Tragedy of Alcibiades in Plato's Symposium

1598 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Sexuality in ancient Greece and Rome

The Tragedy of Alcibiades in Plato's Symposium

In Symposium, a selection from The Dialogues of Plato, Plato uses historical allusions to demonstrate Alcibiades’ frustration with both social expectations for the phallus and his inability to meet these expectations. Alcibiades’ inability to have a productive sexual relationship effectively castrates him and demonstrates the impotence caused by an overemphasis on eroticism. The tragedy of Alcibiades is that he realizes he is unable to gain virtue through sexual relationships and will therefore be forced to remain mortal, yet he is unable to alter his condition.

Symposium is set during a festival for Dionysus, the goddess of fertility; this setting emphasizes the sexual expectations of society that Alcibiades must confront. During fertility festivals, "the Athenians would carry phalluses around the city in ribald celebration" (Rudall 5);1 the phallus in Athens was a symbol of both fertility and eroticism. The Athenians, concerned with the potential extinction of the human race, performed rituals during these festivals that celebrated the phallus as the means of the reproduction of human life. Thus, heterosexual relationships were justified by the creation of children, and the focus of the celebration of the phallus was its productive nature. This focus on productivity created a social expectation that sexual relationships should be productive.

Thus, the partygoers in Symposium have gathered during a festival celebrating the fertility and productivity of heterosexual relationship to attempt to justify their homosexual relationships by eulogizing Eros. Since heterosexual relationships were justified by the production of children, a justification of homosexual relationships woul...

... middle of paper ...

...s was married to Hipparete, daughter of Hipponicus, and had at least one son by her; however, the couple lived separately for most of their wedded life and Hipparete even attempted to divorce Alcibiades. Alcibiades also unsuccessfully attempted to have a productive sexual relationship by impregnating Timaea, the wife of Agis, so that his descendants would become kings of the Lacedaemonians, but Agis realized that the son was not his and subsequently refused the royal succession. (Gregory R. Crane (ed.), The Perseus Project: Plutarch, http://www.perseus.tufts. edu/cgi-bin/text?lookup=plut.+alc.+8.1&vers=english;loeb&browse=1, December 1999).

5. While the exact relation of the dates of these two events is unknown, it is also unimportant. What is relevant is the relationship that Plato perceived them as having, and he likely believed them to have occurred within days.

Show More
Related

  • Athenian Society In Lysias's On The Murder Of Eratosthenes

    1561 Words  | 4 Pages

    In order to support the patriarchal nature of Athenian society, every aspect of their society emphasized the power and significance of males. The oikos, or the household, was the basic foundation of the society with many oikoi coming together to form their polis, Athens. Each oikos consisted of a man, who was the head of that oikos, and everybody else that lived in his household, including his wife, children, and slaves. Since the society greatly stressed masculinity, this was also central to the oikos as well. Adultery’s threat to Athenian society is represented in Lysias’s speech, On the Murder of Eratosthenes. Adultery was seen as a social rather than a personal issue and a more atrocious crime than rape because it demasculinized men and

    Read More

  • Holmes & Holmes: The Critique Of Holmes And Holmes

    1862 Words  | 4 Pages

    In a study conducted by Hickey, he discovered that out of thirty-four female serial killers, almost one in two had a male accomplice committing murders with them (Holmes et al., 1991). He also revealed that 97% were white and the average age the women started committing murders was thirty-three (Holmes et al., 1991). Women serial killers differ from men in that most women kill for material gain, such as money or insurance benefits, and they usually commit murder with pills or poison. Stephen Holmes, Ronald Holmes, and Eric Hickey developed a typology for female serial killers similar to the one developed by Holmes and Holmes, discussed earlier. They begin with visionary serial killers, who are compelled by some force, such as God, or spirits, to commit murders. The second type is the comfort killer, who usually kills acquaintances and does so for a material gain, money or real estate (Holmes et al., 1991). The third category is hedonistic female serial killers, which is similar to the earlier typology in that the offender connects murder with sexual gratification. This is the least represented category for female offenders, but evidence for this type of killer can be seen in the case of Carol Bundy (Holmes et al., 1991). Bundy allegedly helped her husband kidnap, murder, and decapitate the

