Search advanced search
 
Books
Search:
x dismiss this message

Did you know you can edit this page?

Symposium
  • Rated 0 stars
Read Symposium

Symposium (edit title/settings)

by Plato (Author) (edit contributors)

Share this book on:
see page history

Description edit see section history

In his celebrated masterpiece, Symposium, Plato imagines a high-society dinner-party in Athens in 416 BC. The guests--including the comic poet Aristophanes and Plato's mentor Socrates--each deliver a short speech in praise of love. The sequence of dazzling speeches culminates in Socrates'... read more

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Summary edit see section history

Apollodorus relates to an unnamed companion a story he learned from Aristodemus about a symposium, or dinner-party, given in honor of the tragedian Agathon. Socrates arrives at the party late, as he was lost in thought on the neighboring porch. After they have finished eating, Eryximachus... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Apollodorus relates to an unnamed companion a story he learned from Aristodemus about a symposium, or dinner-party, given in honor of the tragedian Agathon. Socrates arrives at the party late, as he was lost in thought on the neighboring porch. After they have finished eating, Eryximachus picks up on a suggestion of Phaedrus', that each person should in turn make a speech in praise of the god of Love.
Phaedrus begins by saying that Love is one of the oldest of the gods, and the one that does the most to promote virtue in people. Pausanias follows Phaedrus, drawing a distinction between Common Love, which involves simple and mindless desire, and Heavenly Love, which always takes place between a man and a boy. In the case of Heavenly Love, the boy, or loved one, sexually gratifies the man, or lover, in exchange for education in wisdom and virtue. After Pausanias, Eryximachus, the doctor, speaks, suggesting that good Love promotes moderation and orderliness. Love does not restrict itself to human interaction, but can be found in music, medicine, and much else besides.
The next to speak is the comic poet Aristophanes. Aristophanes draws an engaging myth that suggests that we were once all twice the people we are now, but that our threat to the gods prompted Zeus to cut us in half. Ever since, we have wandered the earth looking for our other half in order to rejoin with it and become whole. Agathon follows up Aristophanes, and gives a rhetorically elaborate speech that identifies Love as young, beautiful, sensitive, and wise. He also sees Love as responsible for implanting all the virtues in us. Socrates questions Agathon's speech, suggesting that Agathon has spoken about the object of Love, rather than Love itself.
In order to correct him, Socrates relates what he was once told by a wise woman named Diotima. According to Diotima, Love is not a god at all, but is rather a spirit that mediates between people and the objects of their desire. Love is neither wise nor beautiful, but is rather the desire for wisdom and beauty. Love expresses itself through pregnancy and reproduction, either through the bodily kind of sexual Love or through the sharing and reproduction of ideas. The greatest knowledge of all, she confides, is knowledge of the Form of Beauty, which we must strive to attain.
At the end of Socrates' speech, Alcibiades bursts in, falling-down drunk, and delivers a eulogy to Socrates himself. In spite of Alcibiades' best efforts, he has never managed to seduce Socrates as Socrates has no interest at all in physical pleasure.
Soon the party descends into chaos and drinking and Aristodemus falls asleep. He awakes the next morning to find Socrates still conversing. When everyone else has finally fallen asleep, Socrates gets up and goes about his daily business as always.

