Plato's symposium

Speech of Phaedus

• Youngest one speaking

• Object of older men sexual interest

• Love is the oldest most powerful God

• If we have a lover we want to be good for them

• A soldier would rather die then be a coward in front of their lover

Pausanias 2 kinds of love

Uranian and Pandemian

Uranian love

• Higher and nobler form of love

• Love for the soul, not body

• Lover guides the beloved to be a better person

• Only found between men

• Helps beloved become more virtous

Pandemian love

• Physical ,indiscriminate love

• Bodily attraction

• Not concerned with virtue

• Men and women

Speech of Eryximachus

• Love exists in the body

• Love is universal and can apply to anything

Speech of Aristophanes

• Humans were once one being

• They tried to challenge the gods and they got mad

• Zeus split the humans in 2

• The broken pieces are seeking wholeness

• Love is a desire for your other half

Speech of Agathon

• Love is delicate, youthful, and beautiful

• Love is the most beautiful and virtous of all gods

• Love inspires creativity, peace, and greatness

Speech of Socrates

• Love is a daimon not a god

• A median between human and divine

• All humans desire immortality

• Love is the desire of good forever

Speech of Alcibiades

• Calls Socrates a satyr

• He’s bewitched by Socrates

• He tried to seduce Socrates but failed

• He loves and hates Socrates

• Socrates himself is love