ἐράω + ἄριστος
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Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
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Quotation
ὡς ἄρα αὕτη πασῶν τῶν ἐνθουσιάσεων ἀρίστη τε καὶ ἐξ ἀρίστων τῷ τε ἔχοντι καὶ τῷ κοινωνοῦντι αὐτῆς γίγνεται, καὶ ὅτι ταύτης μετέχων τῆς μανίας ὁ ἐρῶν τῶν καλῶν ἐραστὴς καλεῖται
Translation (En)
So it follows that this madness is aristē “the best” of all forms of divine inspiration, and comes from aristōn “the best,” both for the one who has it and for the one who shares in it; and in partaking of this madness, ho erōn “he who loves” the beautiful ones is called erastēs “a lover.”
(transl. B.W.)
Other translation(s)
La conclusion, c’est que, entre toutes les formes de possession divine, celle-là se révèle être la meilleure, en même temps que faite des meilleurs éléments, aussi bien pour celui qui en est le sujet que pour celui qui y est associé; et, en outre, que la présence de ce délire chez qui aime les beaux garçons fait dire de lui qu’il est fou d’amour !
(transl. Robin 1933, 42–3)
This is the best and noblest of all the forms that possession by god can take for anyone who has it or is connected to it, and when someone who loves beautiful boys is touched by this madness he is called a lover.
(transl. Nehamas & Woodruff 1995, 37–8)
daß also von allen Verzückungen diese als die beste sich erweist und aus bestem Anlaß sowohl für den, der sie in sich hat, als auch für den, der nur an ihr teilhat, und daß, wer das Schöne begehrt, wenn er von diesem Wahnsinn erfaßt, Liebender genannt wird.
(transl. Heitsch 1997, 34–5)
Parallels
No parallels are attested
Bibliography
Babiniotis, G. (Μπαμπινιώτης, Γ.). 2002. Dictionary of Modern Greek (Λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας), 2nd edn. Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας.
Beekes, R. 2010. Etymological Dictionary of Greek, 2 vol. Leiden / Boston: Brill.
Burnet, J. (ed.) 1900–1907. Platonis opera, 5 vol., Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Chantraine, P. 1999. Dictionnaire de la langue grecque: Histoire des mots. Paris: Klincksiek. [= DELG]
Cobb, W.S. (tr.) 1993. The Symposium and The Phaedrus: Plato’s Erotic Dialogues. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Couvreur, P. (ed.) 1901. Hermiae Alexandrini in Platonis Phaedrum scholia. Paris: Émile Bouillon. [= in Phdr.]
De Vries, G.J. 1969. A Commentary on the Phaedrus of Plato. Amsterdam: Hakkert.
Emlyn-Jones, C., & W. Preddy (eds., trs.). 2022 Plato: Lysis. Symposium. Phaedrus. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press.
Fowler, H.N. (ed., tr.) 1914. Plato: Euthyphro, Apology Crito, Phaedo, Phaedrus. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press, & London: Heinemann.
Frisk, H. 1960–72. Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag.
Hackforth, F.B.A. (tr.) 1952. Plato’s Phaedrus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hamilton, W. (tr.) 1973. Plato: Phaedrus & The Seventh and Eighth Letters. London: Penguin.
Hartmann, L. 2017. Die grosse Rede des Timaios – ein Beispiel wahrer Rhetorik? Zu Theorie und Praxis philosophischer Rhetorik in Platons Dialogen Gorgias, Phaidros und Timaios. Basel: Schwabe.
Heitsch, E. (tr.) 1997. Platon: Phaidros, 2nd edn. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Jowett, B. (tr.) 1892. The Dialogues of Plato, 5 vol., 3rd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press, & London: Milford.
Kassner, R. (tr.) 1904. Platons Phaidros. Jena / Leipzig: Eugen Diederichs.
Lucarini, C.M., & C. Moreschini (eds.) 2013. Hermias Alexandrinus: In Platonis Phaedrum scholia. Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter. [= in Phdr.]
Moreschini, C. 1966 (ed.). Platonis Parmenides. Phaedrus. Athens: Edizioni dell’Ateneo.
Nehamas, A., & P. Woodruff (trs.) 1995. Plato: Phaedrus. Indianapolis / Cambridge: Hackett.
Nichols, J.H. (tr.) 1998. Plato: Gorgias and Phaedrus: Rhetoric, Philosophy, and Politics. Ithaca/London: Cornell University Press.
