Two Suppers Author(s): GEORGE STEINER Source: Salmagundi, No. 108 (Fall 1995), pp. 33-61 Published by: Skidmore College Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40548840 . Accessed: 03/03/2014 19:57 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
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Two Suppers BY GEORGE STEINER
I. a peculiarsolitude.The To eat aloneis to experienceor suffer of food and on the other reaches intotheinmost ofthe drink, hand, sharing condition. Therangeofitssymbolicandmaterial social-cultural bearings is almosttotal.It comprisesreligiousritual,theconstructs anddemarcaorconfrontationsofgender,thedomainsoftheerotic,thecomplicities contracts of of the or tions politics, discourse,playful grave,theritesof the and of funerealsorrow.In its manifoldcomplexities, matrimony of a meal around a with friend or table, foe, disciplesor consumption intimates or the innocence or conventions detractors, strangers, wrought arethemicrocosm ofsocietyitself.To 'convive'(theverb ofconviviality, is rareafterthemid-seventeenth century)is indeedto "live withand in the others" most articulate, among chargedformwhichis thatof the thereis, in thebreaking of breadalone,a sharedmeal.In counterpoint, as of a beastor of a god. Le vindu solitaire.,Baudelaire's strangeness of rubric,is a desolateparodyor negationof the act of community, in communion bothholyandsecular. communication dwellon thecentrality ofcomandethnography Anthropology orclosely munalmeals where'communal'extendsfromtheclandestine and of a chosengroupall thewayto thesaturnalias guardedgathering withreligiousstudies carnevalsopentothewholecityortribe.Together andpsychoanalytic proposals,withsociologyandtheanalysisofmyths,
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- les sciencesde Vhomme - relatestotheinstitution ofthe anthropology sharedmealcrucialconceptsofthetotemic, ofhumanandanimalsacriandinitiation. fice,ofpurification Again,therangeis verynearlyincomandsymbolism mensurable. Itextendsfromthepractises ofcannibalism, elementalreflexesof consciousness, of a laboured rootedin primary, intohumanity so deep-seated as toescapeourfull passageortransgression all thewaytosuchtranspositions ofthebatingofthegod' understanding, as we findtheminChristian archaicas they Moreover, HolyCommunion. of seminal numerous traits these survive inthemilitary convivialities are, orprofessional lunchorsupper-party, inthegluttony mess,inthefraternal oftheruralwake,intheanniversary-dinner, intheinnumerable modesof from which men exclude women or women exclude men. eatingtogether offoodanddrink, Preciselybecausetheconsumption especiallybeyond immediate ourcommonor 'socialorganicneed,comesneartodefining ized' humanity, thesediverseconvivialities arealtogether centralto our both as from individuals the to the history christening-party wake- and inthehungry as members one ofanother bodypolitick. Butifthenotionofconviviality seemstoentailthatofthefestive, ofthejoyouseventothepitchoftranscendence, whatarewe tomakeof occasioninExodus24,whenGodinvited thatenigmatic topartake offood anddrinkwithHimMoses,Aaron,Nadab,Abihuandseventy oftheelders ofIsrael? Thissamenotionor structure ofsharedexperience, can entail From the infanticide and cannibalism in the of Atreus and fatality. supper Thyestes(a legendwhichhas neverrelaxedits mesmericgripon the western tothatinwhichBanquorisesbeforeMacbeth,from imagination) thehomicidalroutatHercules'wedding-feast tothefrequent instances of at celebration which renaissance stabbed or their courtly despots poisoned rivalguests,conviviality hasbeentheoccasionofdeath.Thisparadoxical congruenceis universalizedin the medievalplays and allegoriesof as therichmanandtheglutton raisea cup to theworshipful Everyman: Death to the toast. It was as if momentsof culinary replies company, thema covertmenace.Whocan refinement orprodigality carriedwithin thememento moriinthosedinnerparties themacabreintimations, forget picturedby Bunuelor Fellini?Or the 'eatingto death' in La Grande Bouffe!
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tocharacterize western moralandintellecTwo deathscontinue would have been markedly tualhistory. different, (Would thathistory in of western consciousness the therehavebeena steadier landscape light Butitis totwoviolent iftheaxiomaticeventhadbeenthatoftwobirths?) andof the of ourinheritance deathsthatwe advertin thedetermination context of our culture. The has the this inheritance in which generated ways be the touchstones of Nazareth continue to and of Jesus deathsofSocrates we andrecognition ofsensibility ofthereflexes ofourhistoricity, whereby toourHebraic-Christian and a legacyofreference makeofremembrance forall whichrenders For all theirfinality, classicalidentity. moreover, remain thesetwoexecutions toreasonedrecollection, themunendurable the status and Their existential unfinished. significance, vehemently Even for insistence. us with undiminished on questionstheypose press to internalize some who able in number? are those aretheytoday any toreasonandthe thatconceptmostintractable inJesus's resurrection, trust itssumof will its retain crucifixion the terror, Pascal) (so reality-principle, In deaths the both these and the world. of time end until the agony have consequenceof measurelesswaste,our sense of theirreparable, interminable gravity. TheissuesraisedbythedoingtodeathofSocratesin399B.C. are voiced. is publicly wherethought of thought thoseof thepossibilities itself, ornon-co-existence pivotal,oftheco-existence Theyarethose,absolutely and betweenthewonder,forit is that,of individualethicalperception minimal the the one and on the articulate cohesion, hand, questioning, ofthepolis(thecity,thecommunitas, thenormative perpetuation stability, on theother.In Socrates,the thepoliticalcollectiveor commonwealth) indifference of the of insightto the interrogative imperative thought, Its incarnate. is of inevitable accommodation, impurities political-social of moral criteria commitment to its anarchiccompulsion or,moreexactly, to the as antithetical andepistemological rigourwhichcan be construed of and order, is,in usages public compromised compromising pragmatic, In certain of his daimonion. It is that dimension. an added Socrates,given areasofcurrent appealis madetotheconceptof physicsandcosmology, comthatof supernatural 'strangeness'.A comparable'strangeness', and validation,givesto Socrates'logic,to theelenchosor mandment their via theforceddisclosureof contradiction, methodof questioning
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unnervingforce.Onlyin Spinoza (perhapshis sole authenticsuccessor) do we experiencea similarconcatenationofthesupernaturalwiththelogical. 'Strangeness' of thiskindis notat home in thecity,in civilitas.Hence the emancipatedlightness,themusicalityof Socrates' dialectic whenhe is in the open country,by the banks of the nymph-haunted Ilissus (as in the Phaedrus). But theprovocationsimplicitin Socrates' trialand executionare also ofa morepersonalorder(althoughthepersonalis, inPlato' s portrayal, persistentlya figurationof theuniversal).Despite laboured argumentsto the contrary,Socrates comes veryclose to ensuringhis own condemnation.He refusesto negotiatethatwhichpossesses his spiritand makes that possession sanctifiedby invoking the 'will of the god'. Philosophic concentrationhas been called thenaturalpietyof theintellect.It is a piety of this category,authorizedby the 'daemonic' (one can thinkhere of ' Hegel s Geist) whichSocratesplaysagainst- theplayfulis atonce crucial and exasperating- thepietas of officialcivic faithand religious institutions. Furthermoreand famously, Socrates' arch proposals as to the punishmentwhich mightbe metedon him insteadof hemlock,makethe situationirretrievable.As Xenophon uncomfortablyinfers,there is in Socrates' end morethana touchof suicide. (Escape fromprisonhad been providedfor,butSocratesrefuses.)In a lastdialectic,Socratesenforceson Athensthebloodguiltofhis chosendeath.Has the'cityofman' in thewest recovered? Not one of thesedilemmasdates. The 'examined life' demanded by Socrates requiresthateach and everyone of us serve on thatAthenian jury. How would we have voted? Goethe's dictum,"ratherinjusticethan disorder",putstheprosecutioncase concisely.It argues,as does Hegel in respectof Creon's conflictwithAntigone,thatthepreservationof sociallegislativeordermakes possible thereparationof miscarriagesofjustice. Disorder, the dispersal of civic solidaritythroughanarchicindividuality and 'the innerlight', destroysnot only daily life,but the eventualityof and performanceofjustice. progress,of ameliorationin theunderstanding Is thepricepaid forautonomousfeatsof conscience too high?Athenswas in a conditionof militaryhumiliationand politicaldivisionwhenSocrates was judged. Did thetruthand moralgrandeurof Dreyfus's acquittalleave France almost fatallyoff-balanceon the veryeve of world war? But the
