Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

read book* *Different edition

Symposium

by Plato, Robin A.H. Waterfield (Translator)

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 · rating details · 12,422 ratings · 373 reviews

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' famous account of the views of Diotima, a prophetess who taught him that love is our...more

Paperback, 160 pages

Published July 9th 1998 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published -380)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jun 16, 2012 Richard rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rating: 2* of five, all for Aristophanes's way trippy remix of the Book of Genesis

While perusing a review of Death in Venice (dreadful tale, yet another fag-must-die-rather-than-love piece of normative propaganda) written by my good friend Stephen, he expressed a desire to read The Symposium before he eventually re-reads this ~~crapulous homophobic maundering~~ deathless work of art. As I have read The Symposium with less than stellar results, I warned him off. Well, see below for what happened next...more

53 likes · like · see review

Feb 02, 2012 Venus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy

عشق است که روح بیگانگی را از ما می گیرد و از روح دوستی و مهر سرشارمان می سازد. اوست که موجب آمیزش و حشر و نشر می شود. اوست که ناظر جشن ها و رقص ها و نذرهاست. اوست که خوشخویی می بخشد و ترشرویی را می زداید. موهبتش موهبت نیک خواهی است نه کین خواهی و بدخواهی. او را رامش و نرمخویی است، مهر عظیم است. خردمندان را به تامل و خدایان را به شگفتی وا می دارد. آن که از او محروم است می طلبدش، و ان که از نعمت درک او برخوردار است چون گنجی عزیزش می دارد...!

5 likes · like · see review

Jul 04, 2009 James rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, classics, u-of-chicago, study-group, read-and-reread, favorites

The nature of eros is discussed in this famous dialogue by Plato. Symposium literally means "drinking party" in ancient Greek and this was one well-attended party with the likes of Alcibiades, Aristophanes, Agathon, Pausanias, Eryximachus and Socrates. A variety of views are put forward by the participants during the witty dialog that befits a drinking party. Some believe that eros is a somewhat shadowy thing, neither beautiful nor ugly, good nor bad. The most famous view is Aristophanes myth of...more

7 likes · like · see review

Mar 19, 2013 Sam Quixote rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm not a philosophy or ancient history student, I picked up Plato's "Symposium" to challenge myself and see if I could understand it. The "Symposium" is a gathering of Greek thinkers who sit around and give speeches about love.

Phaedrus talks about the greatness of love and how those who have it achieve great things. Pausanias talks of the merits of boy/man love where the boy pleasures the man while the man passes on his wisdom to the boy and that this is the best kind of love, not the lesser l...more

7 likes · like · see review

Aug 19, 2011 NoLabels rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Non avendo avuto la fortuna di studiare filosofia alle superiori, nè di essermi interessata ad essa dopo, ignara totalmente del greco, mi son trovata davanti la sfida a leggere questo testo. Possedevo già 2 volumi con l'opera completa di Platone. Ovviamente mai letto nulla perchè, come al solito, compro per il piacere di comprare libri e spero un giorno di avere tempo di leggerli tutti.
Il testo che ho letto, però, mi è stato donato da una persona che riteneva avessi bisogno di lezioni d'amore. I...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 18, 2008 Scott Crall rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy

Plato recounts a dinner party where all the guests drink wine until more-or-less drunk, and then proceed to participate in a "dinner-game" contest where each man present is required to give a speech in praise of love. The different speeches in praise of Eros belie Plato's philosophical agenda: to categorize love in its varied conceptions and manifestations, and to determine the form of love that is the most beautiful, noble, and worthy of pursuit. I was most moved by the recounting of the speach...more

7 likes · like · see review

Aug 02, 2011 Jody Mena added it · review of another edition

The Symposium was like a very filling snack - small, but potent. The Socratic method is always a treat when put into play, and I was fascinated by the way stories went into fourth- and fifth-hand accounts, rather a direct presentation - it added another dimension to the tale. I think anyone looking to read, and more, to understand the Symposium would need to know a little something about the history and society it's set in, as the topics the party-goers discuss, such as pederasty or the baseness...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 11, 2013 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am just beginning to read Plato so I believe my current thoughts will sound novice to those more familiar with him. The beginning pieces I've read are his accounts of the dialogues of Socrates, so one is becoming familiar more with Socrates - or the idea of Socrates - through works like these, and perhaps less with Plato. The rhetoric takes some getting used to, but there is a noticeable difference in style between Socrates and others who speak in The Symposium. Unlike others of the Socratic d...more I am just beginning to read Plato so I believe my current thoughts will sound novice to those more familiar with him. The beginning pieces I've read are his accounts of the dialogues of Socrates, so one is becoming familiar more with Socrates - or the idea of Socrates - through works like these, and perhaps less with Plato. The rhetoric takes some getting used to, but there is a noticeable difference in style between Socrates and others who speak in The Symposium. Unlike others of the Socratic dialogues which are focused on the speaking of Socrates alone, in this work there are speeches made by five men at a dinner party.

