batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l1833-l1883
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l1833-l1883
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: Symposium / SYMPOSIUM / INTRODUCTION. / SYMPOSIUM; lines 1833-1883
start: '1833'
end: '1883'
translation: Symposium
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Socrates questions Agathon about shame before the wise versus the many.
Phaedrus interrupts to preserve the plan of giving encomia to Love. Agathon begins
his speech by saying he will first praise Love’s nature and then Love’s gifts.
He describes Love as fairest, best, youngest, ever youthful, opposed to age, and
the source of peace in heaven; he contrasts this with earlier divine violence
attributed to Necessity and cites Homer’s image of Ate’s tender feet to support
Love’s tenderness.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Socrates says Agathon would value the opinion of those he considered wise
more than that of the many.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Socrates asks whether Agathon would be ashamed of disgracing himself before
a really wise man but not before the many.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Phaedrus interrupts and says Socrates may neglect the agreed plan if he finds
a conversational partner, especially a good-looking one.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Phaedrus says he expects an encomium on Love from Socrates and from everyone,
described as a tribute to the god.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: Agathon says he will first explain how he ought to speak and then deliver
his speech.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: Agathon says previous speakers congratulated mankind on Love’s benefits rather
than first praising the god and unfolding his nature.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: Agathon calls Love the fairest and best of the blessed gods.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: Agathon says Love is the youngest of the gods, ever youthful, flees age, and
lives and moves with youth.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: Agathon disagrees with Phaedrus that Love is older than Iapetus and Kronos.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: Agathon says ancient divine acts described by Hesiod and Parmenides, if true,
were done by Necessity and not by Love.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: Agathon says that if Love had existed in those days there would have been
no chaining, mutilation, or other violence among gods, but peace and sweetness.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:12
text: Agathon says Love is tender and cites Homer’s description of Ate’s tender
feet.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Socrates
description: A speaker who questions Agathon about wisdom, shame, and the many.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Agathon
description: A speaker addressed by Socrates and then beginning an encomium on Love.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Phaedrus
description: A participant who interrupts Socrates and Agathon and urges continuation
of the encomia to Love.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Love
description: A god praised by Agathon as fairest, best, youngest, ever youthful,
tender, and associated with peace and sweetness.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: the many
description: A collective audience contrasted with the select wise.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: really wise man
description: A hypothetical wise figure before whom Agathon would be ashamed of
disgracing himself.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Age
description: Personified age from whom Love flees and whom Love hates.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Iapetus and Kronos
description: Older divine figures used in the comparison about Love’s age.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Necessity
description: A force to which Agathon attributes ancient divine acts instead of
Love.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Hesiod and Parmenides
description: Authorities cited for traditions about ancient divine doings.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Homer
description: Poet cited by Agathon for an image of Ate’s tenderness.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Ate
description: A goddess described in the cited Homeric line as having tender feet
and stepping on the heads of men rather than on the ground.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: questioning interlocutor
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Socrates asks Agathon about valuing wise opinion and shame before different
audiences.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: encomium speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Agathon agrees to proceed and begins explaining how he will praise Love.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: moderator of the speaking plan
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Phaedrus interrupts and insists on receiving encomia to Love from the participants.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: praised deity
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Agathon explicitly praises the god Love and describes his nature and gifts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: ordinary audience
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The many are contrasted with the select wise and the really wise man.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:6
label: wise judge of conduct
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Socrates says Agathon would be ashamed of disgracing himself before a really
wise man.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:7
label: opposed personified condition
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Love is said to flee Age, hate him, and not come near him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:8
label: older gods used for age comparison
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Agathon denies that Love is older than Iapetus and Kronos.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:9
label: source of ancient divine violence
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Agathon attributes ancient divine acts to Necessity rather than Love.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:10
label: poetic or philosophical authority
assigned_to:
- fig:10
- fig:11
basis: Hesiod, Parmenides, and Homer are cited as prior authorities for mythic or
poetic material.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:11
label: comparative mythic example of tenderness
assigned_to:
- fig:12
basis: Agathon invokes Homer’s description of Ate’s tender feet while describing
Love’s tenderness.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Love as youthful god
literal_form: The god Love described as youngest, ever youthful, fairest, best,
and tender.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: sym:2
label: Age as opposing figure
literal_form: Age personified as one whom Love flees and hates.
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: divine violence
literal_form: Chaining, mutilation, and other violence among gods in ancient divine
traditions.