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problems posed are even more arduous than those of the polemic coexistencebetweenpersonalconscience and theconstraintsof thegeneral will. The intelligentsia,thephilosophicelite is notalways on the side of political emancipationor freedomof conscience. Far fromit. A more or less avowed longingforhierarchic,despoticstylesofgovernmentinhabits a numberof majorphilosophicsystemslike a sombremirage.Plato looks Hegel toPrussianabsolutism;Heidegger repeatedlytoDionysiusthetyrant; toNationalSocialism; SartretoStalinandMao. Nietzsche's fantastications of dominanceare evident.And Socrates himselfwas held to have oligarchic leanings.So long as we reflecton theambiguitiesof theconditionof the individualwithinsociety,on the relationsbetweenpure thoughtand political enactment,thatAthenianjury will be out. a sense in whichthematterof Socrates' death Thereis, therefore, remainstimeless.The temporalitiesof thecrucifixion,beginningwiththe manifoldenigma of itsplacementin historicaltime(why at thattimeand place, in seeming exclusion of precedingor uniformedmankind?),are those of constantshift.No generationin Christendomhas looked on Golgotha quite like any other.The haltingevolutionof the doctrineand sacramentscentredon incarnation,theReformation,thesecularizationof thewesternsense oftheworld(Weltsinn),sourceand textualcriticism,the metamorphicstages in our readingsof event and allegory,have altered perceptionsof theCross. To theChristian,butalso, in manyopaque ways, to the non-Christian,the crucifixionand Jesus's death-cry,itself an ineluctablereiterationof his earlierquery,"Who do you say thatI am?", compel themindto seek to hold in some kindofresponsibledialectictime thehistoricaland theintemporal.Have even themostsubtle and eternity, and apprehensiveofhumanintellects,thoseof an Augustineor a Pascal or a Kierkegaard,managed to do so? The enormityof the crucifixion(physics and cosmology now speak of 'singularities')has takenon an intractableurgency.It demands considerationthroughthe 'glass darkly'of themostbestialof centuriesin immediour history.It poses its questions,its summonsto interpretation and of of massacre the after deportation, hungerand long midnight ately thedeath-camps.A certaincalm ofthoughtstillattachesand is solicitedby thetrialand deathof Socrates.Therecan be no such inreferencetoJesus's cry of finalabandonment,of ultimatenakedness and humiliationin the
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face of themutenessof God (mutenessbeingof anotherdegreethan a partofthebleaklogicofdemythologization, of silence).Itis,moreover, thatmarkseven our religioussuppositions, theexistentialism thatthe palespreciselyas thatoftheagonyon Golgotha conceptofresurrection thantheSunday. growsmoregraphic.We livetheFridaymoreintensely western that of in willnot culture, Probably, Europe particular, itssprings ofbeing,iftheconnections historical, recoveritsfullvitality, andreligious- betweenGolgotha ideological,symbolic, metaphysical cannotbe thought. Iftheycannotbe brought andAuschwitz insomereach ofreasonandthemetaphors bywhichwe makebearabletheinsolublesin our experience.Yet it is by no means evidentthatthe intellector meansof men and womenafterthe greatdarkhave the imaginative a thought-act. 'Post-Holocaust for such theology'has,withvery capacity been feeble.The Christianchurchesand few,fragmentary exceptions, havefailed,scandalously, toengagefullytheirrole,notonly theologians butdoctrinal andontological, inthecultivation andcontingent, historical All toounderstandably, Judaism ofJew-hatred. remainsnumbor,insome evencrazedin theaftermath ofthehorror. of itsreflexes, Forall butthe recoils before the fact. themasters of fundamentalist, theodicy Strikingly, even where their own lives were (a philosophicquestioning, implicated a Heidegger)havehadlittleornothing tosaytous.Yetthere Wittgenstein, is a sense- I believeittobe decisive- in whichtheCrossstandsbeside thegas-ovens.It does so becauseoftheideological-historical continuity oldas theGospelsandtheChurch Christian whichconnects anti-semitism, in theheartofa Christian to itsterminal Fathers, eruption Europe.Butit so mucha mysterium does so also at a fardeeperlevel,so conjectural, as torebuketheinadequaciesofordereddiscourse. tremendum, leavesus ignorant, theJews(what Forreasonsofwhichhistory oftheirtotal?)rejectedthemessianicclaims,thepostulateof proportion waspronounced inChristandhisdisciples.Anathema onPaulof divinity and Tarsus.This,despitetheclimateatthetimeofdramatic eschatological destruction of the the Second despite expectations, Temple apocalyptic ofa Christ-like andpassionin oftheannunciations andindisregard figure Theverytriumph ofChristianofPsalmsandinDeutero-Isaiah. a number of the notion of a crucified God andof Jewish abhorrence re-inforced ity
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an inexplicably toa strict hybrid'man-god'or 'god-man'.By itsfidelity had negatedthe Judaism,in theeyes of its persecutors, monotheism, in a humanperson(Jesus,sonofJoseph ofGod's incarnation possibility of Nazareth).In turn,thebutchersof thepogromsand of Auschwitz inman.EmptiedofGod,they exercisedthepartofbestiality proclaimed, a black ember ofwhichis nodoubtpresent tosadisticanimality reverted , in everyhumanbodyand psyche.The Jews,deniersof God's actual andmadeashbythosewhohadwelcomed descentintoman,weretortured anunspeakable inhuman theascentofthebestialintotheir purpose.I intuit symmetry. betweenSocrates byforceofanalogyorcontrast, Comparisons, in a recurrent rhetoric andJesusare,sincetherenaissance, topic western and philosophicaldebate.Usingmoreor less Aesopianlanguage,the ripostedto theclaimsof Christian, philosophesof theEnlightenment age thateven the notablyCatholicapologistsin the post-Tridentine of base of of had been a victim noblest, superstition, purest paganspirits Thefreethinkers oftheeighteenth-century a beliefinadaimonion. pointed to theclearsighted nobilityof Socrates'death,to theideal of a poeticphilosophicElysiuminvokedby thesage at thehourof parting.This intoHegel's findingin Socrates'favourcarriesover,oftendiscreetly, In on the such meditation twopersonae. nineteenth-century frequent as Kierkegaard andNietzsche,comparisons orphilosophers theologians Affinities do lie to hand.Both of SocratesandJesusbecomea leitmotif. inexhaustible to wonderand to hermeneutic thesefigures, inquiry,are revealedtous atsecondhand.Our 'Socrates'is thecompositeofPlato's, Thereis no oftendiscordant portrayals. Xenophon'sandAristophanes' than Plato. Debatewill dramatist of and intellectual argument style greater in the Socrates ofthe the of Platonic construction cease as to never degree of transcription dialogues.Are we dealingwitha moreor less faithful into a at the and voice outset, 'supreme modulating gradually person fiction',intoa dramatis personaanimatedbyPlato'sown,non-oreven Is theSocrates of counter-Socratic theory Ideasandpoliticalprogramme? on a of theimaginary of themiddleandlaterdialoguesa crystallization levelofpresencelikethatofa Faustora Hamlet?AndwhatofJesus?What ofthewitnesssetdownintheSynoptic we knowofhimconsistsentirely in in GospelsandJohn, Acts, certainofthePaulineEpistles.
