Evangelos Moutsopoulos

The Role of Music in Plato’s Symposium

The Symposium as a whole bears on the notion of love as a réalité vivante, per-
sonified by Eros. Each banqueter sets out to address the best eulogy. The one by
Eryximachus, a doctor of the time, is divided into two parts. Between them there
is an intermezzo on music which, as any other art form, and in the highest de-
gree, expresses Eros, participates in it, or contributes to it. Eryximachus’ encomi-
um on Eros illustrates the procedure from the desire of the other to mating. The
doctor alludes to Alcmaeon of Croton, a physician, according to whom opposed
elements and qualities unite to form the living corpses, which are the objects of
medical science.¹
The same goes for music and, as it happens, the speaker cites a passage by
Heraclitus, in which unity is the result of discordant opposites, such as the at-
tunement of a bow or a lyre;² unless one interprets ‘bow’ as the bow of a lyre,
which is quite unlikely according to the ancient Greek culture, Eryximachus re-
marks on the absurdity of the example given by the Ephesian, because, he pro-
ceeds, these two objects are in constant opposition.³ Indeed, Heraclitus himself
succinctly suggests a solution to this enigmatic phrase when he says that no har-
mony would exist without the presence of both high-pitched and low-pitched
notes.⁴ Much later, in the Philebus and particularly in connection with the
idea of the mixed elements, Plato distinguishes between low and high pitch as
two kinds of sound, and equal pitch as a third kind,⁵ which is something com-
pletely different, a limit; consequently, it does not sum up to two contradicting
sounds. Even more so, one may consider the Heraclitean fragment in which har-

 Cf. Alcmeon, fr. 4 (D.-K.16, I, 215, 12– 13). Cf. Symposium, 186 d-e. Cf. Phaedo, 86 b-c: κρᾶσιν
εἶναι καὶ ἁρμονίαν αὐτῶν τούτων (hot and cold; dry and wet etc.); ibid., 92 a: οὐ γὰρ … πρότερον
ἦν ἁρμονία συγκειμένη πρὶν ἐκεῖνα εἶναι ἐξ ὧν ἔδει αὐτὴν συντεθῆναι; ibid., 92 b-c: πρότερον καὶ
ἡ λύρα καὶ αἱ χορδαὶ καὶ οἱ φθόγγοι ἔτι ἀνάρμοστοι ὄντες γίνονται, τελευταῖον δὲ πάντων συνί-
σταται ἡ ἁρμονία καὶ πρῶτον ἀπόλλυται; ibid., 93 a: οὐκ ἄρα ἡγεῖσθαί γε προσήκει ἁρμονίαν τού-
των ἐξ ὧν συντεθῇ, ἀλλ’ ἕπεσθαι. Socrates refutes Simmias’ view of the harmony of the soul. The
same argumentation applies to Eryximachus.
 Cf. Heraclitus, fr. B 57 (D.-K.16, I, 162, 4): παλίντροπος ἁρμονίη ὅκωσπερ τόξου καὶ λύρης. Cf.
Symposium 187 a.
 Ibid., 187 a-b.
 Cf. Heraclitus, fr. A 22 (D.-K.16, I, 149, 28): οὐ… ἂν εἶναι ἁρμονίαν μὴ ὄντος ὀξέος καὶ βαρέος. Cf.
Symposium, 187 a-b.
 Cf. Philebus, 17 c: καὶ τρίτον ὁμότονον; cf. Boussoulas 1952, 24 and 64 ; cf. Kucharski 1951,
39 ff.; Idem 1959, 41– 72.

DOI 10.1515/9783110519785-019

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314 Evangelos Moutsopoulos

mony is produced by the agreement between opposites, such as high and low,
fast and slow.⁶ Therefore, in Aristotelian terms, but inversely, one might conceive
their harmony as potential (dynamei) which, being always imperceptible, re-
mains superior to that which is, actually (energeia), only apparent.⁷
In general, we are dealing with a harmony which transits (passes) from one
state to another.⁸ In the Timaeus, harmony is established between the Same and
the Different, but in that case harmony is neither musical or astronomical; it is
simply mathematical.⁹
After this digression, we should return to music as being the science of har-
monies and rhythms related to Eros, in the words of Eryximachus,¹⁰ but also, ac-
cording to the Laches, as the most beautiful harmony, which is experienced by a
man who is genuinely musical, rendering his own life harmonious.¹¹ In the same
vein, in the Gorgias, music is considered as the creation of melodies.¹² It is in the
same spirit that the doctor of the Symposium affirms, generally, that Eros is a
good creator at every kind of musical production.¹³ Music, to say it properly, con-
stitutes the peak of art which encompasses even philosophy.¹⁴ Stricto sensu,
music necessarily presupposes the knowledge of rhythms and harmonies, in plu-
ral, which Plato discusses in the Republic in reference to Damon of Oa.¹⁵ Now, in
that case, they are no longer consonances, but formal structures according to
which the lyre is to be attuned, each one of which presents an ethos, a specific
‘character’ and a disposition to the listener himself who, in his turn, responds

