Aristophanes in Plato’s Symposium Essay

A startling image is shown to the reader after the Symposium. Aristophanes delivered the fourth speech of the evening out of turn because he may have exaggerated hiccups during Pausanias’ address¹. With a creative speech, he narrates how humanity and love came to be. The well-known comedic dramatist from Athens is Aristophanes. He is most renowned for his satirical plays, such as Clouds (423 BCE) and Frogs, and his participation in the Symposium (405 BCE). His speech has a somber tone and tells the fabled story of the beginning of love.

While not much is revealed about Aristophanes’s biography, it is evident that he had a significant influence on people of his time. Aristophanes lived in approximately 446–386 BCE and is considered the most prominent comic playwright of the Classical period². Aristophanes is known for his “relentless search for the Ridiculous,” and he has set a high mark for several generations of comedians who performed after his demise³. His narrative, similar to Genesis as an origin myth, is characterized by the idea of holiness as a virtue. Only Agathon, Aristophanes, and Socrates remained in the Symposium, sitting next to each other and sharing a customary cup of wine. Socrates argues that a talented playwright must be a master of both genres to write plays that are both comedic and tragic. Aristophanes, a pivotal figure in the narrative, adopts the term.

Aristophanes’ hiccups eventually go away, and once Eryximachus’ speech is over, he speaks at the feast. Aristophanes creates the notion that the earliest humans were androgynous—a combination of both male and female—using his comedic skills. They possessed two sets of ears, two faces facing opposite ways, four limbs and legs, and two distinct humiliating parts. The “androgynous” rushed, rolling like a wheel on all eight limbs as he was hurried⁴. Zeus commanded Apollo to divide each of the androgynes into two halves, a male and a female, because they had strength that was terrible even for the gods, and they resented him for his excesses.

These pieces were dispersed over the entire planet. However, the memory of their once-inseparable bond sparked a constant yearning to seek one another out to recapture their previous wholeness. If the divided parts come together, “they would not do anything apart from each other”⁵. Eros, according to Aristophanes, is the attempt of two human beings who have been cut in half to reunite and recapture the essence of their original nature. However, this is only feasible if the gods are revered since they have the power further to fragment us in the event of our evil.

Aristophanes cautions listeners not to mistake his remarks for pure humor before beginning on both sides. Of course, the comedian’s typical toolbox includes denying humorous purposes. Aristophanes’ speech has a certain sense of humor despite its horrifying images of numerous human bodily transformations. Nevertheless, considering his personality, the reader should heed Aristophanes’ cautions in this instance⁶. Especially about the tragic and philosophical explanation of human existence that lurks underneath their humorous surface. The importance of Aristophanes’ speech for conversation is underlined through various techniques. First, due to his destructive role in the Symposium, Aristophanes needs attention since it purposefully draws attention to the sequence of his utterances.

Eryximachus is placed in a triumvirate with Agathon and Socrates when Aristophanes is forced to step aside when it is his turn to speak due to hiccups. Aristophanes, Agathon, and Socrates continue to drink together at the dialogue’s conclusion, repeating the order of their utterances and urging that they be understood in connection to one another⁷. The many inappropriate comparisons Plato makes between Aristophanes’ and Socrates’ speeches serve to underline the importance of Aristophanes’ speech even more. Aristophanes portrays his persona as a supporter of Plato’s philosophy rather than an adversary. His character is a guy who wears a mask of humor and frivolous thinking to conceal the knowledge and fortitude of facing death and life.

Works Cited

Marren, Marina. Plato and Aristophanes: Comedy, Politics, and the Pursuit of a Just Life. Northwestern UP, 2021.

Plato. Symposium. Translated by Alexander Nehamas, Hackett Publishing, 1989.

Zavaliy, Andrei. Courage and Cowardice in Ancient Greece: From Homer to Aristotle. Springer, 2020.

Footnotes

1. Plato 24.
2. Zavaliy 104.
3. Zavaliy 104.
4. Plato 25.
5. Plato 27.
6. Marren 48.
7. Marren 91.