Socrates places importance on both participants in a discussion agreeing on each incremental piece of an idea being discussed. So as each major statement is made or new turn is made in the progression of the idea, Socrates checks in with the other person to elicit their simple affirmation or negation. The style of the Greek discourses appear to me though to place importance on allowing a speaker to have their full freedom to make their speech without fear of someone else barging in and beginning their own discussion. I believe in the public oratories of the political settings the speeches were timed with a water clock, and during that allotted segment the speaker could have freedom to develop and fully communicate their thoughts. Therefore this pattern of conversation is not only polite but gives the speak a feeling of protection and that their audience to give their undivided attention for their share of time. So though Socrates returns to the other party in the conversation to engage them in the idea, by no means do they ever see it as a place to begin their own long paragraphs of thought; the listener respects the train of thought of the speaker and humors their attempt to involve another person in the "thinking out loud" process. Socrates pattern - contrasted to the more typical long and unbroken discourses of his contemporaries - engages the audience and more thoroughly involves them in the development of an idea, making it feel as if they too were responsible for its development. In a sense, it shortcuts the personal contemplation process by seeming to directly transfer a developed idea from one to another.

One man is giving the account of this dinner party and describes the discussions and events as he remembered them. Many of the men there - including himself - drank too much wine the night before so were content to make the dinner and discussion more sober than normal. Socrates was distracted on his way to the dinner party and sat on the portico of the neighboring house lost in thought until the dinner was nearly finished. When he finally came in, one of the participants sensed it must have been profound thinking and hoped he would share his thoughts. Instead they decided each in turn make and dedicate a speech to one specific topic: love.

Each man tries to share a focused idea on an aspect of love. The first of the men gives general praise of love, citing its supremacy because as a deity it was created before the gods and titans came into being and unbegotten by a father (In Theogony, Hesiod describes the Greek pantheon of deities and that after initial Chaos the primal mother Gaea emerged and then Eros). The second defines two different types of love based on the two popular Greek myths on the birth of Aphrodite: in the one she was the offspring of Zeus and the goddess Dione, in the other she was born before the Olympic deities when Kronos castrated his father and freed he and his siblings from Gaea's womb and a purely male product. The third man gives a doctor's perspective relating to the humors but aims specifically at the balancing of opposites and discusses music as a lesson in balancing of harmony and rhythm. Another man gives a speech on the relation of temperance to love, and another man comes in at the end quite drunk and after being prodded to also make a speech, talks about the love and admiration he has for Socrates and of the nobility he observed of him in battle.

Perhaps the most famous speech given is by Aristophanes (a Greek comedic playwright) who gives his thoughts on love in the form of a myth. In his story, human beings were originally two people joined as a sort of Siamese twin. These twin-in-one beings were either both male, both female, or a male-female combination (androgynous). When these primal human beings opposed the gods they were split by Zeus as punishment and Apollo helped seal up their bodies and finish the crude surgery (tying it off into the belly button). The all male splits prefer the love of other men, the all female splits the love of other women, and the androgynous splits the love of the opposite gender. He describes mankind as wandering in a miserable daze longing for the other half of our original selves and once found there is a sense of utter completion and happiness.

Socrates starts his discussion by engaging one of the other participants in a discussion but after some confusion occurs he resorts to finishing his speech by recounting a conversation he had with a woman that better illustrates his point. He is trying to figure out if love desires what it doesn't have, and because these Greek philosophers place such strong emphasis on the relation between beauty and love, he hits a wall with his listener when he compares beauty to love. If love desires what it has not and if love is beauty, then does beauty desire was is doesn't have? At this tiny paradox he instead discusses love as desiring the continuation or complete possession of what it has already, but then moves on into better defining the profile of Eros by way of his own myth. He describes Eros as being begotten at a party celebrating the birth of Aphrodite and was the offspring of the gods Poverty and Plenty. This serves to illustrate his point that as their offspring love contains qualities of both of them: love has the desiring, needing, and wishing-for of the god Poverty, yet love also is full of enriching qualities of the god Plenty. Love is a balancing and cycling back and forth between having and having not and because was conceived around a celebration of Aphrodite is uniquely focused on qualities of hers, such as beauty.