 Cf. Heraclitus, fr. B 8 (D.-K.16, I, 153, 8– 10); Idem, fr. B 10 (D.-K.16, I, 153, 5–6); Idem, fr. B. 51 (D.-
K.16, I, 161, 17): (τὸ ἕν) διαφερόμενον ἑαυτῷ ὁμολογέει. Cf. Symposium 187 a-b: A ᾿ λλὰ ἴσως τόδε ἐβού-
λετο λέγειν ὅτι, ἐκ διαφερομένων πρότερον τοῦ ὀξέος καὶ βαρέος … ὕστερον ὁμολογησάντων, γέγο-
νεν ὑπὸ τῆς μουσικῆς τέχνης. oὐ γὰρ δήπου ἐκ διαφερομένων γε ἔτι… ἁρμονία ἂν εἴη.
 Cf. Idem, fr. B 8 (D.-K.16, I, 152, 9); fr. B 54 (D.-K.16, I, 162, 10): ἁρμονίη ἀφανὴς φανερῆς κρείτ-
των. Cf. Tim., 80 a-b.
 Cf. Heraclitus, fr. B 10 (D.-K.16, I, 153, 10 – 12): συνάψιες ὅλα καὶ οὐχ ὅλα, συμφερόμενον δια-
φερόμενον συνᾶιδον διᾶιδον καὶ ἐκ πάντων ἓν καὶ ἐξ ἑνὸς πάντα. Cf. Aristotle, De mundo. 5, 396
b 7. Cf. Plato, Sophist 242 d.
 Cf. Timaeus 34 c – 37 a. Cf. Moutsopoulos 21989, 352– 375.
 Cf. Symposium 187 c: καὶ ἔστιν αὖ μουσικὴ περὶ ἁρμονίαν καὶ ῥυθμὸν ἐρωτικῶν ἐπιστήμη.
 Cf. Laches 188 d: κομιδῇ μοι δοκεῖ μουσικὸς ὁ τοιοῦτος εἶναι, ἁρμονίαν καλλίστην
ἡρμοσμένος.
 Cf. Gorgias 449 d: ἡ μουσικὴ περὶ τὴν τῶν μελῶν ποίησιν.
 Cf. Symposium 196 e: ποιητὴς ὁ Ἔρως ἀγαθός… πᾶσαν ποίησιν τὴν κατὰ μουσικήν. Cf. ibid.,
187 b: ὑπὸ τῆς μουσικῆς τέχνης.
 Cf. Phaedo 60 e: μουσικὴν ποίει καὶ ἐργάζου; ibid., 61 a: ὡς φιλοσοφίας μὲν οὔσης μεγίστης
μουσικῆς.
 Cf. Republic, ΙΙΙ, 398 d – 401 c; ibid., IV, 424 c; cf. Laws VII, 814 a ff.; cf. Aristotle, Polit., Δ 3,
1290 a 19 ff.; Θ 5, 1340 b 7 ff.

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 The Role of Music in Plato’s Symposium 315

