The Symposium

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Socrates ' The Symposium and Its Serious Purpose

Socrates (469-399 B .C .E )was a Greek philosopher . Plato (ca . 429-347 B .C .E )was the student of Socrates . According to David H . Richter because "Plato mistrusted writing , he did not set down his philosophy in the usual form of a set of treatises but rather in dialogues (18 . The Symposium comes from a dialogue of Socrates ' ideas transcribed by Plato because Socrates never wrote anything himself . Whether or not Plato kept his own ideas out of Socrates ' is the

subject of debate at times we may wonder whether Socrates is being serious or ironic , at other times whether he always speaks directly for Plato (Richter 18 Be that as it may , The Symposium discusses the nature of love , and although it is written in a comic tone , theless it also strives to explore love in a serious manner as bound in morality in the structured forms of drama , rhetoric and dialect

The Symposium takes the form of several speeches by guests at a symposium , or drinking party , at the house of Agathon . Each of the seven party guests , and their respective speeches , represent a different aspect of love . Phaedrus takes a literary approach to the of love , while Pausanias a legal perspective . Eryximachus brings a doctor 's view to the , and Aristophanes , as a comic poet , sticks with a humorous take on the subject . Agathon uses a self-conscious poetic outlook , whereas Socrates puts a religious spin on love Finally , Alcibiades talks about his relationship , whether erotic or not ,student last name 2

to Socrates . If love is a part of or even the basis of morality , then it is not surprising that Socrates and Plato were

interested in coming up with a clear idea of what love was , because according to D . Brendan Nagle "Socrates and Plato , came to the defense of the beleaguered city-state and tried to find a new and irrefutable moral basis for it (162 . Socrates was looking for a basis for morality , and certainly he thought at least a part of it was bound up in the idea of love . C . M . Bowra , in Classical Greece , says that "Socrates was the first exponent in Greece of a morality based on the demands of individual conscience rather than the demands of the state (137 . This work explores this idea of love bound in morality . Socrates , at a time before the drinking party , speaks to Diotima , who tells him a story about love . She brings together the ideas of love and eternality , or what we might today call a true and undying love . She relates how some men were willing to die for the sake of their name being bound to a good reputation even after their death . She gives the example that Achilles would not have avenged Patroclus was it not for "the memory of their virtues , which still survives among us , would be immortal (The Symposium

Plato uses the dramatic form...