pursuit.........................

 

Philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom; and where better to discover the truth than at a symposion, where wine does away with inhibitions to expose truths, both pleasant and unpleasant?  "Wine reveals what is hidden," declared Eratosthenes, a Greek philosopher who lived in the third century BCE. . . . The most famous example is Plato's Symposium, in which the participants, including Plato's depiction of his mentor, Socrates, discuss the subject of love.  After an entire night's drinking, everyone has fallen asleep except Socrates, who remains apparently unaffected by the wine he has drunk, and sets off on his day's business.  Plato depicts him as the ideal drinker: He uses wine in the pursuit of truth but remains in total control of himself and suffers no ill effects.

Tom Standage:  A History of the World in 6 Glasses