batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l2477-l2569
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l2477-l2569
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: Symposium / SYMPOSIUM / INTRODUCTION. / SYMPOSIUM; lines 2477-2569
start: '2477'
end: '2569'
translation: Symposium
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: '"begin from the beauties of earth and mount upwards"'
summary: Diotima's teaching, reported by Socrates, describes an ordered ascent from
earthly beauties to absolute divine beauty. Socrates endorses love as the best
helper toward this end. The symposium is then interrupted by noisy revellers;
Alcibiades enters drunk, crowned with ivy, violets, and ribands, crowns Agathon,
and then notices Socrates beside him.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A person instructed in the things of love learns to see beautiful things in
an ordered succession and finally perceives a wondrous, everlasting beauty.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The passage distinguishes absolute beauty from changing bodily, verbal, intellectual,
animal, heavenly, earthly, or located forms of beauty.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The described way proceeds from beauties of earth upward, using them as steps,
from one form to many forms, then to practices, notions, and finally the notion
and essence of absolute beauty.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The contemplation of true divine beauty is said to enable the beholder to
bring forth and nourish true virtue and to become a friend of God and immortal
if possible for a mortal.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Socrates says he is persuaded by Diotima's words and urges others to honor
love, walk in love's ways, and praise love's power and spirit.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: After Socrates finishes speaking, the company applauds, and a loud knocking
at the house door and the sound of a flute-girl are heard.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Alcibiades arrives intoxicated, calling for Agathon, supported by a flute-girl
and attendants, and wearing a massive garland of ivy and violets with ribands.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Alcibiades takes ribands from his head, holds them before his eyes, does not
see Socrates, sits between Agathon and Socrates, embraces Agathon, and crowns
him.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: When Alcibiades turns and sees Socrates, he starts up and says Socrates is
always lying in wait for him in unexpected places.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Diotima, the stranger of Mantineia
description: The woman whose words on love and absolute beauty are reported by Socrates.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Socrates
description: Speaker who reports Diotima's teaching, endorses love, and is later
found reclining near Agathon when Alcibiades enters.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:8
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Instructed lover or beholder
description: The person instructed in love who ascends from earthly beauties to
the perception and contemplation of absolute beauty.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Absolute or divine beauty
description: An everlasting, simple, separate, pure, and divine beauty contemplated
by the mind.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Love
description: Named by Socrates as the best helper for attaining the described end,
to be honored and praised.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Phaedrus
description: Named addressee of Socrates' remarks after the speech.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: The company
description: The symposium participants who applaud Socrates and invite Alcibiades
to join them.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Aristophanes
description: A participant who begins to answer Socrates' allusion to his speech
before the interruption.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Agathon
description: Host or participant who orders attendants to inspect the intruders,
invites Alcibiades, and is embraced and crowned by him.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Alcibiades
description: An intoxicated entrant crowned with ivy, violets, and ribands, who
comes seeking and crowning Agathon and then reacts to Socrates.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Flute-girl and attendants
description: Persons supporting Alcibiades as he enters; the flute-girl is also
heard before his arrival.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: reported instructor in love
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Her words describe the ordered instruction in love and are explicitly attributed
to the stranger of Mantineia.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: reporter and advocate of love
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Socrates reports Diotima's words and says he tries to persuade others to
honor and praise love.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: ascending contemplative seeker
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The instructed person moves upward from earthly beauties to absolute beauty
and contemplates it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: final object of contemplation
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Absolute beauty is the final perceived and contemplated reality in the described
sequence.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: helper toward attainment
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Socrates says human nature will not easily find a helper better than love
in attaining the end.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: symposium participant or addressee
assigned_to:
- fig:6
- fig:8
basis: Phaedrus is addressed by Socrates, and Aristophanes is present and begins
to respond.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: audience and hosts of the revel
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The company applauds and vociferously asks Alcibiades to take a place among
them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: role:8
label: unexpected couch companion
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Alcibiades discovers Socrates as the third partner near Agathon and accuses
him of appearing unexpectedly.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:9
label: honored host or recipient of crown
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Agathon manages the response to the intruders and is embraced and crowned
by Alcibiades.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: role:10
label: intoxicated reveller and crowner
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: Alcibiades enters drunk, asks to join the revels, and crowns Agathon.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:11
label: supporting attendants
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: The flute-girl and attendants support Alcibiades as he finds his way in.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: absolute divine beauty
literal_form: Everlasting, simple, separate, pure divine beauty perceived and contemplated
by the mind.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: sym:2
label: ascent by steps
literal_form: Earthly beauties used as steps in a movement upward toward absolute
beauty.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: eye of the mind
literal_form: Mental sight by which the beholder sees true beauty.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: garland of ivy and violets
literal_form: A massive garland of ivy and violets on Alcibiades' head.
associated_figures:
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: ribands transferred for crowning
literal_form: Ribands carried on Alcibiades' head and taken off to crown Agathon.
