batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l2200-l2261
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l2200-l2261
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: Symposium / SYMPOSIUM / INTRODUCTION. / SYMPOSIUM; lines 2200-2261
start: '2200'
end: '2261'
translation: Symposium
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Diotima explains to Socrates that Love is neither mortal nor immortal but
an intermediate daimon who mediates between gods and humans. She recounts Love’s
conception by Poverty and Plenty at Aphrodite’s birthday feast and describes Love
as poor yet resourceful, between death and life, ignorance and knowledge, and
therefore a lover of wisdom rather than wisdom itself.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Love is described as neither mortal nor immortal, but between the two.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Love is called a great spirit or daimon, intermediate between the divine and
the mortal.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Love conveys prayers and sacrifices from humans to gods and commands and replies
from gods to humans.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: Diotima says God does not mingle directly with man, and that intercourse and
converse between God and man occurs through Love.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:5
text: Diotima says there are many and diverse intermediate spirits, and Love is
one of them.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:6
text: At Aphrodite’s birthday feast, Poros or Plenty, son of Metis or Discretion,
is among the guests.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:7
text: After the feast, Penia or Poverty comes to the doors to beg.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:8
text: Plenty, affected by nectar, enters the garden of Zeus and falls into a heavy
sleep.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:9
text: Poverty plans to have a child by Plenty, lies beside him, and conceives Love.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:10
text: Love is said to be a follower and attendant of Aphrodite because he was born
on her birthday and is a lover of the beautiful.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:11
text: Love is described as poor, rough, squalid, shoeless, homeless, and sleeping
exposed on the bare earth, in streets, or at doors.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:12
text: Love is described as bold, enterprising, strong, a hunter, a weaver of intrigues,
resourceful, and a pursuer of wisdom.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:13
text: Love is described as being alive and flourishing at one moment, dead at another,
and alive again because of his father’s nature.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:14
text: Love is described as between ignorance and knowledge, and as neither in want
nor in wealth.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:15
text: Diotima says lovers of wisdom are those between the wise and the ignorant,
and Love is one of them.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:16
text: Diotima distinguishes Love from the beloved, saying the beloved is beautiful
and blessed, while Love has the nature she has described.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Socrates
description: The first-person questioner addressed by Diotima as Socrates.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Diotima
description: The speaker who answers Socrates and explains the nature, power, birth,
and condition of Love.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Love
description: A great spirit or daimon described as intermediate between divine and
mortal, mediator between gods and humans, child of Poverty and Plenty, follower
of Aphrodite, and lover of wisdom.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: gods
description: Divine recipients of human prayers and sacrifices and senders of commands
and replies.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: men / humans
description: Mortal beings whose prayers and sacrifices are carried to the gods
and who receive divine commands and replies.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Poros / Plenty
description: A god at Aphrodite’s birthday feast, son of Metis or Discretion, affected
by nectar, sleeping in the garden of Zeus, and father of Love.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Metis / Discretion
description: Named as the parent of Poros or Plenty.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Penia / Poverty
description: A figure who comes to the doors to beg, lies beside Plenty, conceives
Love, and is named as Love’s poor and foolish mother.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Aphrodite
description: The goddess whose birthday is the setting of the feast; Love is born
on her birthday and becomes her follower and attendant.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Zeus
description: Named as the owner or associated deity of the garden where Plenty sleeps.
role_refs:
- role:13
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: the beloved
description: Distinguished from Love and described as truly beautiful, delicate,
perfect, and blessed.
role_refs:
- role:14
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: questioner
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Socrates asks Diotima what Love is and who lovers of wisdom are.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- id: role:2
label: teacher and narrator
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Diotima provides the explanatory answers and narrates the tale of Love’s
birth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: intermediate daimon
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Love is called a great spirit intermediate between divine and mortal.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: mediator between gods and humans
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Love carries prayers and sacrifices to gods and divine commands and replies
to humans.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:5
label: child of Poverty and Plenty
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Poverty conceives Love by Plenty.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:6
label: lover of wisdom
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Love is placed between the wise and the ignorant and called a philosopher
or lover of wisdom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:7
label: divine recipients and speakers
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Gods receive prayers and sacrifices and send commands and replies.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:8
label: mortal petitioners and recipients
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Humans send prayers and sacrifices and receive commands and replies through
Love.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:9
label: father of Love
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Poverty conceives Love by Plenty; Love’s traits partly resemble his father’s
wealth and resourcefulness.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: role:10
label: parent of Plenty
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Poros or Plenty is named as the son of Metis or Discretion.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:11
label: mother of Love
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Poverty lies beside Plenty and conceives Love; Love resembles his mother
in distress.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: role:12
label: goddess associated with Love’s birth and attendance
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Love is born on Aphrodite’s birthday and is her follower and attendant.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:13
label: deity associated with garden setting
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: The conception episode occurs after Plenty enters the garden of Zeus.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:14
label: object distinguished from Love
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: Diotima says Socrates confused love with the beloved, which is the truly
