Symposium

Symposium is a philosophical dialogue set at a banquet where prominent Athenians including Socrates Aristophanes and Alcibiades each deliver speeches in praise of love (Eros). The guests explore various aspects of love from physical attraction to the divine and philosophical offering diverse perspectives. Socrates shares the teachings of Diotima who describes love as a ladder of ascent starting with physical beauty and culminating in the contemplation of the Form of Beauty itself. The dialogue intertwines profound philosophical insights with humor and drama culminating in Alcibiades' unexpected entrance and his passionate praise of Socrates. Through these speeches Plato examines love’s transformative power its connection to wisdom and its role in the pursuit of the eternal and the true.