Ava Bridges
Bowdoin College
Plato's Symposium 218a-b
Ava Bridges /
- Created on 2026-03-26 20:30:13
- Modified on 2026-04-14 03:13:45
- Aligned by Ava Bridges
Ἑλληνική
English
English
ἐγὼ οὖν δεδηγμένος τε ὑπὸ ἀλγεινοτέρου καὶ τὸ ἀλγεινότατον ὧν ἄν τις δηχθείη — τὴν καρδίαν γὰρ ἢ ψυχὴν ἢ ὅτι δεῖ αὐτὸ ὀνομάσαι πληγείς τε καὶ δηχθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ λόγων , οἳ ἔχονται ἐχίδνης ἀγριώτερον , νέου ψυχῆς μὴ ἀφυοῦς ὅταν λάβωνται , καὶ ποιοῦσι δρᾶν τε καὶ λέγειν ὁτιοῦν — καὶ ὁρῶν αὖ Φαίδρους , Ἀγάθωνας , Ἐρυξιμάχους , Παυσανίας , Ἀριστοδήμους τε καὶ Ἀριστοφάνας : Σωκράτη δὲ αὐτὸν τί δεῖ λέγειν , καὶ ὅσοι ἄλλοι ; πάντες γὰρ κεκοινωνήκατε τῆς φιλοσόφου μανίας τε καὶ βακχείας — διὸ πάντες ἀκούσεσθε :
Now I have been bitten by a more painful creature , in the most painful way that one can be bitten : in my heart , or my soul , or whatever one is to call it , I am stricken and stung by his philosophic discourses , which adhere more fiercely than any adder when once they lay hold of a young and not ungifted soul , and force it to do or say whatever they will ; I have only to look around me , and there is a Phaedrus , an Agathon , an Eryximachus , a Pausanias , an Aristodemus , and an Aristophanes — I need not mention Socrates himself — and all the rest of them ; every one of you has had his share of philosophic frenzy and transport , so all of you shall hear .
For I have been bitten by a more than viper ' s tooth ; I have known in my soul , or in my heart , or in some other part , that worst of pangs , more violent in ingenuous youth than any serpent ' s tooth , the pang of philosophy , which will make a man say or do anything . And you whom I see around me , Phaedrus and Agathon and Eryximachus and Pausanias and Aristodemus and Aristophanes , all of you , and I need not say Socrates himself , have had experience of the same madness and passion in your longing after wisdom .
Speech of Diatoma
Ava Bridges /
- Created on 2026-03-27 14:18:48
- Aligned by Ava Bridges
Ἑλληνική
English
English
κυοῦσιν γάρ , ἔφη , ὦ Σώκρατες , πάντες ἄνθρωποι καὶ κατὰ τὸ σῶμα καὶ κατὰ τὴν ψυχήν , καὶ ἐπειδὰν ἔν τινι ἡλικίαι γένωνται , τίκτειν ἐπιθυμεῖ ἡμῶν ἡ φύσις . τίκτειν δὲ ἐν μὲν αἰσχρῶι οὐ δύναται , ἐν δὲ τῶι καλῶι .
All people are pregnant either in respect of the body or in respect of the soul , and once we attain a certain age our nature has a desire to bring forth . But it is not able to bring forth in ugliness , only in beauty .
All men are pregnant in respect to both the body and the soul , Socrates , she said , and when they reach certain age our nature desires to beget . It cannot beget in ugliness , only in beauty .
Symposium 192C R.E. Allen
Ava Bridges /
- Created on 2026-04-03 07:10:04
- Modified on 2026-04-06 15:14:44
- Aligned by Ava Bridges
I picked this sentence for translation alignment because of the way Allen phrases the last few words. I am interested in the image which Aristophanes is creating here: souls wishing for something, i.e. eros, which is beyond their ability to articulate. Particularly, I am interested in μαντευται, it divines, and αἰνίττεται, it speaks in riddles. Aristophanes seems to draw on some mystic formulation here, the metaphor being one of oracular supernatural occurrence.
From doing this alignment, I've noticed that Allen has kept rather close to the original order of the passage, with most exceptions being due to English grammar structure. I also believe that this translation is honest to the original meaning of the passage as well. Overall, doing this alignment has reinforced the concept that Ancient Greek simply uses particles at a higher rate than English. While in most cases, there would be nothing incorrect in retaining all of the particles, the English translation would certainly be clunky.