Bril, Alexander. “Plato and the Sympotic Form in the Symposium of St Methodius of Olympus.” Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum 9, no. 2 (2006): 279–302.
In this article, Bril examines Methodius’ Symposium in light of the Platonic work it imitates. While Plato’s theme is eros, Methodius’ is the Christian counterpart: virginity (παρθενία). Bril argues that these pervasive formal similarities illustrate that Methodius’ only sympotic model was Plato. Bril asserts that Methodius “had little understanding of the symposion, and that what little he did grasp, he had imperfectly grasped from Plato” (281).
Bril begins by comparing Plato’s Symposium to the “real” symposion. Although Plato’s aims are primarily literary and philosophical, he does include many sympotic details – even minutiae like drinking rules, seating arrangements, and garlands. Nonetheless, he omits numerous elements and activities that appear in other symposia. Bril recognizes other characteristics of symposia that are present, though unacknowledged, in the Symposium – including the fact that “the male dominance of Athenian society informs the whole setting of the dialogue” (285). Indeed, Plato’s symposiasts are all aristocratic men (πλοὐσιοι) who can afford to hire not only flute-girls but also komoi. Furthermore, this environment encourages the intermingling of alcohol and lust, especially in the form of homosexual eros.
Next, Bril discusses Methodius’ use of the symposion. Methodius imitates Plato in his general “sobriety” and “restricting of entertainment to intellectual conversation” (291). Some of these characteristics are borrowed from Plato and adapted to the Christian context. For example, the hymn that was dedicated to Apollo in the Classical text is now sung “to the lord” (τῷ Κυρίῳ). Other changes were probably made because of Methodius’ “knowledge, or rather ignorance, of Attic convention” (293). For instance, Methodius sets his Symposium outside, under the shade of a plane tree in a garden. In reality, ancient symposia were conducted indoors (in the ἀνδρῶν) and at night, when there would be no need for shade. Yet other characteristics of symposia – including drinking customs, seating arrangements, washing, and unshoeing – were omitted for no apparent reason, according to Bril. Perhaps the most significant change Methodius makes is to transform an entirely male (and quite sexually charged) institution into a chaste, female gathering. Methodius’ virgins are educated, enjoy leisurely activities, and lead lives outside the home: in short, they “are completely out of place in a classical setting” (294). Unfortunately, Bril does not thoroughly probe the significance of Methodius’ choice to make the Symposium all female.
Bril ends by delivering a “verdict” on each of the texts. He praises Plato’s Symposium for its “remarkably perfect unity of form, content and technique” (298). His alterations, Bril argues, are always for the sake of broader philosophical and artistic aims. On the other hand, Bril is remarkably harsh on Methodius, whose “absolute failure” he deems “painfully obvious” as a result of Methodius’ “meagre literary talents” and “ignorance of genuine sympotic custom” (299). Bril particularly castigates Methodius’ ignorance with a remarkably potent metaphor: “not only is Methodius’ sympotic genre dead, but, because of his imperfect understanding of the symposion, the exhumed cadaver has missing bits, hence the resulting monstrosity” (301). Bril dismisses with little discussion other scholars’ more positive views of Methodius. In his final section, Bril turns to the question of why Methodius chose the sympotic form, especially given its strong associations with Platonic philosophy. Here, Bril is more open to other scholars’ opinions. He particularly praises the thesis of M. Benedetta Zorzi, who argued that Methodius in the Symposium attempts to synthesize Platonic eros and New Testament agape.[1]
I think that it would be fruitful to examine the work of other scholars, like Zorzi, who are more sympathetic to Methodius and less likely to lambast him for “grotesque incongruities and artistic infelicities” (302). Although many of Bril’s points are not inaccurate, they seem to be clouded by an overwhelming dislike of Methodius’ work. It is particularly illuminating to contrast Bril’s argument that Methodius simply neglects the sympotic form with König’s thesis that the seeming neglect is really a self-conscious, purposeful transformation to suit Methodius’ artistic and philosophical aims.
[1] M. Benedetta Zorzi, “The Use of the Terms Ἁγνεία, Παρθενία, Σωφροσύνη, and Ἐγκράτεια in the ‘Symposium’ of Methodius of Olympus,” Vigiliae Christianae 63, no. 2 (2009): 138–68, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20474911. The work Bril cites (in Italian) is M. Benedetta Zorzi, “Castità e generazione nel bello. L’eros nel Simposio di Metodio d’Olimpio,” Reportata: Passato e presente della teologia, September 1, 2003, https://mondodomani.org/reportata/zorzi02.htm.