The Symposium and the Platonic Tradition: Origins and Developments of the Myth of the Divine Cupbearer

Abstract

This study explores the origins and developments of the myth of the divine cupbearer, Ganymede, in relation to the symposium and the Platonic tradition through a comparative analysis of various literary and iconographic sources. Ganymede, a figure attested from Homer (Iliad V 259-72, XX 230-235), has been interpreted in different ways over the centuries, resulting in three main lines of interpretation: (homo)erotic, symbolic, and historical-euhemeristic.
A specific connection between Ganymede and the symposium is evident from Theognis (1345-50) to Euripides (Cyclops 577-689), as well as in the early iconographic depictions found on late 6th-century Athenian pottery.
In the Laws (I 636c-d), Plato suggests a Cretan origin for the myth, possibly linked to the initiatory-ritual abductions of the island. In the Phaedrus (255c-d), Plato further reinterprets Ganymede’s figure as a symbol of spiritual elevation and divine union, a reading also considered by Xenophon in his Symposium (VIII 30), where he examines the etymology.