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ed_moore's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.5
Plato’s ’Symposium’ recounts a fictional dinner and discussion between philosophers and playwrights in celebration of the tragedian Agathon. The most notable faces present are Socrates and Aristophanes, and Plato in his commentary on love just has a bit of fun creating speeches for these great classical figures. They each make a speech on love, some more agreeable than others and all have a little debate and laugh about it, all in all it being positive vibes.
I found the opening of a companion asking for a recount of this dinner quite detached and unnecessary, but the rest was engaging and an interesting insight on the classical conception of love, and how really after so many years humans haven’t really changed. We still drink and foolishly pursue love or lament it and many of the ideas of Plato really haven’t changed.
There wasn’t much plot but the invented personas of the “characters” were lively and pleasant, it was the type of dinner I would want to be in attendance of. Also Alcibiades’ drunken declaration of love for Socrates is absolutely marvellous.
vampiresreadtoo's review against another edition
4.0
why did no one tell me how gay and fun reading plato was???
sidharthvardhan's review against another edition
4.0
Normaly Socrates takes the other people on a ride of constant questioning - Socratic method, but the subject of discourse is always some abstract word which he overloads with multiple meamings rather reducing their value. Unlike Aristotle he don't seem interested in giving definations - he says he can't and rather destroys definations others offer. This is not the case here as he didn't get speak till the end.
The dialogue is full of a diverse variety of myths offered by different people which, given that subject is love, are all very poetic in nature. The views forwarded are quite liberal - one of them forgives lover everything, another calls love a mean or unions - love being offspring of god of riches and godess of poverty; yet another called Love first of all gods who destroyed chaos on his qppearance and so on. The concept of Platonic love is only hinted with out naming it as one of two kinds of love.
One of them gives a story in which he tells that people intially had two heads and four hand and arms, till Zeus seprated them and that now we yearm for our 'other half'. This last view accepts homsexuallity (for orher halfs were not always of opposite sex) as natural which is adorable given it is still facing so many prejudices
Socrates' opionon which he adopted from a lady when he was young, is best in the middle part where he proves (so to say) that love is yearning for possession of good (and then maintaing that possession) bacause possessing good gives one happiness. There is nothing platonic about love as far as he is concenred. Love is selfish as it desires immorality. Infact he expands the defination to so enormous levels that almost every act is seen as act of love.
The first and last one-eighth parts are rather redundant though, merely containing casuals conversations and a drunk's praises of Socrates.
The dialogue is full of a diverse variety of myths offered by different people which, given that subject is love, are all very poetic in nature. The views forwarded are quite liberal - one of them forgives lover everything, another calls love a mean or unions - love being offspring of god of riches and godess of poverty; yet another called Love first of all gods who destroyed chaos on his qppearance and so on. The concept of Platonic love is only hinted with out naming it as one of two kinds of love.
One of them gives a story in which he tells that people intially had two heads and four hand and arms, till Zeus seprated them and that now we yearm for our 'other half'. This last view accepts homsexuallity (for orher halfs were not always of opposite sex) as natural which is adorable given it is still facing so many prejudices
Socrates' opionon which he adopted from a lady when he was young, is best in the middle part where he proves (so to say) that love is yearning for possession of good (and then maintaing that possession) bacause possessing good gives one happiness. There is nothing platonic about love as far as he is concenred. Love is selfish as it desires immorality. Infact he expands the defination to so enormous levels that almost every act is seen as act of love.
The first and last one-eighth parts are rather redundant though, merely containing casuals conversations and a drunk's praises of Socrates.
chou520's review against another edition
5.0
this was a.. fun, if not mildly insane, introduction to plato. sometimes philosophy is a group of inebriated guys discussing at length the merits and vices of love!
my favorite speeches included:
aristophanes, who proposes that humans were originally bound together as one, until zeus split them apart. thus, love is a subconscious yearning for our other half. how romantic <3
phaedrus, who says that the strength of love is the blind willingness that comes with it to surrender ourselves to its whims. at one point, he condemns orpheus for his inability to yield to death for eurydice. interesting take..
and alkibiades, who pretty much complains for several pages about being friendzoned by socrates. the intense sexual vigor that man seemed to inspire in these people is really a mystery to me.
overall, loved it!
my favorite speeches included:
aristophanes, who proposes that humans were originally bound together as one, until zeus split them apart. thus, love is a subconscious yearning for our other half. how romantic <3
phaedrus, who says that the strength of love is the blind willingness that comes with it to surrender ourselves to its whims. at one point, he condemns orpheus for his inability to yield to death for eurydice. interesting take..
and alkibiades, who pretty much complains for several pages about being friendzoned by socrates. the intense sexual vigor that man seemed to inspire in these people is really a mystery to me.
overall, loved it!
leoreadssmut's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
For LGBT+ history nerds this is required reading but please read the trigger list before you pick it up the reviewer here tells all the triggers for this dialogue.