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The Symposium
In the course of a lively drinking party, a group of Athenian intellectuals exchange views on eros, or desire. From their conversation emerges a series of subtle reflections on gender roles, sex in society, and the sublimation of basic human instincts. The discussion culminates in a radical challenge to conventional views by Plato's mentor, Socrates, who advocates transcen
...more
Paperback, Penguin Classics, 131 pages
Published
February 27th 2003
by Penguin Books
(first published -385)
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Plato’s Symposium is one of the best loved classics from the ancient world, a work of consummate beauty as both philosophy and as literature, most appropriate since the topic of this dialogue is the nature of love and includes much philosophizing on beauty. In the spirit of freshness, I will focus on one very important section, where Socrates relates the words of his teacher Diotima on the birth of Love explained in the context of myth:
“Following the birth of Aphrodite, the other gods were havin ...more
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 thiscrapulous 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
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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
OPRAH: Good evening and welcome to What's the Most Spiritual Book of All Time? For people who missed last week's exciting semi-final round, The Sermon on the Mount beat The Bhagavad Gita 4-1 while Jonathan Livingston Seagull unexpectedly lost 3-2 to outsider The Symposium. Let's all welcome our finalists!
[Applause. Enter JESUS CHRIST and SOCRATES, both wearing tuxedos. They shake hands. More applause.]
OPRAH: And now let me introduce our jury. I'm thrilled to have with us living legend Paul McCar ...more
[Applause. Enter JESUS CHRIST and SOCRATES, both wearing tuxedos. They shake hands. More applause.]
OPRAH: And now let me introduce our jury. I'm thrilled to have with us living legend Paul McCar ...more
“It’s been less than three years that I’ve been Socrates’ companion and made it my job to know exactly what he says and does each day. Before that, I simply drifted aimlessly. Of course, I used to think that what I was doing was important, but in fact I was the most worthless man on earth—as bad as you are this very moment: I used to think philosophy was the last thing a man should do.”
In Praise of Love: An Encore
This is a dialogue about the human aspiration towards happiness, and how that ...more
افلاطون، در رساله ی بسیار دلکش "ضیافت" ، بحث مفصلی راجع به حقیقت "عشق" می کند.
رساله به بازگویی ماجرای یک ضیافت می پردازد. آگاتون میهمانی ای گرفته و نخبگان را دعوت کرده، از آن جمله است: سقراط استاد افلاطون. بحث به چیستی عشق می رسد و هر کس از میهمانان سخنرانی ای زیبا و غزل گونه در ستایش عشق می کند.
از جمله، یکی می گوید: انسان ها در ابتداى آفرينش شان، جفت جفت به هم متصل بودند، و شكلى كروى مى ساختند. اين جفت هاى به هم پيوسته، چنان كامل و قدرتمند بودند، كه خواستند بر ضد خدايان آسمان بشورند، و خدايان ك ...more
رساله به بازگویی ماجرای یک ضیافت می پردازد. آگاتون میهمانی ای گرفته و نخبگان را دعوت کرده، از آن جمله است: سقراط استاد افلاطون. بحث به چیستی عشق می رسد و هر کس از میهمانان سخنرانی ای زیبا و غزل گونه در ستایش عشق می کند.
از جمله، یکی می گوید: انسان ها در ابتداى آفرينش شان، جفت جفت به هم متصل بودند، و شكلى كروى مى ساختند. اين جفت هاى به هم پيوسته، چنان كامل و قدرتمند بودند، كه خواستند بر ضد خدايان آسمان بشورند، و خدايان ك ...more
I Never Met a Physician Who Wasn’t Descended from a Greek
This might just be the work that put the "meta-" (at least the "metafiction") in "metaphysics".
Plato’s name is attached to it, but its principal focus is Socrates. And guess what? Socrates doesn’t so much elaborate on his own views as (1) recount the views of others (especially those of the female philosopher Diotima) and (2) indirectly reveal his views by his conduct and his responses to the views of others (especially the taunts of Alcib ...more
This might just be the work that put the "meta-" (at least the "metafiction") in "metaphysics".
