---
title: "Symposium · Συμπόσιον"
author: "Xenophon"
translator: "Otis Johnson Todd"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
section: 5 of 9
url: https://scriptura.si/works/xenophon-symposium/5/
cite: "Xenophon, tr. Otis Johnson Todd, Symposium · Συμπόσιον, section 5. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/xenophon-symposium/5/"
---

# Symposium · Συμπόσιον

*Xenophon, tr. Otis Johnson Todd*

Socrates at a dinner party, with dancers, jokes and a speech on love.

> Greek: ed. Edgar Carew Marchant, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0032.tlg004, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Otis Johnson Todd, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0032.tlg004.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 5. Chapter 5

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/xenophon-symposium/5/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/xenophon-symposium/5/#p-N

[¶0] 1. Callias now said, Critobulus, are you going to refuse to enter the lists in the beauty contest with Socrates? Undoubtedly! said Socrates; for probably he notices that the procurer stands high in the favour of the judges.

> Greek: 1. ὁ δὲ Καλλίας ἔφη· σὺ δὲ δή, ὦ Κριτόβουλε, εἰς τὸν περὶ τοῦ κάλλους ἀγῶνα πρὸς Σωκράτην οὐκ ἀνθίστασαι; νὴ Δίʼ, ἔφη ὁ Σωκράτης, ἴσως γὰρ εὐδοκιμοῦντα τὸν μαστροπὸν παρὰ τοῖς κριταῖς ὁρᾷ.

[¶1] 2. But yet in spite of that, retorted Critobulus, I do not shun the contest. So make your plea, if you can produce any profound reason, and prove that you are more handsome than I. Only, he added, let some one bring the light close to him. The first step, then, in my suit, said Socrates, is to summon you to the preliminary hearing; be so kind as to answer my questions. And you proceed to put them.

> Greek: 2. ἀλλʼ ὅμως, ἔφη ὁ Κριτόβουλος, οὐκ ἀναδύομαι· ἀλλὰ δίδασκε, εἴ τι ἔχεις σοφόν, ὡς καλλίων εἶ ἐμοῦ. μόνον, ἔφη, τὸν λαμπτῆρα ἐγγὺς προσενεγκάτω. εἰς ἀνάκρισιν τοίνυν σε, ἔφη, πρῶτον τῆς δίκης καλοῦμαι· ἀλλʼ ἀποκρίνου.

[¶2] 3. Do you hold, then, that beauty is to be found only in man, or is it also in other objects? Crit. In faith, my opinion is that beauty is to be found quite as well in a horse or an ox or in any number of inanimate things. I know, at any rate, that a shield may be beautiful, or a sword, or a spear.

> Greek: 3. σὺ δέ γε ἐρώτα. πότερον οὖν ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ μόνον νομίζεις τὸ καλὸν εἶναι ἢ καὶ ἐν ἄλλῳ τινί; ἐγὼ μὲν ναὶ μὰ Δίʼ, ἔφη, καὶ ἐν ἵππῳ καὶ βοῒ καὶ ἐν ἀψύχοις πολλοῖς. οἶδα γοῦν οὖσαν καὶ ἀσπίδα καλὴν καὶ ξίφος καὶ δόρυ.

[¶3] 4. Soc. How can it be that all these things are beautiful when they are entirely dissimilar? Why, they are beautiful and fine, answered Critobulus, if they are well made for the respective functions for which we obtain them, or if they are naturally well constituted to serve our needs.

> Greek: 4. καὶ πῶς, ἔφη, οἷόν τε ταῦτα μηδὲν ὅμοια ὄντα ἀλλήλοις πάντα καλὰ εἶναι; ἂν νὴ Δίʼ, ἔφη, πρὸς τὰ ἔργα ὧν ἕνεκα ἕκαστα κτώμεθα εὖ εἰργασμένα ᾖ ἢ εὖ πεφυκότα πρὸς ἃ ἂν δεώμεθα, καὶ ταῦτʼ, ἔφη ὁ Κριτόβουλος, καλά.

[¶4] 5. Soc. Do you know the reason why we need eyes? Crit. Obviously to see with. In that case, it would appear without further ado that my eyes are finer ones than yours. How so? Because, while yours see only straight ahead, mine, by bulging out as they do, see also to the sides. Crit. Do you mean to say that a crab is better equipped visually than any other creature? Soc. Absolutely; for its eyes are also better set to insure strength.

> Greek: 5. οἶσθα οὖν, ἔφη, ὀφθαλμῶν τίνος ἕνεκα δεόμεθα; δῆλον, ἔφη, ὅτι τοῦ ὁρᾶν. οὕτω μὲν τοίνυν ἤδη οἱ ἐμοὶ ὀφθαλμοὶ καλλίονες ἂν τῶν σῶν εἴησαν. πῶς δή; ὅτι οἱ μὲν σοὶ τὸ κατʼ εὐθὺ μόνον ὁρῶσιν, οἱ δὲ ἐμοὶ καὶ τὸ ἐκ πλαγίου διὰ τὸ ἐπιπόλαιοι εἶναι. λέγεις σύ, ἔφη, καρκίνον εὐοφθαλμότατον εἶναι τῶν ζῴων; πάντως δήπου, ἔφη· ἐπεὶ καὶ πρὸς ἰσχὺν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἄριστα πεφυκότας ἔχει.

