The appreciation of love as expressed in terms of Diotima's revelations to Socrates; is presented as a tiered entity in terms of its lowest form, appreciation for solely the physical form, up to the highest, cognizance of the true nature of beauty, immortality. Alicibiades presents Socrates' as the epitome of a true lover as defined by this scale explicated by Diotima. Alicibiades accomplishes this through the association of Socrates to the gods and god-like imagery and disassociation from mortal beauty via Alicibiades himself; this juxtaposition suggests that Socrates is beyond his mortal brethren and that his appreciation of beauty is divine.
The divine appreciation of beauty that Alicibiades perceives in Socrates is first presented in terms of his relationship with Alicibiades. Socrates refuses to take Alicibiades under his wing and rejects him despite his beauty, Alicibiades states "this unbelieveably insolent man-he turned me down! He spurned my beauty" (219C). Yet such a rejection isn't unwarranted, Socrates declares that Alicibiades is expecting "more than his proper share" in their relationship(218E). Specifically that Alicibiades expects Socrates to love him solely for his comely appearance while Alicibiades pursues his love of wisdom in Socrates' teachings. Socrates readily looks beyond the physical form of Alicibiades and sees no justification for reciprocating in recognition of Alicibiades' higher form of love for Socrates' wisdom and thus Socrates himself. In the rejection of such a temporary form, Socrates' maintains his status as a true lover by remaining loyal to the immortality of philosophy and the exchange of ideas.
Socrates' status as a lover isn't defined by this rejection of the lowest form of love, physical beauty, but rather according to Alicibiades, the existence of a greater wisdom within. Alicibiades likens this wisdom to that of the gods, comparing Socrates to a "statue of Silenus...split right down the middle, and inside it's full of tiny statues of the gods"expressing that within Socrates lies godlike knowledge (215B). Alicibiades later comes back to this allusion and describes that this knowledge described as the "figures he keeps hidden within" are seen only in the debate of philosophy, and that these figures were "so bright and beautiful, so utterly amazing" that there is no mortal comparision, they are "godlike"(216E-217A). It is only in the exchange of ideas, within the debate of philosophy itself, is Socrates' love expressed. It is for this reason that Alicibiades describes his as "crazy about beautiful boys...follow[ing] them around in a perpetual daze. Socrates only sees beauty in the immortal exchange of ideas and for this reason passing them onto a new generation is a passion for him which Alicibiades interprets as a craze. Socrates true love for the immortal meets Diotima's criteria for true appreciation of beauty as seen in the evidence presented by Alicibiades. It is because Alicbiades recognizes this love of wisdom within Socrates that he desires him so and it is due to Alicibiades inability to reciprocate such an immortal love that his invitations are rejected.
Morgan's points on Socrates' status as a lover are very interesting. In these readings, Alicibiades begins to describe Socrates, where Socrates fails to love Alicibiades according to his standards. In Alicibiades' speech, he says that Socrates tell him that "you offer me the merest appearance of beauty, and in return you want the thing itself, 'gold in exchange for bronze' (219A). Socrates knows that their relationship will be unbalanced, and he would be foolish for having that relationship with him by receiving just the physical beauty of Alcibiades from him. As Morgan points out, Socrates' status as a lover does not focus on physical beauty, but on the exchange of ideas. The beauty of those ideas and their immortality is what Socrates desires and strives for as a lover of philosophy. Alicibiades seeks this status of a lover as well, but he gives less in compared to what he will receive, which is why Socrates rejects him.
ReplyDeleteMorgan and Liezel's point's are both correct. Alcibiades does not match Diotima's criteria for love. He instead gives good examples of infatuation. When Alcibiades compares Socrates to the statue, he says that "...I no longer had a choice - I just had to do whatever he told me" 217A, and that "...all I had to do was let him have his way with me, and he would teach me everything" 217B. This is not love as defined Diotiam, or by any standard of a relationship because Alcibiades expects Socrates to do all the work, and Alcibiades will just do as he says. He is not in love with Socrates, but is just infatuated with the idea of being with Socrates, and he is rejected for it.
ReplyDeleteI agree and I think that Socrates was right to reject Alcibiades. Going off what Anker said, Alcibiades is merely infatuated with Socrates and does not truly love him. He is solely using Socrates for his own personal benefit. Alcibiades uses Socrates to make himself seem more important and wise, while he gives Socrates nothing in return.
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