ὥσπερ οἱ τέλεοι σοφισταί. We might
render “in true professorial style.” The reference may be partly
(as Wolf and Hommel suggest) to the fact that the sophistic, as contrasted with the
Socratic, method was that of didactic monologue (
δόλιχον
κατατείνουσι τοῦ λόγου
Prot. 329 A）—the lecture
rather than the conversation. Thus in the sequel (208 C—212 A) Diotima
developes her own doctrine without the aid of further question-and-answer. Stallb.,
however, explains the phrase as intended to ridicule the pretended omniscience of the
sophists; Rettig sees in it an indication that what follows is meant, in part, as a
parody of the earlier speeches; and by Ast and Schleierm. it is taken to refer only to
the dogmatic tone of
εὖ ἴσθι. For
τέλεος σοφιστής, cp.
Crat. 403 E (applied to Hades);
σοφιστής applied to Eros,
203 D;
οἱ χρηστοὶ σοφισταί,
177 B;
οἱ σοφοί,
185 C. It is possible also that in
τέλεος
there may be a hint at the mystery-element in D.'s speech (cp.
210 A and
πρὸς τέλος
210 E).
εἰ ἐθέλεις
κτλ. For φιλοτιμία,
cp. 178 D. The thought here recalls Milton's
“Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise” etc.
θαυμάζοις ἂν
κτλ. Stallb., defending περὶ, says “ad ἐννοεῖς
facillime e superioribus intelligitur αὐτά.” But we may justly complain here, as Badham does at Phileb. 49 A, of “the dunce
who inserted περὶ.”
καὶ κλέος...καταθέσθαι. “Ex
poeta aliquo petita esse ipse verborum numerus declarat” (Stallb.): but it
is just as probable that Diotima herself is the authoress—rivalling Agathon.
Cp. Tyrtaeus 12. 31—2 οὐδέ ποτε κλέος ἐσθλὸν
ἀπόλλυται οὐδ᾽ ὄνομ᾽ αὐτοῦ | ἀλλ᾽
ὑπὸ γῆς περ ἐὼν γίγνεται ἀθάνατος: Theogn. 245—6
οὐδὲ τότ᾽ οὐδὲ θανὼν ἀπολεῖς κλέος, ἀλλὰ
μελήσεις | ἄφθιτον ἀνθρώποις αἰὲν
ἔχων ὄνομα: Simon. 99. 1 ἄσβεστον
κλέος...θέντες. For the thought, see also Cic. Tusc. I.
p. 303; Cat. Mai. 22. 3.