It is an interesting series of discussions. They mix myth, philosophical rhetoric, religion and their own scientific understanding into a colorful display of thoughts that give the reader a better idea of the wisdom of that time in history.(less)

like · see review

Apr 04, 2013 Azar Hoseininejad rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

ما وجود یک موجود زنده ای را از کودکی تا پیری همیشه به یک نام می خوانیم و آن ها را همانند یکدیگر می شماریم.
در حالی که او هرگز همان نیست که پیش از آن بوده است. بلکه مدام در حال تغییر و دگرسانی است. یعنی مو گوشت و استخوان و خون و خلاصه همه ی اعضای بدنش دائماً در حال تغییر و دگرگونی است و این تغییر و دگرسانی، نه تنها در بدن، بلکه در روان ما نیز جاری و ساری است.
یعنی در بدن ما مدام کار فرسودگی و رویش دوباره ادامه دارد و همچنین در جان و روان ما.
در همه ی وجود ما حتی اخلاق و آرزوها و پندارها و شادی ها و...more

like · see review

Mar 21, 2013 Brendan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Symposium is one of Plato's best, most readable dialogues. It is set during a "symposium" (or drinking party) after the completion of the Greek theater festival (when all of the new tragedies and comedies have just been shown). Each of the characters gives a speech about the nature of love (or, more broadly, about the sorts of "desire" that gives life meaning), and each comes at it from a very different point of view--from Phaedrus's simple "love is god" speech at the beginning to to Pausani...more The Symposium is one of Plato's best, most readable dialogues. It is set during a "symposium" (or drinking party) after the completion of the Greek theater festival (when all of the new tragedies and comedies have just been shown). Each of the characters gives a speech about the nature of love (or, more broadly, about the sorts of "desire" that gives life meaning), and each comes at it from a very different point of view--from Phaedrus's simple "love is god" speech at the beginning to to Pausanias's idea that love involves a harmonious union of opposites to Aristophanes's famous story about lovers being two "parts" of the same "whole."

I tend to think that Socrates'/Diotima's speech is often misread as claiming that "sexual desire is fundamentally bad/corrupt", perhaps partially because later Christian and Islamic interpreters had their own axes to grind. I think a better way of reading is as saying something like "sexual desire all by itself can't serve as the foundation for a happy/meaningful life; for that, one needs to be concerned about the things that really matter." This also gives some context to Alcibades's drunken praise of Socrates at the end--one main concern of the dialogue is how the right sorts of relationships can (hopefully) help orient people in the correct manner.

The dialogue's treatment of love is very different from one what finds in later religious and philosophical writings on love:
1) The characters present various (contradictory) religious myths in their speeches, and they do so in a way that reinforces the fundamentally metaphorical nature of these stories.
2) The dialogue suggests a sort of pluralism with respect to what counts as "the good life"-Aristophanes thinks there are at least three types of people in the world (women attracted to women, men to men, and women to women), and Socrates/Diotima expand on this to include non-sexual desires, such as the production of art or the pursuit of knowledge.
3) It's one of the few pre-modern writings where a female (Diotima) does philosophy! (Of course, Plato is probably putting words in her mouth, but he does this with everyone, and her inclusion suggests that she was a figure in the intellectual life of the time).(less)

like · see review

Jan 30, 2013 Daphne Reed rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Those who have interest in the intersectionality of lit and philosophy

Recommended to Daphne by: Literature and Philosophy Class

Shelves: readings-for-school

Obviously thought-provoking -- coming from a feminist perspective, I especially enjoy the speeches of Socrates and Diotima. Especially worthwhile read -- this translation is quite lucid, and reading the notes I gained respect for the translators which seem to have conquered the task of Plato's dialogues with finesse and intuition. It is a particularly striking read for the speeches presented by the individuals irony and humor artfully and somewhat subtextually, mingles with the more serious or e...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 26, 2012 Angel Vanstark rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am outraged after reading this. First, the approach that was taken (multiple layers of theory of mind) opposed the main topic, love. How the fuck do you expect to talk about love if you don't even have the balls to honor it enough at a close degree. Why the hell am I, as the reader, supposed to believe what comes from the grapevine; Plato and his crew were sketchy mother fuckers. The second and third issue I had with this piece of literature are more pertinent to culture and how the academic w...more I am outraged after reading this. First, the approach that was taken (multiple layers of theory of mind) opposed the main topic, love. How the fuck do you expect to talk about love if you don't even have the balls to honor it enough at a close degree. Why the hell am I, as the reader, supposed to believe what comes from the grapevine; Plato and his crew were sketchy mother fuckers. The second and third issue I had with this piece of literature are more pertinent to culture and how the academic world ran with this. Love was conversed about while everyone was DRUNK; other than lowered inhibitions, drunk people don't really come up with the most coherent ideas. Yes, some of the definitions and concepts presented are very applicable into a larger context, but academics forget that this was a prototype conversation about love. How can so many people blindly follow this shit religiously? Are you really that emotionally unaware? Yes, the conversations were somewhat elegant, but why the fuck do you take it for fact and allow this to influence so much of our cultural systems now? I don't understand why people have taken this as one of the last needed steps towards making sense of love. It's ludicrous! People should begin to realize that this is a very small starting point. There should be an expansion in the terms of affection to aid humanity in being able to describe the level of their emotional attachment. By accepting the Symposium as a done deal, you have limited your emotional understanding of the very complex realms of your self. In English there are very few words to describe the level of affection one has towards another (like, admire, yearn, lust, and love); it's no wonder people in our following generations have so much fucking trouble understanding why breakups hurt so fucking god damn always. People do not understand the depth or the magnitude of their emotions, and it is evident in the limited language that we have to be able to admit it. I have even found myself using stupid made up shit like, "I like like you." What the fuck is that? If you expand the language, you will more likely be able to help people understand their emotions, and therefore help them manage their emotions. Furthermore, isn't it convenient that, like in the use of the bible, people pick and chose the parts of the symposium that they want to talk about. The text was about half-naked, drunk men getting together to talk about love; that's pretty gay if you ask me (I'm using gay with the proper definition of a man who has emotional, physical, and spiritual attraction to the same sex). Then they go on to talk about gay relationships (I won't tell between who for those of you who haven't read this), and they even talk about a story in which that was an accepted norm. It's ridiculous that people use this text to bestow their wishful desires onto themselves, and yet they ignore an entire part of the community just because of cultural context. Why aren't the fucking academics advocating for gay marriage with this literature? Why is society favoring a couple of lines in the bible that are fallaciously revamped out of historical context in order to oppress people of non-heterosexual identity. I write this review in hopes that others begin to reflect on what the fuck they pick and choose; people deserve to know MORE about love. The Symposium was a cute start; now, let's get the party going a bit more. I think its long over due. (less)

