batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l2701-l2761
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l2701-l2761
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: Symposium / SYMPOSIUM / INTRODUCTION. / SYMPOSIUM; lines 2701-2761
start: '2701'
end: '2761'
translation: Symposium
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Alcibiades describes Socrates as outwardly like a Silenus or satyr but
inwardly containing temperance and divine golden images. He recounts attempts
to entice Socrates in private settings, then frames his confession as compelled
by wine and by the painful sting of philosophy, shared by others who long after
wisdom.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The speaker says Socrates resembles a satyr or Silenus, with an outer mask
like a carved Silenus head.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The speaker says that when Socrates is opened, temperance is found within
him.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The speaker says Socrates disregards beauty, wealth, honour, and persons gifted
with them.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: The speaker says he saw divine and golden images inside Socrates and was ready
to do what Socrates commanded.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The speaker expected Socrates to speak as a lover would when they were alone,
but Socrates conversed as usual and went away.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The speaker invited Socrates to the palaestra and wrestled with him when no
one was present, but says he made no progress.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: The speaker invited Socrates to supper, detained him late on the second occasion,
and Socrates lay down on the couch next to him while they were alone in the apartment.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: The speaker invokes the proverb about truth in wine before continuing his
confession.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The speaker says he has felt the serpent's sting and compares the pang of
philosophy to a more violent bite than a serpent's tooth.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: The speaker names several companions as sharing the same madness and passion
in longing after wisdom.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:11
text: The speaker asks attendants and other profane or unmannered persons to close
the doors of their ears.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Alcibiades, the speaker
description: Narrator of the passage who praises Socrates, recounts his own designs,
and describes suffering the pang of philosophy.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Socrates
description: Person described as outwardly like a Silenus or satyr, inwardly temperate
and containing divine golden images, and resistant to the speaker's advances.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Companions at the drinking party
description: Audience addressed by the speaker, including Phaedrus, Agathon, Eryximachus,
Pausanias, Aristodemus, and Aristophanes, said to share longing after wisdom.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:6
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Attendants and other profane or unmannered persons
description: Persons whom the speaker tells to close the doors of their ears before
he continues.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: confessing narrator
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker says he will tell the truth, recounts his actions, and asks the
audience to listen and excuse him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:2
label: hidden wise figure
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Socrates is said to have an outer Silenus-like mask but inner temperance
and divine golden images.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: wounded lover of wisdom
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The speaker says he has been bitten by the pang of philosophy and speaks
from that agony.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: resistant beloved or teacher
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The speaker tries to draw Socrates into private erotic speech or intimacy,
but Socrates converses normally and departs or resists progress.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: fellow sufferers in longing after wisdom
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The speaker says the named companions have experience of the same madness
and passion in longing after wisdom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: excluded profane audience
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The speaker tells attendants and other profane or unmannered persons to close
the doors of their ears.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Silenus or satyr mask
literal_form: The carved head or outer mask of Silenus, used to describe Socrates'
outward appearance.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: divine golden images within
literal_form: Divine and golden images said to be seen inside Socrates when he is
opened.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: serpent sting
literal_form: Serpent's sting, viper's tooth, and serpent's tooth used to describe
the pang of philosophy.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: wine and truth proverb
literal_form: The proverb 'In vino veritas' invoked before the confession.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: closed doors of the ears
literal_form: The request that profane or unmannered persons close up the doors
of their ears.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Revealing Socrates as Silenus-like
summary: The speaker addresses the drinking companions and explains that Socrates
has a Silenus-like outer mask while concealing temperance and divine golden images
within.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Failed attempts to entice Socrates
summary: The speaker recounts arranging private time, wrestling, and supper with
Socrates in hopes of gaining intimate or privileged speech, but Socrates does
not respond as expected.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Confession of philosophical wound
summary: The speaker frames his disclosure through wine, compares philosophy's pain
to a serpent's bite, includes the companions among fellow sufferers, and excludes
profane listeners.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: Hidden wisdom beneath a deceptive outer form
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Socrates is described as outwardly Silenus-like and ignorant in appearance,
but inwardly temperate and filled with divine golden images.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents this as Alcibiades' praise and metaphor, not as an
independent mythic episode.
- id: motif:2
label: Painful longing after wisdom
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The speaker describes the pang of philosophy as worse than a serpent's tooth
and says the companions share the same madness and passion in longing after wisdom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The serpent language is metaphorical within a philosophical speech.
- id: motif:3
label: Restricted disclosure before initiated or sympathetic hearers
taxonomy_refs:
- initiation
basis: The speaker says only fellow sufferers can understand his agony and tells
profane or unmannered persons to close their ears.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage uses social and rhetorical exclusion; it does not describe
a formal ritual initiation.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly compares Socrates' outward appearance and concealed
inner value to a Silenus or satyr image that opens to reveal what is inside.
claim_level: visual_similarity
target: Silenus or satyr image
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The comparison is made inside the speech and should not be extended
beyond the passage without external evidence.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage explicitly compares the suffering caused by philosophy to a serpent
or viper bite, using the bite as an image of inner pain that compels speech.
claim_level: same_function
target: serpent bite as painful transformative wound
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage uses the serpent bite as a metaphor for philosophical passion;
it does not narrate an actual serpent encounter.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 2701-2714
quote_or_summary: The speaker describes Socrates as like a satyr or Silenus, with
an outer Silenus mask, but says temperance resides within and that Socrates despises
beauty, wealth, honour, and human admiration.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 2714-2718
quote_or_summary: The speaker says that when he opened Socrates and looked within,
he saw divine and golden images of fascinating beauty and was ready to obey Socrates'
commands.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 2718-2737
quote_or_summary: The speaker believed Socrates desired his beauty, arranged to
be alone with him, expected lover-like speech, then tried wrestling with him privately,
but says he made no progress.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 2737-2748
quote_or_summary: The speaker invited Socrates to supper, later kept him conversing
into the night, and Socrates lay on the couch next to him while no one else was
sleeping in the apartment.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: 2748-2756
quote_or_summary: The speaker invokes 'In vino veritas,' says he has felt the serpent's
sting, and calls philosophy's pang more violent than any serpent's tooth.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; short quotation and summary.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 2756-2761
quote_or_summary: The speaker names Phaedrus, Agathon, Eryximachus, Pausanias, Aristodemus,
Aristophanes, and Socrates as having the same madness and passion in longing after
wisdom, then tells attendants and profane persons to close their ears.
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: Literal extraction is direct from the supplied passage. Motif labels are
limited to the supplied taxonomy and are interpretive, especially for initiation
and serpent imagery.
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: |-
Extraction uses only the supplied passage and metadata; no external claims about Plato, Alcibiades, Socrates, or Silenus traditions are added.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg__l2701-l2761
passage_sha256=b08d12619172bde35c9b0c687192f73a5df853858d0fafc22732a6225c084fc0