Plutarch's Symposiacs by Plutarch
Plutarch's "Symposiacs" is a collection of discussions and debates held at various banquets, exploring a wide range of topics from philosophy, science, and ethics to more mundane subjects like food and drink. The work is structured into nine books, each containing multiple questions or problems that are debated by the guests. The discussions are characterized by their lively and engaging nature, often reflecting the convivial atmosphere of the symposia. The topics covered in "Symposiacs" are diverse and include questions about the nature of the soul, the effects of wine, the reasons behind certain customs, and the interpretation of literary works. Plutarch uses these discussions to showcase the intellectual curiosity and rhetorical skills of the participants, often drawing on the works of earlier philosophers and poets to support their arguments. The work serves as a testament to the cultural and intellectual life of Plutarch's time, illustrating how philosophical inquiry was an integral part of social gatherings. It also reflects Plutarch's own interests in ethics, natural philosophy, and the art of conversation. Through "Symposiacs," Plutarch provides readers with a glimpse into the lively debates and exchanges that characterized the symposia of the ancient world.
By Plutarch · First published 120 · Genre: Philosophical Dialogue, Classical Literature, Ethics · 60 chapters · 96,373 words
First lines
Book I, Introduction: Some, my dear Sossius Senecio, imagine that this sentence, μισέω μνάμονα συμπόταν, was principally designed against the stewards of a feast, who are usually troublesome and press liquor too much upon the guests. For the Dorians in Sicily (as I am informed) called the steward μνάμονα, _a remembrancer_. Others think that this proverb admonisheth the guests to forget every thing that is spoken or done in company; and agreeably to this, the ancients used to consecrate forgetfulness with a ferula to Bacchus, thereby intimating that we should either not remember any irregularity committed in mirth and company, or apply a gentle and childish correction to the faults. But because you are of opinion that to forget absurdities is indeed (as Euripides says) a piece of wisdom, but to deliver over to oblivion all sort of discourse that merry meetings do usually produce is not only repugnant to that endearing quality that most allow to an entertainment, but against the known practice of the greatest philosophers (for Plato, Xenophon, Aristotle, Speusippus, Epicurus, Prytanis, Hieronymus, Dion the Academic, have thought it a worthy and noble employment to deliver down to us those discourses they had at table), and since it is your pleasure that I should gather up the chiefest of those scattered topics which both at Rome and Greece amidst our cups and feasting we have disputed on, in obedience to your commands I have sent three books, each containing ten problems; and the rest shall quickly follow, if these find good acceptance and do not seem altogether foolish and impertinent.
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Plutarch's Symposiacs is listed on Textopian as an essay by Plutarch, dated 120 CE.
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- Work type: Essay
- Author: Plutarch
- Date: 120 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Philosophical Dialogue, Classical Literature, Ethics, Historical Essay, Rhetorical Writing
- Length: 96,373 words
- Structure: 84 chapters, 545 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Difficult (College Level)
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- Work identity for Plutarch's Symposiacs by Plutarch
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph
Genres
- Philosophical Dialogue — The work is structured as a series of dialogues that explore philosophical ideas through social interactions.
- Classical Literature — Its ancient prose, narrative style, and cultural context firmly place it within the canon of classical literature.
- Ethics — The text delves into moral inquiries and human conduct, reflecting the ethical concerns central to Plutarch's work.
- Historical Essay — It offers insights into historical customs and the intellectual climate of its era, contextualizing its themes within ancient society.
Tags
ancient philosophy · dialogue · classical literature · social dynamics · cultural insight · ethical discussion · historical · rhetoric · Socratic influence · moral inquiry · human nature · intellectual debate
Contents
- Whether Midst our Cups it is Fit to Talk Learnedly and Philosophize?
- Whether the Entertainer should Seat the Guests, or Let Every Man Take his own Place
- Upon what Account is the Place at the Table Called Consular Esteemed Honorable
- What Manner of Man should a Steward of a Feast be?
- Why it is Commonly Said that Love Makes a Man a Poet
- Whether Alexander was a Great Drinker
- Why Old Men Love Pure Wine
- Why Old Men Read Best at a Distance
- Why Fresh Water Washes Clothes Better than Salt
- Why at Athens the Chorus of the Tribe Aeantis was Never Determined to be the Last
- What, as Xenophon Intimates, are the most Agreeable Questions and most Pleasant Raillery at an Entertainment?
- Why in Autumn Men have Better Stomachs than in other Seasons of the Year
- Which was First, the Bird or the Egg?
