Note 187 — Chapter XVIII

This is described by Xenophon in his Banquet, in a passage which we must regard as his genuine recollection of a similar pleasantry on the part of Socrates. Had it been found in Plato, this might have been doubtful; but it is not Xenophon’s habit to introduce his master in this ludicrous manner. At a drinking party in the house of Callias, Socrates is introduced contesting the point of beauty with Critobulus. To prove his own superiority, he asks, “whether beauty resides in man only, or in other things?”