Not only is it tastefully printed in distinguished fonts, but its Foreword is a model of concision and pertinence. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.Ī very useful edition of an undervalued and hard-to-find masterpiece of translation. I believe it should be available to readers now, and for so long as the English language lives."
It is deplorable that this masterpiece has suffered first suppression, then bowdlerization, and finally neglect. "In the canon of great books dealing with male love, Shelley's translation of Plato's BANQUET belongs at the head of the list. John Lauritsen, editor and publisher of the new edition, has stated: Pagan Press now offers a new edition, which is complete, authentic and readable. THE BANQUET and Shelley's accompanying essay, "A Discourse on the Manners of the Antient Greeks", were not published in their entirety until 1931, and then in an edition of 100 copies intended "for private circulation only".įor many years, the Shelley translation has been unobtainable, new or used.
In 19th century Britain, male love - at the heart of the dialogue - was unmentionable. Amazingly, it was suppressed and then bowdlerized for well over a century. It has been described as conveying "much of the vivid life, the grace of movement, and the luminous beauty of Plato" - "the poetry of a philosopher rendered by the prose of a poet".Īlthough a masterpiece in its own right, the Shelley translation is unknown even to most students of English literature. Witty, sexy and radiantly beautiful, the Shelley translation of Plato's great Dialogue on Love is by far the best in the English language. A new edition of Percy Bysshe Shelley's translation of Plato's dialogue, THE BANQUET (more commonly known as The Symposium).
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