"Like a comedy": aspects of the fortune of Aristophanes’ speech in the Symposium from the ancient world to Rabelais

Abstract

Aristophanes’ speech is certainly one of the most famous passages in Plato’s Symposium. In line with the character who delivers it, the logos, as has often been pointed out by critics, appears as a sort of pastiche constructed by Plato from a variety of sources, some of which can be traced back to the extant texts of Aristophanes. While the comic nature of Aristophanes’ discourse was well understood by Plutarch in the Table Talk (VII 710c), the text has not always been interpreted from this perspective. Ancient and modern readers have often privileged its philosophical aspects, sometimes offering complex allegorical interpretations. However, it is also possible to reconstruct an autonomous literary fortune of some motifs present in the passage. A comprehensive study of the Nachleben of Aristophanes’ speech is currently lacking. This contribution aims to reconstruct some significant stages up to the Renaissance: from Aristotle to Plutarch, from Hellenistic novel to Eusebius, from Ficino to Rabelais.