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: peace and sweetness in heaven
literal_form: Peace and sweetness said to exist in heaven since Love’s rule began.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: tender feet of Ate
literal_form: A goddess’ tender feet stepping not on the ground but on the heads
of men.
associated_figures:
- fig:12
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: encomium as tribute
literal_form: The speeches in praise of Love described as a tribute to the god.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Socrates questions Agathon about wise judgment
summary: Socrates tells Agathon that he would care more for the opinion of the wise
than the many and asks about shame before a wise man versus before the many.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Phaedrus redirects the conversation to the encomia
summary: Phaedrus interrupts, warns that Socrates may become absorbed in conversation,
and insists that the planned encomia to Love continue.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Agathon sets the order of praise
summary: Agathon says he will first praise Love’s nature and then speak of Love’s
gifts, correcting what he sees as the previous speakers’ order.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Agathon describes Love’s youth and opposition to age
summary: Agathon describes Love as the fairest, best, youngest, ever youthful, and
distant from Age.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Agathon contrasts Love with ancient divine violence
summary: Agathon rejects the claim that Love is older than Iapetus and Kronos, attributes
ancient violent divine acts to Necessity, and says Love’s rule brings peace and
sweetness in heaven.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:6
label: Agathon invokes Homer’s Ate to describe tenderness
summary: Agathon supports the claim that Love is tender by citing Homer’s description
of Ate’s tender feet.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:11
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: praise offered as tribute to a deity
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: Phaedrus describes the encomium on Love as something owed from each speaker
and as a tribute to the god.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage concerns formal speech-making at a symposium rather than a
ritual offering in a narrative cult setting.
- id: motif:2
label: wisdom contrasted with the many
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Socrates contrasts the judgment of the really wise with the opinion of the
many and discusses shame before each audience.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: high
cautions: This is a philosophical dialogue motif rather than a mythic episode.
- id: motif:3
label: youthful benevolent deity opposed to age
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
basis: Agathon presents Love as youngest and ever youthful, fleeing and hating Age,
with youth and love moving together.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The duality is rhetorical and personified; it is not developed as a full
mythic conflict.
- id: motif:4
label: divine violence replaced by peaceful rule
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
basis: Agathon contrasts earlier chaining, mutilation, and violence among gods under
Necessity with peace and sweetness in heaven under Love’s rule.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage refers to earlier traditions but does not narrate their events
in detail.
- id: motif:5
label: tender-footed goddess as poetic comparison
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Agathon cites Homer’s image of Ate’s tender feet to support his description
of Love’s tenderness.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is introduced as an analogy rather than as the main subject
of the speech.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: Agathon explicitly compares or contrasts his account of Love with earlier
traditions attributed to Hesiod and Parmenides, saying ancient divine violence
belonged to Necessity rather than to Love.
claim_level: same_function
target: Hesiodic and Parmenidean accounts of ancient divine acts among gods
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage gives only a brief reference to those traditions and does
not quote or summarize the specific earlier myths in detail.
- id: claim:2
claim: Agathon uses a Homeric image of Ate’s tender feet as an analogy for the tenderness
he attributes to Love.
claim_level: visual_similarity
target: Homeric description of Ate stepping with tender feet
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The comparison is limited to the shared attribute of tenderness and
the foot-stepping image; it does not imply that Love and Ate have the same mythic
role.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 1833-1847
quote_or_summary: Socrates tells Agathon that he would care more for the opinion
of those he thought wise than for the many, and asks whether he would be ashamed
before a really wise man but not before the many.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 1848-1858
quote_or_summary: Phaedrus interrupts, saying Socrates may become absorbed in conversation
with a good-looking partner, and reminds the group that each owes an encomium
on Love as a tribute to the god.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 1859-1869
quote_or_summary: Agathon agrees to proceed, says he will first state how he ought
to speak, and argues that one should praise the god Love first and then speak
of his gifts.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 1870-1878
quote_or_summary: Agathon says Love is the fairest and best, the youngest of the
gods, flees Age, and lives and moves with youth.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 1878-1881
quote_or_summary: Agathon denies that Love is older than Iapetus and Kronos; he
says ancient divine acts reported by Hesiod and Parmenides were done by Necessity,
and that Love would have prevented chaining, mutilation, and violence, bringing
peace and sweetness in heaven.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary used.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: 1881-1883
quote_or_summary: 'Agathon says Love is tender and cites Homer on Ate: “Her feet
are tender,” and she steps not on the ground but on the heads of men.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt from public domain translation.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Literal extraction is strong because the passage is explicit. Motif assignments
are cautious because the material is a philosophical encomium with mythic references
rather than a full myth 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: |-
Used only the supplied passage and metadata. Taxonomy references were applied only where directly supportable from the passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg__l1833-l1883
passage_sha256=840ea4abdeab70cce66080e175d58768d0b7ccbf212361da22fa5bb29b550701