Aristophanes' Hiccups and Pausanius's Sophistry in Plato's Symposium

Hooper, Anthony

Abstract

This paper concerns the episode of Aristophanes’ hiccups in Plato’s Symposium. The sequence is typically understood to be, not merely a comic aside, but rather a means by which Aristophanes offers commentary on the claims of other speakers in the dialogue. But where scholars have focused on the significance of this passage concerning Eryximachus’ account of Eros, in this paper I argue that the hiccups episode also serves as a critique of Pausanias’ speech. Particularly, I suggest that the hiccups episode serves as a critique of the sophistic elements of Pausanias’ account of Eros.

Citation

Hooper, A. (2022). Aristophanes' Hiccups and Pausanius's Sophistry in Plato's Symposium. Arethusa, 55(2), 101-119. https://doi.org/10.1353/are.2022.0005

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 14, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Nov 16, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022
• Deposit Date: Dec 15, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 27, 2017
• Journal: Arethusa
• Print ISSN: 0004-0975
• Electronic ISSN: 1080-6504
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 55
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 101-119
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/are.2022.0005
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1389589