Plato’s name is attached to it, but its principal focus is Socrates. And guess what? Socrates doesn’t so much elaborate on his own views as (1) recount the views of others (especially those of the female philosopher Diotima) and (2) indirectly reveal his views by his conduct and his responses to the views of others (especially the taunts of Alcib ...more
خیلی کتاب خوبی بود.. زیاد پیش اومده بود که بشنوم سقراط از شیوه ی پرسش و پاسخ استفااده می کنه برای بحث کردن.. تو این کتاب اولین بار این دیدم چطور و چقدر هوشمندانه این کار رو انجام میده..
داستان کتاب در مورد ضیافتیه که برگزار شده و بحث عشق میان حضار پیش میاد. که اول هر کدوم از حاضرین نظرشون رو می گن، و در نهایت سقراط، به طرز دلنشینی از عشق صحبت می کنه که واقعا دوست دارم یک بار دیگه سطرهای مربوط به سقراط رو بخونم.
داستان کتاب در مورد ضیافتیه که برگزار شده و بحث عشق میان حضار پیش میاد. که اول هر کدوم از حاضرین نظرشون رو می گن، و در نهایت سقراط، به طرز دلنشینی از عشق صحبت می کنه که واقعا دوست دارم یک بار دیگه سطرهای مربوط به سقراط رو بخونم.
Jul 07, 2007
Trevor
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone
Shelves:
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In this book Socrates argues that it is not always a good idea to have sex with boys and Aristophanes explains we were once co-joined creatures of three sexes - either male/female, male/male or female/female and were shaped like balls. How could anyone not find this a book worth reading?
Αγαπώ.
Aug 23, 2015
David Sarkies
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Everybody
Recommended to David by:
My Classics Lecturer
Shelves:
philosophy
The life of the party
26 August 2015
You've really got to love the way Plato writes philosophy. Whereas everybody else simply writes what is in effect a work of non-fiction explaining some ideas, Plato seems to have the habit of inserting them into a story. Okay, he may not be the only philosopher that uses a story to convey his philosophical ideas, but he certainly stands out from his contemporaries, who simply wrote treatises. I've read a few of his works, and he always seems to structure it in ...more
26 August 2015
You've really got to love the way Plato writes philosophy. Whereas everybody else simply writes what is in effect a work of non-fiction explaining some ideas, Plato seems to have the habit of inserting them into a story. Okay, he may not be the only philosopher that uses a story to convey his philosophical ideas, but he certainly stands out from his contemporaries, who simply wrote treatises. I've read a few of his works, and he always seems to structure it in ...more
Two points about this book that I didn't enjoy. Firstly the descriptions of intimate relations with persons of a very very young age which although not exclusive to the Greek people in those times were nevertheless disturbing to read about. Secondly, in the last pages he seems to be tooting his own horn a lot. Even though he portrays Socrates as this superhuman human we know that Socrates speaks Platos own words throughout the whole text so he seems to be giving these amazing characteristics to
...more
HEADLINE: This is priceless!
