Banquet

Come, said Philip, let me have some flute music, so that I may dance too. So he got up and mimicked in detail the dancing of both the boy and the girl.

To begin with, since the company had applauded the way the boy’s natural beauty was increased by the grace of the dancing postures, Philip made a burlesque out of the performance by rendering every part of his body that was in motion more grotesque than it naturally was; and whereas the girl had bent backward until she resembled a hoop, he tried to do the same by bending forward. Finally, since they had given the boy applause for putting every part of his body into play in the dance, he told the flute girl to hit up the time faster, and danced away, flinging out legs, hands, and head all at the same time;

and when he was quite exhausted, he exclaimed as he laid himself down: Here is proof, gentlemen, that my style of dancing, also, gives excellent exercise; it has certainly given me a thirst; so let the servant fill me up the big goblet.

Certainly, replied Callias; and the same for us, for we are thirsty with laughing at you. Here Socrates again interposed. Well, gentlemen, said he, so far as drinking is concerned, you have my hearty approval; for wine does of a truth moisten the soul[*](Apparently a reminiscence of Aristophanes’ Knights, 96.) and lull our griefs to sleep just as the mandragora does with men, at the same time awakening kindly feelings as oil quickens a flame.

However, I suspect that men’s bodies fare the same as those of plants that grow in the ground. When God gives the plants water in floods to drink, they cannot stand up straight or let the breezes blow through them; but when they drink only as much as they enjoy, they grow up very straight and tall and come to full and abundant fruitage.

So it is with us. If we pour ourselves immense draughts, it will be no long time before both our bodies and our minds reel, and we shall not be able even to draw breath, much less to speak sensibly; but if the servants frequently besprinkle us—if I too may use a Gorgian[*](Gorgias was a famous contemporary orator and teacher of rhetoric, whose speeches, though dazzling to inexperienced audiences, were over-formal and ornate. Some of his metaphors drew the criticism of Aristotle as being far-fetched. Cf. Aristot. Rhet. 3.3.4 (1406b 4 ff.).) expression—with small cups, we shall thus not be driven on by the wine to a state of intoxication, but instead shall be brought by its gentle persuasion to a more sportive mood.

This resolution received a unanimous vote, with an amendment added by Philip to the effect that the wine-pourers should emulate skilful charioteers by driving the cups around with ever increasing speed. This the wine-pourers proceeded to do.