Editors Reads Verdict
Plato's most beautiful dialogue — the literary occasion (a symposium, wine, speeches, and Alcibiades's drunken entrance) is perfectly calculated to carry its philosophical argument. Diotima's ladder, ascending from physical to spiritual love, is one of the most influential ideas in Western aesthetics and theology.
What We Loved
- The literary occasion is beautifully constructed — each speaker embodies their theory
- Aristophanes's myth of the divided humans is funny, tender, and philosophically serious
- Alcibiades's drunken speech at the end — about Socrates's strange nature — is the most vivid portrait of Socrates in any dialogue
Minor Drawbacks
- The ascending ladder of Diotima is more beautiful than convincing — the transcendence of physical love is asserted rather than argued
- Short — leaves many questions open
Key Takeaways
- → Aristophanes's myth: humans were originally spherical beings split in two by Zeus, and love is the search for our other half — the most influential folk theory of romantic love ever told
- → Diotima's ladder: starting from love of a beautiful body, one ascends to love of beautiful souls, then beautiful activities, then knowledge, then beauty itself — which Plato equates with the Good
- → Alcibiades's portrait of Socrates as a satyr who conceals golden figures inside reveals Plato's method — Socratic ugliness conceals philosophical treasure
| Author | Plato |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Penguin Classics |
| Pages | 96 |
| Published | January 1, 1 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Classic, Philosophy, Non-Fiction |
| Difficulty | Beginner |
| Best For | Readers new to Plato — the most accessible and beautiful of the major dialogues — and anyone interested in the philosophy of love and beauty. |
The Dinner Party
It is 416 BCE. Agathon, a tragic playwright, has just won at the Lenaia festival. He throws a dinner party. The guests — including Aristophanes, Socrates, and later the drunken general Alcibiades — agree to give speeches in praise of Eros, the god of love.
Each speech is a theory: Phaedrus argues that Love is the oldest god and inspires courage. Pausanias distinguishes heavenly from common Love. Aristophanes tells his famous myth of the divided humans. Agathon delivers an elegant but shallow encomium. Then Socrates speaks — reporting not his own views but those of Diotima, a wise woman who taught him.
Diotima’s Ladder
Diotima’s argument is the dialogue’s intellectual centre: Eros is not a god but a great daemon — intermediate between mortal and divine. Its function is ascent. Starting from love of one beautiful body, one ascends to love of all beautiful bodies, then to love of beautiful souls, activities, and knowledge, and finally to beauty itself — the Form of the Beautiful, identical with the Good.
Our rating: 4.4/5 — Plato’s most beautiful dialogue — philosophy dressed as literature, at the point where they are inseparable.
Reading Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "Symposium" about?
A dinner party in Athens, 416 BCE: Socrates, Aristophanes, Alcibiades, and others deliver speeches in praise of Love (Eros). Each speech offers a different theory; the climax is Socrates's account of what the priestess Diotima taught him — that Eros is the ascent from beautiful bodies to beauty itself.
Who should read "Symposium"?
Readers new to Plato — the most accessible and beautiful of the major dialogues — and anyone interested in the philosophy of love and beauty.
What are the key takeaways from "Symposium"?
Aristophanes's myth: humans were originally spherical beings split in two by Zeus, and love is the search for our other half — the most influential folk theory of romantic love ever told Diotima's ladder: starting from love of a beautiful body, one ascends to love of beautiful souls, then beautiful activities, then knowledge, then beauty itself — which Plato equates with the Good Alcibiades's portrait of Socrates as a satyr who conceals golden figures inside reveals Plato's method — Socratic ugliness conceals philosophical treasure
Is "Symposium" worth reading?
Plato's most beautiful dialogue — the literary occasion (a symposium, wine, speeches, and Alcibiades's drunken entrance) is perfectly calculated to carry its philosophical argument. Diotima's ladder, ascending from physical to spiritual love, is one of the most influential ideas in Western aesthetics and theology.
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