3 likes · like · see review

Oct 10, 2012 Matthew Gallaway rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Symposium itself is a short series of after-dinner speeches (as written by Plato) on the topic of Eros, given by a group of ancient Greeks, including (most memorably) Socrates and Aristophanes. You probably knew that already! I recommend this edition for Allan Bloom's long, thought-provoking essay, which offers much insight into the complexities and flaws of the speeches; Aristophanes is the most romantic -- he describes the myth in which humans are filled with longing because we are always...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 22, 2012 Claudia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It is well known how ancient Greeks captured the inner dynamics and struggles of spirit with ever known poetry and analytical depth, anticipating what some thousands of years later would have become the pillars of psychoanalytic theories. Among the many dialogues I’ve read, I think Plato’s Symposium represents the peak of this poetic and, at the same time, deeply investigative thinking. Its reading is an inexhaustible source of reflection. You can read it wearing the lenses of (his) philosophy,...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 01, 2011 Sophia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was required to read this for ENG150Y1Y, The Literary Tradition. That's right: a philosophical text in an English setting. I don't know why, either, since lectures haven't started yet.

So, the Symposium, the apparent start of the concept of 'Platonic love', even though it's never referred to, though I guess it's implied. The story's framed by a guy answering a question (again, apparently) and so telling the story of the time Socrates went to a party, didn't drink at all, and got everyone to mak...more I was required to read this for ENG150Y1Y, The Literary Tradition. That's right: a philosophical text in an English setting. I don't know why, either, since lectures haven't started yet.

So, the Symposium, the apparent start of the concept of 'Platonic love', even though it's never referred to, though I guess it's implied. The story's framed by a guy answering a question (again, apparently) and so telling the story of the time Socrates went to a party, didn't drink at all, and got everyone to make speeches about love.

That's really the point here. Everyone seems to approach Love in a different way; however, my professor wanted us to focus specifically on Aristophanes, Agathon, Socrates and Alcibiades.

I mean, I get it. I can't really remember the first two speeches already, and the book's introduction says to read the book in a single sitting. It's a scant 72 pages, so that's maybe an hour or two, but retaining seven points of view becomes difficult. Maybe I'm just really forgetful.

Anyway, what's interesting about the Symposium? Well, it actually makes you take a step back and consider the phenomenon of love itself, and if it were a god, it'd be the most powerful. The different takes and explanations of love are all actually wonderful, and in particular, Aristophanes' explanation seems the most romanticised - he takes a mythological story (I think he made it up on the spot) to show that we're literally halved figures looking for wholes. Our essences aren't whole, so we search for a reunion.

Other explanations are interesting, but for some reason that spoke to me the most clearly. Socrates quotes a woman (this actually bothers me, if you'll allow this aside; it's spoken before, whether implied or not, that a relationship with a man is best because of their mental capabilities, as women are inherently irrational - if that's so, why does Socrates' female guide have any credibility?) who shows that love, if it were a god, would not be attractive, good, hideous, or bad. In fact, love is the child of poverty and plenty, a spirit inbetween mortals and gods.

In any case, it's a free read, if you like e-books, and the Oxford World Classics version we were specifically told to get is pretty beautiful. Maybe I just love that font-face.

