batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l1125-l1238
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l1125-l1238
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: Symposium / SYMPOSIUM / INTRODUCTION. / SYMPOSIUM; lines 1125-1238
start: '1125'
end: '1238'
translation: Symposium
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: How I wish, said Socrates, taking his place as he was desired, that wisdom
could be infused by touch...
summary: Aristodemus arrives at Agathon's banquet while Socrates pauses outside
in abstraction. Socrates later enters, is invited to sit near Agathon, and jokes
about wisdom passing by touch like water from a fuller cup to an emptier one.
The company performs libations and a hymn, agrees to avoid compulsory heavy drinking,
dismisses the flute-girl, and chooses conversation instead.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Socrates drops behind while walking with Aristodemus and pauses in abstraction
before reaching the banquet.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A servant reports that Socrates is standing in the portico of a neighboring
house and will not move when called.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Agathon invites Aristodemus to the supper and asks where Socrates is.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Agathon asks Socrates to recline beside him so that he may touch him and benefit
from the thought Socrates found in the portico.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Socrates compares the possible transfer of wisdom by touch to water running
through wool from a fuller cup into an emptier one.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Agathon says that Dionysus will judge whether he or Socrates bears the palm
of wisdom.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: After supper, libations are offered, a hymn is sung to the god, and the usual
ceremonies take place before drinking begins.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: The group agrees that drinking should be voluntary and not compulsory.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: Eryximachus proposes that the flute-girl go away and that the company have
conversation instead.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Socrates
description: Guest who pauses in abstraction outside, later enters the banquet,
and speaks about wisdom and touch.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Aristodemus
description: Companion of Socrates who arrives at Agathon's house and explains Socrates'
absence.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Agathon
description: Host of the supper who welcomes Aristodemus, asks after Socrates, invites
Socrates to sit beside him, and speaks of Dionysus judging wisdom.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Servants
description: Household attendants who lead Aristodemus in, assist him to wash, report
Socrates' location, and serve supper.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Eryximachus
description: Physician and guest who advises moderation and proposes conversation
in place of entertainment by the flute-girl.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Pausanias
description: Guest who asks how the company can drink with least injury after the
previous day's drinking.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Aristophanes
description: Guest who supports avoiding hard drinking because of the previous day's
drinking.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Phaedrus
description: Guest named among those who cannot drink hard and who agrees with the
physician's advice.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Flute-girl
description: Female entertainer whose appearance prompts the proposal that she be
sent away so the group may converse.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Dionysus
description: God named by Agathon as future judge of the contest over wisdom; the
later hymn is sung to 'the god.'
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: contemplative delayed guest
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Socrates stops outside in abstraction and does not move when called before
entering later.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: arriving companion
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Aristodemus arrives at the banquet ahead of Socrates and reports that Socrates
was with him moments earlier.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: banquet host
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Agathon welcomes Aristodemus, directs servants, and invites Socrates to recline
beside him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: household attendants
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Servants guide, wash, report, and serve during the banquet.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: wisdom interlocutor
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:3
basis: Agathon and Socrates speak about who has wisdom and whether it can pass by
touch.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: physician moderator
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Eryximachus speaks as a physician against heavy drinking and proposes conversation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:7
label: drinking deliberator
assigned_to:
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
basis: These guests participate in the decision to avoid hard drinking or accept
medical advice.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:8
label: dismissed entertainer
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The flute-girl is to be sent away so that conversation may occur.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:9
label: divine judge or ritual god
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: Dionysus is named as judge of wisdom, and a hymn is sung to the god after
libations.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: portico as place of withdrawal
literal_form: portico of a neighboring house
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: touch as imagined conduit of wisdom
literal_form: reclining beside and touching Socrates
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: water flow metaphor for wisdom transfer
literal_form: water running through wool from a fuller cup into an emptier one
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: libations and hymn
literal_form: libations offered and hymn sung to the god
associated_figures:
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: palm of wisdom
literal_form: palm of wisdom to be judged by Dionysus
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Arrival without Socrates
summary: Aristodemus reaches Agathon's open house, is welcomed to the banquet, and
explains that Socrates had been with him but is now absent.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Socrates fixed in the portico
summary: A servant reports that Socrates has withdrawn into a neighboring portico
and will not stir when called; the company begins supper without him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Wisdom by touch
summary: Socrates enters; Agathon asks him to sit nearby to share the benefit of
his thought, and Socrates replies with the image of wisdom flowing by touch like
water between cups.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Ritual opening and moderated drinking
summary: The company completes libations, hymn, and customary ceremonies, then agrees
that drinking will be voluntary and limited rather than compulsory.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Conversation replaces entertainment
summary: Eryximachus proposes dismissing the flute-girl and choosing conversation
as the activity of the gathering.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:9
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: wise figure withdraws before joining the feast
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Socrates delays outside in abstraction, stands fixed in the portico, and
is said to have found what he sought before entering.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents the behavior comically and socially; it does not
explicitly call the withdrawal a ritual or mystical act.
- id: motif:2
label: wisdom imagined as transferable substance
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Agathon wants to touch Socrates to benefit from his thought, and Socrates
frames wisdom as if it could flow from a fuller to an emptier person like water
through wool.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: Socrates states the transfer as a wish or joke, not as an actual supernatural
event.
- id: motif:3
label: divine judgment of wisdom contest
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Agathon says that Dionysus will judge whether he or Socrates bears the palm
of wisdom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a conversational remark at a symposium rather than a narrated
divine appearance or judgment scene.
- id: motif:4
label: ritualized banquet turns from intoxication to discourse
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: After libations, hymn, and ceremonies, the guests choose voluntary moderate
drinking and replace flute entertainment with conversation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage describes symposium procedure and social deliberation; broader
symbolic interpretation requires review.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 1125-1159
quote_or_summary: Socrates drops behind in abstraction; a servant later reports
that he is fixed in the portico of a neighboring house and will not stir when
called.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; concise summary used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 1130-1149
quote_or_summary: Aristodemus is led into Agathon's banqueting hall; Agathon welcomes
him, asks what he has done with Socrates, and directs that Socrates be found.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; concise summary used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 1160-1181
quote_or_summary: The supper begins without Socrates; he enters when the feast is
about half over, and Agathon asks him to sit nearby so Agathon may touch him and
benefit from the thought found in the portico.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; concise summary used.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 1182-1192
quote_or_summary: Socrates wishes that wisdom could be infused by touch, 'as water
runs through wool out of a fuller cup into an emptier one.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; short quote used.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 1193-1197
quote_or_summary: Agathon says Socrates is mocking and that Dionysus will judge
who bears the palm of wisdom.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; concise summary used.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 1198-1202
quote_or_summary: Socrates suppes with the others; libations are offered, a hymn
is sung to the god, and usual ceremonies occur before drinking begins.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; concise summary used.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 1203-1226
quote_or_summary: Pausanias, Aristophanes, Eryximachus, Agathon, Phaedrus, and the
company discuss the effects of prior drinking and agree that drinking should be
voluntary and moderate.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; concise summary used.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 1227-1238
quote_or_summary: Eryximachus proposes that the flute-girl go away and play elsewhere,
while the company spends the day in conversation.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; concise summary used.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The narrative actions and symposium sequence are explicit. Motif labels are
conservative and limited to available taxonomy references, chiefly wisdom; no
external comparison claims were made.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
Used only the supplied passage and metadata. No taxonomy IDs were added beyond the provided available refs.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg__l1125-l1238
passage_sha256=a4d538c40f8b95d2e0bcacbccbf466a83118648453a6c526725291b66cb3234e