Interpretations Of Love In Plato's The Symposium

In The Apology, Socrates attempts to defend himself and his conduct certainly not to apologize it. Derived from the Greek word “apologia,” which translates as a speech made in defense or as a defense only. This is an account of the speech Socrates makes at a trial in which he is charged inventing new deities, not recognizing the Gods recognized by state, and the Youth of Athens corruption.

In his novel, “Always Outnumbered Always Outgunned” author Walter Mosley places importance on the idea of male black bonds though the idea of brotherhood. He uses the main character, Socrates, and his relationships with other male black men to show the importance of community. Mosley uses his novel to state that brotherhood can be used to combat white injustice and better the black community by looking out for one another.

The first four books of Vergil’s Aeneid explore many themes. One of the most prevalent themes throughout the Aeneid is love. Love plays a crucial role in the Aeneid, because it generates emotions and relationships between characters, whether it is romantic or familial love. Love is pivotal in the Aeneid and Virgil demonstrates the act of love throughout the first four books, portraying many experiences, literary techniques, and the impact of Roman and Greek literature.

In the speech of Diotima, she questions Socrates way of looking at love, Socrates said that love was something beautiful and good. Diotima describes love as needing happiness in order to have that love fulfilled; She thinks that happiness comes when one has beautiful and good things around them. Diotima describes love at the beginning of her speech, she says love was born when Aphrodite was born, Diotima also says that love is hardship and overcoming that hardship is what brings happiness to ones life. Love is described as a person, a person who has needs and desires, a person who is smart and always on the look out for opportunities. She always describes Love or Eros as being neither mortal or immortal, Love or as it is personified is the

Each speech fulfills its own duty to explicitly demonstrate the various angles of love. These speeches on love, in some way, are not completely independent and link up with one another – whether it is disagreement or improvement of former ideas. Plato’s Symposium seems to be telling us that love has many features and many sides. The symposium delights readers with its entertainment, and we get a very good sense of human-being attraction in Ancient

Following traditional Socratic procedure, Socrates, in Plato’s Euthyphro, assumes the unfitting role of the ignorant pupil seeking to obtain knowledge from Euthyphro, the prosecutor and self-proclaimed expert on piety. However, as the dialogue progresses and the irony reveals itself, Euthyphro unveils his true ignorance and Socrates emerges as the wise prosecutor who questions the former on his various definitions and understandings of piety.

The various ideologies of love mentioned by speakers in Plato’s Symposium portrayed the social and cultural aspect of ancient Greece. In the text, there were series of speeches given by Phaedrus, Pausanias, Eryximachus, Aristophanes, Socrates, and Agathon about the idea of love, specifically the effect and nature of Eros. Within the speakers, Agathon’s speech was exceptional in that his speech shifted the focus of the audience from effect of Eros on people, to the nature and gifts from the Eros. Despite Agathon’s exceptional remarks about Eros, Socrates challenged Agathon’s characterization of Eros through utilization of Socratic Method.

Desire is a consuming force that causes the body to act without consulting the mind. Anne Carson’s translation of Sappho’s fragments in, If Not Winter, creates experiences in which, eros produces a gap between the subject and the desired object. With the use of vivid imagery and overt symbolism within fragment 105A, Sappho allows her readers to experience the uncontrollable forces of desire and attraction which govern a person who is in love; even if such feelings are irrational. This ultimately creates a tangible distance between the subject and the object she desires. In this paper, I will argue that longing after an unattainable person becomes so consuming that it eventually produces madness within the desiring individual. It is important

