batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l1240-l1318
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l1240-l1318
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: Symposium / SYMPOSIUM / INTRODUCTION. / SYMPOSIUM; lines 1240-1318
start: '1240'
end: '1318'
translation: Symposium
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: 'Eryximachus proposes that the company make speeches in praise of Love,
beginning with Phaedrus. Socrates and the company assent. The narrator reports
Phaedrus'' speech: Love is praised as a mighty and eldest god, attested by Hesiod,
Parmenides, and Acusilaus, and as the source of honor, shame, courage, and noble
conduct between lover and beloved.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Eryximachus reports Phaedrus' complaint that Love has lacked worthy hymns
and encomia despite other gods, heroes, and even salt receiving praise.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Eryximachus proposes that each person present make a speech in honor of Love,
proceeding from left to right, with Phaedrus beginning because he sits first and
originated the idea.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Socrates says he will not oppose the motion and identifies himself as understanding
nothing except matters of love.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: The company assents and asks Phaedrus to begin the praise of Love.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The narrator states that not all speeches are remembered, but the most memorable
parts and chief speakers will be reported.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Phaedrus says Love is a mighty god, wonderful among gods and men, and especially
wonderful in birth.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Phaedrus argues that Love is the eldest of the gods because no poet or prose-writer
has recorded parents for him.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: Phaedrus cites Hesiod, Parmenides, and Acusilaus as witnesses for Love's primordial
status.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: Phaedrus says Love gives great benefits by implanting a sense of honor and
dishonor in lover and beloved.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:10
text: Phaedrus imagines a state or army made up of lovers and their beloveds, who
would abstain from dishonor, emulate honor, and fight bravely beside one another.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:11
text: Phaedrus says Love inspires courage in the lover, comparing this to the courage
a god breathes into heroes in Homer.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Eryximachus
description: Speaker who introduces Phaedrus' complaint and proposes speeches in
honor of Love.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Phaedrus
description: Originator of the thought that Love should be praised and first speaker
in praise of Love.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Socrates
description: Participant who assents to Eryximachus' proposal and says he understands
matters of love.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Love
description: The god praised as great, glorious, mighty, eldest, and a source of
benefits, honor, and courage.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:9
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Hesiod
description: Poet cited by Phaedrus as a witness that Chaos came first, then Earth
and Love.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Parmenides
description: Cited as saying that Generation fashioned Love first in the train of
gods.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Acusilaus
description: Cited as agreeing with Hesiod about Love's early divine status.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Chaos
description: Primordial entity named in the Hesiod citation as coming first.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Earth
description: Broad-bosomed Earth is named in the Hesiod citation as coming after
Chaos along with Love.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: lover
description: A lover is described as guided by Love, ashamed before the beloved,
and inspired to courage.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: beloved youth
description: A beloved youth is paired with the lover and shares concern for honor
and disgrace.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Homer
description: Poet cited for the idea that a god breathes courage into heroes.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
roles:
- id: role:1
label: proposal-maker
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Eryximachus proposes the order and topic of speeches.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: originator of praise-topic
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Phaedrus is called the father of the thought that Love should be praised.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: first encomiast of Love
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Phaedrus begins the praise of Love.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: assenting participant
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Socrates says he will not oppose the motion and tells Phaedrus to begin.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: praised deity
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Love is the god to be honored and praised by the speakers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: source of honor and courage
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Phaedrus says Love implants honor and inspires courage in lovers.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:9
- id: role:7
label: quoted or cited authority
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:12
basis: These figures are invoked as textual authorities in Phaedrus' argument.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:9
- id: role:8
label: primordial being
assigned_to:
- fig:8
- fig:9
basis: Chaos and Earth are named in the cited account of earliest beings.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:9
label: honor-bound lover
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: The lover is described as ashamed before the beloved and ready to face danger
rather than disgrace.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:10
label: honor-witnessing beloved
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: The beloved is described as the person before whom the lover most fears disgrace,
and the beloved has a corresponding feeling about the lover.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Love as primordial god
literal_form: divine being named Love
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:2
label: Chaos
literal_form: primordial Chaos named in Hesiod citation
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs:
- chaos
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:3
label: Earth
literal_form: broad-bosomed Earth, everlasting seat of all that is
associated_figures:
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: lover and beloved pair
literal_form: a lover paired with a beloved youth
associated_figures:
- fig:10
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: sym:5
label: army of lovers and beloveds
literal_form: a state or army composed of lovers and their loves fighting side by
side
associated_figures:
- fig:10
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Proposal to praise Love
summary: Eryximachus recounts Phaedrus' complaint that Love has been neglected by
poets and proposes that the assembled company honor Love with speeches in turn.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Assent to the speech order
summary: Socrates assents to Eryximachus' motion, mentions other participants, and
the company agrees that Phaedrus should begin.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Narrative limitation
summary: The narrator says that only the most memorable parts of the speeches and
the chief speakers will be recounted.
