1994.06.15, Waterfield (trans.), Plato: Symposium

Hard on the heels of his 1993 translation of Plato’s Republic, also published by Oxford, W. has now produced a version of the Symposium. Like the earlier volume, it contains an introduction to the dialogue, a select bibliography, and a section of commentary designed to explain some of the more obscure moments of the dialogue (as well as some of the textual decisions a translator must make in producing an English version). After a long period in which Hamilton’s Penguin translation was virtually the only text inexpensively available for classroom use, we have had in fairly rapid succession the Hackett version by Nehamas and Woodruff (1989), the Yale University Press version by R.E. Allen (1991), and now W.’s. Hamilton’s is not at all bad, though his introductory material is now somewhat dated. Of the three more recent versions, the most significant scholarly achievement is of course Allen’s, including as it does not only a fluent translation of the dialogue, but also more than a hundred pages of what is modestly called ‘comment’; these notes actually incorporate Allen’s original scholarly assessment of the philosophy of the dialogue. That book is liable to set a benchmark for a long time to come, and it is against this that W.’s endeavor must be measured.

While not actually surpassing Allen’s overall achievement, W. acquits himself most impressively. His introductory material is lucid and well-chosen; it includes sections on ‘Symposia,’ ‘Homoeroticism,’ ‘Socrates’ Attitude Towards Homoeroticism,’ ‘The Artistry of the Dialogue,’ ‘The First Five Speeches,’ ‘Socrates’ Speech,’ ‘The Ascent,’ ‘Love in Plato,’ and ‘Alcibiades’ Speech.’ All this is followed by a ‘select’ (but surprisingly extensive) bibliography. Some of his material recalls the introductory section to Kenneth Dover’s 1980 Cambridge edition of, with commentary on, the Greek text. Dover included some technical information—on symposia, the encomiastic tradition, the historical basis, and the transmission of the ancient text—that W. has omitted, perhaps on the grounds that his wider audience might find it tedious. What he has included, and I find this entirely appropriate for such an edition, is extended attention to the shape and literary merits of the dialogue.

The translation itself is modern, conversational where that is appropriate, and formal where Plato ascends to greater heights. Its orthography is of course British, and while occasional Briticisms emerge—e.g. ‘a bit of fun’ (172a), ‘sport’ (187a)—W. is, after all, British, and the prose is not so British overall as to taste foreign to an American palate.

Perhaps the best way to give a sense of the nature of a translation is to situate it vis-à-vis some others. Take, for example, a remark from Aristophanes at 176b, first in W.’s rendition, then in Hamilton’s, then in Allen’s:

‘Good thinking, Pausanias,’ said Aristophanes. ‘We must do everything we can to soften the effect of our drinking. I speak as one of those who was soused yesterday.’

“You are quite right, Pausanias,” said Aristophanes, “to suggest that we should let ourselves off lightly. I am one of those who were pretty well soaked yesterday.”

So Aristophanes replied, You’re quite right, Pausanias, about being in every way prepared to take it easy in our drinking; in fact, I’m among those who got a dipping yesterday myself.

Each translator uses his own English idioms to render corresponding Greek ones: τοῦτο μέντοι εὖ λέγεις becomes ‘Good thinking,’ ‘You are quite right,’ and ‘You’re quite right’ in the three translations. παρασκευάσασθαι ῤαστώνην (literally, ‘provide an easiness’) becomes ‘soften the effect,’ ‘let ourselves off lightly,’ and ‘being … prepared to take it easy.’ βεβαπτισμένων becomes ‘soused,’ ‘pretty well soaked,’ and ‘got a dipping.’ Allen’s is perhaps the one whose idioms correspond most closely to those of the original Greek. But W.’s seem the most comfortable in the target language, and hence the most appropriate to Plato’s characterization of Aristophanes. (One might also just point out parenthetically that Hamilton leaves out παντὶ τρόπῳ altogether here; and that Allen eschews the use of quotation-marks, using a capital letter to signify the opening of the quotation—like the Oxford Classical Text, but not Dover’s Cambridge Greek text.)