batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l923-l996
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l923-l996
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: Symposium / SYMPOSIUM / INTRODUCTION.; lines 923-996
start: '923'
end: '996'
translation: Symposium
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The introduction characterizes Alcibiades, dates the Symposium by reference
to Mantinea, compares the Symposium with the Phaedrus, Phaedo, Republic, and Xenophon's
Symposium, and summarizes Plato's account of love and philosophy as an ascent
through stages of initiation toward the vision of eternal beauty.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Alcibiades is described as lawless, generous, fascinated by Socrates, and
possessing a genius that might either destroy or save Athens.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The passage dates the Symposium after the destruction of Mantinea and probably
between 384 and 369 B.C.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The Symposium and Phaedrus are described as the only Platonic dialogues in
which love is discussed at length.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Philosophy in the Symposium and Phaedrus is described as a kind of enthusiasm
or madness.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Socrates is described as newly inspired with Bacchanalian revelry and as attributing
his philosophy to others rather than himself.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The Symposium is described as moving without a break from this world to another
by a regular series of steps or stages.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The described ascent proceeds from particulars of sense to universals of reason
and finally to a single science.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: The passage uses the language of mysteries to describe higher degrees of initiation
ending in the vision of beauty.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: The final vision of beauty is described as eternal, absolute, divine, unlimited
by space or time, and the highest knowledge available to the human mind.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: The passage says Plato does not decide whether the individual is absorbed
in the sea of light and beauty or retains personality.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:11
text: The soul is said to be capable of partaking of eternal nature, which seems
to imply that the soul also is eternal.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:12
text: Xenophon's Symposium is compared with Plato's Symposium, but its genuineness
is doubted in the passage.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:13
text: The passage states that the relative chronological order of Phaedrus, Symposium,
and Phaedo cannot be determined.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Alcibiades
description: A figure characterized as lawless, generous, fascinated by Socrates,
and potentially destructive or saving for Athens.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Socrates
description: A figure who fascinates Alcibiades and is described as newly inspired
with Bacchanalian revelry while attributing his philosophy to others.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Plato
description: The author whose Symposium is dated and whose philosophical treatment
of beauty, the soul, and the idea is summarized.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Xenophon
description: The attributed author of another Symposium whose genuineness is questioned
in the passage.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: lawless yet gifted political figure
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Alcibiades is described as the impersonation of lawlessness, generous, and
capable of destruction or salvation for Athens.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: philosophical inspirer
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Alcibiades is said to be strangely fascinated by Socrates.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: inspired philosopher
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Socrates is described as newly inspired with Bacchanalian revelry and as
deriving his philosophy from others.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: philosophical author
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The passage discusses the date and doctrine of Plato's Symposium and related
dialogues.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: disputed author
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The passage says the Symposium of Xenophon may have no more title to be regarded
as genuine than a spurious Apology.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: steps or stages
literal_form: regular series of steps or stages
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: initiation degrees
literal_form: higher and higher degree of initiation
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:3
label: vision of beauty
literal_form: perfect vision of beauty
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:4
label: sea of light and beauty
literal_form: sea of light and beauty
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Characterization of Alcibiades
summary: The passage describes Alcibiades as lawless, generous, fascinated by Socrates,
and potentially decisive for Athens' destruction or salvation.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Ascent toward beauty
summary: The passage summarizes the Symposium as an ascent through stages from sensible
particulars to universals and a final vision of eternal divine beauty.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:3
label: Question of absorption and eternity
summary: The passage notes that Plato does not ask whether the individual is absorbed
in light and beauty or retains personality, while suggesting the soul partakes
of eternal nature.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: Comparison with Xenophon's Symposium
summary: The passage compares Xenophon's Symposium with Plato's works but questions
the genuineness of Xenophon's text.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:3
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: philosophical ascent through stages
taxonomy_refs:
- ascent
- mystical_quest
- initiation
- wisdom
basis: The passage describes movement from this world to another through steps or
stages, from sense particulars to universals, and through higher degrees of initiation
to the vision of beauty.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: This is a philosophical and introductory summary rather than a mythic
narrative episode.
