symposium-第3节
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mother; that he might avoid death and return home; and live to a good old age; if he abstained from slaying Hector。 Nevertheless he gave his life to revenge his friend; and dared to die; not only in his defence; but after he was dead Wherefore the gods honoured him even above Alcestis; and sent him to the Islands of the Blest。 These are my reasons for affirming that Love is the eldest and noblest and mightiest of the gods; and the chiefest author and giver of virtue in life; and of happiness after death。 This; or something like this; was the speech of Phaedrus; and some other speeches followed which Aristodemus did not remember; the next which he repeated was that of Pausanias。 Phaedrus; he said; the argument has not been set before us; I think; quite in the right form;…we should not be called upon to praise Love in such an indiscriminate manner。 If there were only one Love; then what you said would be well enough; but since there are more Loves than one;…should have begun by determining which of them was to be the theme of our praises。 I will amend this defect; and first of all I would tell you which Love is deserving of praise; and then try to hymn the praiseworthy one in a manner worthy of him。 For we all know that Love is inseparable from Aphrodite; and if there were only one Aphrodite there would be only one Love; but as there are two goddesses there must be two Loves。 And am I not right in asserting that there are two goddesses? The elder one; having no mother; who is called the heavenly Aphrodite…she is the daughter of Uranus; the younger; who is the daughter of Zeus and Dione…her we call common; and the Love who is her fellow…worker is rightly named common; as the other love is called heavenly。 All the gods ought to have praise given to them; but not without distinction of their natures; and therefore I must try to distinguish the characters of the two Loves。 Now actions vary according to the manner of their performance。 Take; for example; that which we are now doing; drinking; singing and talking these actions are not in themselves either good or evil; but they turn out in this or that way according to the mode of performing them; and when well done they are good; and when wrongly done they are evil; and in like manner not every love; but only that which has a noble purpose; is noble and worthy of praise。 The Love who is the offspring of the common Aphrodite is essentially common; and has no discrimination; being such as the meaner sort of men feel; and is apt to be of women as well as of youths; and is of the body rather than of the soul…the most foolish beings are the objects of this love which desires only to gain an end; but never thinks of accomplishing the end nobly; and therefore does good and evil quite indiscriminately。 The goddess who is his mother is far younger than the other; and she was born of the union of the male and female; and partakes of both。 But the offspring of the heavenly Aphrodite is derived from a mother in whose birth the female has no part;…she is from the male only; this is that love which is of youths; and the goddess being older; there is nothing of wantonness in her。 Those who are inspired by this love turn to the male; and delight in him who is the more valiant and intelligent nature; any one may recognise the pure enthusiasts in the very character of their attachments。 For they love not boys; but intelligent; beings whose reason is beginning to be developed; much about the time at which their beards begin to grow。 And in choosing young men to be their companions; they mean to be faithful to them; and pass their whole life in company with them; not to take them in their inexperience; and deceive them; and play the fool with them; or run away from one to another of them。 But the love of young boys should be forbidden by law; because their future is uncertain; they may turn out good or bad; either in body or soul; and much noble enthusiasm may be thrown away upon them; in this matter the good are a law to themselves; and the coarser sort of lovers ought to be restrained by force; as we restrain or attempt to restrain them from fixing their affections on women of free birth。 These are the persons who bring a reproach on love; and some have been led to deny the lawfulness of such attachments because they see the impropriety and evil of them; for surely nothing that is decorously and lawfully done can justly be censured。 Now here and in Lacedaemon the rules about love are perplexing; but in most cities they are simple and easily intelligible; in Elis and Boeotia; and in countries having no gifts of eloquence; they are very straightforward; the law is simply in favour of these connexions; and no one; whether young or old; has anything to say to their discredit; the reason being; as I suppose; that they are men of few words in those parts; and therefore the lovers do not like the trouble of pleading their suit。 In Ionia and other places; and generally in countries which are subject to the barbarians; the custom is held to be dishonourable; loves of youths share the evil repute in which philosophy and gymnastics are held because they are inimical to tyranny; for the interests of rulers require that their subjects should be poor in spirit and that there should be no strong bond of friendship or society among them; which love; above all other motives; is likely to inspire; as our Athenian tyrants…learned by experience; for the love of Aristogeiton and the constancy of Harmodius had strength which undid their power。 And; therefore; the ill…repute into which these attachments have fallen is to be ascribed to the evil condition of those who make them to be ill…reputed; that is to say; to the self…seeking of the governors and the cowardice of the governed; on the other hand; the indiscriminate honour which is given to them in some countries is attributable to the laziness of those who hold this opinion of them。 In our own country a far better principle prevails; but; as I was saying; the explanation of it is rather perplexing。 For; observe that open loves are held to be more honourable than secret ones; and that the love of the noblest and highest; even if their persons are less beautiful than others; is especially honourable。 Consider; too; how great is the encouragement which all the world gives to the lover; neither is he supposed to be doing anything dishonourable; but if he succeeds he is praised; and if he fail he is blamed。 And in the pursuit of his love the custom of mankind allows him to do many strange things; which philosophy would bitterly censure if they were done from any motive of interest; or wish for office or power。 He may pray; and entreat; and supplicate; and swear; and lie on a mat at the door; and endure a slavery worse than that of any slave…in any other case friends and enemies would be equally ready to prevent him; but now there is no friend who will be ashamed of him and admonish him; and no enemy will charge him with meanness or flattery; the actions of a lover have a grace which ennobles them; and custom has decided that they are highly commendable and that there no loss of character in them; and; what is strangest of all; he only may swear and forswear himself (so men say); and the gods will forgive his transgression; for there is no such thing as a lover's oath。 Such is the entire liberty which gods and men have allowed the lover; according to the custom which prevails in our part of the world。 From this point of view a man fairly argues in Athens to love and to be loved is held to be a very honourable thing。 But when parents forbid their sons to talk with their lovers; and place them under a tutor's care; who is appointed to see to these things; and their companions and equals cast in their teeth anything of the sort which they may observe; and their elders refuse to silence the reprovers and do not rebuke them…any one who reflects on all this will; on the contrary; think that we hold these practices to be most disgraceful。 But; as I was saying at first; the truth as I imagine is; that whether such practices are honourable or whether they are dishonourable is not a simple question; they are honourable to him who follows them honourably; dishonourable to him who follows them dishonourably。 There is dishonour in yielding to the evil; or in an evil manner; but there is honour in yielding to the good; or in an honourable manner。 Evil is the vulgar lover who loves the body rather than the soul; inasmuch as he is not even stable; because he loves a thing which is in itself unstable; and therefore when the bloom of youth which he was desiring is over; he takes wing and flies away; in spite of all his words and promises; whereas the love of the noble disposition is life…long; for it becomes one with the everlasting。 The custom of our country would have both of them proven well and truly; and would have us yield to the one sort of lover and avoid the other; and therefore encourages some to pursue; and others to fly; testing both the lover and beloved in contests and trials; until they show to which of the two classes they respectively belong。 And this is the reason why; in the first place; a hasty attachment is held to be dishonourable; because time is the true test of this as