Probably one of the easier dialogues to digest, consider, what have you.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Sep 23, 2010 Karky rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are many things that are admirable about this work that Plato may not have meant to touch upon, but then again maybe he did. Like the fact that it contains the ONLY passage from Classical Athens that recognizes the existence of homosexuality amongst females. There's more than one view in here that defies convention, and I can appreciate such diversity.

Anyway, most of the first half is just Plato setting things up for Socrates' turn in which he dissects his fellows' eulogies, so there's a g...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 08, 2010 Layla rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, worth-multiple-readings

My most vivid impression from this book is Aristophanes' creation myth concerning humanity.

synopsis from Wiki;

"His speech is an explanation of why people in love say they feel "whole" when they have found their love partner. It is, he says, because in primal times people had doubled bodies, with faces and limbs turned away from one another. As somewhat spherical creatures who wheeled around like clowns doing cartwheels (190a), these original people were very powerful. There were three sexes: t...more

like · see review

Jun 03, 2010 Rowland Bismark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The prominent place the Symposium holds in our canon comes as much as a result of its literary merit as its philosophical merit. While other works among Plato's middle-period dialogues, such as the Republic and thePhaedo, contain more philosophical meat, more closely examining the Theory of Forms and intensely cross-examining interlocutors, none can match the dramatic force of the Symposium. It is lively and entertaining, with sharp and witty characterization that gives us valuable insight into...more The prominent place the Symposium holds in our canon comes as much as a result of its literary merit as its philosophical merit. While other works among Plato's middle-period dialogues, such as the Republic and thePhaedo, contain more philosophical meat, more closely examining the Theory of Forms and intensely cross-examining interlocutors, none can match the dramatic force of the Symposium. It is lively and entertaining, with sharp and witty characterization that gives us valuable insight into the social life of Athenian intellectual circles.

From a philosophical standpoint, the Symposium is also far from bankrupt. Not only does it give us some insight into the Theory of Forms in Diotima's discussion of the Form of Beauty, but it also gives us a number of varying perspectives on love. Significantly, we see Plato rejecting the romanticization of sexual love, valuing above all an asexual and all-consuming passion for wisdom and beauty. Ultimately, he concludes, the philosopher's search for wisdom is the most valuable of all pursuits. In theSymposium, Plato values philosophy, as exemplified by Socrates, over a number of other arts which are given as points of comparison: medicine, as exemplified by Eryximachus, comedy as exemplified by Aristophanes, and tragedy as exemplified by Agathon.

The series of speeches in praise of Love are not simply meant as beating around the bush that leads up to the main event. They mirror Diotima's discussion of the mysteries, where she suggests that one can approach the truth only through a slow and careful ascent. Similarly, we can see each speech, with a few exceptions, as coming closer and closer to the truth. This suggestion is reinforced by the fact that Socrates alludes to all the foregoing speeches in his own speech, as if to suggest that his words could not be spoken until everyone else had said their piece. This staggered approach to truth is also reflected in the framing of the narrative, whereby we are only able to gain access to this story through a series of narrative filters.

We should note that Socrates is the exemplar of the lover of wisdom and the lover of beauty, but is neither wise nor beautiful himself. In this way, he best represents Love, which Diotima describes as a mediating spirit that moves between gods and men. Love himself never has anything, but is always desirous of happiness, beauty, and wisdom. The same is true with Socrates. Those who follow his lead will not necessarily attain wisdom, but will find fulfillment in a life-long pursuit of wisdom. The state of having attained wisdom is represented by Diotima, not Socrates, and she speaks through Socrates as a god-like and unapproachable figure.

There is also some discussion as to exactly what is being discussed in theSymposium. The Greek word eros leaves the matter ambiguous as to whether we are discussing love in the normal, human, sense of the word, or if we are discussing desire in a much broader sense. The later speeches in particular tend toward this broader interpretation. Diotima gives what is perhaps a satisfactory answer by suggesting that, while all kinds of desire might be considered love, we normally restrict use of that term to one particular kind of desire, the desire that exists between two human beings.

Philosophy aside, however, the Symposium still makes a terrific read. Aristophanes' myth is delightful, Alcibiades' drunken antics are entertaining, and the whole narrative shimmers with life. We also get a very clear sense of the dynamics of sexual attraction and courtship--both male-male and male-female--in ancient Athens, and we are given a beautiful portrait of one of the high-points of the Athenian scene: the symposium.(less)

like · see review

Jan 25, 2010 Dusty rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Dusty by: Elizabeth Richmond-Garza

Shelves: graduate-school, read-in-2010

A curious coincidence: It's 2010, and the debate over Proposition 8, which disallows state recognition of same-sex unions, has invited court testimony on the "nature" of homosexuals -- as politically unimportant, as sexually deviant, as likely sexual predators. That's in California. Here in Texas, for my graduate course on critical theory, we've just read Plato's "Symposium", which Edith Hamilton (the translator of my edition) says is one of the man's two best dialogues. Its chief topic is love...more A curious coincidence: It's 2010, and the debate over Proposition 8, which disallows state recognition of same-sex unions, has invited court testimony on the "nature" of homosexuals -- as politically unimportant, as sexually deviant, as likely sexual predators. That's in California. Here in Texas, for my graduate course on critical theory, we've just read Plato's "Symposium", which Edith Hamilton (the translator of my edition) says is one of the man's two best dialogues. Its chief topic is love -- love in general, but mostly love between men. And Prop 8 supporters act like same-sex partnering is a 21st-century phenomenon!

