Plato’s Symposium: Speeches on Love
Plato’s Symposium: Seven Speeches on Love
Plato’s Symposium, also known as “The Banquet,” presents seven speeches concerning Eros, the god of love. After excessive partying and drinking, the participants, having attended a party the previous day, decide to engage in a philosophical discussion. They choose to deliver eulogies for Eros, a theme proposed by Erixímaco. The speakers, in order, are Phaedrus, Pausanias, Erixímaco, Aristophanes, Agathon, Socrates, and Alcibiades.
Phaedrus: Eros as the Oldest God
Phaedrus, the first speaker, posits Eros as one of the oldest gods, emerging after Chaos and Earth. He argues that Eros’s ancient nature is the source of many benefits, particularly the love between lovers. He asserts that nothing—not blood ties, wealth, or dignity—can instill beauty like Eros. Eros inspires great pride in men, and only lovers are willing to die for one another.
Pausanias: Celestial and Vulgar Eros
Pausanias, the second speaker, critiques Phaedrus’s praise of Eros, arguing that the god is not singular. He distinguishes between Celestial Eros and Vulgar Eros. He claims that no action is inherently good or bad; an action is good only if based on justice. Thus, indulging in Vulgar Eros leads to greed, inequity, and material whims. To embrace Celestial Eros, one must act according to the principles of justice and heavenly beauty.
Erixímaco: Eros in Nature and Balance
Erixímaco, the third speaker and a physician, expands on Pausanias’s speech. He states that Eros exists not only in human souls but also in many other beings—animals, plants, and all of nature. He views the organic nature of Eros as having two aspects: health and disease, “looking one way and then another.” One is the love residing in a healthy body, the other in a sick body. Like medicine, which seeks peaceful coexistence between opposites, love must find a balance between physical and spiritual needs.
Aristophanes: Androgyny and the Power of Eros
Aristophanes, the fourth speaker, begins by emphasizing humanity’s ignorance of Eros’s power. To understand this power, he explains, one must first know the history of human nature. He then describes the theory of androgyny, the myth of our original unity and subsequent division. According to Aristophanes, there were initially three types of human beings, each double: male-male, female-female, and male-female (the androgyne).
Agathon: The Virtues of Eros
Agathon, the fifth speaker, criticizes his predecessors for praising Eros without explaining his nature. He states, “To praise anyone, the true method is to examine them in themselves and then list the benefits that emanate from them.” He argues, contrary to Phaedrus, that Eros is a young god. He then enumerates Eros’s virtues, including justice, temperance, and divine power.
Socrates: Love as Desire for What is Lacking
Socrates, the sixth speaker and considered the most important, asserts that love is something one desires. The object of love can only be desired when it is lacking, when it is not possessed, because nobody desires what they no longer need. According to Plato, one loves only “what” one does not have. If someone loves themselves, they love what they are not. The “object” of love is always absent but always sought. Truth is something that is always beyond; just when one thinks they have grasped it, it slips away.
Alcibiades: Praising Socrates
Alcibiades, the seventh speaker, focuses more on praising Socrates than on discoursing about love.