From the times of Ancient Greek, love was called Eros which meant sexual passion or Philla which meant deep friendship. Different cultures and civilizations have defined love and its many aspects in different ways. Fredrickson on the other hand has addressed to us that to understand love more we must get rid of all ideas we have heard since birth. Fredrickson proposes a new perspective on this feeling called love that we have so many phrase and stories to describe it. In the essay, “Selections from Love 2.0” Fredrickson states, “Just as your body was designed to extract oxygen from the earth’s atmosphere and nutrients from the foods you ingest, your body was designed to love. Love---like taking a deep breath or eating an orange when you’re depleted and thirsty---not only feels great but is also life-giving, an indispensable source of energy, sustenance, and health” (107). Fredrickson proposes that love is something your body craves and longs for. It is not just an emotion as people still believe but a “indispensable source of energy” as she describes it. It nourishes the body and fuels us not just emotionally but psychically too. Now this is not just some idea that she came up with to support her claim but more there is science behind this that she explains. In the essay, “Selections from Love 2.0” Fredrickson explains, “I’m drawing on science: new science that illuminates for the first time how love, and its absence, fundamentally alters the biochemicals in which your body is steeped. They, in turn, can alter the very ways your DNA gets expressed within your cells. The love you do or do not experience today may quite literally change key aspects of your cellular architecture next season and next year—cells that affect your physical health, your vitality, and overall well-being. (107). Fredrickson is stating that there is scientific proof that states how love can affect the body in positive or negative ways depending on the

Nature versus Nurture is an age old debate in Psychology. Nature vs Nurture relates to an individuals behaviour and characteristics and whether they are inherited through their DNA and genes, which can be seen as an innate approach to the debate.This is because innatism believes that the mind is born with all knowledge.Nurture states our behaviour and characteristics are learned through our environment and experiences, This therefore can be seen as empiricist approach as empiricism states that we are born a blank slate and everything we know is learned through our senses. Reproductive behaviour looks at how patterns are established and formed to continue the survival of humanity. Reproductive behaviour can fall under either Nature or Nurture

Socrates was convinced that our souls are where virtues and vices are found, they are vastly more important for our lives than our bodies or external circumstances. The quality of our souls determines the character of our lives, for better or for worse, much more than whether we are healthy or sick, or rich or poor. If we are to live well and happily, as he assumed we all want to do more than we want anything else, we must place the highest priority on the care of our souls. That means we must above all want to acquire the virtues, since they perfect our souls and enable them to direct our lives for the better. If only we could know what each of the virtues is we could then make an effort to obtain them. As to the nature of the virtues,

Juno proves love is power, but later love is abused through romance. In the beginning of Book II, Aeneas is very willing to discuss his past with Dido. Dido listens patiently to Aeneas, while he reveals his past. Aeneas even mentions a beautiful vision of his mother, “my gracious mother stood there before me; and across the night she gleamed with pure light, unmistaken goddess, as lovely and as tall as she appeared” (Virgil, Aeneid 2.795-298). Aeneas throughout Book III is still talking about his encounter with the Trojans. He means to be romantic, but Aeneas’ story delivers familial love. The loyalty and leadership established by Aeneas relinquishes a swagger that ultimately justifies who Aeneas is. Aeneas displays great care when honoring

In the Greek literary work Apology written by Plato, Socrates was convicted for refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state, introducing new divinities and corrupting the youth. It is believed by many critics that Socrates knew he was going to be sentenced to death so, he was able to use his defense as an opportunity to clear his reputation, confront his accusers, but most significantly instruct the Athenians. He wanted them to look into themselves and seek virtue and wisdom before looking into personal interests. We notice throughout Socrates’ defense that there is a continued theme of wisdom and teaching towards the Athenians.

It is said that love is one of the most influential feelings in the human body. This feeling of love can be pleasant and enjoyable, but it can also be blinding. When taken to the extreme, the power of love may result in substantial destruction of the individual. Book IV of Virgil’s epic tale The Aeneid tells of Queen Dido and her obsessive love. The love for her spouse, Aeneas, blinds her of rational thinking. Through the tale of Queen Dido Virgil represents how an obsession can cause people to lose themselves. An obsession can alter one's perception on what is truly important. Virgil uses Queen Dido to prove that obsessive love can have far-reaching consequences for the individual.

Eros is one of the most common types of love and is usually used to express desire or lust. It is demonstrated in the drama in Romeo and Juliet when Shakespeare writes “kill the envious moon”(Shakespeare 2.2.4). When Romeo says the quote, he means to kill the jealous Diana. This is seen since he