Socrates: Love To Love With Alcibiades

In accordance to the Gorgias, as Socrates was conversing with Callicles—a possibly fictional character who attempts to refute Socrates’ claims against rhetoric—he makes the claim that the two have suffered due to a common element: loving. Socrates asserts that he himself is in love with Alcibiades, the son of Cleinias and with philosophy and that Callicles is in love with the Athenian people and the son of Pyrilampes. As Socrates develops his argument, he illustrates that love triumphs all other forces and that his love for philosophy and Alcibiades are fundamentally distinct. Ironically, in the Symposium, an exasperated Alcibiades implies that Socrates neglects him due to his love for philosophy—an attribute that made him fall in love

He does not feel the need to restrain himself from contradicting philosophy due to its natural constancy, while, in an effort not to contradict him, he has to sacrifice his opinions and hold back when with Alcibiades. In return, philosophy is loyal to Socrates and allows him to rely on it, indicating that although it does not lack in beauty, it is a lover of Socrates in the sense that it provides virtue and wisdom. This apparent and perhaps truthful preference of philosophy over Alcibiades is what causes Alcibiades to be exceedingly vehement and motivates his rather acrimonious speech in the Symposium. Alcibiades fell in love with Socrates for his philosophical skills and his speeches, telling him, “You, in my opinion, have proved to be the only deserving lover of mine.” As the younger and more beautiful one, Alcibiades had assumed that he would develop a relationship with Socrates that was similar to that of Agathon and Pausanius’ relationship. The older, wiser lover, Pausanius, pursued the beautiful and clever beloved, Agathon. Yet when Socrates failed to act as a conventional lover, Alcibiades decided to take the lead and spend more time with him. Regardless of his efforts, Socrates was seemingly immune to his youth and beauty, says Alcibiades to the

And he did not quickly yield to me in this, but in time, at any rate, he was persuaded. And when he came for the first time, he wanted, once he had dined, to go away. And then out of shame I let him go; but I renewed my plottings once