ Σώκρατες, πάντες ἄνθρωποι καὶ κατὰ τὸ σῶμα καὶ κατὰ τὴν ψυχήν, καὶ ἐπειδὰν ἔν τινι ἡλικίᾳ γένωνται, τίκτειν ἐπιθυμεῖ ἡμῶν ἡ φύσις.
For all men, Socrates," she said, "are pregnant both according to the body and according to the soul, and when they reach a certain age, our nature desires to give birth.
τίκτειν δὲ ἐν μὲν αἰσχρῷ οὐ δύναται, ἐν δὲ τῷ καλῷ.
But it cannot give birth in the ugly, but in the beautiful.
ἡ γὰρ ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικὸς συνουσία τόκος ἐστίν.
For the union of man and woman is a birth.
ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο θεῖον τὸ πρᾶγμα, καὶ τοῦτο ἐν θνητῷ ὄντι τῷ ζῴῳ ἀθάνατον ἔνεστιν, ἡ κύησις καὶ ἡ γέννησις.
And this is a divine thing, and this is immortal in the living being that is mortal: pregnancy and generation.
τὰ δὲ ἐν τῷ ἀναρμόστῳ ἀδύνατον γενέσθαι.
But these cannot occur in what is discordant.
ἀνάρμοστον δʼ ἐστὶ τὸ αἰσχρὸν παντὶ τῷ θείῳ, τὸ δὲ καλὸν ἁρμόττον.
¦206d And the ugly is discordant with everything divine, while the beautiful is concordant.
Μοῖρα οὖν καὶ Εἰλείθυια ἡ Καλλονή ἐστι τῇ γενέσει.
Beauty, therefore, is Moira and Eileithyia to birth.
διὰ ταῦτα ὅταν μὲν καλῷ προσπελάζῃ τὸ κυοῦν, ἵλεών τε γίγνεται καὶ εὐφραινόμενον διαχεῖται καὶ τίκτει τε καὶ γεννᾷ· ὅταν δὲ αἰσχρῷ, σκυθρωπόν τε καὶ λυπούμενον συσπειρᾶται καὶ ἀποτρέπεται καὶ ἀνείλλεται καὶ οὐ γεννᾷ, ἀλλὰ ἴσχον τὸ κύημα χαλεπῶς φέρει.
Because of this, whenever the pregnant approaches the beautiful, it becomes gentle and, rejoicing, dissolves and gives birth and generates; but when it approaches the ugly, frowning and grieving, it contracts, turns away, shrinks back, and does not generate, but holding the fetus, bears it with difficulty.
ὅθεν δὴ τῷ κυοῦντί τε καὶ ἤδη σπαργῶντι πολλὴ ἡ πτοίησις γέγονε περὶ τὸ καλὸν διὰ τὸ μεγάλης ὠδῖνος ἀπολύειν τὸν ἔχοντα.
Hence indeed, for the pregnant and already swelling one, there arises a great excitement ¦206e concerning the beautiful, because it releases the one who has it from great labor pain.
ἔστιν γάρ, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἔφη, οὐ τοῦ καλοῦ ὁ ἔρως, ὡς σὺ οἴει. ἀλλὰ τί μήν; τῆς γεννήσεως καὶ τοῦ τόκου ἐν τῷ καλῷ. εἶεν, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ.
For love, Socrates," she said, "is not of the beautiful, as you think." "But of what then?" "Of generation and of birth in the beautiful." "So be it," I said.