Socrates’ Physiognomy: Plato and Xenophon in Comparison

This paper aims to shed new light on the physiognomy of Socrates by comparatively examining Plato's and Xenophon’s passages on the topic. A comparative analysis of these texts is of primary importance for understanding the reception of Socrates’ physiognomy in antiquity, inasmuch as subsequent literary and visual depictions of Socrates almost completely depend on them. The first part of the paper deals with the Silenus motif in Plato and Xenophon: this motif describes a peculiar feature which defines what Socrates is, i.e., his seriocomicness. But Plato and Xenophon also provide other motifs that describe what Socrates does, how he behaves, and which skills he is famous for. These motifs are zoomorphic: Xenophon compares Socrates with a crab; Plato compares him with a bull, a pelican, young female Laconian hounds, a torpedo ray, and a gadfly. This “Socratic bestiary” provides a wealth of information about Socrates’ activity as a philosopher—and even as a young talented ephebe, still far from getting acquainted to philosophy: Socrates had a charismatic gaze, which was at times menacing, at times magnetic; he was able to track down arguments even before getting acquainted with philosophy; he would benumb his interlocutor with confusing arguments; and he would stir up his fellow citizens, reproaching and persuading them not to stick to their convictions. However, Plato and Xenophon do not provide a physiognomic diagnosis in the strict sense: as the paper shows, Plato's and Xenophon's interest in Socrates’ appearance is not physiognomic, but philosophical.