When they lie side by side
SocratesWhen the lover is near, his pain ceases as the lover’s does; when he is away, they long for each other. The youth carries an image of love, love returned, but calls it friendship and thinks that is what it is. He wants, as the lover does though less strongly, to see, touch, kiss and lie beside him; soon, as one would expect, he does so. As they lie together, the lover’s unruly horse reminds the charioteer of all its labours and demands a little pleasure in return. The beloved’s horse has no words for what it wants, but, swelling with feeling and bewildered, it embraces and kisses the lover as a dearest friend. When they lie together, it is ready, for its part, to gratify the lover if asked. The other horse and the charioteer resist, held back by shame and reason.