figure_refs: []
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Phaedrus on Love's birth and antiquity
summary: Phaedrus begins by praising Love as a mighty and eldest god, citing the
absence of parents and the testimony of Hesiod, Parmenides, and Acusilaus.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Phaedrus on Love's ethical and martial effects
summary: Phaedrus says Love implants honor and shame in lovers and beloveds and
would make an army of such pairs brave and victorious.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Primordial emergence of Love after Chaos and Earth
taxonomy_refs:
- chaos
- sacred_birth
basis: Phaedrus' cited cosmogonic authorities place Love among the earliest divine
beings, with Hesiod naming Chaos first and then Earth and Love.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents a philosophical encomium using poetic authorities
rather than a full mythic birth narrative; Love's parents are explicitly absent.
- id: motif:2
label: Neglected deity receives communal praise
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Phaedrus complains that Love has lacked hymns and encomia, and Eryximachus
proposes a sequence of speeches to honor the god.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: This is a symposium speech-setting motif rather than an independent mythic
episode.
- id: motif:3
label: Love as divine source of honor and courage
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Phaedrus claims Love implants the sense of honor and dishonor and inspires
even cowards to heroic courage in danger.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: The claim is ethical and rhetorical within Phaedrus' speech; no separate
narrative action by Love is described.
- id: motif:4
label: War-band of lovers and beloveds
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Phaedrus imagines a state or army composed of lovers and their beloveds who
would fight beside one another and overcome the world.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The army is hypothetical in the passage, not an enacted event.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage itself points readers to a comparison with the Republic when
discussing a state or army composed of lovers and beloveds.
claim_level: same_function
target: Plato, Republic, as indicated by the parenthetical 'compare Rep.'
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The supplied passage gives only a parenthetical cross-reference and
does not quote or summarize the Republic passage, so the nature of the comparison
cannot be specified further from this text alone.
- id: claim:2
claim: Phaedrus compares Love's inspiration of courage to a Homeric pattern in which
a god breathes courage into heroes.
claim_level: same_function
target: Homeric divine inspiration of heroes
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage names Homer and summarizes the functional analogy but does
not identify a specific Homeric episode.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 1240-1260
quote_or_summary: Eryximachus reports Phaedrus' complaint that other gods, heroes,
and even subjects such as salt have been praised, while Love has lacked a worthy
hymn or encomium.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 1260-1270
quote_or_summary: Eryximachus proposes that those assembled honor Love by each making
a speech in turn from left to right, with Phaedrus beginning as the originator
of the idea.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 1271-1281
quote_or_summary: Socrates says he cannot oppose the proposal, mentions his concern
with matters of love, and the company assents that Phaedrus should begin.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 1282-1285
quote_or_summary: The narrator says he will report what was most worthy of remembrance
and what the chief speakers said, since not all details were remembered.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 1286-1293
quote_or_summary: Phaedrus begins by saying Love is a mighty god, wonderful among
gods and men, especially in birth, and eldest of the gods, with no recorded parents.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: 1294-1305
quote_or_summary: 'Hesiod is cited: ''First Chaos came, and then broad-bosomed Earth...
And Love.'' Parmenides is cited as saying, ''First in the train of gods, he fashioned
Love,'' and Acusilaus is said to agree with Hesiod.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; short excerpt used.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 1306-1315
quote_or_summary: Phaedrus says Love is the source of great benefits and that no
motive implants the sense of honor and dishonor as well as love in the lover and
beloved.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: 1315-1318
quote_or_summary: Phaedrus says that a state or army made of lovers and their beloveds
would govern well, abstain from dishonor, emulate honor, and fight bravely beside
one another; the text includes a parenthetical comparison to the Republic.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: '1318'
quote_or_summary: Phaedrus says a lover would rather die than desert the beloved,
and that Love infuses courage into the lover as Homer says a god breathes courage
into heroes.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Motif labels are cautious
because the passage is a philosophical encomium and includes hypothetical examples
rather than extended mythic narrative.
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: |-
No taxonomy symbol refs were assigned except the available 'chaos' ref for the explicit Chaos figure/symbol. Comparison claims are limited to comparisons explicitly signaled within the passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg__l1240-l1318
passage_sha256=5e2fe3373e23775182cf962a25979d26840bea66406763f12b22290501528e7c