Ancient Wisdom Atlas

Motif

exchange of outward beauty for true beauty

exchange_of_outward_beauty_for_true_beauty

A motif of the Beauty Paired with Pain and Paradox family. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.

1 occurrences

1 traditions


greek

  • Symposium Symposium / SYMPOSIUM / INTRODUCTION. / SYMPOSIUM; lines 2763-2834 confidence: high

    Socrates replies that Alcibiades may see in him rare beauty higher than bodily beauty, describes the proposal as exchanging beauty for beauty, and compares true beauty for appearance to Diomede receiving gold for brass; he warns Alcibiades to check whether he is deceived.

    Socrates explicitly describes the offer as an exchange of beauty for beauty, in which Alcibiades would gain true beauty in return for appearance.

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