beautiful and blessed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: intermediate chasm
literal_form: the chasm dividing gods and humans, spanned by Love
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: prayers and sacrifices conveyed upward
literal_form: prayers and sacrifices of humans carried to the gods
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: commands and replies conveyed downward
literal_form: commands and replies of the gods carried to humans
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:4
label: Aphrodite’s birthday feast
literal_form: a feast of the gods on Aphrodite’s birthday
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:5
label: garden of Zeus
literal_form: the garden of Zeus where Plenty sleeps
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:8
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:6
label: doors of begging and rest
literal_form: doors where Poverty comes to beg and where Love rests
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: sym:7
label: bare earth and open heaven
literal_form: bare earth under open heaven where Love lies exposed
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Diotima defines Love as intermediate spirit
summary: Socrates asks what Love is, and Diotima answers that Love is neither mortal
nor immortal but a daimon between the divine and mortal.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Love mediates between gods and humans
summary: Diotima describes Love as carrying human prayers and sacrifices to gods
and divine commands and replies to humans, enabling converse between the divine
and human realms.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:3
label: Birth of Love at Aphrodite’s feast
summary: At Aphrodite’s birthday feast, Poverty comes to beg; Plenty sleeps in Zeus’s
garden after nectar; Poverty lies beside him and conceives Love.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Fortunes and traits of Love
summary: Love’s mixed parentage explains his poverty, homelessness, resourcefulness,
boldness, pursuit of wisdom, and alternating condition of flourishing and dying.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Love as lover of wisdom
summary: Diotima explains that neither the wise nor the ignorant seek wisdom; Love,
being between wisdom and ignorance, is a philosopher or lover of wisdom.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Distinction between Love and the beloved
summary: Diotima says Socrates’ error came from confusing Love with the beloved;
the beloved is beautiful and blessed, while Love has the needy and intermediate
nature described.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:11
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: intermediary spirit mediating divine-human exchange
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: Love is explicitly described as an intermediate daimon who conveys prayers
and sacrifices upward and commands and replies downward, binding together gods
and humans.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference is applied to the exchange function in this passage;
the passage does not use the taxonomy label.
- id: motif:2
label: being defined by a mean between opposites
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
basis: Love is repeatedly placed between mortal and immortal, divine and mortal,
poverty and plenty, ignorance and knowledge, life and death, and wisdom and foolishness.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: This is a philosophical pattern in the dialogue, not necessarily a narrative
mythic dualism.
- id: motif:3
label: birth from contrasting parents explains mixed nature
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_birth
basis: Love’s conception by Poverty and Plenty at a divine feast is used to explain
his mixed condition and traits.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents a theological-philosophical myth of origin, but the
birth is not described as miraculous in the provided text.
- id: motif:4
label: questing desire for wisdom
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
- mystical_quest
basis: Love is described as a pursuer and lover of wisdom, between ignorance and
knowledge, and as a philosopher at all times.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage defines the philosophical condition of Love rather than narrating
a completed quest.
- id: motif:5
label: alternation between flourishing and deathlike lack
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
basis: Love is described as alive and flourishing when in plenty, dead at another
moment, and alive again through his father’s nature.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The text uses this alternation to describe Love’s nature; it does not
narrate a formal death and rebirth episode.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 2200-2218
quote_or_summary: Diotima says Love is neither mortal nor immortal, but a great
daimon between divine and mortal; he conveys prayers and sacrifices to gods and
divine commands and replies to humans, spanning the chasm between them.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short summary used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 2219-2227
quote_or_summary: 'Diotima begins the tale of Love’s parentage: at Aphrodite’s birthday
feast of the gods, Poros or Plenty, son of Metis or Discretion, is present, and
Penia or Poverty comes to the doors to beg after the feast.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short summary used.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 2228-2238
quote_or_summary: Plenty, affected by nectar, sleeps in the garden of Zeus; Poverty,
seeking relief from her circumstances, lies beside him and conceives Love, who
becomes Aphrodite’s follower and attendant.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short summary used.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 2239-2248
quote_or_summary: Because of his parentage, Love is described as always poor, rough,
squalid, shoeless, homeless, exposed on bare earth under the open heaven, resting
in streets or at doors, and always in distress like his mother.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short summary used.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 2248-2254
quote_or_summary: Like his father, Love is described as plotting against the fair
and good, bold, enterprising, strong, a hunter, weaving intrigues, pursuing wisdom,
resourceful, and powerful as enchanter, sorcerer, and sophist.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short summary used.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 2254-2261
quote_or_summary: Love is neither mortal nor immortal; he flourishes when in plenty,
is dead at another moment, and lives again by his father’s nature. He is neither
in want nor wealth and is between ignorance and knowledge.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short summary used.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: '2261'
quote_or_summary: Diotima says lovers of wisdom are those between the wise and the
foolish; Love is one of them because wisdom is beautiful and Love is of the beautiful.
His father is wealthy and wise, his mother poor and foolish.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short summary used.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: '2261'
quote_or_summary: Diotima tells Socrates that he confused love with the beloved;
the beloved is beautiful, delicate, perfect, and blessed, but Love has the different
nature she described.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short summary used.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: Extraction is based only on the supplied passage. Motif labels use available
taxonomy references where the passage directly supports them; no external comparison
claims are 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: |-
Line subranges are approximate within the supplied stable range because only the full passage text and overall line range were provided.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg__l2200-l2261
passage_sha256=27fd894f1a665250f92ba06f84f54cc5e43c7423ff3a1ee0dea9ae973a72296f