Plato's The Symposium

Plato 's The Symposium is one of the author 's most famous and well-known works . It is a recollection of a conversation had about the virtues and identities of love discussed by Socrates , Agathon , Alcibiades and others at a dinner party held at the house of Agathon . The conversation is discussed years later when Apollodorus is asked to recall the event . The title of the work itself refers to a sort of dinner party held at one 's house where philosophers would get together to discuss issues and chosen s . In this case

, the chosen s of love and Apollodorus relates how all the chosen speakers offered their individual views on the concept of love as a god , as a concept among mankind , as a principle by which to live life , and as a means of conflict or peace . It would be easy to read The Symposium and interpret the work with love as its only theme throughout the speeches by the various philosophers . Love is undeniably a theme present in the speeches given and in the conversations between the men , but it is not the only one . Intertwined with the theme of love is the theme of honour . In discussing love , the philosophers also use honour as a theme to represent how love and honour or the lack of one or both are often intertwined and interrelated

There are several points in the small sections of dialogue that occur before , during and after the long speeches by the philosophers...