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The chronological and substantiverelations of each of these documentstothereportedfacts,theirrelationsto each other,have been the subjectof vexed controversyover almosttwo millennia.The existenceof Jesushimselfhas repeatedlybeenputindoubt.At whateverpointwe touch on what is reported of his sayings and deeds, a turbulent,charged indirectnessinterposes.It is notonly thatof narrativetypology,of drastic contradictionswithintheGospels themselves,ofhistoricalimpossibilities (e.g. theaccountsof thesupposed 'trial'). It is, as in thecase of thosewho narrateor caricatureSocrates,theresultof radicallydifferent literaryand ideological sensibilities.The Jesus of Mark is not thatof Luke; neither conforms,at key points,withtheChristof theFourthGospel. In boththe matterof Socratesand ofJesus,theincidenceofkaleidoscopic lightsplays blindinglyaround an unrecapturablecore. Neither master writes (the pericope of words writtenin thesand and immediatelyerased by Jesusis an enigmaticaporia). They encounterothersface-to-face,orally. Their ministryentails a critiqueof writingstatedby Plato: its lifelessness,its thedamage itdoes to memory.The spiritis of thevoice, unanswerability, theletteronlyofthelaw orunexamined,conventionalnorm.Furthermore, thereare analogies of method.Much, I believe, remainsto be perceived about the maieutic techniques in Jesus's parables. At moments,they thatclosure on thelistenerwhich exhibitexactlythatteasingstringency, oftenpainful, will compel himtobewildereddoubtand toa reconstruction, distinctive of a With of his assumptions. touch, perhaps pre-eminent boththePlatonicSocrates minds(witnessWittgenstein), philosophic-poetic and theJesusof theNew Testamentare virtuososof examples, of thetale orperformative gesturewhichbothilluminatesand restorestochallenging and ambiguitycomplex propositions,metaphysicalor moral. opaqueness Socrates' (Plato's) uses of mythand Jesus's parables exercise strengths, delicacies of unsettlingsuggestion.They make thoughtmetaphoric. There is little comfortin such Vocation', in so pressing a summonsto the mediocrityand somnolence of our daily being. Luke's tauntthatJerusalemwill always kill its teachers and prophetsapplies equally to thefateof Socrates. Both teachers,moreover,gatherstudents, plucking themout of ordinary,productiveand obeisant routines.They seduce by exaction,by theexclusiveness of theirdemands.The recurrent claims thattherelies in bothSocratic-Platonismand theteachingsofJesus
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ofthechosen,is unconvincrevealedonlytoa handful anesotericcentre, is one of selection,of restricted But the strategy ing. 'organisational' farewell to those whom he has chosenas his Jesus bids discipleship. andcouriersto mankind. In hisclosing apostles,as hisrememberancers thathis addressto thejurorswhohavedoomedhim,Socratesforetells will carried on men task be who have understood byyounger exemplary hispurpose.Therearethoseinwhomtheexaminedlifewillbe sustained I havepointedtospecific,'local' echoes.That, anddeveloped.Elsewhere, forinstance,betweentheroleof thecock which,withhisdyingwords, toAsclepidosandthatofthecockwhocrowsatPeter's Socratessacrifices denialoftheLord.Hauntingly threefold ,theheadofPeterinCaravaggio's ofthetraditional SocratesinHellenistic is almosta facsimile lastpainting andRomanbusts. itis thecounterpoint ofthetwotrialsand Obviously,however, whichurgesa double-view. Itis theviolencedoneto capitalpunishments on Jesusinc. 33 A.D. which,as I Socratesin 399 B.C. andthatinflicted indicated, posita lastingmalaisein ourculture.Theyhaveirremediably We can neither thesoulofthethoughtful. deepenedandmadesorrowful escape nor abide the questionstheyput. Compelledby his divinely ofsecularlawand Socratesputsindoubtthevalidity conscience, inspired therabbioutof his business God the Sent about interest. Father, by public Nazarethchallengestheorderof immanencein theworld;his 'folly' thereis a crucial unnervesreason.Betweenthesetwo provocations, to the blackmailof connection.They expose our commonhumanity on us demandsof theideal whichwe clearly Theythrust perfection. recognizetobe so, butcannotmeet.Socrateswouldhaveus be virtuous, and death.Jesus's sober of spirit,tranquilbeforeinfirmity truthful, in a can even be them touch of commandments (there fury)arethoseof ofreadiness fortranscenofuniversal loveandcompassion, totalaltruism, as wereNietzscheor,ina sense,Freud, dence.Fewofusarestrong enough, Fewerstillcan or refutetheseradiantimperatives. to counter-question Now contrary imitado too arduous. them The proves existentially. adopt to whatthepoet says,it is nottoo muchrealitywhichmankindfinds We turnin unbearable:it is theblindinglightof exemplary perfection. on thosewhomwe areunableto emulate,whose hatredand self-hatred exigenciesleave us naked.It is preciselythispsychologicalspringof
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thatliesattherootsofanti-Semitism, ofthedetestation lavished loathing - inMosaicmonotheism, on a peoplewhichhas,threetimes inJesusand - confronted in Marx's messianiccommunism with everyday humanity ideals of sacrifice,of fraternity and abstentionbeyondits reach. A humanall-too-human, houndedSocratesand Jesusto their mediocrity, 'unfinished' deaths. Fromthisprodigality ofcross-reference, I choosethatofthetwo theSymposium inthehouseofAgathon thetragedian, andtheLast suppers, of Jesus and his in as told the of John. So faras Supper disciples Gospel I amcompetent, I wanttodrawattention, inaninevitably rudimentary way, tothegeniusofconstruction, ofpace inboththesetextsandtothatwhich spansbetweentheman arcofrecognition. II. TheSymposium is not,inanypropersense,a Platonicdialogue. Thesnatches ofmaieutic between Socrates dialogue,suchas theexchanges andAgathon, threaten tounraveltheentirefabric.Thegenretowhichthe butlittlestudied.Itis thatofthe Symposium belongsis highlydistinctive, 'banquet',conversazioneor soirée.This clustercomprisesPetronius' Satyricon,momentsin Boccaccio's Decameron,the Cenerior 'AshDinnerParty'recounted Wednesday byGiordanoBrunoanddeMaistre's SoiréesdeSaint-Pétersbourg ,a workinsomemeasuretherivalofPlato's. theseconstructs ofconvivialdiscoursehaveanalogieswith Necessarily, with scenic drama, presentation. Equally,theydrawon theperfomative meansandtraditions oforatory. Thesearetextsinwhichthought is made at once intimateand festive,in whichthemotospiritualeof Dante's Convivio,another exampleof thismode,is 'actedout'. In each of these thesetting, theframework of theallegedreportis moreover, devices, A intricate. has be to vitally space mapped. Scholarsdatethecomposition oftheSymposium as between384 and379B.C. ButAgathon' s first as a which thisbanquet victory tragedian, in occurred 416. The actual narrative celebrates, early byApollodorusto oneGlaucon,seemstobe setaround400 B.C. Thismultiple as distancing, inwovenas thatof theProtagoras,raisesintended questions.Arewe to trustApollodorus'amazingpowersof recall?He himselfadvertsto the inhismemorization. unavoidable How important gapsandincompletions