- Whether or no Wrestling is the Oldest Exercise
- Why, in Reckoning up Different Kinds of Exercises, Homer Puts Cuffing First, Wrestling Next, and Racing Last
- Why Fir-Trees, Pine-Trees, and the Like will not be Grafted Upon
- About the Fish Called Remora or Echeneis
- Why they Say those Horses Called Λυκοσπάδες are very Mettlesome
- Why the Flesh of Sheep Bitten by Wolves is Sweeter than that of Others, and the Wool more Apt to Breed Lice
- Whether the Ancients, who Provided Every One his Mess, did Better than we, who Set Many to the same Dish
- Whether it is Becoming to Wear Chaplets of Flowers at Table
- Whether Ivy is of a Hot or Cold Nature
- Why Women are Hardly, Old Men Easily, Foxed
- Whether the Temper of Women is Colder or Hotter than that of Men
- Whether Wine is Potentially Cold
- Which is the Fittest Time for a Man to Know his Wife?
- Why New Wine Doth not Inebriate as Soon as other
- Why those that are Stark Drunk Seem not so Much Debauched as those that are but Half Foxed
- [77]_ what is the Meaning of the Saying: Drink Either Five or Three, but not Four?
- Why Flesh Stinks Sooner when Exposed to the Moon, than to the Sun
- Whether Different Sorts of Food, or One Single Dish Fed Upon at once, is more Easily Digested
- Why Mushrooms are Thought to be Produced by Thunder, and why it is Believed that Men Asleep are Never Thunderstruck
- Why Men Usually Invite Many Guests to a Wedding Supper
- Whether the Sea or Land Affords Better Food
- Whether the Jews Abstained from Swine's Flesh because they Worshipped that Creature, or because they had an Antipathy against it
- What God is Worshipped by the Jews
- Why Take we Delight in Hearing those that Represent the Passions of Men Angry or Sorrowful, and Yet Cannot Without Concern Behold those who are Really so Affected?
- That the Prize for Poets at the Games was Ancient
- Why was the Pine Counted Sacred to Neptune and Bacchus? and why at First was the Conqueror in the Isthmian Games Crowned with a Garland of Pine, Afterwards with Parsley, and now again with Pine?
- Concerning that Expression in Homer, Ζωρότερον Δὲ Κέραιε.[84]
- Concerning those that Invite Many to a Supper
- What is the Reason that the same Room which at the Beginning of a Supper Seems too Narrow for the Guests Appears Wide Enough Afterwards?
- Concerning those that are Said to Bewitch
- Why Homer Calls the Apple-Tree Ἀγλαόκαρπον, and Empedocles Calls Apples Ὑπέρφλοια
- What is the Reason that the Fig-Tree, being itself of a very Sharp and Bitter Taste, Bears so Sweet Fruit?
- What are those that are Said to be Περὶ Ἅλα Καὶ Κύμινον, and why does Homer Call Salt Divine?
- What is the Reason that those that are Fasting are more Thirsty than Hungry?
- Whether Want of Nourishment Causeth Hunger and Thirst, or the Change in the Figure of the Pores or Passages of the Body
- What is the Reason that Hunger is Allayed by Drinking, but Thirst Increased by Eating?
- What is the Reason that a Bucket of Water Drawn out of a Well, if it Stands all Night in the Air that is in the Well, is more Cold in the Morning than the Rest of the Water?
- What is the Reason that Pebble Stones and Leaden Bullets Thrown into the Water Make it more Cold?
- What is the Reason that Men Preserve Snow by Covering it with Chaff and Cloths?
- Whether Wine Ought to be Strained or not
- What is the Cause of Bulimy, or the Greedy Disease?
- Why does Homer Appropriate a Certain Peculiar Epithet to each Particular Liquid, and Call Oil Alone Liquid? [92]
- What is the Reason that Flesh of Sacrificed Beasts, after it has Hung a while Upon a Fig-Tree, is more Tender than before?
- Against those who Find Fault with Plato for Saying that Drink Passeth through the Lungs
- What Humored Man is he that Plato Calls Κερασβόλος? and why do those Seeds that Fall on the Oxen's Horns Become Ἀτεράμονα?
- Why the Middle of Wine, the Top of Oil, and the Bottom of Honey is Best
- What was the Reason of that Custom of the Ancient Romans to Remove the Table before all the Meat was Eaten, and not to Put out the Lamp?
More by Plutarch
- Whether 'Twere Rightly Said, Live Concealed (100)
- An Abstract of a Comparison Betwixt Aristophanes and Menander (1898)
- Of Banishment, or Flying One's Country (1898)
- Of Brotherly Love (1898)
- Wherefore the Pythian Priestess Now Ceases to Deliver Her Oracles in Verse (100)
- Plutarch's Natural Questions (100)
- Of Moral Virtue (1898)
- Of Those Sentiments Concerning Nature with Which Philosophers Were Delighted (1898)
- All works by Plutarch