R. G. Bury, The Symposium of Plato

ἀληθῆ οἴεσθαι. οἴεσθαι here is substituted for ἡγεῖσθαι, and the following οὐκ οἴομαι is in antithesis, not to the οἴομαι preceding, but to ἡγεῖσθε. Apollodorus, conscious of his inferiority to Socrates, his ideal, is willing to admit that he is not as yet wholly εὐδαίμων.

ἀλλ᾽ εὖ οἶδα. Sc. ὅτι κακοδαίμονές ἐστε. For this exposure of the true condition of “the children of this world” who are εὐδαίμονες in their own conceit, and despise others, one may cite Apoc. iii. 17 “Thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”

Ἀεὶ ὅμοιος εἶ. “Semper tibi hac in re constas” (Stallb.): “you are quite incorrigible.” So below we have ἀεὶ τοιοῦτος εἶ. Cp. Charm. 170 A ἀλλ᾽ ἐγὼ κινδυνεύω ἀεὶ ὅμοιος εἶναι.

ἀτεχνῶς πάντας. This seems to be the sole instance in Plato of this combination “all without exception”; but cp. Rep. 432 A δἰ ὅλης ἀτεχνῶς τέταται.

ἀθλίους. Here a synonym for κακοδαίμονας, the word used above. Cp. Meno 78 A τοὺς δὲ ἀθλίους οὐ κακοδαίμονας; Οἶμαι ἔγωγε...τί γὰρ ἄλλο ἐστὶν ἄθλιον εἶναι ἢ ἐπιθυμεῖν τε τῶν κακῶν καὶ κτᾶσθαι;

πλὴν Σωκράτους. “Save Socrates only”: notice the emphasis on these words, repeated twice. We may discern, perhaps, in this an allusion, by way of antithesis, to the κατηγορία Σωκράτους of the sophist Polycrates (see Introd. § II. A).

τὸ μανικὸς καλεῖσθαι. There can be little doubt (pace Naber) that μανικός, not μαλακός, is the true reading: it is supported by the words μαίνομαι καὶ παραπαίω in Apollodorus's reply. Stallbaum supposes an ellipse of some such phrase as δοκεῖς δὲ λαβεῖν αὐτόθεν before ἐν μὲν γὰρ κτλ., and (with Wolf) explains μανικός as referring to the vehemence and excess of Apollodorus both in praise and blame: cp. Polit. 307 B, and Apol. 21 A where Chaerephon (termed μανικός in Charm. 153 B) is described as σφοδρὸς ἐφ᾽ ὅ τι ὁρμήσειεν. But the connexion of the sentence ἐν μὲν γὰρ κτλ. with the preceding clause is better brought out by Hug; he supplies (after οὐκ οἶδα) “so ganz ohne Grund wirds wohl nicht sein,” so that the line of thought is— “Though I do not know exactly why you got the nickname ‘fanatic’—yet in your speeches at any rate you do something to justify the title.” For a similar use of μὲν γὰρ cp. Polit. 264 C ἐν μὲν γὰρ ταῖς κρήναις τάχ᾽ ἂν ἴσως εἴης ᾐσθημένος. For μανικός cp. also Meno 91 C where Anytus regards παρὰ σοφιστὰς ἐλθεῖν as a sign of μανία: and Acts xxvi. 24 Μαίνῃ Παῦλε: τὰ πολλά σε γράμματα εἰς μανίαν περιτρέπει.

ἀγριαίνεις. “Rage like a wild beast,” “snarl and snap.” Cp. Rep. 493 B (θρέμμα μέγα） ἡμεροῦταί τε καὶ ἀγριαίνει.