Socrates’ prayer to Eros

 

                This, dear god of love, is offered and paid to you as the finest and best palinode of which I am capable (Au3th soi, w} fi/le E!rwj, ei0j h9mete/ran du/namin o3ti kalli/sth kai\ a0ri/sth de/dotai te kai\ e0kte/teistai palinw|di/a), especially given that it was forced to use somewhat poetical language because of Phaedrus (ta/ te a1lla kai\ toi=j o0no/masin h0nagkasme/nh poihtikoi=j tisin dia\ Fai=dron ei0rh=sqai). Forgive what went before and regard this with favour (a0lla\ tw~n prote/rwn te suggnw&mhn kai\ tw~nde xa/rin e1xwn); be kind and gracious – do not in anger take away or maim the expertise in love which you gave me (eu0menh\j kai\ i3lewj th\n e0rwtikh/n moi te/xnhn h4n e1dwkaj mh/te a0fe/lh| mh/te phrw&sh|j di’ o0rgh/n), and grant that I be valued still more than now by the beautiful (di/dou t’ e1ti ma=llon h2 nu=n para\ toi=j kaloi=j ti/mion ei]nai). If in our earlier speech Phaedrus and I said anything harsh against you (e0n tw~| pro/sqen d’ ei1 ti lo/gw| soi a0phne\j ei1pomen Fai=fro/j te kai\ e0gw&), blame Lysias as the instigator of the speech (Lusi/an to\n tou= lo/gou pate/ra ai0tiw&menoj), and make him cease from speeches of that kind (pau=e tw~n toiou=twn lo/gwn), turning him instead, as his brother Polemarchus has been turned, to philosophy (e0pi\ filosofi/an de/, w#sper a9delfo\j au0tou= Pole/marxoj te/traptai, tre/yon,), so that his lover here (i3na kai\ o9 e0rasth\j o3de au0tou=) may no longer waver as he does now between the two choices (mhke/ti e0pamfoteri/zh| kaqa/per nu=n), but may single-mindedly (a0ll’ a9plw~j) direct his life towards love accompanied by talk of a philosophical kind (pro\j E!rwta meta\ filoso/fwn lo/gwn to\n bi/on poih=tai).

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The palinode in its totality is devoted to Plato’s conception of love.

Plato is a follower of Zeus (250b7), those who belong to Zeus seek that the one they love should be someone like Zeus in respect of his soul; so they look to see whether he is naturally disposed towards philosophy and towards leadership, and when they have found him and fall in love, they do everything to make him of such a kind (252e1-4). If they live together their life as directed by philosophy (meta\ filosofi/aj, 249a2), with their souls focussed, through memory, on true being, on truth itself; when they die, they have won one of three contests in their endeavour to get back the soul’s plumage. If they live in this way three times in succession, they regain the state their souls possessed before their fall. This is what Plato’ conception of love is all about: the beautiful face of the philosopher-lover’s boy brings the philosopher’s mind in contact, through memory, with beauty itself, and thus with the realm of true being.

Socrates’ conception of love is different; it comes to the fore in his prayer to Eros. He is deeply interested in beautiful boys and helps them to live their lives as best as they can, and that’s why he is highly valued by them. Let me illustrate this point by a story from Xenophon’s Memorabilia.

When Socrates found that Critias loved Euthydemus (Kriti/an me\n toi/nun ai0sqano/menoj e0rw~nta Eu0qudh/mou) and wanted to lead him astray (kai\ peirw~nta xrh=sqai kaqa/per oi9 pro\j ta0frodi/sia tw~n swma/twn a0polau/ontej), he tried to restrain him (a0pe/trepe) by saying (fa/skwn) that it was mean and unbecoming in a gentleman to sue like a beggar to the object of his affection, whose good opinion he coveted (a0neleu/qero/n te ei]nai kai\ ou0 pre/pon a0ndri\ kalw~| ka0gaqw~| to\n e0rw&menon, w{| bou/letai pollou= a1cioj fai/nesqai, prosaitei=n w3sper tou\j ptwxou/j), stooping to ask a favour (i9keteu/onta kai\ deo/menon prosdou=nai) that it was wrong to grant (kai\ tau=ta mhdeno\j a0gaqou=). As Critias paid no heed whatever to this protest (tou= de\ Kriti/ou toi=j toiou/toij ou0x u9pakou/ontoj ou0de\ a0potrepome/nou), Socrates, it is said (le/getai to\n Swkra/thn), exclaimed in the presence of Euthydemus and many others (a1llwn te pollw~n paro/ntwn kai\ tou= Eu0qudh/mou ei0pei=n), “Critias seems to have the feelings of a pig (o3ti u9iko\n au0tw|~ dokoi/h pa/sxein o9 Kriti/aj): he can no more keep away from Euthydemus than pigs can help rubbing themselves against stones (e0piqumw~n Eu0qudh/mw| prosknh=sqai w#sper ta\ u3dia toi=j li/qoij).” (Translation E.C. Marchant, in the LOEB edition of Xenophon.)