Page:The Dialogues of Plato v. 1.djvu/602

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Exhortation of Aristophanes to piety. 56 in basso-relievo, like the profile figures having only half Sym- a nose which are sculptured on monuments, and that we /"■""'«■ shall be Hke tallies. Wherefore let us exhort all men to ^pHf™s piety, that we may avoid evil, .and obtain the good, of which eryxi- T . till-' 11 MACHUS, Love is to us the lord and minister ; and let no one oppose so o SOCRATES. him — he is the enemy of the gods who opposes him. For (j,™ ^^■^, .if we are friends of the God and at peace with him we shall ship the find our own true loves, which rarely happens in this world mavbenoT at present. I am serious, and therefore I must beg Eryxi- halved machus not to make fun or to find any allusion in what °"'y' ™' I am saying to Pausanias and Agathon, who, as I suspect, are both of the manly nature, and belong to the class which I have been describing. But my words have a wider appli- cation — they include men and women everywhere ; and I believe that if our loves were perfectly accomplished, and each one returning to his primeval nature had his original true love, then our race would be happy. And if this would be best of all, the best in the next degree and under present circumstances must be the nearest approach to such an union ; and that will be the attainment of a congenial love. Wherefore, if we would praise him who has given to us the benefit, we must praise the god Love, who is our greatest benefactor, both leading us in this life back to our own nature, and giving us high hopes for the future, for he promises that if we are pious, he will restore us to our original state, and heal us and make us happy and blessed. This, Eryximachus, is my discourse of love, which, although Aristo- different to yours, I must beg you to leave unassailed by the Planes de- •J ' ^ -> -J precates shafts of your ridicule, in order that each may have his turn ; ridicule, each, or rather either, for Agathon and Socrates are the only ones left. Indeed, I am not going to attack you, said Eryximachus, for I thought your speech charming, and did I not know that Agathon and Socrates are masters in the art of love, I should be really afraid that they would have nothing to say, after the world of things which have been said already. But, for all that, I am not without hopes. Socrates said : You played your part well, Eryximachus ; but if you were as I am now, or rather as I shall be when Agathon has spoken, you would, indeed, be in a great strait. 002