symposium   

this will be the easiest way, and I shall take both parts myself as

well as I can. As you, Agathon, suggested, I must speak first of the

being and nature of Love, and then of his works. First I said to her

in nearly the same words which he used to me, that Love was a mighty

god, and likewise fair and she proved to me as I proved to him that,

by my own showing, Love was neither fair nor good. "What do you

mean, Diotima," I said, "is love then evil and foul?" "Hush," she

cried; "must that be foul which is not fair?" "Certainly," I said.

"And is that which is not wise, ignorant? do you not see that there is

a mean between wisdom and ignorance?" "And what may that be?" I

said. "Right opinion," she replied; "which, as you know, being

incapable of giving a reason, is not knowledge (for how can

knowledge be devoid of reason? nor again, ignorance, for neither can

ignorance attain the truth), but is clearly something which is a

mean between ignorance and wisdom." "Quite true," I replied. "Do not

then insist," she said, "that what is not fair is of necessity foul,

or what is not good evil; or infer that because love is not fair and

good he is therefore foul and evil; for he is in a mean between them."

"Well," I said, "Love is surely admitted by all to be a great god."

"By those who know or by those who do not know?" "By all." "And how,

Socrates," she said with a smile, "can Love be acknowledged to be a

great god by those who say that he is not a god at all?" "And who

are they?" I said. "You and I are two of them," she replied. "How

can that be?" I said. "It is quite intelligible," she replied; "for

you yourself would acknowledge that the gods are happy and fair of

course you would-would to say that any god was not?" "Certainly

not," I replied. "And you mean by the happy, those who are the

possessors of things good or fair?" "Yes." "And you admitted that

Love, because he was in want, desires those good and fair things of

which he is in want?" "Yes, I did." "But how can he be a god who has

no portion in what is either good or fair?" "Impossible." "Then you

see that you also deny the divinity of Love."