associated_figures:
- fig:9
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: sym:6
label: door knocking and flute sound
literal_form: Great knocking at the house door and the sound of a flute-girl announcing
the revellers.
associated_figures:
- fig:7
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Diotima's ordered ascent to beauty
summary: The instructed lover moves from earthly beauties through an ordered series
to the perception and knowledge of absolute beauty.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Socrates endorses love
summary: Socrates tells Phaedrus and the others that he believes Diotima and urges
the honoring and praise of love as the best helper toward the end described.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Noisy interruption at the door
summary: After Socrates' speech and the company's applause, knocking and flute music
interrupt the gathering, and Agathon tells attendants to determine whether the
intruders are friends.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Alcibiades enters and crowns Agathon
summary: Alcibiades enters drunk with attendants, wearing a garland and ribands,
asks to join the revels, sits between Agathon and Socrates, embraces Agathon,
and crowns him.
figure_refs:
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:5
label: Alcibiades notices Socrates
summary: Alcibiades turns, sees Socrates beside him, starts up, and accuses Socrates
of appearing in unexpected places.
figure_refs:
- fig:10
- fig:2
- fig:9
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: ascent from earthly beauty to absolute beauty
taxonomy_refs:
- ascent
basis: The passage explicitly describes mounting upward from earthly beauties as
steps toward the essence of beauty.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: This is a philosophical ascent rather than a physical journey.
- id: motif:2
label: initiatory instruction leading to final vision
taxonomy_refs:
- initiation
- mystical_quest
basis: The seeker is instructed in love, follows an ordered sequence, and at the
end suddenly perceives wondrous beauty.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents intellectual and erotic-philosophical instruction,
not a formal ritual initiation.
- id: motif:3
label: divine beauty as ultimate beloved
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_beloved
basis: The passage names true beauty as divine, pure, and the object of looking
and converse in the life praised above all others.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage speaks of divine beauty rather than a personal beloved deity.
- id: motif:4
label: love as guide or helper to wisdom
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Socrates says love is the best helper for attaining the described end and
urges others to honor love and walk in love's ways.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage emphasizes love's function
in philosophical attainment.
- id: motif:5
label: arrival of the drunken reveller at the feast
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: A noisy entrance of revellers interrupts the speech, and Alcibiades arrives
intoxicated, crowned, and accompanied by flute music and attendants.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: No supplied taxonomy family directly matches this banquet-interruption
pattern.
- id: motif:6
label: crowning the admired host
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Alcibiades states he came to crown Agathon as fairest and wisest and then
places the ribands on Agathon after embracing him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives a social or festive gesture; broader ritual significance
is not established here.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The ordered movement from earthly beauties upward to absolute beauty fits
the supplied ascent motif family at the level of passage classification.
claim_level: same_motif
target: ascent
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The ascent is metaphysical and pedagogical, not a literal climb.
- id: claim:2
claim: The sequence of instruction, ordered stages, and final perception supports
a cautious classification alongside initiation or mystical quest patterns.
claim_level: same_function
target: initiation; mystical_quest
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage does not describe a formal rite, ordeal, secret society,
or physical quest.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 2477-2494
quote_or_summary: The instructed lover finally perceives an everlasting, changeless,
absolute beauty distinct from bodily parts, speech, knowledge, animals, heaven,
earth, or any place.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: 2495-2504
quote_or_summary: '"begin from the beauties of earth and mount upwards ... using
these as steps only" toward the notion and essence of absolute beauty.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 2504-2522
quote_or_summary: The life of contemplating absolute beauty is praised; seeing true
divine beauty with the mind enables the beholder to bring forth true virtue and
become a friend of God and immortal, if possible.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 2523-2533
quote_or_summary: Socrates says Diotima spoke these words, that he is persuaded,
and that love is the best helper for attaining this end; he honors love and exhorts
others to do likewise.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 2536-2546
quote_or_summary: After Socrates' speech the company applauds; Aristophanes begins
to answer, but loud knocking at the door and the sound of a flute-girl interrupt,
and Agathon sends attendants to inspect the intruders.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 2547-2560
quote_or_summary: Alcibiades is heard calling for Agathon, arrives very drunk, supported
by a flute-girl and attendants, and appears crowned with ivy, violets, and ribands.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 2561-2565
quote_or_summary: The company invites Alcibiades in; he removes ribands from his
own head, cannot see Socrates, takes the place between Agathon and Socrates, embraces
Agathon, and crowns him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: 2566-2569
quote_or_summary: Alcibiades notices Socrates beside him, starts up, invokes Heracles,
and says Socrates is always lying in wait and appearing in unexpected places.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward. Motif classification for ascent is
strong; initiation, mystical quest, and divine beloved readings are cautious because
the passage is philosophical rather than narrative myth or ritual description.
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 historical-contact claims are made.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg__l2477-l2569
passage_sha256=cf60a07496b7b89e779f363d435fa97d0baf1a1dcf27fc02239fd4e1dee35346