Nicosia Hammond-Precis

Discussion

GSI Jerrilyn Sambrooke

                                   

                        Death in the Name of Love Will Bring Honor From the Gods.

     In the “Symposium,” Plato recounts the evening Socrates invites friend Aristodemus to accompany him to a banquet in honor of his friend, Agathon. Following their feast, those in attendance all agree to give speeches that “praise and honor Love.” One of the speakers, Phaedrus, gives a speech in which he declares to the others that “Love will make men die for their beloved.” Not only does he declare that men will die for the ones they love, he asserts that if you die in the name of your lover, the Gods will recognize your “virtue and devotion” with great reward in your death.

     To realize his argument, Phaedrus puts forth three examples of lovers that have either been rewarded after their death for their noble sacrifice or have suffered for their “cowardliness” and received punishment from the Gods for their lack of “devotion.”

     Phaedrus's first example reflecting how the Gods will reward those who die for love is done through the story of “Alcestis.” Alcestis chooses to sacrifice her life for her husband rather than live without him. Alcestis love was greater and deeper for her husband than that of his parents or anyone else. When confronted with the decision to give one’s life to save the life of their son, his parents refuse. Faced with the option of living without her lover, Alcestis feels she could not continue life without him. She allows the God's to take her life in place of her beloved husband.   

       Recognizing her great sacrifice as a selfless and virtuous act, extending from a place of great devotion and love, the Gods reward Alcestis. Impressed with her honorable and noble action, the gods bestowed upon her the rare “privilege” of returning home, alive and unharmed to her husband.  

     The second example Phaedrus gives to support his claim is that of the heroic demigod Achilles avenging the death of his lover Patroclus, murdered by Hector during the Trojan war. Achilles is forewarned by his mother that retribution will bring about his own death. However, his love for Patroclus guides him in his decision for vengeance. Following the sorrowful pleas of his concerned mother, insisting that if he returns home he will live to a ripe-old-age, Achilles still chooses to kill Hector in the name of Patroclus, forsaking his own life.

     Just as Alcestis, Achilles is rewarded greatly in his death. However, it is not through reunification with his beloved Patroclus that he is compensated. For Achilles, his reward is an afterlife on the godly “Islands of Blest.” This reward, according to Phaedrus, is far greater than the reward received by Alcestis. Achilles carried out retribution after the death of Patroclus, “not only in his defense,” an even greater virtue and honor in the eyes of the Gods.

      The third example used by Phaedrus is not of the grieving lover giving their life in honor of love, but one of the bereft of love unwilling to make the sacrifice considered to be so noble and virtuous by the Gods. Phaedrus tells the story of Orpheus, unwilling to sacrifice his life to join his beloved, he follows her after her death to the gates of the Underworld, Hades. Aware that to enter, Orpheus must take his own life; he refuses to do so, and is only allowed to see an “apparition”, or a ghost of her. The Gods refuse to “give her up” as Orpheus “showed no spirit.” Unlike Alcestis, Orpheus was not willing to give his life for his beloved. The Gods looked upon this as shameful and dishonorable, punishing him to “suffer death at the hands of women” for his “cowardliness.”

     All three of these examples are used by Phaedrus to support his claim of great reward for those who have sacrificed their own lives for the one’s they loved. Alcestis selfless decision to sacrifice herself rather than be without the one she loved brought her what she ultimately wanted, to be with her husband. Achilles was aware his choice to avenge Patroclus would lead to his death. However, he was not deterred. He killed Hector, thus accepting his fate. Unaware that this choice would allow him to spend a blissful eternity on the Divine and heavenly “Island of Blest.” The selfishness of Orpheus brought upon his own miserable death. The lack of personal sacrifice necessary to reunite with his beloved showed an absence of devotion and virtue. He was selfish and unworthy in the eyes of the God’s. His love was undeserving. The God’s will not reward those in love without great sacrifice.