Socrates in Plato’s Symposium Passage 176

μετὰ ταῦτα, ἔφη, κατακλινέντος τοῦ Σωκράτους καὶ δειπνήσαντος καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, σπονδάς τε σφᾶς ποιήσασθαι, καὶ ᾁσαντας τὸν θεὸν καὶ τἆλλα τὰ νομιζόμενα, τρέπεσθαι πρὸς τὸν πότον· τὸν οὖν Παυσανίαν ἔφη λόγου τοιούτου τινὸς κατάρχειν. εἶεν, ἄνδρες, φάναι, τίνα τρόπον ῥᾷστα πιόμεθα; ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι τῷ ὄντι πάνυ χαλεπῶς ἔχω ὑπὸ τοῦ χθὲς πότου καὶ δέομαι ἀναψυχῆς τινος - οἶμαι δὲ καὶ ὑμῶν τοὺς πολλούς· παρῆστε γὰρ χθές - σκοπεῖσθε οὖν τίνι τρόπῳ ἂν ὡς ῥᾷστα πίνοιμεν. τὸν οὖν Ἀριστοφάνη εἰπεῖν, τοῦτο μέντοι εὖ λέγεις, ὦ Παυσανία, τὸ παντὶ τρόπῳ παρασκευάσασθαι ῥᾳστώνην τινὰ τῆς πόσεως· καὶ γὰρ αὐτός εἰμι τῶν χθὲς βεβαπτισμένων. ἀκούσαντα οὖν αὐτῶν ἔφη Ἐρυξίμαχον τὸν Ἀκουμενοῦ ἦ καλῶς, φάναι, λέγετε. καὶ ἔτι ἑνὸς δέομαι ὑμῶν ἀκοῦσαι πῶς ἔχει πρὸς τὸ ἐρρῶσθαι πίνειν, Ἀγάθων ος . οὐδαμῶς, φάναι, οὐδʼ αὐτὸς ἔρρωμαι. Ἕρμαιον ἂν εἴη ἡμῖν, ἦ δʼ ὅς, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἐμοί τε καὶ Ἀριστοδήμῳ καὶ Φαίδρῳ καὶ τοῖσδε, εἰ ὑμεῖς οἱ δυνατώτατοι πίνειν νῦν ἀπειρήκατε· ἡμεῖς μὲν γὰρ ἀεὶ ἀδύνατοι. Σωκράτη δʼ ἐξαιρῶ λόγου· ἱκανὸς γὰρ καὶ ἀμφότερα, ὥστʼ ἐξαρκέσει αὐτῷ ὁπότερʼ ἂν ποιῶμεν. ἐπειδὴ οὖν μοι δοκεῖ οὐδεὶς τῶν παρόντων προθύμως ἔχειν πρὸς τὸ πολὺν πίνειν οἶνον, ἴσως ἂν ἐγὼ περὶ τοῦ μεθύσκεσθαι οἷόν ἐστι τἀληθῆ λέγων ἧττον ἂν εἴην ἀηδής. ἐμοὶ γὰρ δὴ τοῦτό γε οἶμαι κατάδηλον γεγονέναι ἐκ τῆς ἰατρικῆς, ὅτι χαλεπὸν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἡ μέθη ἐστίν· καὶ οὔτε αὐτὸς ἑκὼν εἶναι πόρρω ἐθελήσαιμι ἂν πιεῖν οὔτε ἄλλῳ συμβουλεύσαιμι, ἄλλως τε καὶ κραιπαλῶντα ἔτι ἐκ τῆς προτεραίας. ἀλλὰ μήν, ἔφη φάναι ὑπολαβόντα Φαῖδρον τὸν Μυρρινούσιον, ἔγωγέ σοι εἴωθα πείθεσθαι ἄλλως τε καὶ ἅττʼ ἂν περὶ ἰατρικῆς λέγῃς· νῦν δʼ, ἂν εὖ βουλεύωνται, καὶ οἱ λοιποί. ταῦτα δὴ ἀκούσαντας συγχωρεῖν πάντας μὴ διὰ μέθης ποιήσασθαι τὴν ἐν τῷ παρόντι συνουσίαν, ἀλλʼ οὕτω πίνοντας πρὸς ἡδονήν. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν, φάναι τὸν Ἐρυξίμαχον, τοῦτο μὲν δέδοκται, πίνειν ὅσον ἂν ἕκαστος βούληται, ἐπάναγκες δὲ μηδὲν εἶναι, τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο εἰσηγοῦμαι τὴν μὲν ἄρτι εἰσελθοῦσαν αὐλητρίδα χαίρειν ἐᾶν, αὐλοῦσαν ἑαυτῇ ἢ ἂν βούληται ταῖς γυναιξὶ ταῖς ἔνδον, ἡμᾶς δὲ διὰ λόγων ἀλλήλοις συνεῖναι τὸ τήμερον· καὶ διʼ οἵων λόγων, εἰ βούλεσθε, ἐθέλω ὑμῖν εἰσηγήσασθαι.

