The Whole Named for a Part
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Diotima — οὕτω τοίνυν καὶ περὶ τὸν ἔρωτα. τὸ μὲν κεφάλαιόν ἐστι πᾶσα ἡ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐπιθυμία καὶ τοῦ εὐδαιμονεῖν ὁ μέγιστός τε καὶ δολερὸς ἔρως παντί· ἀλλʼ οἱ μὲν ἄλλῃ τρεπόμενοι πολλαχῇ ἐπʼ αὐτόν, ἢ κατὰ χρηματισμὸν ἢ κατὰ φιλογυμναστίαν ἢ κατὰ φιλοσοφίαν, οὔτε ἐρᾶν καλοῦνται οὔτε ἐρασταί, οἱ δὲ κατὰ ἕν τι εἶδος ἰόντες τε καὶ ἐσπουδακότες τὸ τοῦ ὅλου ὄνομα ἴσχουσιν, ἔρωτά τε καὶ ἐρᾶν καὶ ἐρασταί.
Socrates — κινδυνεύεις ἀληθῆ, ἔφην ἐγώ, λέγειν.
Diotima — καὶ λέγεται μέν γέ τις ἔφη, λόγος, ὡς οἳ ἂν τὸ ἥμισυ
So too, then, with love. The sum of it is all desire for good things and for being happy — the greatest and wily love, in everyone. But those who turn to it in many other directions, whether by money-making or love of athletics or philosophy, are said neither to love nor to be lovers, while those going toward one kind and in earnest about it take the name of the whole — love, and loving, and lovers. You are likely, I said, to speak truly. And there is told, she said, a certain story, that those who seek their half —
Diotima applies the analogy to love. The sum of it is the whole desire, in everyone, for good things and for happiness — the greatest and most beguiling love of all. But those who pursue it by other roads — money-making, athletics, philosophy — are not called lovers, while those who go after one kind and are in earnest about it take the name of the whole: love, loving, lovers. Socrates agrees, and she begins to answer Aristophanes: there is a story that those who seek their other half — continued in 205e.
The last clause is a pointed turn. "There is a story that those who seek their half" is an unmistakable reference to Aristophanes' great speech earlier in the evening (189d–193d), where love is the search for one's lost other half. Diotima is about to correct it (205e–206a): people do not love what is merely their own or their half unless it is also good — they will cut off even their own limb if it is diseased. Love's real object is not the kindred but the good. By subordinating Aristophanes' romance of completion to the desire for the good, Plato both honours the most beloved speech of the party and overrules it, clearing the last obstacle before the ascent to Beauty itself.
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