Antiquity Studies

Series | Antiquity Studies
Edited book | ΦΑΙΔΙΜΟΣ ΕΚΤΩΡ
Chapter | Socrates in Love (Herodicus Suppl. Hell. 495)

Socrates in Love (Herodicus Suppl. Hell. 495)

Abstract

This paper considers two surviving extracts from a hexameter poem in which Socrates apparently narrated the story of his love for Alcibiades and Aspasia’s role in the pursuit of the young man. The author of the poem was very likely Herodicus (second century BC), known for other anti-Platonic writings. The paper considers some of the linguistic and textual problems of the fragments, the probable structure of the poem as a whole, the debt of the work to Plato and Aeschines, and the importance of Socratic literature more generally to the development of erotodidactic themes in later poetry.


Open access

Submitted: May 17, 2021 | Accepted: June 23, 2021 | Published Dec. 16, 2021 | Language: en

Keywords XenophonAeschinesPlatoErotodidaxisAlcibiadesAspasiaSocratesAthenaeusHerodicus


read this chapter