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- hasApollodorus, a passionate is ittobearinmindthefactthatthisreport recited it to others and on occasions? is previous disciple, takingplace priorto Socrates'trial?In thesecomplex prior,perhapsimmediately tothevexedissueoftheoralviathewritten Platoseemstorevert preludes, as againstthesuspectfixity ofthe word,oftheliveplayofremembrance The subtle fictioninterpenetrate. textual.Historicalfactand rhetorical intothepastrender evenmorevividSocrates'stamponthe displacements mindsof thosewho bear witness.Parallelswiththewitnessborneto Herealso,thechronology ofrecollecJesus's lifeandsayingsareevident. of the modulations from direct to 'scripof tion, setting down, testimony IntheFourth areinstrumental. ture'(thedecayintowriting), Gospel,more theproblem oftheauthorial voice- whois addressing whom, particularly, of personal how can the finalchapterbe relatedto the conventions in theprecedinggospel?- remainsin partunresolved.In an narration to our inward almostKierkegaardian vein,thesetexts,fundamental . areactsof 'indirect communication' awarenessandtoourentireculture, Bothourtextsturnon twoaxes. The firstis thatof thecutand interactions betweendayandnight(orlightanddark).Thisdualityis so oftheLastSupperinJohnthatnumerous crucialtothestructure exegetes citedanunderlying butsystematic Gnosticsymbolhave,controversially, senseofthediurnalis at onceso incisedin our ism.Ourowncustomary consciousnessand so diffuseas to makeus overlookthedialecticand ofMediterThesearesharpened dramaofthesituation. bythebrilliance of The andtheconcomitant raneandaylight abruptness nightfall. Sympoof day timeand night-time. siuminvokes thecyclicalphenomenology LiketheFourth Gospel,itischargedwiththespecific'geniusofplace' that is day-light and,no less substantive,is dark.We are made aware,in as in of divisionand of organicinterrelation, unsettling simultaneity, ofpresence ofdayandnight, Heraclitus'tranquil paradoxoftheidentity and negation.Day flowsinto.night; bytheabsenceof nightis inhabited inourtextsbyreferences totorch-light madethericher light(a chiaroscuro orlamps). Agathonhas wontheprizefortragicdramainthewhitelightof His guestshaveassembledat nightfall. thetheatre. Theyaredisposedto silence at thenight, and feastthrough against bay,revelling keepingsleep nature.Even beforehe enters,Socrateshas putin questionthesebroad
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dichotomies. He falls behind, wrapt in thought.The picture exactly prefiguresthatwhich Alcibiades will give of a Socrates who, duringa militarycampaign, stood rooted to the same spot, immersedin some intellectualproblem,an entireday and night:"he stood tilldawn came and the sun rose; then walked away, afterofferinga prayerto the Sun." A reverenttriumphover thenaturalordinanceof day and nightwhich,in its turn,exactlyforeshadowsSocrates' soberexitintomorningat theclose of theSymposium.But thereis scarcelya momentin Plato's compositionin which we are not confrontedwith the realities and ironies of contrast between the 'mentalities',the politics, the carnalities- erotic,athletic, - of daylit existence and those practised throughthe night. military Consider Alcibiades' artfulindiscretionsas to the nighthe spent with Socrates,as to theputtingoutof thelight.Again, Socrates' self-discipline, thenoon-timelucidityof his spirit,takesfromtheutterdarkitsprivileges of unreason. Eros, the topic of the Symposium,is begot in the nectarsodden dark aftera greatfeast.This is one of the two banquets evoked withinthe tale of thebanquet at Agathon's house (the otheris thatgiven byAlcibiades). The night,as Plato conjuresit,is literallypermeatedby the Dionysian forcesof sexualityand wine. Witheach orationor episode, the air grows heavier (Keats, composing his own nocturnes,divines this drowsyweightin whathe knowsof Plato). In John,love and wine will be no less central.The analogies inferredby Neo-Platonismand Romanticism, incomparablyby Hölderlin,betweenDionysus and Christ,between the bacchic grape and thatof communion,have theirwell-springin the conviviumatAgathon's table.Theypointtothechoreography(dancersare present),to themovementsofconcordand withdrawalthatrelateLogos to Eros, the 'lightof love' to thenightof thesoul. In whichrelation,sleep or therefusalof sleep, as Plato images themwithprecise nuance,play their intricaterôle. Socrates seems to need no sleep. Did Jesus? The second axis relatesto thefirstas space does to time.It is that of outside and inside. Once more,thisbinomialprincipleis so ubiquitous thatwe growinattentiveto thewealthof its implications.A door,an antechamberare,forthosecomingfromoutside,as dense withsymbolicvalues as thedead and ambiguityas is twilight.Egresscan be eitheras threatening of nightor as liberatingas dawn. The two axes intersectat numberless points.Moreover,just as thereare minutesinside hours,hoursencased in
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days, days circumscribedby weeks and thealteringlightand darkof the seasons, so thereare externalwalls, innerprecincts,rooms withinrooms whichsegmentand specifylocale. The Symposiumand thetellingofJesus' last or paschal meal dramatizethesedelimitationsand theacts of 'bordercrossing' (literaltransgression).In these two documents,the outside is, formidably,thatof the city,of Athens and Jerusalem.This 'tale of two cities' being,sincetheChurchFathers,emblematicofourwesternspiritual condition.Agathonhas won his crown in the presence of some twentythousand of his fellow-citizens,at the fulcrumof the polis. Socrates practiseshis artsof inquisition,of ironizinginnocence,in theopen places ofAthens.At theputativedateofthebanquet,Alcibiades is neartheheight of his turbulentpolitical charisma and vulnerabilityin the ideological, partisan affairsof the city. Even at theirmost fantasticand playful, Aristophanes' comedies, acted before a numerous public, are 'about Athens' in a sharply-focusedsense. Their high colours are local. Every guestand speakerduringthisnightoftable-talk where'table-talk'could be perceivedas a sub-genrein theclass ofphilosophic-literary banquetsor a of ci vie rank and soirées bringwiththem particularcontext experience. The rural-provincial provenancesofthosewho sup withJesusofNazareth provide an instructivecontrast.Agathon's house, in turn,is a composite interior.Kitchen-staff, musicians,servantscirculate,go out intothestreet in search of the missing Socrates, make guests welcome beforeleading them to the banquet-room.In this room, the arrangementof couches whichwillplay so constanta partin the aroundthetable,theseating-order, a space inside a space, an interiority mind and delineate of body, intrigue at the heartof inside. Access to this sanctumdemands, as it does in the 'upper chamber' of theLast Supper,a complex of attitudesand commitments.Via formulaicinvocation- the oratorsat the Symposiumappeal persistentlyto the gods and make libations- or via the 'real presence', meals of thisordertouchon the supernatural.Sacrifice is neverfarfrom feasting. Outside and inside are in dramaticcontact. At every moment the night,thelife of thecity,of whatJoycewill call 'nighttown', during threatensto invade,to violatethesharedprivacy(always, in some degree, conspiratorial)of the house, of the interior.In both works,thismenace materializes.At 212d, in one of themost spectacularentrancesin litera-
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ture,Alcibiadesburstsin withhisDionysianrout.Thoughhis irruption intothebanquetting-chamber is wildlysudden,hisdrunken bawlinghas intheambivalent zonebetweencity beenheardalreadyin theforecourt, Thedoor andprivatedwelling.A secondinvasionis equallymeaningful. ofAgathon'shousehasbeenopenedso thatexhausted guestsmayleave. thatdoorbursts a crowdofrevellers, tumultuous andnamelessas Through is thecitymob.Itis theywhobringthesuppertoa dishevelled close.We will see how significant are theexitsin chapters13 through17 of the similitude is thatofthetragicrôleof GospelofJohn.Butthecommanding the city.Athensand Jerusalem surroundthe sanctuary of the house. Socratesis boundtowardshis trialand Thoughan intervalinterposes, death.Theoutsideprevails.In execution. Jesusgoestoalmostimmediate drasticparadox,thenightprovidedasylum.It is thelightofdayoverthe willbe citywhichwillprovefatal.In Christ'spassion,thisverydaylight The two axes are made a cross as time western eclipsed. changesfrom beforetoafter. Two treatiseson love. On sacredand profanelove. On love transcendental andimmanent, andsexual.On divineloveand sublimated human.Onerosandphilia,onamordinaagape.Whyshouldtherebelove? Whatis itsnature?Is it theveryfontand informing agencyof lifeor a anarchicaffliction of reason,a daemonicintruder? Can the subversive, Logos,theultimate'One Truth'(PlotinusafterPlato)or theWord,that withlove? For the Wordthatis and is withGod in John,be identified renaissanceNeo-Platonists, theparallelwas unmistakable: theSymposium,passingbeyond,as itwere,itsexplicithomosexuality (andis there at a keypointintheJohannine no auraofhomoeroticism can narrative?) be readas a vangeloerotico,a 'Gospeloflove'. Itis outofthereticulation of thesetwo texts,theirmeshing,thatwill originatethe immensely and variousmysticism of divineand humanlove in western formative musicand thearts. literature, religiousfeeling,metaphysical argument, bothinthespring, in the Thesetwonights, respectively twoseminalcities in our westernidentity, of Athens,Jerusalem, generatethelineaments desire,of the dialogue betweenbody and soul, fleshand spirit,in unnumbered nightsof love to follow."On such a nightas this,"as thepartakers reclineoncouches. putsit.Andatbothsuppers, Shakespeare inPlato,theforeshadowing Theirposturebeing,emphatically oferos.But