accordingly after being impregnated by it. There are also harmonies which are to
be preferred contrary to the ones which are to be avoided.
Once these difficulties are discarded, it is now easier to proceed to the Pla-
tonic evaluation of music in the Symposium. One remarks, first of all, the asser-
tion that harmony is a kind of consonance between elements which are no lon-
ger discordant.¹⁶ It is evident that the movement from disagreement to
consonance marks a significant moment, a Kairos, a moment which is simulta-
neously the least and the most favourable before which anything is possible and
after which there is nothing.¹⁷ This goes for sounds as well as for rhythms.¹⁸ It is
Eryximachus that brings to attention the analogy between music and medicine.¹⁹
Already Hippocrates, in medicine, had qualified kairos as ‘high-pitched’,
‘sharp’,²⁰ in other words, of short duration. We have to realise it in advance, be-
fore it escapes our notice for good; it is also preferable that we provoke its ap-
pearance.²¹ This is how the musician puts his intentions to action.²² But he
has to be careful not to go astray from the right path.
But in what does this right path consist for a musician who, by definition,
rejoices in Eros? Through Eryximachus, Plato insists on the very ideas suggested
by Damon. Indeed, Damon was the one to put forward a certain strictness as far
as music was concerned, teaching that the loose musical modes would encour-
age a similar behaviour. Middle fifth-century musicians were already free from
the strict norms regarding their art, which had been dominant in the past.
Damon, on the other hand, believed that a digression from such norms would
have harmful consequences on the laws of the city of Athens,²³ which earned
him the exile. The fragmentary passages of his apology, Areopagiticus, were col-
lected²⁴ and then completed.²⁵ The echo of his doctrine is evident in the words of
Eryximachus: music is beautiful and good when it celebrates celestial love, the
one inspired by the Muse Urania. On the other hand, one should distrust music

 Cf. Symposium, 187 b: Ἡ γὰρ ἁρμονία συμφωνία ἐστίν, συμφωνία δὲ ὁμολογία τις. ὁμολογίαν
δὲ ἐκ διαφερομένων, ἕως ἂν διαφέρωνται ἀδύνατον εἶναι, διαφερόμενον δὲ αὖ καὶ μὴ ὁμολογοῦν
ἀδύνατον ἁρμόσαι.
 Cf. Moutsopoulos 1991, 132– 145.
 Cf. Symposium, 187 b-c: ὥσπερ γε καὶ ὁ ῥυθμὸς ἐκ τοῦ ταχέος καὶ βραδέος, ἐκ διενηνεγμένων
πρότερον ὕστερον δὲ ὁμολογησάντων γέγονε.
 Cf. ibid. 187 c.
 Cf. Hippocrates, Aphorismi 1.1: ὁ δὲ καιρὸς ὀξύς.
 Cf. Moutsopoulos 2007, 157– 166; cf. Idem 2010, 19 – 24; 139 – 154.
 Cf. Idem 2012, 28 – 38; 69 – 81; 173 – 178.
 Cf. Ryffel 1949, 52 ff.
 Cf. D.-K.16, II, 381– 384.
 Cf. Lasserre 1954, 74– 79.

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316 Evangelos Moutsopoulos

inspired by the Muse Polymnia, who celebrates mundane love. It is sufficient to

enjoy in moderation the pleasure she offers.²⁶
These ideas are inscribed outright within the frame of Damonian doctrines
and indicate the adoption, by Plato, of a conservative attitude with regard to
art in general, also detected in the evolution of the visual arts,²⁷ which are ob-
vious at the same time as the development of the sophistic movement presenting
the same dangers for the Athenian society as ‘liberal’ music. The defiance asso-
ciated with this kind of music is evident throughout Plato’s thought, beginning
with the Protagoras, where it is mentioned that, during his life, man needs good
rhythms and good harmonies,²⁸ until the Laws, where these doctrines are re-
prised. Eryximachus’ speech in the Symposium is the sum-up of this doctrine.

Bibliography
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Kucharski, P. (1951), ‘La musique et la conception du réel dans le Philèbe’, in: Revue
Philosophique 76, 39 – 60.
— (1959), ‘Le Philèbe et les “Eléments harmoniques” d’Aristoxène’, in: Revue
Philosophique 84, 41 – 72.
Lasserre, F. (1954), Plutarque, De la musique, Olten / Lausanne.
Moutsopoulos, E. (1958), ‘La condition ontologique de l’art dans le Sophiste de Platon’, in:
Athena, 62, 369 – 378.
— (21989), La musique dans l’oeuvre de Platon, Paris.
— (1991), Kairos. La mise et l’ enjeu, Paris.
— (2007), Kairicité et liberté, Athens.
— (2010), Reflets et résonances du kairos, Athens.
— (2012), Valences de l’action, Athens.
Ryffel, H. (1949), Μεταβολὴ πολιτειῶν. Der Wandlung der Staatsverfassungen, (Noctes
Romanae 2), Bern.
Schulz, P.-M. (1933), Platon et l’art de son temps, Paris.

 Cf. Symposium 187 d-e.

 Cf. Schulz 1933; Moutsopoulos 1958, 369 – 378.
 Cf. Protagoras, 326 b: πᾶς γὰρ ὁ βίος τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εὐρυθμίας τε καὶ εὐαρμοστίας δεῖται.

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