Xenophon's Socratic Rhetoric : Virtue, Eros, and Philosophy in the Symposium

In one of the most charming works to survive from classical antiquity, Xenophon’s Symposium depicts an amiable evening of wine, entertainment, and conversation shared by Socrates, and a few of his associates, with certain Athenian gentlemen who are gathered to honor a young man for his recent victory in the Panathenaic games. The subtle playfulness which characterizes the animated discussions conceals a light-hearted, yet surprisingly philosophical inquiry regarding the rival claims of virtue, articulated and defended by the Socratics and gentlemen to establish the praiseworthiness and excellence of their competing ways of life. Gentlemanliness, taken as an admired political virtue, and philosophy, as pursuit of wisdom and self-sufficiency, emerge as contested ideas about what constitutes the path to human happiness, especially in response to the beautiful and its compelling arousal of erotic desire in the body and soul. Offering a comprehensive account and interpretation of the Symposium, this book follows the speeches and action of the dialogue through its many twists and turns, from beginning to end, with particular attention to the place of rhetoric in the argument of the work as a whole. Thus, Xenophon's Socratic Rhetoric examines foundational aspects of the philosophic life manifest in the words as well as deeds of Socrates in this dialogue--starting from an original reading of the opening scene as a harbinger of the competition in wisdom that occurs over the course of the symposium, and concluding with a provocative consideration of conjugal erotics as the continuation and completion of the Socratic logos about the role of love in guiding human beings toward virtue and happiness. Xenophon’s Socratic Rhetoric 1 Contents 8 Preface 10 Introduction: Opening Reflections 14 Part I: Xenophon’s Symposium in Context 28 1 Situating the Dialogue: Athenian Competitions 30 2 Setting the Stage: Sophistry versus Philosophy 58 3 The Banquet Begins: Rule and the Symposium 84 4 Rival Ways of Life: Kαλokάγαθία and Virtue 106 Part II: Sympotic Entertainments 148 5 Display Speeches and the Promise of Wisdom 150 6 Defense Speeches and the Socratic Way of Life 184 7 Socratic Moderation in Pursuit of the Beautiful 236 Part III: Socratic Rhetoric in the Symposium 262 8 Refutations, Education, and Accusations 264 9 Digression, Reconciliation, and Restoration 280 10 Educating Gentlemen and Moderating Erōs 294 11 Performative Rhetoric and Conjugal Erotics 320 Conclusion: Xenophon’s Socrates and Political Philosophy 338 Bibliography 358 Index 372 Glossary of Greek Words 388 About the Author 390