Symposium: A Classic Philosophical Text (Top 100 Classic Books)

The Symposium Plato Translated with an introduction by Benjamin Jowett Translated with an introduction by Benjamin Jowett The Symposium is a philosophical text by Plato dated c. 385 380 BC. It concerns itself at one level with the genesis, purpose and nature of love, and (in latter-day interpretations) is the origin of the concept of Platonic love. Love is examined in a sequence of speeches by men attending a symposium, or drinking party. Each man must deliver an encomium, a speech in praise of Love (Eros). The party takes place at the house of the tragedian Agathon in Athens. Socrates in his speech asserts that the highest purpose of love is to become a philosopher or, literally, a lover of wisdom. The dialogue has been used as a source by social historians seeking to throw light on life in ancient Athens, in particular upon sexual behavior, and the symposium as an institution. It is considered that the work was written not earlier than 385 BCE, and the party to which it makes reference has been fixed in 416 BCE, the year in which the host Agathon had the dramatic triumph to which the text makes reference. The disastrous expedition to Syracuse, of which Alcibiades was a leading commander, took place the next year, after which, he deserted to Sparta, Athens' archenemy. Hamilton remarks that Plato takes care to portray Alcibiades and Socrates and their relationship in a way that makes it clear that Socrates had not been a bad influence for Alcibiades, which he does to free his teacher from the accusation of being a cause of corruption in the minds of prominent youths, which eventually earned Socrates the death sentence.