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also ofdeath.A foreboding, as ofnightwithinnight, hangsoverthetwo convivialities. Theliterature oneverysectionoftheSymposium is voluminous. ItrevealsPhaedrus'hyperbolic andallusiveprolixity, hisromantic heroics ironicanticipations ofAlcibiades).Pausaniasis (withtheirunconsciously an analyst.His categoricaladvocacyofpaiderastiamodulatesintoan almostprofessorial defenseoferoticconsummation ofthemoral, byvirtue civic values it engenders.The briefinterlude of thepostponement of discourse is one of the marvels of tension and Aristophanes' rhythmic As in music,theannouncedresolutionis releasein thecomposition. withheld havedevoted toAristophanes' (scholars momentarily monographs is a physician. hiccups).Eryximachus BuildingonPausanias'apologia,he anatomizesthetherapeutic benefits of thehomoerotic, theexcellenceit bringsto bodyandpsyche.Each of thesespeechesprovidesa dramatic initsown(ironized)right. vignette Together theygivethreevividbeatsto Itis Aristophanes' theoverture. that knownalso virtuosity raisesmatters tothemenfromNazarethorGalilee. Plato's pastiche ofAristophanes' fabulation geniusfortragi-comic is itselfgenius.(Lackingevidence,wecanonlyguessatPlato'spowersof oftheregister andmienofhisdramatis mimicry personae.)Thecerebral so toAristophanes ispalpable:inthevision,thedevice slapstick particular of thehermaphroditic circle-creatures fastlike our acrobats, "running over with over and stuck out"; whirling legs straight orin thatofApollo and torn human Butthecruxis nothing re-lining stitching beingstogether. lessthancreation andthefall,thesetwomoments from beinginseparable ofloveinboththeHebraic-Christian thematter andGreek-Latin legacies. Reachingback intoelementswhichmaybe as ancientas theso-called of the moon),drawingon Homer, "Orphichymns"(the bi-sexuality thegreatcomediantellsofouroriginaltripartite Lucretius, anticipating nature,of thesphericalcreaturesin whomthewholenessof eros was weretheseandrogynous embodied.So proud,so overweening 'primates' thattheyconspired the The themeoforiginalsinis absolutely against gods. ofthesenseoftheworld.Itis much centraltoHebraic-Christian readings Butitis present inEmpedoclesand,obliquely, rarerintheGreekcontext. ofconflict, ofmisprision inthegrainofthings. inHeraclitus'intimations In itsrivensexuality, on divine mankindis, in consequent punishment,
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Aristophanes'expressterms,'fallen'.The speculativefarcedarkens. of love notonlya thereis in thepursuitandconsummation Henceforth Each ofus is buta symbolon, frustration. a ache,butinevitable perpetual forits onehalfofa brokentallyordie searching tornmarker, desperately thedrivefortotalfusion, theactofintercourse, truematch.Howeverardent will remain for a returnto lost oneness, unassuaged.Uncannily, theimpression ofdispersal, ofa rippingapart,by enforces Aristophanes as it to the of the Arcadians(!) bythe in were, scattering referring,passing whose manticpresence home of at Mantinea Diotima, (thevery Spartans theSymposium). Is thereno remedy? willsoondominate Onlyina piece of sorceryshadowedby death.Hephaestusmightweldus intoa single creature:"whenyoudie,youmayalso in Hades be one insteadof two, havingshareda singledeath"(eros and thanatos).As mattersstand, however,we are "forour sins"- dia ten adikian- halfselves.Be it desireandloveamongmortalmen heterosexual, sapphicorhomosexual, and theimmemorial rememand womenareinformed bytransgression ispastmaster ofthedesolation ofloss.Aristophanes brance(unconscious) whichinhabitslaughter. Alcibiades'addressisamongthemostpolysemic,myriad-minded I touchon onlyone or be itsacredorprofane. 'speech-acts'in literature, totheFourthGospel.The texture is thatof twopassages,incounterpoint confession and forensic, intimate, imagery.The thoughsimultaneously in is is a so far as it sense,private: dialectic, present, personal,even, Alcibiadesquestions,debateswithhimself.Preparedforby Diotima's of of theoutwarduglinessof Eros,Alcibiades'portrayal demonstration makesviolentincursion into Socratesas a Silenus,as Marsyasthesatyr, In whichlovehidesandtransmutes. thesecrecyoflove;intothemeanings In orperforms thisambiguity. eulogy everymove,Alcibiadesillustrates hecites1.362fromTheClouds,the ofSocrates,inAristophanes' presence, hadliterally 'sentup' themaster Aristophanes playinwhich,dangerously, ofutmost and as is that A 'counter-quote', andhisteaching. pathos irony, of the doomed Don Giovanni. fromTheMarriageofFigaroatthedinner on hispipesis farsurpassedbySocrates'playon and Marsyas'virtuosity ofthis withthemusicofthought (can Shakespearehaveknownnothing to be he had Hamlet refuse when 'playedupon'like comparison inspired a wind-instrument?).
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The fateof Socratescomestopossessthesoulsofhislisteners. will alive. That of Socrates he be thesatyris unspeakable flayed agony: tofleerapture, enchantment is alsofatal.Alcibiadestellsofhisendeavours bySocratesandhisApollonianmusicofthemind.Onlythedeathofthe "I couldwishhehad wouldfreethosewhomhehasbewitched: enchanter vanishedfromthisworld"(216c). Moreover,Alcibiadeshas perceived in one whoinspiresboundlesslove,yet inhuman thatthereis something in anyintimate neverreciprocates parity. Indeed,to whatgenusdoes Socratesbelong?We recallJesus' do you takeme to be?' searingquestionto thedisciples:'who/what inGenesis6 to reference if discard the one we Hebraicfeeling, enigmatic the'sonsofGod' visitingthe ofmen',is alientotheconceptof 'daughters ofman letalonetothatofanyhybrid andhalf-divine, half-human creatures oftheworldaboundsin TheGreekimagining andbeastas inthecentaur. Numerous A Silenus,a satyris part-human, suchmingling. part-animal. withimmortals. ofmortals bornofthecommerce heroesaresemi-divine, makeliteraltheviewof Greekmyths allegory, Longbeforephilosophic manas situatedon an unstablescale betweenthebestialand thedivine, made blaspheA representation and transcendence. betweenanimality in ofman'screation mousorimpossible postulate bytheJudaic-Christian ofSocrates tolocatethetruenature theimageofGod.Alcibiades'attempt andpersuasionwithinits awedseriousness Butitbreathes is hyperbolic. He is like no one else in the ecstaticcontext.Socratesis a singularity. No half-divine world.He demands"totalwonder"(pantosthaúmatos). such and of no as such Achilles, paragon eloquence statesmanship being a as Pericles,can be comparedtohim.Thereis an essentialstrangeness, words a Silenus,Socratesutters abouthim.Outwardly otherness defining and intheirinstruction thatarelikeuntothegods(theiotatous) (thoughts) unravel the cannot intimates Even his of virtue. finally exemplification is at home. auraoftheman.In base flesha god-likesoul autonomous thatAlcibiades'possessed Theriotofunbidden guestsconfirms irrelevant. rhetoric idiomhas madefurther OnlyAgathon, philosophic Theirs discourse. in to sustain a condition Socrates are and Aristophanes to an emblematic is thetriadoftragedy, trilogy comedyandphilosophy, theepilogueofthe haveprovided whichAlcibiades'speechandbehaviour next to each otheris an men lie which the three in The order satyr-play.
