Riassunto
Riassunto di Simposio
A chi è rivolto
For anyone curious about love, desire and beauty, and readers who enjoy philosophical conversations, lively dinner parties and myths about human nature.
Che cos’è questo libro
Symposium is a dialogue written by Plato in the fourth century BC. It describes a dinner party in Athens, held at the house of the young tragic poet Agathon to celebrate his first victory in the theatre contest. The guests are tired from the night before, so they agree to skip heavy drinking. Instead, each man will give a speech in praise of Eros, the god of love.
Plato wrote it to ask a question that still matters: what is love, and what is it for? The speeches move from courage to medicine to comedy to philosophy, and each one shows a different face of desire. At the centre stands Socrates, who says he learned the truth about love from a wise woman named Diotima. In about fifteen minutes you will hear the main speakers, the myth of the divided human beings, the ladder of beauty, and the noisy guest who arrives at the end. Let us begin with the party itself and how the story reaches us.
In questo riassunto
- 1A dinner party becomes a contest of speechesFree
- 2Love makes people braver and wiser
- 3We are halves searching for our other half
- 4Love is desire for what we lack
- 5Diotima and the ladder of beauty
- 6A drunken guest and a portrait of Socrates
Punto chiave 1 di 6
A dinner party becomes a contest of speeches
The dialogue opens at one remove. A man named Apollodorus tells a friend about the party, but he was not there himself. He heard the story from Aristodemus, a devoted follower of Socrates who was present, and Apollodorus has also checked details with Socrates. So the whole work is a story handed down, which gives it the feel of a memory worth keeping.
The party takes place at the house of Agathon, who has just won a prize for his tragedy. Aristodemus meets Socrates on the road, and Socrates is unusually well dressed and washed. Along the way Socrates stops to think and stands still for a time, so Aristodemus goes on alone. When Socrates finally arrives, dinner is half over, and Agathon makes room for him on a couch.
After the meal the guests decide how to spend the evening. Several of them are still sore from drinking the night before. The physician Eryximachus suggests that they send away the flute girl and talk instead. Phaedrus, one of the guests, has often complained that no poet has ever written a proper hymn to Eros, and so the plan is set. Each guest will give the best speech in praise of love he can.
This setting matters because it shows Plato's method. He does not lecture. He lets a group of real Athenians, a doctor, a playwright, a comic poet, a politician, speak in their own styles, then lets Socrates test what they have said. The reader is asked to compare the voices and decide which comes closest to the truth.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
- Nothing to pay today · Renews every year
- We email you before you pay
- Cancel online in two clicks
Who’s who
- Socrates
- An Athenian philosopher attending Agathon’s party, he questions the other speakers and recounts Diotima’s teaching.
- Diotima
- A wise woman from Mantinea, she is Socrates’ teacher in the account he gives his companions.
- Agathon
- A young tragic poet, he hosts the gathering to celebrate his first theatrical victory.
- Aristophanes
- A comic playwright among Agathon’s guests, he offers the myth of divided humans seeking their other halves.
- Alcibiades
- A brilliant and reckless Athenian, he arrives drunk at Agathon’s gathering and speaks about Socrates.
- Phaedrus
- A guest at Agathon’s party, he opens the speeches by praising love’s power to inspire courage.
- Eryximachus
- A physician among the guests, he extends their discussion of love to medicine and nature.
- Apollodorus
- The dialogue’s framing storyteller, he recounts the gathering from information supplied by Aristodemus and checked with Socrates.
- Aristodemus
- A devoted follower of Socrates, he attends the gathering and supplies Apollodorus with its account.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 33,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 2 h 10 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about Simposio
What is Plato's Symposium about?
It is a dialogue about the nature of love. Guests at a dinner party in Athens each give a speech praising Eros, and Socrates ends the series with a teaching about love as a climb toward beauty and wisdom.
Who are the speakers in the Symposium?
The speakers are Phaedrus, Pausanias, Eryximachus the doctor, Aristophanes the comic poet, Agathon the host, and Socrates. Alcibiades, a famous Athenian, arrives late and gives a speech praising Socrates.
What does Platonic love mean in the Symposium?
Plato means love that rises from desire for one beautiful person to love of beauty itself and of wisdom. It is not love without desire, but desire turned toward the highest and most lasting good.
Who is Diotima in the Symposium?
Diotima is a wise woman from Mantinea whose teaching Socrates repeats. She says love is a spirit between mortal and divine, and she describes the ladder of love. Scholars debate whether she was a real person.
Is the Symposium hard to read?
It is one of the easier works by Plato. It is short, set at a lively party, and has vivid speeches and a funny myth. The ideas are clear.