    Read More

  • The Nature of Love Explored in Plato’s Symposium

    1231 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the play love is used by Euripides as a key plot factor and in many ways sets the outcome of the play. This love was definitely based on a physical attraction between a male and a female, thus making it “Common” love. The fact that Euripides uses “Common” love lends credibility to Pausanias’ philosophical ideas. The appearance of this idea suggests that it had realistic roots. . The events that took place in the play, such as the relationship between Phaedra and Hippolytus, must have been realistic so a Greek audience would believe the story. Even though Hippolytus is a fictional play the events that take place must have their roots in realistic events. This allows us to believe that Pausanias’ philosophical ideal was in fact a real life issue that Athenians dealt with in day-to-day life.

    Read More

  • The life and death of Ernesto Guevara de la Serna

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    His father Ernesto Guevara Lynch, an engineer, was from a family of Irish descent, and his mother, Clia dela Sena, was an Irish-Spanish descent. When Che was three his family moved to Buenos Aires. His asthma attacks had gotten so worse that the doctors advised him for a drier climate. So once again Guevara family moved, this time to Cordoba. The Guevara’s were a typical bourgeois family, and in terms of their political inclinations they were known to be liberal closer to left. During the Spanish civil war they had supported the Republicans. Ernesto followed the war very closely, as his uncle had gone to Spain as a reporter Ernesto knew all about the war. In time their financial situation worsened. Che started Dean Funes high school where he was being educated in English. In the meanwhile, he was also learning French from his mother.

    Read More

  • Aristophanes Views On Love

    1132 Words  | 3 Pages

    Aristophanes has mildly insulted the previous speakers in two ways. By claiming that one of the original forms was androgynous, he has suggested that heterosexuality is at least as natural as male homosexuality – as is being a lesbian. In contrast, Empedokles in fact did hold to a theory of sorts based on fitness to the environment, the description at 191c strongly suggests that only heterosexual relationships yielding only a temporary satisfaction and relief, allowing the participants to go about their business.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's Historical Accuracy

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thompson, James C. "Marriage in Ancient Athens." Womenintheancientworld.com. N.p., July 2010. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .

    Read More

  • A Comparison of Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite

    2587 Words  | 6 Pages

    She places in people the desire to have sexual relations and causes fear in men of the power of seduction by women. Her marriage to her husband was ignored as she had affairs with immortal and mortal men. Her infidelity in her marriage places her on the side with Greek men, rather than Greek women because only Greek men were able to cheat on their wives; not the other way around. In conclusion, the three important rules discussed in this paper that Greek women were required to obey, can be seen in the myths of the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Whether or not the Greek goddesses obeyed or did not obey these rules, their importance to the Greek culture is ever strong.

    Read More

  • Media Bias: Same Sex Marriage Articles

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    the beginning the text has an exciting tone since the authors describe the overwhelming emotions of individuals as well as the celebrations that took place after the law allowing same sex marriage was approved. By starting the article in this manner the writers are trying to provoke feelings of excitement from their readers in order to make them think that this event is a positive aspect of our society. Also, by mentioning the gay movement’s multiple efforts over the past “forty-two years to ensure the marital as well as civil rights of homosexuals” (Virtanen, Hill, and Zraick 1), the writers motivate their audience to be sympathetic towards these individuals. Moreover, the authors try to make people become more suppo...