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in a minorkey.It generatestheclosingmotionof spirit. epistemology lostto us bythewineSocratesdemonstrates (a demonstration formally drenchedslumberof his twolisteners)thatthetechné,thecraftof the tragedian(Agathon)entailsa capacityto producecomediesas well truth-motivated Here,episthastaipoiein learned, signifies (Aristophanes). a allied to and of which have gender might literary composition philosophy Socratesincarnates both beenlicensedin thePlatonicpolis. In himself, hisplayfulironiesandselfHis appearance, modesof 'staging'thetruth. deprecationpertainto the realmof the comic (as Chekhovcame to hispersonaldestiny, are understand it).His demandsonthehumanspirit, withtragedy. Hisphilosophic toboth.Alcibiades instinct rangeis superior was rightwhenhe tookthecrownfromAgathonand bestowedit on Socrates.For it is he who is the victorat thedramaticgamesof the Symposium. I havealreadyadverted tothealmostundefinable trisadawhich over this festive is Dionysiannight.Paraphrase haltingintheface hangs manifold as is thatat,say,theclose of Cosifan ofa moodas poignantly tutteor the nocturnein The Marriageof Figaro. Mozartbeing,very thatmasteroftragiccomedyforeseen bySocrates(orconsider precisely, in thefinaleofShakespeare'sTwelfth thebleakmerriment Night,where Festeis both'feast'andunutterable sadness).Theseunresolved equations intheaesthetic. andeffects Plato'suses areamongthesupreme moments areofutmost Alcibiadesisjustoneyearawayfrompoliticaland mastery. On scale,his inspiredwildnessat the personalcatastrophe. an intimate thenighton whichhe is thought to havedefacedthe banquetprefigures Hermaeandhisdisastrous commandoftheSicilianexpedition. Socrates, in intactpossessionof himself, has puthis twofriends and listeners to He left alone ekeinous). is,therefore, strictly gentlesleep{katakoimisanV s banquet-chamber andawake.Agathon' is noGethsemane. Butthemotif ofa finalapartness, ofterminal solitudeis there.Andthemanwhoexits and washeshimselfclean at theLyceum,is also the intomorning-light Socratesmarkedfordeath.Love is a periloustheme. has provedto be TogetherwiththeTimaeus,theSymposium work.AbsorbedintoNeo-Platonism andAugusPlato'smostinfluential of thecarnalintothe tine,Diotima'sparableof thetransubstantiation ofdesireintoillumination, hasbeenthetouchstone forthetheory spiritual,
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and semanticsof love in the West.The commanding afterlife of the Platonictexthas alwaysknowntwomainimpulses.FromPlotinusand ProclustoMasterEckhardt andNicholasofCusa,thethrust hasbeenthat intheroot-sense, of 'mystification' ofa translatio ofDiotima'sallegory intomysticism. Theascentoftheeroticleadsthesoultowards Beatriceand in theimmediacy thefieryroseof divinelove experienced of mystical is surrender the eminent of this (Bernini motion).The other sculptor directionhas been thatof thecanonizationof physicalpassion,of its The generalimplicadefenseinthenameofbeautyandultimate vitality. Butfrom theNeo-Platonists oftheFlorentine tionshavebeenheterosexual. and Roman renaissanceto the VictorianHellenistsand beyond,the beentalismanic tohomoeroticism has,obviously, (in 1892-3, Symposium theyoungMarcelProustandhisgoldenladschooseLe Banquetas thetitle effort is thatofsynthesis, oftheart-review theywilledit).Theunderlying andre-enacting thePlatonicideal of transmutation. The of reproducing oftheseventeenth dwellon theallegoricCambridgePlatonists century valuesoftheactsofloveinthehouseofAgathon. Theseareonly symbolic oftheerosofthesoul.Shelley,Hölderlinaboveall, withhis figurations ofthepsychewhenitis withthesensuality own 'Diotima',areinebriate of this dialectic love. The ardent glow lightsMann'sDeath possessedby fewinroadson thisarchehas madesurprisingly in Venice.Materialism ofthesublimation ofthesexual, oflove.Freud'shypothesis typalrhetoric of beauty,evenintothe of thelibido,intoart,intoabstractlineaments andwarmth ofthought, is deeplyPlatonic.Whenitarguesthe pressures be itinourallegedexperiences ofthedivine,it rôleofsuchsublimation, is stillan inversePlatonism. In thisstory,thedecisivemomentis thatof MarsilioFicino's whosenowlostfirst versioninLatinmay ontheSymposium, commentary datebackto 1468-69.The festivemealsattheFlorentine Academywere convivium attheVilla modelledon thePlatonicbanquet.Ata celebrated was re-enacted. Pico dellaMirandola's Careggiin 1474,theSymposium Ficino's readingto Europeancultureas a exegesisin turntransmitted ofthesetexts. whole.Michelangelo'spoemsare,as itwere,illustrations a symbiosis between He intends areChristianizing. Ficino's hermeneutics revelation. And whenhe bidsus andJohannine Platonictranscendence reflecton analogiesbetweenSocratesand Jesusof Nazareth,is he not sayingtheobvious?
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III. - forwhom was it In respectof authorship,date and intention composed, to what purpose? the Gospel According to St. John is a minefield.Only thosequalifiedcan offerresponsibleopinions.The Greek of the FourthGospel is thoughtto disclose a significantAramaticbackground. Eminent scholars take the textto have been set down in Asia Minor,possiblyat Antioch.Current,butby no means unanimouswisdom, has it thatthiswork,as we now know it,dates frombetweenA D. 90 and 140. Some exegetes, Bultmann famously,have insisted on a shaping Gnosticism.For a long time,Johnwas seen as an Hellenic Jewor, at the least, as a witnessforHellenized Jews.More recentreadings,notablyin the wake of the Dead Sea Scrolls, find a world-view and eschatology It solidlyrootedin Old TestamentJudaismand Jewishwisdom-literature. has been argued thatAlexandria is a more likelysite of originand thatit is Philo who mostclosely parallels theJohannineteachingof theLogos. Was the authorhimselfinvolved in the events of Jesus' ministryand passion? Did he come thereafter, drawingon the SynopticGospels, on Mark more particularly,to arrive at a selective, highlypersonal and inventiveaccount? Was he, thisis the verycrux,theenigmatic'beloved disciple' who plays so hauntinga part? Chapter 21, in its sanctifying retrospection,cannot be by the same hand as the main narrative.Were successive redactionsundertaken,and if so, how many and with what stages in theelaborationof our text? Certainpointsdo seem undeniable.An ambient,diffusely'popular' Platonism is implicit,a Platonic transcendentalismabroad in the Hellenistic, Mediterraneancommunities.There are traitswhich point directlyto themoral styleof theStoics. Like everyotherthinkingperson at thetime,theauthorof theFourthGospel is aware of some elementsof Gnostic speculation and of the eschatological idiom of the so-called 'mysterycults'. The Fourth Evangelist is writingagainst traditional Judaism,whichhe identifieswithcorruptmundanityand whichhe sees as a threatto the new Christians,to theJudaeo-Christiansin a secularized, syncreticclimateoffeeling.But he is also addressinga communityin some manner directlyassociated to his teachings. It would appear that this communityexpected John's survival till Christ's second coming. A
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colourstheclose ofthebook,a book whose fabric reverentdisappointment is theological.AlreadytheearlychurchdesignatesJohnas 'thetheologian' in distinctionfromtheotherevangelists. thisis a workofphilosophicaltheology.Its One could go further: elusive tenor,itsoftenveiled splendour,as a coronaarounda darkcore,has remainedproblematic.The FourthGospel receivesonlyfitfulassentfrom whatis fundamentalist', 'literalist'or Puritanin theChristiantradition.It disturbsall who urge the essential humanityof Jesus. It would seem to invite Newman's caution thatmysticismbegins in 'mist' and ends in ' schism'. Tellingly,Bach foundhis settingofJohnatmomentsintractable. Of his Passions, thisis theonly one lacking a confidentcentre. Whateverthe insoluble problemsof the genesis of thisGospel the (even properorderof thechaptersin the narrativeof theLast Supper is much disputed),whateverthepossibilityof revisionand over-lay,the factof thevoice remains.It is a whollyunmistakablevoice, witha styleof visionradicallyitsown. We are experiencingthepresence, argumentative dare one say the pressureof immediacy,of a theological-philosophical mindand sensibilityof thefirstrank.TogetherwithPlotinus,thisis one of thegreatthinkersand 'imaginers'of thelaterclassical world.And we are dealing witha writerat home in dynamicformsofrhetoric,ofphilosophic poetry(theopeningLogos-hymnwithitssubtleplay on Semiticdevices in Old Testamentverse),of allegoryand symbolism.Indeed itis in good part out of thisFourthGospel thatthewesternliteraryheritagederivesits arts Thus chapters13 through17 of polymorphicand indirectrepresentation. a theological-metaphysical to the monument much else, remain,among of the dramatist,inevitablycomparable to the philosopher-playwright Symposium. As at Agathon's, so in the (unspecified) chamber of the Last Supper in John(the 'upperchamber' shownin Jerusalemtodayis touristfiction),seating arrangementsare of the essence. Also in Proustwe are made to observe the stormsof love and of hatredthatcan arise fromthe disputed etiquetteof precedence. The diners in the Fourth Gospel are reclining.This posture,probablyborrowedfromthe Hellenistic-Roman custom,applies to Passover. (Yet Johnaffirmsthatthisparticularmeal is takingplace on thenightbefore.)Master and disciples reclineon theleft side, leaving the rightarm and hand free for use. Thus the follower