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Apollodorus: The second-level narrator of the Symposium, and the first character we encounter in the dialogue. Apollodorus heard the story of the symposium from Aristodemus and recounts it once more to an unnamed companion.
  • Phaedrus: The main interlocutor of the Platonic dialogue that bears his name, Phaedrus is a handsome young man and an admirer of Socrates. He suggests that all the guests should make speeches in praise of Love.
  • Pausanias: The life-long lover of Agathon, Pausanias is another guest at the Symposium.
  • Eryximachus: A doctor and a guest at the symposium. He is presented throughout as rather pompous, confident in his medical skills, and insistent on maintaining order.
  • Aristophanes: The greatest comic poet of ancient times, Aristophanes (445 - 385 B.C.) exercised a tremendous influence on the course of comedy in the Western tradition. Many of his plays survive, and in one, The Clouds, he presents a satirical attack on Socrates. Nonetheless, the two are presented as friends in the Symposium, despite what effect this attack might have had on Socrates' eventual execution. In the Apology, Socrates suggests that Aristophanes' caricature may have had a detrimental effect on his reputation.
  • Love: The theme of theSymposium
  • Agathon: Probably the most significant Greek tragedian after Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, Agathon is presented here as celebrating after his first victory in the dramatic festival. Agathon is presented as young, beautiful, and very clever with words. He is the passive partner in a life-long relationship with Pausanias. None of Agathon's plays survive today.
  • Socrates: The protagonist of the Symposium, as with most of Plato's dialogues. Socrates is one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy, standing at the origin of the rational tradition initiated by himself, Plato, and Aristotle. Socrates himself arguably never advances any doctrines of his own. Further, in Plato's middle and later dialogues, the figure of Socrates no longer represents the man himself. Instead, the figure of Socrates is used as a mouthpiece by which Plato advances his own views. Plato presents his mentor in the Symposium as a simple and hardy man, a bit of a flirt, though immune to sexual advances and alcohol alike.
  • Aristodemus: Another guest at the symposium, a great admirer of Socrates, and the first- level narrator of the events.
  • Diotima: A female seer who plays an important role in Plato's Symposium. Her ideas are the origin of the concept of Platonic love
  • Alcibiades: A familiar figure to any reader of Thucydides, Alcibiades (c. 450 - 404 B.C.) was a charismatic politician who played a prominent role in the Pelopennesian War. He was responsible for a disastrous attack on Sicily and even turned on Athens and sided with Sparta for a time. He was a friend of Socrates', and his dishonor was one of the factors responsible for Socrates' trial and execution. In the Symposium, he appears as a merry drunk who has a strong attraction to Socrates.
Show all 11 characters
Popular Covers

Loading covers…

Choose your book’s cover

Quotes edit see section history

  • “For I have been bitten by a more than viper's tooth; I have known in my soul, or in my heart, or in some other part, that worst of pangs, more violent in ingenuous youth than any serpent's tooth, the pang of philosophy, which will make a man say or do anything.”
    Alcibiades
  • “Then he and every one who desires, desires that which he has not already, and which is future and not present, and which he has not, and is not, and of which he is in want...”
    Socrates
  • “Because to the mortal creature, generation is a sort of eternity and immortality, and if, as has been already admitted, love is of the everlasting possession of the good, all men will necessarily desire immortality together with good: Wherefore love is of immortality.”
    Diotima

Setting & Locations edit see section history

Athens

First Sentence edit see section history

Apollodorus. In my opinion, I am not unprepared for what you ask about; for just the other day-when I was on my way up to town from my home in Phaleron-one of my acquaintances spotted me a long way off from behind and called, playing with his call: "Phalerian," he said.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 23 of 100 in Penguin Great Ideas. (publisher series)
This is book 4 of 73 in Robert B. Downs - Books that Changed the World. (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Plato (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. Tom Griffith (Translator)
  2. Hayden Pelliccia (Translator)
  3. Benjamin Jowett (Translator)
  4. Jamey Hecht (Translator)
  5. R. L. Hunter (Translator)
  6. Alan Bloom (Translator)
  7. Paul Woodruff (Translator)
  8. Robin Waterfield (Translator)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: Greek
Publisher: Add the publisher.
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: Add the publication date.
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 114

Classification edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • The Confessions of St. Augustine
  • The Oedipus Cycle
  • The Last Days of Socrates

We’re hiding the errata, movie connections, books that influenced this book, books influenced by this book, books that cite this book and books cited by this book sections. If you would like to add content to them, you must first make them visible.

Shannon Flynn

You were just viewing this book on Shannon Flynn’s shelf.

 

© 2006-2013 Shelfari | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy

Close