Plato was one of Socrates’ greatest admirers, and our knowledge of Socrates stems mostly from Plato’s dialogues. Plato wrote his dialogues so that his students could read them out to each other and from a phrase discuss what it is about.
Plato’s thought is mostly recorded in the form of dialogues that feature Socrates as the protagonist. The symposium was written between the middle and the late period, and the figure of Socrates serves more as a mouth piece for Plato’s own views. For instance in the symposium there is a brief mention of the theory of forms, which is entirely Plato’s invention. The complex framing devices set up by Plato at the beginning of the dialogue are meant in part to suggest the fictionality of the account.
The symposium is one of the foundational documents of Western culture and arguably the most profound analysis and celebration of love in the history of philosophy. It is also the most lavishly literary of Plato’s dialogues – a genius prose performance in which the author, like playful maestro, shows off an entire repertoire of characters, ideas, contrasting viewpoints, and iridescent styles.
Its main action consists of three ‘agons’ - Phaedrus vs. Pausanias; Erixymachus vs. Aristophanes; and Agathon vs. Socrates
A symposium is literally a “drinking together” – in other words a drinking party. In Athens, in Plato’s day, symposia were strictly stag affairs. As a rule, they consisted of a fairly abundant, semi-formal banquet followed by ceremonial toasts and bouts of drinking. Wives were excluded. However, serving girls, dancing girls, flute-players, and hetaires (a sort of high-class prostitute/ professional escort/ entertainer) were frequently part of the festives. The fact that Eryximachus sends them awa ...