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toJesus'rightwouldbe so placedthathisheadwouldlean immediately in front of theLord.Visually,butalsoinrespect ofproximity ,hecould just in Jesus'sbosom'.This wouldallow the indeedbe said to be 'reclining of exchangessottovoce,inaudibleto theotherdiners.Forpossibility mally,theplaceofhonourwastotheleftofthehost.Thenuanceheremay orrankon theone be cardinal:beingthatbetweenanyexternal seniority andenclosure ontheother. As commentators hand,anda peculiarintimacy havepointedout,theplacingofthebeloveddisciplein relationtoJesus totheFatherinJohn1,18: (orechoes)thatofChristinrelation prefigures "whois inthebosomoftheFather."Whatwillprovecrucialinoneofthe structures andmise-en-scène mostintricate, arethe chargedof narrative ofreciprocal factsandproblems notice,ofpossibleorabortedcommuniaroundthistable. cation,ofhearingandover-hearing Thereis scarcelya syllableinJohn13,21-30thathasnotbeenthe of studyand philologicalobject seeminglyexhaustive,disputatious This be the mostsuggestiveand cultural-theological explication. may Almosteverypassage in western'literature'. tragically consequential butwiththatuncertainty ofself-disclosure, with thingremainsuncertain, onourcontinued and demands thatpressure on intuition which imagining art.Itis analmostunavoidable arepeculiartothegreatest clichétosaythat thepulseofrevelation andconcealment thelitdarkness, hereareof the of clarityin his re(Leonardo'simperatives genusof a lateRembrandt oftheLast Supperare,in somesense,a critique).Jesushas composition the ofservitude, oflovingsacrificesymbolized interrupted sacrament by actofbetrayal. thefeetHe citeswhatis washingtohintat theimminent tothismoment: theessentialsub-text theninthverseinPsalm41: "Yea, in I mineownfamiliar whom whichdideatofmybread, friend, trusted, is itselfof hathliftedup his heel againstme." This Davidic bitterness initsreference. extreme textual andproblematic Theimplications density inJesus'smoutharemanifold. Considermerely the'naturalistic' psycholthe of feet would a ogywhereby washing bring 'heel' tomind.Crowded withmeaningis theinvocation ofone 'whoatemybread'.As everyone toJohn, noproclamation and knows,thereis intheLastSupperaccording in thecannibalistic of theEucharist.Something enactment under-and act mayhave troubledthe and founding overtonesof thisfundamental of the because he had made themso metaphysician-singer Logos just
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inchapter6. Butatthispoint,thehintoftheeucharistie bread, emphatic is all butimpossibleto offalsehoodandbetrayal byone in communion, associations betweenthesharing of overlook.Ittellsus oftheprimordial referred tobyKing betweenthesecularcodesoftrust breadandfidelity, modelledon thesecular,in thebreadof David and theultimatetrust, David's tentwas alreadythatof theLord God, and transubstantiation. Jesusis takentobe ofthehouseofDavid. theauthorofJohninterWithincomparable dramatic subtlety, weaves,as it were,mentaland materialopacities.Jesusis 'troubledin spirit'.The resonanceis vividlyhuman(etaraktheto pneúmati).The bothas tohisprecisemeaningand perplexed discipleslookatoneanother Whatbetrayal? By whom?The dramaofthesituapersonaldesignation. toexpress, and tion,whichinnumerable painters composershavestriven from the distances and its on the speaker respective seating-order hinges the inPlato'snarrative Peter,evidently construct). (we recallsimilarities usual spokesmanand questioner(morethana touchof the 'childish tohisfailure tograspthetrue intheHebrewPassoverattaches questioner' at the table toaskJesus is too far senseofthepreceding away feet-washing) voicesmakinganysuchexchange (arediverseexcited,troubled directly He signals,he 'beckons'(meaning difficult?). justwhat?)tothedisciple "whomJesusloved"{on egapa). Mentioned herefor Two wordswhich,virtually, begotlibraries. He willre-appear thefirst time,the'beloveddisciple'defiesidentification. ofJesus.He twicein close contactwithPeter,andoncewiththemother with whomhe the sons of in whereas Jerusalem Zebedee, appearssolely areclearlyGalileans.InthisFourth is oftenidentified, Gospel,thebeloved An of intended aura Peter. ranked is and mystery beyond disciple gifted him the author as Tradition hisanonymous surrounds designates person. and recollections to whose witness as the eminent of 'John', gnosis, heis a compositional perhapsinhighage,weowethisbook.ForBultmann, whose fiction,eine Idealgestalt.Possiblya figuraesoterico-misterica tenoroftheWordthatwas God. arcanewisdomexpoundstheauthentic bothinthissupper Otherexegetesconsiderhimtobe anactualparticipant ofthese inAsiaMinor.In thecontext ofthechurch andinthedevelopment of love thatmatters. enactment notes,it is thisdisciple'semblematic phileinin thesecond.Termsthatfigure 'Agape' in thefirstinstance,
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cruciallyintheSymposiumand which,intheirreticulationswitheros mark out the complex, partiallyoverlapping,mappings of love in the Greek language. The disciple whomJesusloves bothin thespiritual,'caritative' (caritas) sense proclaimed by Paul and in the more general, everyday connotationsof loving affection,of friendshipand intimacymodulating intolove. The paradox is inescapable. How can love incarnate,universal love on offerto all men,thelove thatembodies and proclaimstheFather in the person of the Son, show preference?To what degree, in what significationsof the word(s), does Jesus love thisdisciple more thanhe does theothers,or in some different register?Does he preferhim forhis youth,forhis beauty,forsome especial tendernessin his discipleship? Innumerable masters have made this possible motif graphic in their of thescene. How remoteare we fromthephilia, fromthe representations pulse-beatof eros, howeversublimated,in thebanquet-nightof Agathon of discipleship,of and Alcibiades? In thetensed,watchfulconfigurations those who gatheraround a teacher,around a charismaticmagisterand, consciously or not, aspire to his particularregard or succession- the universityseminar,the board-roommeal- jealousy is perfectlyinevitable. It is loud in Alcibiades labouringforhis elected place in Socrates' armsor immediateproximity.How nearthedramaticsurfaceis itin John 13? What nuances of potentialrivalryare inherentin Peter's need to pose the question of the alarmed,bewildereddisciples via the 'beloved one' who lies so close "to thebreastof Jesus",thathe can ask underhis breath? And is thereamong thedinersat Jesus's table one to whomthisintimacy, thisprivilegeand preferenceof love are unbearable? On any naturalisticplane, theensuringactionis intelligibleonly iftheexchange betweenJesusand his beloved disciple remainsinaudible to therest.Otherwise,whyshould Judasaccept the"morsel when I have signal of his anathema?Nor, ifJesus' dipped it" which is theidentifying replyto his disciple's "Lord, who is it?" had been overheard,could the otherfollowershave been perplexedas to themotivesforJudas's abrupt level, however,two departure.On a symbolic,psychologically-heretical other readings lie to hand. Judas could have taken the fatal offering knowingly.In orderto fulfilScriptureand thewill ofGod. So as tocompel the passion and resurrectionof his masterwho mightotherwise,at this hour, have inched fromunendurableagony, who mighthave fled into
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Galilee (as Socrates could have escaped fromhis Athenianprison)so that the'cup would pass fromhim'. Till at least thelatefifth and sixthcenturies of Christendom,Judaswas, in certainreligiouscommunities,reveredfor his self-sacrifice, forthenecessaryholinessof his deed. It was he who had triggeredthe miracle of the Cross and, thus, of salvation for sinful humanity.His suicide aroseoutofdespairinghaste.Judashad expectedthe Son of Man to descend fromtheCross and reveal himselfin cosmic glory. What he took to be Jesus's hideous, irreparabledeath had, in Judas's blindedeyes,doomed notonlytheintentof his betrayalbutcreationitself. The messianic promisehad been emptyerror.Had Judaslived tillEaster, his end would have had its penitentiallogic and compensation.But there can be a second, more secular finding.Of the twelve,it was Judas who loved the Nazarean most vehemently,albeit witha love flawed by this excess. Seeing the beloved disciple so manifestly(so scandalously?) he succumbedto murderousjealousy. We recall Alcibiades on preferred, Socrates in thearmsof another'.Judastook the "sop" in a black rage of heart.As the wornbutpenetratingtag will have it,we 'kill the thingwe love' ratherthanshare it or be spurned. But the canon ruled otherwise.In a motion whose inhumanity Christianexegesis has soughtto elide or gloss over,Jesusdips themorsel and gives itto theson of Simon Iscariot.An ominous,ifveiled echo of the dipping of the bitterherbs at a Passover meal is evident.Centrally,we witnesshere a 'counter-sacrament',an antinomianEucharistof damnation. Apologetic attemptsto define Judas as one tainted by previous episodes (his apparentlymean-mindedobjectionto thewaste of precious ointments),are feeble.Johnis explicit:itis onlywiththemorselthat"Satan enteredintohim." The verycontradictionwith6.70, in whichJesustells ofchoosingamonghis disciples "one who is a devil" discloses thetension, the unresolved awfulness in what some commentatorshave had the honestyto call "a Satanic sacrament".Of thenames of Jesus's immediate disciples, onlythatof Judasis specificallyJewish.There is anotherJudas among them,carefullymarkedout as notbeing Iscariot.And thechurch willincludea St.Judeinitscalendar.MeanwhileJudasIscariot's Jewishness is renderedinstantaneouslypalpable. He is the bursar.The Son of God instructsthe man possessed by Satan: "What you are going to do, do quickly."Is therea moreconcisely-measurelesssentenceor speech-acton
