Diotima, Socrates' great teacher from the Symposium, a work by Plato was one of the most influential women thinkers of all time, whether she was a real person or a literary fictional character. She related to Socrates the theory of love that he described to the partygoers at Agathon's banquet, a celebration of Agathon's victory at the competition of Dionysis in Athens and of Eros. Before we search for the idea of why Diotima is a woman, we should first discuss a little about her. We know that, if
Aristophanes' Theory of Love in the Symposium 2. Aristophanes' Theory of love: from Plato's Symposium The love as discussed by the characters in the Symposium is homosexual love. Some assumed that homosexuality alone is capable of satisfying “a man’s highest and noblest aspirations”. Whereas heterosexual love is placed at an inferior level, being described as only existing for carnal reasons; its ultimate purpose being procreation. There are differing views in these dialogues, Aristophanes
Aristophanes draws attention to the origin and purposes of Love; Agathon enunciates that the correct way to present an eulogy is first to praise its nature and gifts. As the last speaker, and the most important one, Socrates connects his ideas with Diotima of Mantinea’s story of Love’s origin, nature and purpose. Different from the earlier five speakers who regard Love as an object and praise different sides of it, Socrates, referring to Diotima’s idea, considers Love as a pursuit of beauty gradually
Context and Contradictions in Plato's Phaedrus and Plato's Symposium It is well known that Plato, a devoted student of Socrates, chronicled many of Socrates' speeches and conversations. Every so often one can find instances where Socrates and other players in these conversations seem to contradict themselves, or at least muddle their arguments. One such occurrence of this is in Plato's Symposium and Plato's Phaedrus. Both texts speak of love in its physical sense, both texts describe love and
Though not as philosophical as many of Plato's other works, The Symposium gives a greater in depth account and characterization into the social life of the intellectual circles in Ancient Greece. The eulogies from each of the philosophers at the discussion examine the origins and theories of love in its many forms. Several of the theories and themes discussed in The Symposium are repeated as well as contrasted by each of the orators. The themes of physical love and lust, and reproduction are most
“Love is many splendid thing, all you need is love,” this quote is from one of my favorite songs entitled Elephant Love Medley which is featured in the movical (a movie musical), Moulin Rouge. The song is a duet between Christian, a playwright, and Satine, the lead actress of his current play, Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman play the two roles. This song is a compilation of love songs that were qui (Kidman, McGregor and Leguizamo)te popular during the 20th century, Christian is singing to Satine
ECHOES OF PLATO’S SYMPOSIUM DOWN THE AGES “Because of the centrality and power of love in human experience, men and women throughout the ages have felt the compulsion to sing songs, to write verse, and to tell stories about this ineffable and mysterious force which leads them to the peaks of felicity, and to the depths of despair. Love indeed is an ultimate, if not the ultimate, human concern. It is the universal principle undergirding all human
Diotima told Socrates Love is a learning experience growing with age, first learning Beauty by sight, coveting objects, progressively growing to the beauty of a developing body, therefore expanding eventually to the greatest Beauty of all, our souls. Love
Different cultures and societies have various mental schemas pertaining to the interpretation and proper expression of romantic love. Additionally, over time many societies have changed the way they view love by adopting new definitions and revising previously held beliefs. In The Symposium Pausanias’ claims that there are two forms of love, “common love” and love derived from a “heavenly goddess” (Plato, 14). He stresses that love derived from the “heavenly goddess” is superior to “common love”
The meaning of love is as intricate and unique as the purpose that it serves. It seems that the nature of love is found in the mind, the body and the soul. In Plato’s Symposium each member of the drinking party gives their own interpretation of love. As each speaker engages in their discourse, the concept of love is evaluated from different angles. According to Phaedrus, homoerotic love is the highest form of love and that sacrificing oneself for love will result in a multitude of rewards from the
relation to all his talk about educating the "youth." The "youth" are obviously all young men. And again, Socrates mentions his family and his sons without mentioning his wife. Plato relates some relationships Socrates had with women (especially with Diotima in the Symposium), but those may be fictional. The only episode of Socrates questioning a woman that is clearly historical is related by Xenophon in his Recollections of Socrates: Socrates questions the courtesan Theodotê, who is famous for her beauty