symposium   

wind his way into and out of every soul of man undiscovered. And a

proof of his flexibility and symmetry of form is his grace, which is

universally admitted to be in an especial manner the attribute of

Love; ungrace and love are always at war with one another. The

fairness of his complexion is revealed by his habitation among the

flowers; for he dwells not amid bloomless or fading beauties,

whether of body or soul or aught else, but in the place of flowers and

scents, there he sits and abides. Concerning the beauty of the god I

have said enough; and yet there remains much more which I might say.

Of his virtue I have now to speak: his greatest glory is that he can

neither do nor suffer wrong to or from any god or any man; for he

suffers not by force if he suffers; force comes not near him,

neither when he acts does he act by force. For all men in all things

serve him of their own free will, and where there is voluntary

agreement, there, as the laws which are the lords of the city say,

is justice. And not only is he just but exceedingly temperate, for

Temperance is the acknowledged ruler of the pleasures and desires, and

no pleasure ever masters Love; he is their master and they are his

servants; and if he conquers them he must be temperate indeed. As to

courage, even the God of War is no match for him; he is the captive

and Love is the lord, for love, the love of Aphrodite, masters him, as

the tale runs; and the master is stronger than the servant. And if

he conquers the bravest of all others, he must be himself the bravest.

Of his courage and justice and temperance I have spoken, but I

have yet to speak of his wisdom-and according to the measure of my

ability I must try to do my best. In the first place he is a poet (and

here, like Eryximachus, I magnify my art), and he is also the source

of poesy in others, which he could not be if he were not himself a

poet. And at the touch of him every one becomes a poet, even though he

had no music in him before; this also is a proof that Love is a good

poet and accomplished in all the fine arts; for no one can give to

another that which he has not himself, or teach that of which he has