Abstract
Among the metaphors that Plato employed in the context of his apophatic approach to philosophical truth and its experience, inebriation stands out in the Symposium, where famously Socrates is compared to Dionysian figures such as the Silenoi and Marsyas (215a-c), and to frenzied Corybantic dancers (215e; 216d; 218b). The contentious nature of inebriation as a proxy of ecstasy is aptly exemplified in Euripides’ Bacchae, where Pentheus, the distrusting new tyrant of Thebes, is keen to associate the Bacchic trance with common intoxication and lewd behavior; although Plato tries to anticipate such criticisms by repeatedly stating in the Symposium that Socrates is sober and of sound mind (e.g., 214a; 216d; 219d; 220a), later authors are unforgiving of his metaphorical style, which is deemed inconsistent with Plato’s stern disapproval of poetry. Among such later authors, Lucian of Samosata deserves closer attention apropos his treatment of inebriation as a most confusing and inappropriate metaphor for philosophical inspiration. Despite the jocular style of his dialogues, Lucian’s depiction of Platonic inebriation powerfully sketches a deep intellectual crisis that especially afflicts the young people of his time. Thus, Lucian sheds unexpected light on a less prominent chapter of Plato’s reception during the Roman imperial period.
Highlights
Philosophical Conversion and “Platonic Inebriation”Conversion, the result of undergoing an altered state of consciousness,1 was invariably described in Greek antiquity as ecstasy or divine possession,2 and was linked with philosophy rather than religion.3 For example, in the Platonic dialogues Socrates is typically portrayed as preoccupied with abstract notions, meditating for hours in full public view, lost in his thoughts,4 often talking to himself,5 yet candidly musing on his frequent divine visitations.6 Socrates becomes an easy target of fifth-century BCEAthenian anti-intellectualism,7 spearheaded by Aristophanes.8 This, does not alter that fact that our encounter with the secrets of the cosmos or the divine is typically marked by an inexpressible sublimity, often accompanied by feelings of amazement, fear, and awe
Plato needs to relate in some way the experience of philosophical conversion and he coins a number of metaphors for which he draws on culturally familiar states of altered consciousness
One of the most controversial metaphors that Plato employed to describe philosophical conversion is inebriation,9 notably expounded in the Symposium (e.g., Symp. 218b3-4), which relates the events that took place during a splendid banquet organized by Agathon in 416 BCE to celebrate his dramatic victory at the Lenaia festival of that year
Summary
Conversion, the result of undergoing an altered state of consciousness, was invariably described in Greek antiquity as ecstasy or divine possession, and was linked with philosophy rather than religion. For example, in the Platonic dialogues Socrates is typically portrayed as preoccupied with abstract notions, meditating for hours in full public view, lost in his thoughts, often talking to himself, yet candidly musing on his frequent divine visitations (his daimonion). Socrates becomes an easy target of fifth-century BCE. Alcibiades’ statement focuses on the difference between appearance and essence and aims to dramatize the effect that Socrates has on his audiences: despite being rather unassuming in appearance (remember the joke at the start of the Symposium about Socrates looking unusually polished; 174a10-11), always joking with his interlocutors (175e8 and 215b9: ὑβριστὴς εἶ; cf 219c6; 221e4; 222b1 and especially 216e5-6: εἰρωνευóμενoς δὲ καὶ παίζων πάντα τὸν βίoν πρὸς τoὺς ἀνθρώπoυς διατελεῖ), and claiming to know little (216d4-5: καὶ αὖ ἀγνoεῖ πάντα καὶ oὐδὲν oἶδεν), in reality, he is a deft speaker that leads his interlocutors to aporia before guiding them to change their views and way of life (cf 215b4-5; 216e3-8) He resembles the Silenoi statues that look ridiculous at first (221e2-3: φανεῖεν ἂν πάνυ γελoῖoι τὸ πρῶτoν) with their deceptively ludicrous exterior though inside them they hide statues of the gods. Discusses the negative reception of Plato’s metaphorical style in the Hellenistic and early Roman imperial periods before focusing on the rejection of Socrates’ baccheia by Lucian of Samosata, the second century CE satirist who offers a refreshing insight into the renewed debate of his time on philosophical conversion.
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