Résumé
Résumé de Le Banquet
À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
Readers who like Socrates at his most human, lively table talk, witty arguments about love, wealth and beauty, and a vivid glimpse of an ancient Athenian evening among friends.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
Xenophon was an Athenian soldier and writer who knew Socrates well. In The Symposium he sets down one dinner party he says he saw with his own eyes. The host is a rich man named Callias. The guest of honor is a boy named Autolycus, who has just won the pankration, a rough mix of wrestling and boxing, at the Panathenaic festival in Athens. Around them gather Socrates and his friends, a professional jester, and a travelling showman from Syracuse with his troupe.
Xenophon holds that the playful hours of good men are worth recording as much as their serious deeds. So you get Socrates at ease: teasing, singing, defending his sharp-tongued wife, and arguing with a straight face that he wants to learn dancing. You also get a clear picture of how Athenians talked about money, beauty, friendship and desire. The jokes lead into a close look at what love can do for a person. Let us begin at the door of Callias, where a chance meeting in the street starts the evening.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A host invites philosophers to dinnerFree
- 2Entertainers and Socrates the dancer
- 3Each guest names what he is proud of
- 4Arguments that defend strange boasts
- 5A beauty contest and a small quarrel
- 6Socrates speaks on love and its meaning
Point clé 1 sur 6
A host invites philosophers to dinner
The story opens after a horse race at the Panathenaic festival. Callias, son of Hipponicus, is in love with a boy named Autolycus, who has just won the pankration. He leads the boy and the boy's father, Lycon, toward his house in the Piraeus, the harbor town of Athens. On the way he spots Socrates standing with Critobulus, Hermogenes, Antisthenes and Charmides.
Callias begs them to come. He says his feast will shine far more with men of pure soul at the table than with generals and officeholders. Socrates answers with a tease. Callias, he says, has paid famous teachers like Protagoras and Gorgias for wisdom and looks down on poor self-taught thinkers like them. Callias promises to show them a very different side of himself if they come.
The friends decline at first, but their host is so plainly hurt that they give in. They exercise, bathe and take their couches. Autolycus sits beside his father, as a son should. His beauty draws every eye in the room, and Xenophon notes how it silences some guests and sets others gesturing. Callias, too, is changed by love, and his gaze grows warm and gentle.
The company eats quietly until a knock sounds at the door. It is Philippus, a jester who earns his dinners by making people laugh. He arrives uninvited and jokes about it, and Callias lets him in. But his first jokes fall flat, and he covers his face and groans that laughter has died and his trade is ruined. Critobulus bursts out laughing, and the jester is soon back at the food. Light humor has joined the table, and the evening is ready for its entertainers.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
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Who’s who
- Socrates
- A guest at Callias’s dinner, he draws his companions into playful discussions of beauty, pride, and worthy affection.
- Callias
- The wealthy Athenian host holds the dinner in honour of Autolycus, the young athlete he admires.
- Autolycus
- A victorious young athlete admired by Callias, he attends the dinner with his father, Lycon.
- Antisthenes
- A companion of Socrates, he challenges the other guests’ ideas of wealth by praising inner sufficiency.
- Critobulus
- A companion of Socrates, he proudly champions his own beauty during the guests’ teasing exchanges.
- Lycon
- The father of Autolycus, he accompanies his son to the dinner hosted by the admiring Callias.
- Niceratus
- One of Callias’s dinner guests, he takes pride in his knowledge of Homer during the company’s discussion.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 23,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 1 h 30 min
- Listening time2 h 35 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 11 other languages
Questions about Le Banquet
What is The Symposium by Xenophon about?
It describes one dinner party at the house of Callias in honor of a young victor named Autolycus. Socrates and his friends joke, watch performers, boast about odd things, and finally talk about love and friendship.
Is Xenophon's Symposium different from Plato's Symposium?
Yes, they are two separate works by two followers of Socrates. Xenophon's is shorter, more comic and more everyday in tone, while Plato's is a chain of formal speeches on love.
Is The Symposium a true story?
Xenophon presents it as an event from his own experience, and the guests are real Athenians. Scholars treat it as a crafted dialogue, in which lively scenes carry the author's picture of how Socrates spoke.
What does Socrates say about love in The Symposium?
He argues that love of the soul is better than love of the body. Beauty fades, but a bond built on character grows and makes both friends better, as he says to the host Callias.
Is The Symposium easy to read?
It is approachable. The scenes are short, the speakers are lively and funny, and the dinner setting moves from jokes and dances to arguments in clear steps that are easy to follow.