Paperback, 139 pages
English language
Published July 9, 2002 by St. Augustine's Press.
5 stars
(1 review)
In the course of a lively drinking party, a group of Athenian intellectuals exchange views on eros, or desire. From their conversation emerges a series of subtle reflections on gender roles, sex in society, and the sublimation of basic human instincts. The discussion culminates in a radical challenge to conventional views by Plato's mentor, Socrates, who advocates transcendence through spiritual love. The Symposium is a deft interweaving of different viewpoints and ideas about the nature of love - as a response to beauty, a cosmic force, a motive for social action, and as a means of ethical education.
Subjects
- Ancient Western philosophy to c 500
- Literary studies: classical, early & medieval
- Philosophy
- General
- Socrates
- History & Surveys - Ancient & Classical
- Early works to 1800
- Love