Comparing Sappho And Alcibiades In Plato's Symposium

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On the surface, Sappho’s fragments seem like they are simply about a naïve and lovesick girl. In the Symposium, Alcibiades appears similarly to Sappho, being extremely devoted to Socrates. Both Sappho and Alcibiades want to experience love because they think it will make them happier, but each for different reasons. Sappho wants the experience of loving and being loved. Alcibiades wants the knowledge he believes he will gain from love, but neither are approaching love the correct way, as Diotima and Socrates describe it, to actually make any real and permanent improvement. Love is a means for a human to improve oneself and one’s life, but love must be directed towards this improvement for progress to be made.
Alcibiades thinks that by loving …show more content…

Diotima says when using the ladder one, “…should go from one to two to all beautiful bodies, and from beautiful bodies to beautiful practices, and from beautiful bodies to beautiful practices, and from practices to beautiful forms of learning” (Plato 49). This progression is important to be able to get the highest value out of love which is to get the ultimate knowledge that it can provide about beauty and good. Sappho and Alcibiades misuse these steps in different ways. Sappho says that some believe that the most beautiful sight on earth is that of a powerful army, either on foot or on ships, “But I say that it is what you love” (Carson). Sappho thinks the most beautiful sight is what you love, but according to Diotima’s ladder people should love things because they are beautiful, not that things are beautiful because you love them. Sappho is stuck on the bodies portion of the ladder. She is only directing her love towards the physical aspects and experience of love because she believes this will make her happy. During his speech, Alcibiades says about Socrates, “My heart pounds and tears flood out when he speaks” (Plato 54). Alcibiades is genuinely attracted to Socrates’ mind, as seen by his appreciation of Socrates’ words, and he thinks that this one mind will unlock higher knowledge for him. This puts him higher on the ladder than Sappho. He is starting to appreciate practices and learning through listening to the speeches of Socrates, but neither are making progress up the ladder. Alcibiades is not working though the rungs of the ladder himself, he is relying on Socrates to transfer knowledge to him, but even if this worked, Socrates is unwilling to love him. Sappho is stuck on the beautiful bodies portion of the ladder. Sappho’s focus is purely on appearance and the experience of mutual desire. She has not

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