[¶5] 6. Crit. Well, let that pass; but whose nose is finer, yours or mine? Soc. Mine, I consider, granting that Providence made us noses to smell with. For your nostrils look down toward the ground, but mine are wide open and turned outward so that I can catch scents from all about. But how do you make a snub nose handsomer than a straight one? Soc. For the reason that it does not put a barricade between the eyes but allows them unobstructed vision of whatever they desire to see; whereas a high nose, as if in despite, has walled the eyes off one from the other.

> Greek: 6. εἶεν, ἔφη, τῶν δὲ ῥινῶν ποτέρα καλλίων, ἡ σὴ ἢ ἡ ἐμή; ἐγὼ μέν, ἔφη, οἶμαι τὴν ἐμήν, εἴπερ γε τοῦ ὀσφραίνεσθαι ἕνεκεν ἐποίησαν ἡμῖν ῥῖνας οἱ θεοί. οἱ μὲν γὰρ σοὶ μυκτῆρες εἰς γῆν ὁρῶσιν, οἱ δὲ ἐμοὶ ἀναπέπτανται, ὥστε τὰς πάντοθεν ὀσμὰς προσδέχεσθαι. τὸ δὲ δὴ σιμὸν τῆς ῥινὸς πῶς τοῦ ὀρθοῦ κάλλιον; ὅτι, ἔφη, οὐκ ἀντιφράττει, ἀλλʼ ἐᾷ εὐθὺς τὰς ὄψεις ὁρᾶν ἃ ἂν βούλωνται· ἡ δὲ ὑψηλὴ ῥὶς ὥσπερ ἐπηρεάζουσα διατετείχικε τὰ ὄμματα.

[¶6] 7. As for the mouth, said Critobulus, I concede that point. For if it is created for the purpose of biting off food, you could bite off a far bigger mouthful than I could. And don’t you think that your kiss is also the more tender because you have thick lips? Soc. According to your argument, it would seem that I have a mouth more ugly even than an ass’s. But do you not reckon it a proof of my superior beauty that the River Nymphs, goddesses as they are, bear as their offspring the Seileni, who resemble me more closely than they do you?

> Greek: 7. τοῦ γε μὴν στόματος, ἔφη ὁ Κριτόβουλος, ὑφίεμαι. εἰ γὰρ τοῦ ἀποδάκνειν ἕνεκα πεποίηται, πολὺ ἂν σὺ μεῖζον ἢ ἐγὼ ἀποδάκοις. διὰ δὲ τὸ παχέα ἔχειν τὰ χείλη οὐκ οἴει καὶ μαλακώτερόν σου ἔχειν τὸ φίλημα; ἔοικα, ἔφη, ἐγὼ κατὰ τὸν σὸν λόγον καὶ τῶν ὄνων αἴσχιον τὸ στόμα ἔχειν. ἐκεῖνο δὲ οὐδὲν τεκμήριον λογίζῃ, ὡς ἐγὼ σοῦ καλλίων εἰμί, ὅτι καὶ Ναΐδες θεοὶ οὖσαι τοὺς Σειληνοὺς ἐμοὶ ὁμοιοτέρους τίκτουσιν ἢ σοί;

[¶7] 8. I cannot argue any longer with you, answered Critobulus; let them distribute the ballots, so that I may know without suspense what fine or punishment I must undergo. Only, he continued, let the balloting be secret, for I am afraid that the “wealth” you and Antisthenes possess will overmaster me.

> Greek: 8. καὶ ὁ Κριτόβουλος, οὐκέτι, ἔφη, ἔχω πρὸς σὲ ἀντιλέγειν, ἀλλὰ διαφερόντων, ἔφη, τὰς ψήφους, ἵνα ὡς τάχιστα εἰδῶ ὅ τι με χρὴ παθεῖν ἢ ἀποτεῖσαι. μόνον, ἔφη, κρυφῇ φερόντων· δέδοικα γὰρ τὸν σὸν καὶ Ἀντισθένους πλοῦτον μή με καταδυναστεύσῃ.

[¶8] 9. So the maiden and the lad turned in the ballots secretly. While this was going on, Socrates saw to it that the light should be brought in front of Critobulus, so that the judges might not be misled, and stipulated that the prize given by the judges to crown the victor should be kisses and not ribbons.

> Greek: 9. ἡ μὲν δὴ παῖς καὶ ὁ παῖς κρύφα ἀνέφερον. ὁ δὲ Σωκράτης ἐν τούτῳ διέπραττε τόν τε λύχνον ἀντιπροσενεγκεῖν τῷ Κριτοβούλῳ, ὡς μὴ ἐξαπατηθείησαν οἱ κριταί, καὶ τῷ νικήσαντι μὴ ταινίας ἀλλὰ φιλήματα ἀναδήματα παρὰ τῶν κριτῶν γενέσθαι.

[¶9] 10. When the ballots were turned out of the urn and proved to be a unanimous verdict in favour of Critobulus, Faugh! exclaimed Socrates; your money, Critobulus, does not appear to resemble Callias’s. For his makes people more honest, while yours is about the most potent to corrupt men, whether members of a jury or judges of a contest.

> Greek: 10. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐξέπεσον αἱ ψῆφοι καὶ ἐγένοντο πᾶσαι σὺν Κριτοβούλῳ, παπαῖ, ἔφη ὁ Σωκράτης, οὐχ ὅμοιον ἔοικε τὸ σὸν ἀργύριον, ὦ Κριτόβουλε, τῷ Καλλίου εἶναι. τὸ μὲν γὰρ τούτου δικαιοτέρους ποιεῖ, τὸ δὲ σὸν ὥσπερ τὸ πλεῖστον διαφθείρειν ἱκανόν ἐστι καὶ δικαστὰς καὶ κριτάς.