Genesis 2–3 and Alcibiades’s speech in Plato’s &lt;i&gt;Symposium&lt;/i&gt;: A cultural critical reading

Evangelia G Dafni

doi:10.4102/hts.v71i1.2903

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to discuss some basic problems and methodological steps concerning the encounter between Hebrews and Greeks in the Classical period and its impact on the Hellenistic era. The relationship between the Old Testament and Ancient Greek literature will be examined on the basis of Genesis 2–3 and Alcibiades’s speech in Plato’s Symposium (212c–223d). The following considerations and models of interpretation can arise from the analysis of Alcibiades’s speech compared to M- and LXX-Genesis 2–3: (1) Ancient Greek writers were familiar with Old Testament oral or written traditions through improvised translations. They prepared the way for the LXX and, in their compositions, were in dispute with them although they do not make specific references to the Hebrews and their literature; (2) Hebrew authors knew the works of Ancient Greek authors and used Greek philosophical terminology which they creatively adapted to Semitic models; (3) Both models are possible. One should not rush to any decisions but examine each case individually, in the original language.

Highlights

Genesis 2–3 is of central importance for the anthropology of the Old Testament: It describes in dramatic fashion the creation and fall of humans, using selectively language and images with a range of references beyond themselves they seemingly refer to physical processes (Dafni 2000:30–48, 2006:596–607, 2010:20–36)
Apart from the predominating anthropomorphisms regarding all expressions of the Yahweh-human relationship, symbolic language and imagery are found in the context of humanity’s fall, namely in Genesis 2:16, in Genesis 3:24 as well as in Genesis 3:1.1
Various interpretations and even wrong conclusions were ventured, but eventually, a rough consensus about the basic features of Greek selfconsciousness was reached. Plato wrote his Symposium about a century before the LXX translation of the Pentateuch into Greek. He finds himself in the transitional phase at the boundary between the Classical and Hellenistic era, and it cannot be excluded that he, in discussions with the Pythagoreans, might have heard in advance about the faith of the Hebrews

Summary

Introduction

Genesis 2–3 is of central importance for the anthropology of the Old Testament: It describes in dramatic fashion the creation and fall of humans, using selectively language and images with a range of references beyond themselves they seemingly refer to physical processes (Dafni 2000:30–48, 2006:596–607, 2010:20–36). The text underlines that there was no helper for the humans amongst all living creatures in paradise (Gn 2:18), and there was no real communion between humans and animals. In this way, the temptation of the humans by the talking serpent is introduced, and the fall of the humans is prepared: After eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they realise their nakedness before God (Gn 3)

Objectives

Conclusion