After this, it seems, when Socrates had taken his place and had dined with the rest, they made libation and sang a chant to the god and so forth, as custom bids, till they betook them to drinking. Then Pausanias opened a conversation after this manner: Well, gentlemen, what mode of drinking will suit us best? For my part, to tell the truth, I am in very poor form as a result of yesterday’s bout, and I claim a little relief; it is so, I believe, with most of you, for you were at yesterday’s party: so consider what method of drinking would suit us best. On this Aristophanes observed: Now that, Pausanias, is a good suggestion of yours, that we make a point of consulting our comfort in our cups: for I myself am one of those who got such a soaking yesterday. When Eryximachus, son of Acumenus, heard this; You are quite right, sirs, he said; and there is yet one other question on which I request your opinion, as to what sort of condition Agathon finds himself in for drinking. No, no, said Agathon, I am not in good condition for it either. It would be a piece of luck for us, I take it, the other went on, that is, for me, Aristodemus, Phaedrus, and our friends here, if you who are the stoutest drinkers are now feeling exhausted. We, of course, are known weaklings. Socrates I do not count in the matter: he is fit either way, and will be content with whichever choice we make. Now as it appears that nobody here present is eager for copious draughts, perhaps it will be the less irksome to you if I speak of intoxication, and tell you truly what it is. The practice of medicine, I find, has made this clear to me - that drunkenness is harmful to mankind; and neither would I myself agree, if I could help it, to an excess of drinking, nor would I recommend it to another, especially when his head is still heavy from a bout of the day before. Here Phaedrus of Myrrhinus interrupted him, saying: Why, you know I always obey you, above all in medical matters; and so now will the rest of us, if they are well advised. Then all of them, on hearing this, consented not to make their present meeting a tipsy affair, but to drink just as it might serve their pleasure. Since it has been resolved, then, said Eryximachus, that we are to drink only so much as each desires, with no constraint on any, I next propose that the flute-girl who came in just now be dismissed: let her pipe to herself or, if she likes, to the women-folk within, but let us seek our entertainment today in conversation. I am ready, if you so desire, to suggest what sort of discussion it should be.

[176b] Avisons donc à boire sans inconvénient. - Tu me fais grand plaisir, dit Aristophane, de vouloir qu’on se ménage ; car je suis un de ceux qui se sont le moins épargnés la nuit passée. - Que je vous aime de cette humeur, dit Éryximaque, fils d’Acumènos. Il ne reste plus qu’à savoir où en est Agathon. - Où vous en êtes, dit-il, pas très-fort. [176c] - Tant mieux pour moi, reprit Éryximaque, si vous autres braves vous êtes rendus ; tant mieux pour Aristodème, pour Phèdre et pour les autres, qui sommes de petits buveurs. Je ne parle pas de Socrate, il boit comme il veut ; il lui sera donc indifférent quel parti on prendra. Ainsi, puisque vous êtes d’avis de nous ménager, j’en serai moins importun, si je vous remontre le danger qu’il y a de s’enivrer. [176d] Mon expérience de médecin m’a parfaitement prouvé que rien n’est plus pernicieux à l’homme que l’excès du vin : je l’éviterai toujours tant que je pourrai, et jamais je ne le conseillerai aux autres, surtout quand ils se sentiront encore la tête pesante de la veille. Tu sais, lui dit Phèdre de Myrrhinos en l’interrompant, que je suis volontiers de ton avis, surtout quand tu parles médecine ; mais tu vois que tout le monde est raisonnable aujourd’hui. [176e] Il n’y eut personne qui ne fût de ce sentiment. On résolut de ne point faire de débauche, et de ne boire que pour son plaisir. Puisque, ainsi est, dit Éryximaque, qu’on ne forcera personne, et que nous boirons comme il plaira à chacun, je suis d’avis, premièrement, que l’on renvoie cette joueuse de flûte qui vient d’entrer ; qu’elle aille jouer pour elle, ou, si elle l’aime mieux, pour les femmes dans l’intérieur. Quant à nous, si vous m’en croyez, nous lierons ensemble quelque conversation. Je vous en proposerai même la matière, si vous le voulez.