When I was a young man, I and my friends certainly had some strange conversations, possibly aided by some substances of questionable legality in certain countries, but we never quite managed to attain the heights of strangeness reached at this banquet/drinking party(*) held in 416 BCE when Socrates was approximately 53 years old, once again the principal figure in this "dialogue" written by Plato between 12 and 15 years after Socrates' death by poisoning in 399 BCE. P ...more
When I was a young man, I and my friends certainly had some strange conversations, possibly aided by some substances of questionable legality in certain countries, but we never quite managed to attain the heights of strangeness reached at this banquet/drinking party(*) held in 416 BCE when Socrates was approximately 53 years old, once again the principal figure in this "dialogue" written by Plato between 12 and 15 years after Socrates' death by poisoning in 399 BCE. P ...more
Symposium, Plato , 1935
پس زمین و عشق بودند که جانشین هرج و مرج و بی شکلی آغازین هستی شدند
عنوان: ضیافت، یا، سخن در خصوص عشق؛ اثر: افلاطون؛ ترجمه و پیشگفتار: محمدعلی فروغی؛ ویراستار و پی نوشت: محمدابراهیم امینی فرد؛ مشخصات نشر: تهران، جامی، 1385، در 160 ص، از مجموعه افلاطون، شابک: 9642575000؛ کتاب با عنوان «ضیافت: درس عشق از زبان افلاطون» با ترجمه «محمود صناعی» توسط انتشارات جامی در سال 1381 نیز منتشر شده است، چاپ دوم 1386، چاپ سوم 1389؛ موضوع: عشق، سقراط (469 تا 399 قبل از میلاد)فلسفه یونان
این رس ...more
پس زمین و عشق بودند که جانشین هرج و مرج و بی شکلی آغازین هستی شدند
عنوان: ضیافت، یا، سخن در خصوص عشق؛ اثر: افلاطون؛ ترجمه و پیشگفتار: محمدعلی فروغی؛ ویراستار و پی نوشت: محمدابراهیم امینی فرد؛ مشخصات نشر: تهران، جامی، 1385، در 160 ص، از مجموعه افلاطون، شابک: 9642575000؛ کتاب با عنوان «ضیافت: درس عشق از زبان افلاطون» با ترجمه «محمود صناعی» توسط انتشارات جامی در سال 1381 نیز منتشر شده است، چاپ دوم 1386، چاپ سوم 1389؛ موضوع: عشق، سقراط (469 تا 399 قبل از میلاد)فلسفه یونان
این رس ...more
A tale of five wise men
with moral advice [later to be found in Aesop’s special collection]
Once upon a time, when the world was fresh and young, swarming with dazzlingly white togas and beards reaching ankles laced in leather sandals, five wise men decided not to get drunk.
So as not to delude our patient reader, we feel oblidged to confess, however, that it was only partly true, because the five wise men decided to get drunk with style, which makes all the essential difference.
„Well, gentlemen,“ ...more
with moral advice [later to be found in Aesop’s special collection]
Once upon a time, when the world was fresh and young, swarming with dazzlingly white togas and beards reaching ankles laced in leather sandals, five wise men decided not to get drunk.
So as not to delude our patient reader, we feel oblidged to confess, however, that it was only partly true, because the five wise men decided to get drunk with style, which makes all the essential difference.
„Well, gentlemen,“ ...more
And Agathon said, It is probable, Socrates, that I knew nothing of what I had said.
And yet spoke you beautifully, Agathon, he said.
Back in the late 1990s a cowpunk band named The Meat Purveyors had a song, Why Does There Have To Be A Morning After? It detailed stumbling around in the cruel light of day, sipping on backwash beer from the night before and attempting to reconstruct what at best remains a blur.
The event depicted here is a hungover quest for certainty. The old hands in Athens have b ...more
And yet spoke you beautifully, Agathon, he said.
Back in the late 1990s a cowpunk band named The Meat Purveyors had a song, Why Does There Have To Be A Morning After? It detailed stumbling around in the cruel light of day, sipping on backwash beer from the night before and attempting to reconstruct what at best remains a blur.
The event depicted here is a hungover quest for certainty. The old hands in Athens have b ...more
Jul 04, 2009
James
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
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u-of-chicago,
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favorites,
read-and-reread,
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top-twenty
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
چهار پنج سالی از خوندن این کتاب میگذره. یادمه وقتی خوندمش اونقدر خوب بود که گفتم همۀ کتابهای دیگۀ افلاطون رو میخونم. و حتی چندتاییشون رو هم خریدم. ولی خب، وقت نشده هنوز اما سر تصمیمم هستم!
این کتاب واقعاً اندیشه بخش و تأمل برانگیزه. دوست داشتم توی اون ضیافت می بودم و افلاطون رو موقع ادای اون جملات میدیدم و حتی خودم هم سؤالهایی میپرسیدم... به نظرم بهترین ایده ها رو درمورد مسائلی مثل عشق که به اندازۀ عمر بشر موضوع بحث قرار گرفته ن، ارائه میده
این کتاب واقعاً اندیشه بخش و تأمل برانگیزه. دوست داشتم توی اون ضیافت می بودم و افلاطون رو موقع ادای اون جملات میدیدم و حتی خودم هم سؤالهایی میپرسیدم... به نظرم بهترین ایده ها رو درمورد مسائلی مثل عشق که به اندازۀ عمر بشر موضوع بحث قرار گرفته ن، ارائه میده
-Βλέπεις λοιπόν, είπε ότι κι εσύ δεν θεωρείς τον Έρωτα θεό;
-Τι θα μπορούσε όμως, είπα, να είναι ο Έρωτας; Θνητός;
-Κάθε άλλο.
