The Symposium and love

The Symposium and love
By John Nay

Yet another piece of classical literature read and reflected upon. The symposium is a piece of work that can relate to its readers on many different levels. Through the concept of love through the humor it portrays and even through it’s crude depiction of sexuality. Weather this party actually took place is a question that is up to the scholars which read works like this religiously. My personal opinion about this text is that it was wholly written by Plato. My reason for this will be drawn after I talk about what each member of this party had to say. This party starts off by guests lightly chatting about very common things that any guest would at a party. This conversation is then turned into a more serious conversation when one of the guests decides to talk about Eros or love. Alcohol seems to be the reason for this, once people start to drink more they are more likely to open up epically in a room with the greatest thinkers of the time. The conversation begins with the speech of Phaedra’s; he is a very light speaker in this text he explains that love is the greatest virtue a man and that the greatest army would be one of men and the boys they loved. He feels that love will bring the greatest and most noble virtues out of a man. His speech is short and subtle and moves on quickly to the speech of Pausanias. Pausanias is the first person to bring into light the difference between spiritual love and vulgar love. Vulgar love to him is represented by the goddess Aphrodite while spiritual love is represented by Uranus. Vulgar love in his definition is the love of ones body not soul. An example he gives for this is when a lover takes advantage of a boy before he is old enough to realize what is going on. Spiritual love on the other hand can be seen even externally on a man. A man will do outrageous things when he is in the presence of true spiritual love. The people and the gods will honor him for this; he has shown a true definition of what truly is love. The next speech is given by the doctor that attended the party Eryximacthus. Eryximacthis looks at love as deity of the greatest importance. He explains love as something of compatibility. He uses examples of musicians and even he himself as compatible to what they do. With out this compatibility with the soul love does not exist. Eryximacthis represents the logic behind love in this party. Aristophanes is the next speaker at this social gathering. He explains the mythological story behind love. He explains to the guests that humans where once creature that where male & male, female & female and male & female until Zeus split them in half with a lightening bolts. This why humans long to be with each other. Humans are looking to be whole again, gives us the notion of a soul mate weather it be male or female it doesn’t matter as long as are souls are whole again. This to me is really nice depiction of why love exists but it does satisfy the next speaker Agnation who is a true master of rhetoric. Agathon in his speech mesmerizes his audience with his beautiful dialogue. He begins by talking about Eros the god of love. Eros to Agathon is the happiest god and is forever youthful. The god himself is a perfect example of virtue and is the best guide to lead a person through the world. Although this beautiful speech inspires and mesmerizes everyone in the room Socrates finds many flaws in what Agathon has to say. Through his infamous Socratic method he tears through Agathon’s rhetoric. He makes the point that people who desire love don’t always have it available to them he also makes the point that the people who have it still desire it. Socrates claims that to love something is to always be in possession of it also that love is not necessarily beauty because good things are beauty as well. After arguing with Agathon on theses matters and basically completely shutting him down he tells the story of how he acquired the wisdom of what love is. He uses this character called Diotima for his explanations of what love truly is. Diotima claims love is neither good nor beautiful love is in fact a great spirit that was born the day Aphrodite was born. This spirit links Aphrodite and mortals together. Eros or love ‘s parents were Poros and Penia; Poros meaning resources and Penia meaning poverty. Eros lives an impoverished unbeautiful life with many cunning ability’s that makes him a lover of wisdom. The point Socrates is trying to make is that love is philosophy. Eros lives between wisdom and ignorance that is why he is a lover of wisdom. Another definition of this so-called love is being a lover. To love is to be happy and maintain good things; good will either look beautiful in soul or body that’s why there is a correlation between beauty and love. Love always wants to reproduce beauty weather it is a child or good will. Love can also be defined as a mortal’s immortality. As we learn to love beyond physical attraction we learn than the beauty of our souls are more beautiful than our bodies. The ultimate beauty is the birth of true virtue. After this Alcibiades gives a drunken speech to discredit Socrates that eventually proves Socrates right on so many levels of wisdom. The reason I do not believe this party actually ever happened is because of the order in which people speak. It seems just to lead up to what Socrates has to say. According to what Socrates had to say none of the other speakers where wrong they just did not have a solid definition like Socrates had. Another example is when Alcibiades comes in at the perfect timing to prove Socrates true this to me just to be the clever strategy of Plato. The symposium seems to me just to be a work that Plato wrote to define what he believed to be love. Plato’s well-defined theory of love at the end of this party is something that I truly believe. I really do believe a lover can give birth to true virtue in what he or she is in love with. Love to me is the invocation of the 9 muses. A call and a want for ever lasting beauty for what you are in love with.