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record?Grammarians explicatethisphraseas beingeitheran inchoative 'Do present signifying whatyouareabouttodo' oras a formmeaning'do whatyouarebenton doinganddo itquickly'or 'as quicklyas possible'. 'act morequicklythanyou are at Othersprefera simplecomparative: A . terrible comes thatofa manscarcely doing' humanity through: present the tobe visitedon him,yetwishingto capableofcountenancing horrors 'be done withthem'.To mymind,theabyssof truthin thispericope be itthatofa Dostoevski.I cannotavoidthe invention, precludesliterary Thistime,theyareheard beliefthatthesefourwordswereactuallyuttered. by theentirecompany;butonlythebeloveddiscipleandJudashimself Wasthemanwiththemoney-box couldhavegraspedtheir meaning. being what is needed for the next to Passover? Or is day's dispatched purchase he beingsentto givealmsto thepoor?Eithermotivewoulddo himno The concatenation, is catastrophic. It enmeshesthe dishonour. however, If of the Jew with that of insomesense, and Judas, money. person destiny he most assuredly engenders Shylock. begetslago, intheFourthGospelcan be convoluted, The stylist evenprolix. Thereis Now he is lapidary.But of a tersenessthatis encompassing. In thePalestineofJesusa meal tradition. fromtheSynoptic 'interference' Itis Passoverwhich ofthiskindwouldhavebeentakeninlaterafternoon. can be eatenonlyat night,andJohnhas situatedtheLast Supperon the Itis,ofcourse,theblacknessthatis quintessenprevious.No matter. night tial: en dè núx.."And it was night."The nightintowhichJudasgoes ofostracism andmalediction fromwhichthe Ofa totality "immediately." thecrux(in this Jewishpeoplewerenevertoescape.Thisis theinstant, ominousterm)in whichtheJew-hatred that contextan overwhelmingly is rooted.We knownothing of festers attheabsoluteheartofChristianity in Judas to damnation. Whom the Jesus's motives electing never-ending God of Abrahamand Moses had chosenforhis followersJesusnow ofexclusion,forhumilithatis a sacrament chooses,ina counter-choice It is Judas's name,it is theimputation of venal ationand chastisement. in which are howled Christian mobs the massacres and deicide by betrayal oftheson oftheMiddleAges,inthepogroms.It is thesupposedfeatures beardwhichherald ofIscariot,hisredhair,his 'Jewish'nose,hisforked blood-libel ontheJew."Judashadthebag"(the andtraducethemillennial those it is not merely thirty piecesof silverbutthe purse).Henceforth,
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of moneyitselfwhichwill clingto theJewlike daemonicambiguities Alcibiades lurches intotheAthenian nightboundforsubsequent, leprosy. disaster.Butofa personalandpoliticalsort.Judasgoes intoa frivolous to saythathisexit never-ending nightofcollectiveguilt.It is sobertruth enactedbyNational is thedoortotheShoah.The'finalsolution'proposed, Socialismin thistwentieth centuryis theperfectly logical,axiomatic withtheJew.Howelsewaswestern conclusiontotheJudas-identification thehideousloathing whichhasneveradequately repudiated Christianity, of theJewin partsof theGospels and Acts,to deal withtheSatanic, usurioustribeoftheIscariot?Thatutterdarktreacherous, archetypally ness,thatnightwithinnight,intowhichJudasis dispatchedand commandedto perform "quickly",is alreadythatof thedeathovens.Who, whom? has precisely, betrayed of For a non-Christian reader,theinstantaneous triumphalism strikes a chillingnote. Jesus's words,"Nowis theSon ofmanglorified", is madeto concordseamlesslywithJudas's departure Thisglorification thepariahthrust hasbeendesignated, . Thescape-goat intoa hellofhistory A strange intoouterdarkness. prologuetoa discourseon love,transcendPlotinus. of Diotima and that even Agapate,egapesaagapen:theidiom ing obedienceto Jesus'address.It is lovewhichunderwrites oflovethrongs whichalonecan unitehumanbeingswiththeinfinite Jesus's teachings, thedisciplesare love and kenosisof theFather.In lovingone another, is and incarnate which Jesus the love which,inturn, directly exemplifying source forJesus' a Stoic adduce him to God. Commentators unites possible dictum,in some waysanomalousgiventhetheological-eschatological lovehas no manthanthis,thata manlaydownhislife context:"Greater of forhisfriends" (15,13).In fact,thismaximis verynearlya paraphrase in masculine the Symposium (179 b). A windof Platonicexultation between andbondingblows.Drawingdelicatediscriminations friendship of loveto commandments related the the and philein., Evangelist agapan thatthe'loving thegraceof salvation.It maybe, suggestsC. K. Barrett, one' (philos) became a "technicaltermfor'Christian'".Immediately of love,to thiseros of thesoul in to thisdefining concomitant totality is thehatred relationto theFather,to theSon and to fellow-Christians, ithavebeen can There is a world. from the irony blighting emanating forth in the in the superposition, spitting ofJudas, whollyunconscious?
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oftribaldetestation. inJesus's eloquentdiagnosisofreligiousintolerance, soon to be deconstructed As theGod of theOld Testament, by Paul, selectedIsrael"outoftheworld",so therabbifromNazarethselectsthe worldlinessshall ventits elevennow at supperwithhim.Mundanity, oflove.Theywillbe love's martyrs hatredon thecommunitas (a concept andspiritualtobe secularizedandelaborated endlesslyinthelove-lyrics It is witha two-fold ofmedievalandbaroqueliteratures). ized eroticism beatonthewordagape- "thatthelovewithwhichthouhaslovedmemay - thatJesuscloseshismany-faceted be in them" monologue(thewealth from ofwhoserhetorical anddiversity moves,from ragetoprayer, petition aretechnically Now themessianic orrevelation, tokerygma formidable). Itappliesto andmadeuniversal. promisehas beenatonceparticularized thosefewwhomJudas,thepriestofdisciplesinattendance, thehandful willharrytomartyrdom. hood,thePhariseesandtheJewsofJerusalem weheartheringing oftheecclesia Butsimultaneously, intimation in of the name ofitsrisen tocome,ofthevictorious prepotence Christianity insidea parenthesis of Jesuswillleave his dinner-companions founder. as the Father will him leave Abanabandonment, precisely anguished heensuresthathisloveshall doned'on theCross.By so doing,however, abide and be efficaciousin theirmidst.At his deathalso, Socrates abandonsandremainswithhisdisciples. doxaoflove,withitsexfoliations intothemystiTheJohannine in translation of flesh into the acts of into the love,withitsassent cal, spirit of the sexual,a motionbothJudaicand Platonicto the sublimation Not onlyin theology,but in the Gnostic,has remainedfundamental. inthetexture and It is incised ofourlanguage.The of art poetry. philosophy ofDante's Commedia, . but lovewhich'movesthestars'attheculmination in Wagner'sTristan undIsolde,areJohannine equallythatintheLiebestod andthemelting ofthesoul in auraandin substance.Via Neo-Platonism ofthe as John intoan abyssoflove verbalizedbysuchJohannine spirits a is built to the L'amour or en Donne Cross, Shelley, bridge Symposium. occident,to borrowDenis de Rougemont'sresonanttitle,is PlatonicIt is thelegacyoftwosuppers. Johannine. we haveof thesetwosuppersraisesacutelythe The narrative BoththeSympoproblemof thefinalsourcesofthepoetic-philosophic.
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siumand therelevantchaptersin theFourthGospel may (should) convey to theirreaders the experience of a pluralityof meanings, of a scenic complexity,of a dynamic interplaybetween minutedetail and overall These textsdeclare, design,inexhaustibleto paraphraseor interpretation. to put it naively,helplessly,a creativepower, a persistence'more than human'. As we live with,as we tryto live them,theSymposiumand John force on us the insoluble possibility of the actually inspired, of the revealed. The firstof thesetwo suppersconcludes in theeverydaylightof Socrates' untroubledday,on thewaterof his ablutionsand thenoon of his wisdom.The second closes on a double-blackness:thatofthesolareclipse over Golgotha and theunendingnightof Jewishsuffering. PerhapsI may be forgivenforwonderingwhetheritis only whensuppingwiththeDevil thata humanbeing- particularlyone out of thehouse of Jacob- should
carrya long spoon.
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