-Τι όμως;
-Όπως είπαμε πριν, είπε, μεταξύ θνητού κι αθανάτου.
-Δηλαδή τι,Διοτίμα;
-Μεγάλος δαίμονας Σωκράτη· γιατί όλα τα δαιμονικά όντα βρίσκονται μεταξύ θεού και θνητού.
Συμπόσιον ή Περί Έρωτος! Στο συμπόσιο ενός τραγωδού, του Αγάθωνος, συγκεντρώνονται μεγάλες προσωπικότητες της εποχής(ανάμεσά τους ο Σωκράτης κι ο Αριστοφάνης) και πιάνουν κουβέντα σχετικά με τον Έρωτ ...more
-Τι θα μπορούσε όμως, είπα, να είναι ο Έρωτας; Θνητός;
-Κάθε άλλο.
-Τι όμως;
-Όπως είπαμε πριν, είπε, μεταξύ θνητού κι αθανάτου.
-Δηλαδή τι,Διοτίμα;
-Μεγάλος δαίμονας Σωκράτη· γιατί όλα τα δαιμονικά όντα βρίσκονται μεταξύ θεού και θνητού.
Συμπόσιον ή Περί Έρωτος! Στο συμπόσιο ενός τραγωδού, του Αγάθωνος, συγκεντρώνονται μεγάλες προσωπικότητες της εποχής(ανάμεσά τους ο Σωκράτης κι ο Αριστοφάνης) και πιάνουν κουβέντα σχετικά με τον Έρωτ ...more
Once upon a time, millions of years ago, before humans were created God populated Earth with Unimen. The Unimen had only one eye, ear, and nostril, one hand, one leg, and no genitals. They reproduced asexually by growing a budding on their asymmetrical head, and when the budding developed into a baby they gently detached it, and the whole tribe took care of it, for Unimen were a very social species.
Unimen were also intelligent and curious. And nothing fascinated them more than the sight of two o ...more
Unimen were also intelligent and curious. And nothing fascinated them more than the sight of two o ...more
کتاب داستان مهمانی یکی از دوستان سقراط است که چون در شاعری جایزه گرفته ولیمه میدهد.در این مهمانی همه از شرب و نشاط و هیاهو خسته میشوند و بنا میگذارند هر یک خطبه ای در وصف عشق و مدح خداوند عشق(اروس) بسرایند.همه به نوبت سخن از خدای عشق کرده و در نهایت نوبت به سقراط میرسد و به روش خاص خود(دیالکتیک)معنای عشق را روشن میسازد.آنچه واقعا لذت بخش است وصف هر یک از خداوندگار عشق است که با آنکه مربوط به حدود 2400 سال پیش هست هنوز مضامین ان تازه است و هنوز هم افراد در وصف عشق از همین تعابیر سخن میگویند.واقعا
...more
I adoorrreee this book, finally my love for Commandante is justified! Each time I told someone about it, they would reply "He's dead, you fool" So what? As Plato said, we fall in love with spirits, no matter if they are inside flesh and blood or not. And Commandante's spirit is still alive.
Alcibíades é a personagem mais lúcida no meio de toda esta orgia filosófica (embora, curiosamente, o único dos presentes embriagado). Sócrates, no entanto, é para variar o que mais juízo tem: a todos se entrega e de ninguém se torna dependente. Não admira que esteja pronto para morrer a cada minuto.
Sobre o Amor, o tópico central do diálogo, lamento dizer: estão todos enganados. Não há nada que louvar a essa doença por que se esfolam deuses e homens desde a antiguidade. Sejamos mais frontais como ...more
Sobre o Amor, o tópico central do diálogo, lamento dizer: estão todos enganados. Não há nada que louvar a essa doença por que se esfolam deuses e homens desde a antiguidade. Sejamos mais frontais como ...more
Cred că mi-a plăcut mai mult cuvântarea lui Alcibiade de la sfârșit, când îl elogiază pe Socrate, decât oricare elogiu al lui Eros din partea vreunuia prezent la banchet.