About the book itself: it's far and away my favorite of Plato's work -- not that I've read it all or am in any way an expert on the man. But for ancient Greek rhetoric, it is a remarkable piece of entertainment. I suppose it helps that it's set at a dinner party with various prominent Athenian figures drinking heavily and making speeches and jokes they probably shouldn't. The most memorable of these is Aristophanes's account of love as a person's search for his/her "other half", long since separated from him/her by the envious and fearing gods; if you've seen Hedwig and the Angry Inch, yeah, this is the inspiration.

Socrates's views on love are memorable, too, but in his speech I couldn't help but concentrate instead upon Plato's evident but under-appreciated mastery of the art of storytelling. In this scene, I count six frames: (1) Diotima teaches Socrates the art of love; (2) Socrates relays this lesson to his table-mates; (3) Aristodemus, present at the gathering, summarizes the events to Appollodorus; (4) Appollodorus puts the whole affair in his own words; (5) Plato shares those words with us; and (6) Edith Hamilton has translated Plato so I can read him in English. The fact that all this makes sense, in the story, without these frames interfering, is ... a marvel. Nicely done, Plato and Edith.

Back to the book's frank homosexuality. On one hand, I laud it and lament the absence of Platonic quotes in the same-sex union debate. There are so many killers: "Men who are slices of the male are followers of the male, and show their masculinity throughout their boyhood by the way they make friends with men, and the delight they take in lying beside them and being taken in their arms. And these are the most hopeful of the nation's youth, for theirs is the most virile constitution." Or, "It is better to love openly than in secret." On the other hand, however, and despite the "fresh" air breathed by this millennium-old text, I remain disturbed by the fact that Socrates and his cohort's praise for love -- between men -- is founded partially upon the assumptions that women are inferior and that "youthful" men (adolescents?) are more desirable than fully-grown ones -- at least as far as the bodily forms of love manifest themselves. Thus: four rather than five stars.

Reservations aside, Symposium doesn't need my mark of approval to make it a book for the ages. Go read it.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 20, 2009 blake rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy-science

Starts out slow, with mostly irrelevant speeches on the nature of Love. The first half or so is remarkable just for the interesting description it gives of Ancient Greek homosexual practices. It gets much more interesting once Socrates takes the floor, immediately ripping the false rhetoric of the hypocritical sophists in favor of Truth. His theory of love is interesting but is not at all what we think of as romantic love. . . it is more like love of truth/beauty/god and culminates in a mystical...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 21, 2009 Erik Graff rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Erik by: no one

Shelves: philosophy

Although I read the Symposium for the first time long ago, I reread the thing a couple of years ago in the Jowett translation with a friend who was finishing up a Ph.D. in Classics at Loyola University Chicago. He had come over for dinner and we read the thing aloud to one another afterwards with both the translation and the Greek text at hand.

The Symposium is often the first of Plato's texts read by students and it is a good choice because readily accessible to the beginner. Further, for a stud...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 14, 2012 David Beeson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fascinating to discover the thinking of Plato through a relatively short book, full of life and amusement, that also casts light on life in Athens at the time. The Symposium describes a dinner and, above all, drinking party in which the participants all present a tribute to the god Eros, allowing them to explore the meaning and value of erotic love - and in passing it's salutary, at a time when gay rights never seem to be off the agenda, to find that these fine minds all regarded it as manifestl...more

like · see review

Feb 25, 2012 David rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Pople interesting in a definition of love that haven't read twlight

Shelves: philosophy, favorites

Plato's Symposium, for Many a classic old read, for me a new found lecture. It just got me more Into Plato, after reading and be amused by Apology, same with Crito, read and be bored with Phaedus most for its scientific inaccuracies although its perceived rationality method for the time.

It begins with a beautiful young Fredo speech (after a brief prologue that explains that the story is told by someone whom the story was told to) although crude basics reasoning, I think this one was beautiful th...more Plato's Symposium, for Many a classic old read, for me a new found lecture. It just got me more Into Plato, after reading and be amused by Apology, same with Crito, read and be bored with Phaedus most for its scientific inaccuracies although its perceived rationality method for the time.