    Read More

  • Gender and Serial Killers

    2475 Words  | 5 Pages

    The stereotype that exists for individuals who commit serial murder is one that mainly includes males of a specific race. However, it is now known that white males are not the only individuals who commit serial murder. Men and women from all racial and ethnic backgrounds and socio-economic statuses have been found to be serial murderers. Although this information has been presented to society, the cultural schema of the white male serial killer is still prevalent. The assumptions that involve serial murderers often include two aspects, the serial murderer is male and the serial murder is a type of “lust murder”, often involving sexual crimes by a sadist (Keeney and Heide, 1995). Keeney and Heide (1994) define serial murder to be the premeditated murder of three or more victims committed over time, in separate incidents, in a civilian context, with the murder being chosen by the offender.

    Read More

  • Lysistrata Essay

    990 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the time of war between the men of Athenian, Lysistrata calls upon all the women of Athenian to give up all acts of sex towards the men in combat. Empowered by her idea of celibacy, Lysistrata preaches to the women, “From now on, no more penises for you!” (Lysistrata 829). In unison, the women of Athenian chant a promise to stay abstinent until all chaos is resolved. Furthering into the strike, many women have tendency to feel deprived of sex, as well as lust. Lysistrata massive persistence on staying true to the seldom promise veers the weak into a hopeful direction. In conclusion to the Greek mythology of “Lysistrata”, the abstain notions of interacting in sex, lead to the war ending. Lysistrata was praised as a heroic figure and respected by her district of

    Read More

  • The Practice of Religion in Public Schools

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the twentieth century, the United States Supreme Court has protected students’ rights to practice their religious beliefs, so long as they are not “disruptive, discriminatory, or coercive to peers who may not share those same beliefs” (Education Weekly, 2003, para. 3). In 1943, the Supreme Court ruling in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette stated that students could not be “forced to salute the flag or say the pledge of allegiance if it violates the individual’s conscience” (First Amendment Cyber Tribune, 2002). The 1963 decision in Engel v. Vitale made school prayer unconstitutional, and similarly found school prayer at graduation ceremonies in its 1992 Lee v. Weisman decision (First Amendment Cyber Tribune, 2002). Student-led prayer at public school football games was found unconstitutional in 2000 with the Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (First Amendment C...

    Read More

  • Aphrodite and Demeter

    1488 Words  | 3 Pages

    She tempted many, even Zeus: “she beguiles even his wise heart . . . mates him with mortal women, unknown to Hera” (Hesiod). The goddess of love, “she was a particular favourite with the city’s many prostitutes but also supervised the sexual life of married women” (Blundell, 1998). To curb her promiscuity, Aphrodite was married to Hephaistos (god of the forge), who cared deeply for her, and made he...

    Read More

  • Plato's Symposium: An Analysis

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout history people have been hearing and using the word love to provide themselves with their own personal satisfaction. But, do we really understand what the true meaning of love really is? True love is when an individual expresses high morals and is willing to put self-interests aside to see someone for who they are as a person and not what they can provide in gifts. I think many of us sometimes abuse love for our own advantage in life, whether that be sex, money or power. People who are considered “common lovers” have no desire to gain virtue in another human being, which is the ultimate goal of finding true. In Plato’s Symposium, Pausanias clearly expresses people bring forth poor ethics toward the democracy by valuing common

    Read More

  • La paideia homosexuelle: Foucault, Platon et Aristote

    3390 Words  | 7 Pages

    ABSTRACT: As Michel Foucault describes it, the homosexual paideia in classical Greece was an erotic bonding between a boy who had to learn how to become a man, and a mature man who paid court to him. In many of his dialogues, Plato plays with this scheme: he retains the erotic atmosphere, but he inverts and purifies the whole process in the name of virtue and wisdom. In the Republic, however, Socrates' pupil forsakes this model in favor of a bisexual education for the shepherds and shepherdesses of the State. Aristotle resolutely opposes this move. He thus reverts to a kind of homosexual paideia for the future citizens of his ideal state, but this choice fosters many unspoken problems.

    Read More

  • Plato's Symposium

    1497 Words  | 3 Pages

    never wrote a line that we know of; all that we know of him (his

    Read More

More about Tragedy of Alcibiades in Plato's Symposium

Open Document