کتاب برای من سبک جالبی داشت . همه ی افراد حاضر در مهمانی نظرات خود را درباره ی عشق و خدای عشق ،اروس، بیان می کنند . ولی تعریفات آخر آلکیبیادس که از سقراط می کند کمی اضافه بود .
سمپوزیوم/ضیافت رو بزبان اصلی نخوندم و ترجمهش بانگلیسی رو خوندم و پس در مورد نثرش حرفی نمیتونم بزنم. اما پیشنهاد کوچکم اینه که ترجمه جوئت رو بخونید. اما سمپوزیوم همونطور که مشهوره در مورد یک شبنشینیه که توش شراب میخورند و در مورد عشق حرف میزنند. موقعیت واقعا اغراقآمیزه، قبول کنیم. بهرحال سقراط و چن نفر دیگه نشستهند و هرکی نظرشو میگه و سقراط هم نظرشو که کلش نقل قول از فرد دیگریست رو میگه. این شکل پرداختش بموضوع یکم ریتمش کنده ولی بطور کلی از بامزگی خالی نیست. من بعنوان ادبیاتی واجب ندیدم طرفی ازین
...more
I love Plato—platonically, of course.
Plato could have staked his reputation on being an enormously talented writer, and he would have secured immortal fame. But no, he had to add brilliance to style.
What Plato had that almost all of his successors lacked was a genuine love for the pursuit of knowledge, irrespective of the possibility of its attainment.The Symposium is a perfect monument to this idea. The guests all have different ideas, different styles, and different sensibilities, and all work ...more
Plato could have staked his reputation on being an enormously talented writer, and he would have secured immortal fame. But no, he had to add brilliance to style.
What Plato had that almost all of his successors lacked was a genuine love for the pursuit of knowledge, irrespective of the possibility of its attainment.The Symposium is a perfect monument to this idea. The guests all have different ideas, different styles, and different sensibilities, and all work ...more
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
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
Iar am citit Banchetul lui Platon și am multe de însemnat (succint)...
...aplauze în primul rând tuturor retorilor pentru că au încercat, măcar, să pretindă că au vaga idee că gândesc ceea ce spun; apoi lui Platon pentru că a reușit să-i pună într-o ipostază defavorabilă. Nu în ultimul rând, felicitări pentru cvasi-antropologia din discursul lui Aristofanes + revelarea naturii Erosului à la Socrate.
Acum nu știu cât de veridică e oricare chestie dintre cele relatate în numeroasele rame ale dialogu ...more
...aplauze în primul rând tuturor retorilor pentru că au încercat, măcar, să pretindă că au vaga idee că gândesc ceea ce spun; apoi lui Platon pentru că a reușit să-i pună într-o ipostază defavorabilă. Nu în ultimul rând, felicitări pentru cvasi-antropologia din discursul lui Aristofanes + revelarea naturii Erosului à la Socrate.
Acum nu știu cât de veridică e oricare chestie dintre cele relatate în numeroasele rame ale dialogu ...more
El banquete es una reunión, donde los allá congregados, recostados, hablan, exponiendo su parecer, en esta ocasión sobre Eros. Da comienzo Fedro. Elogia el amor, tal que alguien enamorado es incapaz de cometer actos indecorosos, pues su amado le frenaría. Amor heterosexual y homosexual, pues menta Fedro a la Liga Sagrada, integrada por valerosos soldados homosexuales, cuya actuación fue brillante en varias batallas, según se refiere. Para Fedro, Eros es el dios más antiguo y el más venerable, aq
...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 w
...more
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The History Book ...:
PLATO'S - THE SYMPOSIUM
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(Greek: Πλάτων) (Arabic: أفلاطون) (Alternate Spelling: Platon/Platón)
Plato is 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 ...more
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Plato is 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 ...more
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“According to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves.”
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“...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...”
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