It begins with a beautiful young Fredo speech (after a brief prologue that explains that the story is told by someone whom the story was told to) although crude basics reasoning, I think this one was beautiful thanks to the main key of the book, poetic quality, as well as the subjective poetic explanation of Eros (love) which is practically the whole book. Fredo exposes the moral quality of love, and what he believes is his nature and what will be the first step of the developed of the book's premise.

Pausanias continues in what is to me a boring part of the book, as it moves from a poetic eulogy to a pseudo technical evaluation. Despite being boring sowes the foundation for the other speeches, love is not one but two types, the love of the vulgar and the true. From here on, the speech gets out of the only poetic part and gets planted into a more psychological and moral analysis of the lover and beloved.

Eryximachus continuous and again puts the poetic quality in course, in his eloquent speech making as it is, doctor, very medically proposes that love is not only in humans but in all things, and beautifully declares, love is in medicine, good and bad love come together to create the perfect correlation that is health, the harmony between opposites, love is in the elements since its the union of dry and wet, hot and cold, contraries come together to produce all sweets and regular temperature applications, love is in music in the combination of low and high, etc.

The dialogue evolves and gives rise to a singular mythological story, which in turn only serves to heighten the mood of reading, in the beginning there were three species of men, about all men, all women, all men and the two, all together. From this is developed an explanation that humans are separated by gods and whose object in base of love is to find that loss and only half part, when this is achieved they join in sex to try to get back together with the only porporsed of becoming one again, as in the beginning. Certainly beautiful but also with the philosophical air of Plato's books that invite you to doubt and that can take you to explore things fully unrelated with the order of book.

Follows the poet Agathon and his speech is poetry.

Socrates goes to top it all, not without reason speaks the last. It starts referring as usual to errors or as he explains the lack of truth in previous speeches, and for this he refers to a dialogue he had with some wise woman teacher: Diotima of Mantinea. This is the very much worth reading part of the whole book. Nice explanation of love and the art of loving, full of subjectivity, philosophy, poetry, and attempt to explain technical. The best part of the book.

It finishes with an interesting account of a friend of Socrates, which suggests the Greek curious customs where gay sex was apparently standard, strangely entertaining made me feel more interest in Socrates for some reason. Explains how he was appreciated by the young Athenians, as trying to seduce him by his outside beauty. It also takes into account the fondness of some of youngs Greeks to be interested so much in wisdom and in wise men.

In short, a book full of poetry, philosophy. Not exactly a cheesy story for those interested in reading about love, it's a subjective explanation of love pushed beyond, trying to explain everything related to it. 5 stars just for the speech of Socrates.

(less)

like · see review

Jul 28, 2011 Peter Jamieson added it · review of another edition

Okay - so, as far as I can see, this dialogue is about love. Well, of course it is - everyone knows this, and the theme is made explicit right from the outset. Various people at this party give encomia on how wonderful love is - but then Socrates delivers the killer punch: we've all misunderstood what love really is. He broadens the discussion right out, pointing out that love stands midway between the imperfect and the perfect, the unholy and the holy. It's the dynamic flux which leads us from...more

like · see review

Aug 03, 2012 N rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is based on the Benjamin Jowett edition from Gutenberg, which makes for an interesting read on many levels.

In the Symposium, Plato is concerned with defining higher love, the sort of love we should all aspire toward. But really, he opens the door to any sort of love. You name it, it's here.

The show-stopper is Aristophanes' creation myth (of sorts), but it's also great to read about Socrates and the obvious hetaira, as well as Alcibiades' cameo as a spurned lover.

Equally fascinating is Jowet...more

like · see review

Jun 22, 2012 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I would consider Plato's dialogues mandatory reading.

It's always challenging/fun/enthralling to hear Socrates innocuously questioning someone, and offering definitions which seem plausible, and asking if the other speaker agrees with certain hypothetical circumstances, only for the issue at hand to suddenly stray far afield or miraculously invert, for the other person to be helpless before Socrates' argument, and feel that Socrates had his destination in mind from the very beginning, and had cr...more

like · see review

Jan 02, 2009 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, classics

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Like all of Plato, it is an allegorical story with a clear objective in the defining of his thought.

Socrates is held up to be a man of immense physical character, able to drink without becoming drunk, course through the winter barefoot and without feeling cold, supreme warrior and able to have sex all the time, without tiring.

We are given a cure for the hiccups by the eminent physician Eryximachus for the playwright Aristophanes. (Hold your breath, gargle with water and then if that doesn't wor...more Like all of Plato, it is an allegorical story with a clear objective in the defining of his thought.

Socrates is held up to be a man of immense physical character, able to drink without becoming drunk, course through the winter barefoot and without feeling cold, supreme warrior and able to have sex all the time, without tiring.

We are given a cure for the hiccups by the eminent physician Eryximachus for the playwright Aristophanes. (Hold your breath, gargle with water and then if that doesn't work tickle your nose until you sneeze...)

