2 h 34 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 2 h 34 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What makes someone worth loving: a beautiful face, a fine character, or the way they help us live?
In Xenophon’s The Symposium, Callias hosts a dinner to honour Autolycus, a young athlete celebrating a victory. Socrates arrives with companions, and a visiting showman brings music, dancing, and acrobatics. Entertainment gives way to conversation as the guests explain what makes them proud, from wealth and beauty to poverty and the ability to improve others.
Each answer invites teasing—and a closer look. Critobulus takes pride in his beauty, while Antisthenes finds wealth in having enough within himself. As love becomes the evening’s central concern, Socrates examines Callias’s attachment to Autolycus. His playful questions draw a distinction between desire for a body and affection for a person’s character.
What you’ll discover
- Socrates in playful company Meet a Socrates whose jokes bring serious questions into an evening of shared entertainment.
- Pride under gentle scrutiny Follow the guests as their proudest claims become invitations to teasing and examination.
- Beauty put to the test Join Critobulus’s comic debate about attraction and what good looks can actually accomplish.
- Wealth without a fortune Consider Antisthenes’s claim that true wealth means having enough within yourself, rather than owning more.
- Love that values character Explore affection that asks both people to become better, not merely admire each other.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy lively conversation, wit between friends, and real thoughts about money, friendship, beauty and love.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A feast welcomes wisdom and laughter
- Entertainment gives Socrates something to teach
- Pride reveals the person behind it
- Proud claims need to face questions
- Having less can leave room for more
- Socrates keeps the room warm
- Worth belongs to the person within
- Love of character gives people direction
- A joke can carry a lesson
Who’s who
- SocratesThe philosopher who joins the dinner as a guest, teases his friends, and wants to show that love of the soul is better than love of the body.
- CalliasThe rich host, in love with Autolycus, who wants to show off his wisdom and make himself a person of importance.
- AutolycusA modest young man who has just won the pankration, and who is proudest of his father.
- LyconThe father of Autolycus, who treasures his son above all the wealth of Persia.
- AntisthenesA follower of Socrates who owns almost nothing, claims great wealth in his soul, and cross-examines everyone.
- CritobulusA handsome young man in love with Cleinias, who boasts of his beauty and enters a contest against Socrates.
- PhilippusA professional jester who arrives uninvited and wants nothing more than to make the company laugh.
- The SyracusanA traveling showman who brings a flute girl, a dancing girl and a boy to entertain the guests, and who resents Socrates.
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The Symposium
by Xenophon
A wealthy host, a young athlete, an uninvited jester and Socrates exchange jokes over wine.
Easy readUnder 2 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What would a wise man do at a dinner party? The Symposium, which means the drinking party, was written by Xenophon, a soldier, historian and student of Socrates.
The Symposium at a glance
- Reading time
- About 1 h 30 min1 h 10 min fast, 1 h 45 min slow
- Length
- 21,000 words
- Library level
- Easy short sentences, plain words
- First published
- about 360 BCby Xenophon
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Callias gathers Socrates and friends for dinner
Xenophon opens by valuing good men's lighter moments alongside their serious ones.
Callias loves a boy named Autolycus, who has just won the pankration, a contest that joins wrestling and boxing. Callias leads the boy and his father, Lycon, toward his house in the Piraeus. On the way he spots Socrates with friends and hurries over with an invitation. His dinner will be finer, he says, if it is graced by men of pure soul rather than by generals and office seekers.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 1 h 40 min
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
Xenophon. The Symposium. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-symposium.
Xenophon. (2026). The symposium. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-symposium (Original work published ca. 360 B.C.E.)
Xenophon. The Symposium. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-symposium.
@book{xenophon2026symposium,
author = {Xenophon},
title = {The Symposium},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-symposium},
note = {First published ca. 360 BCE}
}
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What is The Symposium by Xenophon about?
It describes a dinner at the house of the rich Athenian Callias, held for a young athlete. The guests, led by Socrates, joke, watch performers, name what they are proudest of, and then talk about love and friendship.
Who is Socrates in Xenophon's Symposium?
Socrates is a guest who stays calm, funny and sharp throughout. He teases friends, claims to be a matchmaker, competes in a beauty contest with Critobulus, and gives a speech about Love.
How is Xenophon's Symposium different from Plato's?
Both show Socrates at a banquet. Xenophon's is shorter, more comic and more practical, with jesters, dancers and a game of pride, while Plato's builds a series of speeches about love.
The author
Xenophon
430 BC–353 BC · Ancient Greek historian and philosopher
Greek philosopher, historian, and soldier.
More by Xenophon
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