Love, a phenomenon that has beguiled and frustrated the poet and the philosopher takes centre stage in this Platonic classic, the Symposium. One of the lighter themed Middle Platonic Dialogues, the work elegantly combines philosophy, drama, literature, poetry and personal confession into a playful yet profound presentation of the world’s most powerful emotion – love.
Written in the 4th century BCE, the evening’s discussion takes place at a symposion the Greek word for a drinking party. These ritualised gatherings were a place where men drank, and engaged in intellectual discussions with music, speeches, dancing and poetry to enliven the gathering. The setting is symbolic: for in Plato’s world, philosophy and pleasure are not mutually exclusive, wisdom can be a social activity as well as solitary journey—and love, the night’s chosen topic, sits at the intersection of the mind, body, soul and the divine.
Love in many guises
Staying true to Plato’s dialogue format, each guest at the party takes a turn presenting his view of the Greek god of love, Eros and its many manifestations. Each speech reflects the personality, status, and intellectual inclinations of the persons gathered at the party.
Phaedrus, an aristocratic youth and presumably part of the inner circle of Socrates is the first to open the discussion and recounts on Eros as among the oldest and noblest of the gods, and love a force that inspires courage and honour.
Pausanias distinguishes love between two ends the Common and the Heavenly—one driven by physical desire, while the other a profound appreciation for character and intellect, moving towards the inculcation of virtue and wisdom.
Eryximachus, the physician, takes the discussion into natural philosophy, saying that love doesn’t merely govern human affairs, but its reach extends to all aspects of the cosmos such as music and medicine and helps to maintain the natural order of the universe.
Aristophanes, the comedic genius, delivers the most unforgettable and imaginative contribution of all. He harkens to a mythological tale, the beginning of the concept of soul mates. Humans were once double-bodied creatures—male-male, female-female, or male-female. As a punishment they were—cut in half by Zeus.
Love, as said by Aristophanes is the constant desire to reunite with our original other half, to feel whole again, to return to our former selves. This is the reason behind the longing, emptiness, and the search for completion in another being. Aristophanes provides a psychological and physiological view of love.
Agathon, presumably the most significant Greek tragedian after Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, is celebrating his first victory following a dramatic festival in whose honour the Symposium is held. He presents an articulate and beautifully prepared speech, honouring Eros, declaring him to be the happiest of the gods with his eternal beauty and youth.
He also says that Eros tends to be with those with a soft nature, and whenever hardness takes over, the god departs. Among the virtues of Eros is that he is just, never uses force, and everyone concedes to his authority. Eros also practises moderation, is braver than Ares, and claims no poet could ever be wise without love. His paean for Eros sets the stage for Socrates’ philosophical meanderings on love.
The ladder of love
Socrates, the mouthpiece of Plato, addresses the Symposium and rather than inventing a speech of his own, he recalls a conversation with a priestess from Mantinea, Diotima, whose description of love elevates beyond the poetic and the romantic.
Diotima depicts love as a daimon—a spirit that intercedes between humans and gods. She thus introduces the Ladder of Love: a spiritual ascent beginning with physical attraction to a single body, elevating to an appreciation of all physical beauty, then beauty of the soul, the beauty of customs and knowledge, and ultimately, contemplation of Beauty itself—, revered for its eternal, unchanging, and abstract form. Thus the popular concept of Platonic love comes to the fore, a gradual deepening of love from the physical to the metaphysical.
This is the philosophical heart of the Symposium, where love goes beyond desire for another person, but a force of truth and immortality. We love because we want to give birth—not just to children, but to ideas, art, and virtue, preserving our posterity in the process. True love, in his view, is a journey of the soul towards what is beneficial and eternal.
Alcibiades: the disruptive epilogue
Just as the discussion seems to reach its philosophical zenith, Alcibiades bursts in—drunk, loud, and brutally honest, with a tirade and a confession of love and admiration for Socrates, whom he describes as both enticing and maddening. Alcibiades reveals how Socrates rejected his advances, stood firm in war, and seemed immune to both pleasure and shame.
The raucous arrival of Alcibiades is much like his character. His passion brings the abstract back into the physical, reminding us that love is not purely wholesome but a mix of human emotions— unrequiting at times, confusing, erotic, and painfully real.
Plato leaves readers in a sharply contrasting fix with Diotima’s spiritual ideal and Alcibiades’ earthy desire. For Alcibiades, Socrates is comparable to a sileni figure—ugly on the outside but contains almost a divinity within. Alcibiades’ speech depicts Socrates as the embodiment of an ideal lover, as alluded to by Diotima in Socrates’ speech himself. He finds no allure in the physical trappings and expressions of love, is disdainful of Alcibiades’ unabashed advances, and strives to guide youths like himself towards lofty ideals on love, life and virtue.
In many ways, Alcibiades is the antithesis of Socrates. A handsome, aristocratic general, brilliant yet vainglorious, lacking inner discipline but infatuated with Socrates, a man of simplicity and spiritual depth. Alcibiades, a seeker of glory, but not essentially truth, he would go on to betray Athens, Sparta, and Persia—an embodiment of political and erotic excess. Alcibiades is a cautionary tale, a man blessed by the gods in every aspect: but similar to a tragic hero he elicits his own downfall, given to vainglory and excessive desire.
Alcibiades’ character contrasts him with the other speakers, making him human and relatable when we come face to face with his sincere affection and awe for Socrates. His pain is heartfelt, and the acknowledgement of his failure is his reality.
Symposium resonates across time
More than two thousand years past, Symposium still remains a literary gem, a foundational piece of philosophy that invites us to inquire and delight in the same measure. Its presentation allows for multiple viewpoints without reducing them to a single truth. No final answer is given—only dialogue that invites us to reflect on love, beauty, and its significance.
The Symposium grapples with an emotion we still struggle to explain, and it elevates love into something far more than a private emotion. For Plato, love is the beginning of philosophy itself. Whether you approach it for its intellectual discourse, its lyrical storytelling, or for its heady mix of ancient wit and timelessness, Symposium is a classic worth revisiting—and loving.
Next week on Echoes from Antiquity the Golden Ass, a humorous Latin novel of human pathos, self-discovery and spiritual salvation.