Nicolson, G. (tr.) 1999. Plato’s Phaedrus: The Philosophy of Love. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press.
Onians, R.B. 1951. The Origins of European Thought: About the Body, the Mind, the Soul, the World, Time and Fate. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rhodes, J.M. 2003. Eros, Wisdom, and Silence: Plato’s Erotic Dialogues. Columbia (MO) / London: University of Missouri Press.
Robin, L. (ed., tr.) 1933. Platon: Œuvres complètes, tome IV – 3e partie: Phèdre. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.
Rowe, C.J. (ed., tr.) 1986. Plato: Phaedrus. Warminster: Aris & Phillips.
Schleiermacher, F. (tr.) 1804. Platons Werke: Ersten Theiles erster Band. 1st edn. (3rd edn. 1855, Berlin: Reimer). Berlin: Realschulbuchhandlung.
Scully, S. (tr.) 2003. Plato: Phaedrus. Indianapolis / Cambridge: Hackett.
Triantafyllidis, M. (Τριανταφυλλίδης, Μ.) 1998. Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek (Λεξικό της κοινής Νεοελληνικής). Thessaloniki: Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη).
Verdenius, W.J. 1962. ‘Der Begriff der Mania in Platons Phaidros.’ Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 44(2), 132–50.
Waterfield, R. (tr.) 2002. Plato: Phaedrus. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Weiss, M. 1998 ‘Erotica: On the Prehistory of Greek Desire.’ Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 98, 31–61.
Yunis, H. (ed.) 2011. Plato: Phaedrus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Comment
At Phaedrus 249e1–4, Plato appears to engage in etymological wordplay on erastēs (“lover”). The demonstrative tautēs at 249e3 anaphorically resumes the preceding description of this form of madness as aristē and ex aristōn (“the best and from the best <sources or stock>”), thereby bringing the superlative valuation into the subsequent naming formula erastēs kaleitai (“is called a lover”). Plato’s syntax and phonetic paronomasia invite the listener to hear erastēs as resonating not only with ho erōn (“he who sexually desires”) but also with aristē, as if the lover were so called because his desire participates in the “best” kind of divine erotic madness. The effect is thus not a historical derivation but a rhetorical Platonic etymology, comparable to the dialogue’s other sound-based explanations of erotic vocabulary.
While Verdenius (1962, 147n.68) first drew attention to this etymological play, many commentators have since adopted this interpretation (e.g., De Vries 1969, 148; Nehamas & Woodruff 1995, 38n.1; Heitsch 1997, 35n.30; 246; Nichols 1998, 54n.108; Waterfield 2002, 92; Scully 2003, 32n.78; Yunis 2011, 20; 148; Hartmann 2017, 250). Hermias of Alexandria, in his commentary (in Phdr. 175.12–14 Couvreur = 183.10–12 Lucarini/Moreschini), however, does not draw this connection between erastēs and aristē, since his explanation appeals only to erōn and not to aristos/aristē.
Regarding the phrase ho erōn tōn kalōn at 249e3–4, it remains ambiguous what the object of the lover’s desire is meant to be. Yunis (2011, 148) suggests that “τῶν καλῶν is evidently masculine because of the context.” Robin (1933, 42–3) accordingly translates the phrase as “qui aime les beaux garçons,” and Nehamas & Woodruff (1995, 37–8) as “someone who loves beautiful boys.” Such a masculine reading of tōn kalōn, according to which the lover’s desire is specifically directed toward beautiful men, or boys, finds support at Phaedrus 249a1–2. Nevertheless, at Phaedrus 248d3–4, the lover’s object is wisdom or beauty. Most scholars thus prefer a neuter reading according to which tōn kalōn designates anything beautiful (e.g., Schleiermacher 1804, 120; Jowett 1892, i, 456; Kassner 1904, 21; Fowler 1914, 483; Hackforth 1952, 92; Hamilton 1973, 56; Rowe 1986, 67; Scully 1993, 30; Cobb 1993, 107; Heitsch 1997, 34–5; Nicolson 1999, 99; Waterfield 2002, 33; Rhodes 2003, 496; Emlyn-Jones & Preddy 2022, 42). In light of this ambiguous evidence, De Vries (1969, 148) proposes an inclusive reading (masculine or neuter), and Nichols (1998, 54) offers a deliberately inclusive translation—“one who loves the beautiful ones”—which I have adopted here to preserve the ambiguity of the Greek.