The story begins as this group of eminent thinkers gathers together for the evening. They decide that since the night before they drank to excess it would not be in their best health to again drink so heavily, so they decide to have a discussion, and drink only moderately (reminds me of college....)

They begin a discourse on the nature of love. Each man taking a turn to describe the various ways they think about love. They reach a consensus that there are two types of love. One masculine and pure, and the other base and feminine.

Aristophanes proposes that the sexes were once a conjoined creature of four legs and four arms, that being so powerful Zeus was forced to split into two separate beings, one male and one female. "Those who come from the man-woman are lascivious and adulterous; those who come from the woman form female attachments; those who are a section of the male follow the male and embrace him, and in him all their desires centre. The pair are inseparable and live together in pure and manly affection; yet they cannot tell what they want of one another. But if Hephaestus were to come to them with his instruments and propose that they should be melted into one and remain one here and hereafter, they would acknowledge that this was the very expression of their want. For love is the desire of the whole, and the pursuit of the whole is called love. " (Jowett, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1600/1... )

Phaedrus and Agathon speak of the god to whom the party is dedicated.

It is Socrates who then tells of his discussion with the witch Diotima. And questioning Agathon in his usual manner of proving someone wrong. Diotima tells us that love is desire for (beauty)good and the desire for immortality to hold on to that good forever. And some men have love in their bodies and these go forth and find a woman and have babies, and some have love in their souls and go forth and create ideas and serve their nation.

"'This, my dear Socrates,' said the stranger of Mantineia, 'is that life above all others which man should live, in the contemplation of beauty absolute; a beauty which if you once beheld, you would see not to be after the measure of gold, and garments, and fair boys and youths, whose presence now entrances you; and you and many a one would be content to live seeing them only and conversing with them without meat or drink, if that were possible—you only want to look at them and to be with them. But what if man had eyes to see the true beauty—the divine beauty, ...beholding beauty with the eye of the mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty, but realities (for he has hold not of an image but of a reality), and bringing forth and nourishing true virtue to become the friend of God and be immortal, if mortal man may. Would that be an ignoble life?'"(Plato)

Then Alcibiades shows up compares Socrates to a Satyr, and the party becomes a revel and everyone gets wasted, except for Socrates, who makes sure everyone gets to sleep and then leaves.(less)

like · see review

Aug 10, 2012 Bernhard added it · review of another edition

Diotimas love and the role of woman - when one looks at this relationship between man and woman in logic the simplest and most tedious is sheer opposition - neither A nor B will meet real love - if A and B share something in common then they will get a glimpse of love - if these two ways are dismissed then both might seek new categories synchronously adding some friends or common items to expand their love at present - however even here they will soon find out that there is a story with a histor...more

like · see review

Dec 27, 2012 Helena rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My Dad always used to make jokes about the pretentious idiots who lug books like this around for show. So, understandably, i was a little put off reading anything of Plato's, i thought it would be far too difficult and quite frankly, perfect ammunition for bullies.Yet i've finally finished Symposium!

As it turns out, i thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was fascinating to start with, but also easy to read. I've already bought Republic and are trying to get my hands on Phaedrus.

The one downside, is...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 03, 2012 Romain rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A group of men attend a symposium and, in order to pass the time, compose and deliver speeches to one another on the subject of love. This simple premise is the alluring setting of the ensuing rhetorical brilliance and philisophical hypotheses of The Symposium.
Plato assembles a group of eloquent, educated and impassioned men, each with a clear and distinct voice. The convergence of these voices in the friendly setting creates a sequence of echoes and rhythms; the resonance of one speaker's voice...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
greatest parties in literature	2	22	Jan 15, 2013 10:42pm
به دنبال عشق گمشده	1	27	Mar 13, 2009 03:50am

combine
Other Editions (185)

More editions...

Genres

Philosophy

847 users

Classics

300 users

Non Fiction

126 users

History

26 users

Academic > College

25 users

Academic > School

24 users

Literature > Ancient

22 users

Literature

21 users

Academic > Read For School

15 users

Humanities > Classical Studies

14 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Plato

Birth c. 428–427 BC, Athens
Death c. 348–347 BC, Athens

Plato was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science.

Pl...more

More about Plato...

Books by Plato

The Trial and Death of Socrates (Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo)

Five Dialogues: Euthyphro/Apology/Crito/Meno/Phaedo

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Symposium

2 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The Symposium

“...and when one of them meets the other half, the actual half of himself, whether he be a lover of youth or a lover of another sort, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the other's sight, as I may say, even for a moment...” — 98 people liked it

“Love is simply the name for the desire and pursuit of the whole.” — 38 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Symposium
avg rating	preview: Symposium Goodreads rating: 3.97 (12422 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/759546.Symposium?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1178121655l/759546.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/759546.Symposium?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Symposium by Plato[/url]

Symposium

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website