Criticising the Phaedrus in the Laws

 

In the Phaedrus Zeus’ love for Ganymede comes to the fore in the Palinode at the point when the Lover has caught his beloved:

‘Once the boy had admitted his lover and accepted his conversation and his company, the goodwill that he experiences at close quarters from his lover amazes the beloved, as he clearly sees that not even all his other friends and his relations together have anything to offer by way of affection in comparison with the friend who is divinely possessed. And when he continues doing this and association is combined with physical contact in the gymnasium and on the other occasions when people come together, then it is that the springs of that stream which Zeus as lover of Ganymede named “desire” (himeron, i3meron) flow in abundance upon the lover, some sinking within him, and some flowing off outside him as he brims over.’ (255b3-c4, tr. C.J. Rowe; quoted from ‘The philosopher-lover catches his beloved’, posted on September 29, 2023)

In the Laws it comes to the fore as follows:

‘When male and female come together in order to have a child (th=| qhlei/a| kai\ th=| tw~n a0rre/nwn fu/sei ei0j koinwni/an i0ou/sh| th=j gennh/sewj), the pleasure they experience seems to arise entirely naturally (h9 peri\ tau=ta h9donh\ kata\ fu/sin a0podedo/sqai dokei=). But homosexual intercourse and lesbianism seem to be unnatural crimes of the first rank, and are committed because men and women cannot control their desire for pleasure (a0rre/nwn de\ pro\j a1rrenaj h2 qhleiw~n pro\j qhlei/aj para\ fu/sin kai\ tw~n prw&twn to\ to/lmhm’ ei]nai di’ a0kra/teian h9donh=j). It is the Cretans we all hold to blame for making up the story of Ganymede (pa/ntej de\ dh\ Krhtw~n to\n peri\ Ganumh/dh mu=qon kathgorou=men w(j logopoihsa/ntwn tou/twn); they were so firmly convinced that their laws came from Zeus (e0peidh\ para\ Dio\j au0toi=j oi9 no/moi pepisteume/noi h]san gegone/nai) that they saddled him with this fable (tou=ton to\n mu/qon prosteqhke/nai kata\ tou= Dio/j), in order to have a divine ‘precedent’ when enjoying that particular pleasure (i3na e9po/menoi dh\ tw~| qew~| karpw~ntai kai\ tau/thn th\n h9donh/n).’ (636c3-d4, tr. T.J. Saunders)