- id: motif:2
label: vision of eternal divine beauty
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_beloved
- wisdom
basis: The passage describes a perfect vision of beauty that is eternal, absolute,
divine, unlimited, and the highest knowledge of the human mind.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage frames beauty as an idea or philosophical object rather than
a personified deity or narrative beloved.
- id: motif:3
label: possible absorption in light and beauty
taxonomy_refs:
- annihilation_union
basis: The passage explicitly raises but says Plato does not answer whether the
individual is absorbed in the sea of light and beauty or retains personality.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: low
cautions: The passage states this question is not pursued, so the motif is only
a possible conceptual boundary, not an enacted event.
- id: motif:4
label: inspired madness of philosophy
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage describes philosophy as enthusiasm or madness and Socrates as
newly inspired with Bacchanalian revelry.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy has no specific possession or divine madness category;
mapped only broadly to wisdom.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage itself compares the Symposium and Phaedrus as works in which
love is treated at length and philosophy is described as enthusiasm or madness.
claim_level: same_function
target: Plato's Phaedrus
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The claim is limited to the passage's literary-philosophical comparison,
not a historical derivation claim.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage contrasts the Symposium with the Phaedo and Phaedrus by noting
that those works look to past and future states of existence, while the Symposium
presents a continuous staged ascent.
claim_level: same_function
target: Plato's Phaedo and Phaedrus
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: This is a thematic comparison internal to Platonic dialogues, not a
broader mythological comparison.
- id: claim:3
claim: The passage compares Xenophon's Symposium with Plato's Symposium on the discussion
of sensual and sentimental love, while expressing doubt about the Xenophontic
work's genuineness.
claim_level: same_function
target: Xenophon's Symposium
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
counter_evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: medium
limitations: The same evidence also undermines the comparison by questioning authenticity
and suggesting possible imitation.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 923-932
quote_or_summary: Alcibiades is characterized as lawless, generous, fascinated by
Socrates, and endowed with a genius that could destroy or save Athens.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 934-945
quote_or_summary: The dating of the Symposium is inferred from the division of Arcadia
after Mantinea's destruction; composition is placed probably between 384 and 369
B.C.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 947-954
quote_or_summary: The Symposium is connected with the Phaedrus in style and subject;
both discuss love at length, and philosophy is treated as enthusiasm or madness,
with Socrates described as newly inspired with Bacchanalian revelry.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 955-964
quote_or_summary: The Phaedo is compared with the Symposium; unlike Phaedo and Phaedrus,
the Symposium has no break between this world and another but rises through steps
from sense particulars to universals and a single science.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 965-972
quote_or_summary: The passage describes a language of mysteries with higher degrees
of initiation leading to a perfect vision of eternal, absolute, divine beauty
beyond limits of space and time.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 973-983
quote_or_summary: The passage says Plato does not ask whether the individual is
absorbed in the sea of light and beauty or keeps personality, and says the soul's
participation in eternal nature seems to imply its eternity.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 985-993
quote_or_summary: Xenophon's Symposium is said to offer points of comparison, including
Socrates as pander and a discourse on sensual and sentimental love, but the passage
questions the work's genuineness.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 994-996
quote_or_summary: The passage states that there are no means of determining the
relative chronological order of the Phaedrus, Symposium, and Phaedo.
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: The passage is an introduction and philosophical-literary commentary rather
than a mythic narrative. Motif candidates are based on explicit imagery of ascent,
initiation, vision, and union/absorption language.
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 unsupported external comparisons were added; taxonomy references are limited to supplied available motif families.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg__l923-l996
passage_sha256=5dab881e0652d515995094c6617b339b779471610d8612bcc764ec94248ab9f6