Aristodemus's Prologue
Ἔφη γάρ.
Sc.
ὁ Ἀριστόδημος. The whole narrative of the dialogue
from this point on is dependent upon this initial
ἔφη and therefore written in
or. obliqua.
οἱ (
sibi)=
Ἀριστοδήμῳ.
λελουμένον. For the practice of bathing
and anointing before meals see Hom.
Od. VI. 96—7, Xen.
Symp. I. 7: Ar.
Plut. 614
εὐωχεῖσθαι...λουσάμενος, λιπαρὸς χωρῶν ἐκ βαλανείου. The comic
poets were fond of gibing at Socrates and philosophers in general as
“unwashed,” e.g. Ar.
Av. 1554
ἄλουτος οὗ ψυχαγωγεῖ Σωκράτης: id.
Nub. 835 ff.:
Aristophon
ap. Mein. III. 360 ff. Aristotle, however, was a
champion of the bath, Athen. 178 F
ἀπρεπὲς γὰρ ἦν, φησὶν
Ἀριστοτέλης (fr. 165),
ἥκειν εἰς τὸ
συμπόσιον σὺν ἱδρῶτι πολλῷ καὶ κονιορτῷ.
τὰς βλαύτας. Schol.
βλαύτας: ὑποδήματα. οἱ δὲ βλαυτία, σανδάλια ἰσχνά. For Socrates'
habit of going barefoot, see
220 B
infra, Phaedr. 229 A, Xen.
Mem. I. 6. 2, and the
note on
ἀνυπόδητος,
173 B
supra.
ταῦτα δὴ ἐκαλλωπισάμην
. ταῦτα is better taken (with Hug and Hommel) as
accus. of “internal object” than (with Stallb.) as accus. of
“remoter object,” equiv. to
διὰ
ταῦτα (cp.
Prot. 310 E).
Elsewhere in Plato
καλλωπίζεσθαι means to
“plume oneself,” “swagger,”
e.g. Rep. 605 D. Observe the word-play: “I have put on my finery,
because he is such a fine man” (Jowett): cp. the proverb
ὅμοιος ὁμοίῳ (195 B).
παρὰ καλὸν.
Sc.
Ἀγάθωνα—“to Agathon's
(house)”; equiv. to
εἰς Ἀγάθωνος above.
For “the handsome Agathon,” see
Prot. 315 D—E (
τὴν ἰδέαν
πάνυ καλός), Ar.
Thesm. 191 ff.
πῶς ἔχεις πρὸς
κτλ. Cp.
176 B
πῶς ἔχει πρὸς τὸ ἐρρῶσθαι πίνειν; Prot. 352 B,
Parm.
131 E. Cobet's excision of
ἐθέλειν ἄν is
wanton: cp. (with Ast)
Phaedo 62 C
τὸ τοὺς φιλοσόφους ῥᾳδίως ἂν ἐθέλειν
ἀποθνήσκειν.
