Pausanias of Athens

Pausanias (/pɔːˈseɪniəs/; Greek: Παυσανίας; fl. c. 420 BC) was an ancient Athenian of the deme Kerameis, and was the lover of the poet Agathon.

Although Pausanias is given a significant speaking part in Plato's Symposium, very little is known about him. Ancient anecdotes tend to address only his relationship with Agathon and give us no information about his personal accomplishments. Around 407 he removed himself from Athens to the court of the Macedonian king, Archelaus.

Pausanias appears briefly in two other Socratic dialogues, Plato's Protagoras and Xenophon's Symposium. He is also mentioned in Book V of Athenaeus' Deipnosophistae, and in Book II of Claudius Aelianus' Varia Historia.

See also

• List of speakers in Plato's dialogues

References

• Harry Neumann, "On the Sophistry of Plato's Pausanias," Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 95, (1964), pp. 261–267.