Ordre et progression des discours au chapitre IV du Banquet de Xénophon

Chapter IV of Xenophon’s Symposium has sixty-four paragraphs, making it the longest one in the dialogue. It is the chapter in which each of the participants in the Symposium (Callias, Niceratus, Critobulus, Charmides, Antisthenes, Hermogenes, Socrates) makes a speech about what makes him feel the greatest pride. The following study aims to demonstrate that the order in which these speeches occur is not arbitrary and follows an implicit “logic.” The underlying principle that determines the order of the speeches is their doctrinal proximity to Socrates. The first speeches are made by characters (Callias, Niceratus) who neither belong to Socrates’ circle of companions nor do they adopt Socratic positions, whereas the speeches that follow, which are made by Socrates’ companions (Critobulus, Charmides, Antisthenes, Hermogenes), appear to present a succession of positions that come closer and closer to those defended by Socrates.

Abstract licence: CC BY

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.