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Love And False Love In Plato's Symposium

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In Plato 's Symposium, a group of men gather together for a friendly drinking party to discuss two main issues: how can beauty be defined, and what is true love. At the symposium each guest must present a speech in praise of Eros, the god of Love. The men had decided to not drink in excess at their symposium. Speaking when drunk allows for a different conversation as compared to a sober speech. When drunk the use of reason and self-control is limited; being sober will allow everyone to present rational argument. With each speech we get a new unique perspective on love. While each speech varies from the previous, one aspect they all have in common is how each speaker subtly attributes characteristics of their own personalities to Eros. Agathon highly emphasizes Eros ' beauty and love for the beautiful, because he himself is young and posseses great physical beauty. Pausanius stresses that the best relationships arise from male and male relationships, such as the relationship he has with Agathon. Eurymachus uses his medical proficiency to guide his speech on love. The Symposium concludes with Socrates and Diotima 's speech on the difference between what can be defined as true versus false love. Virtue ought to be the inspiration for love, however, in his speech, Agathon, elucidates Eros ' beauty and goodness by alluding to Eros ' love of the beautiful. Agathon does not simply state that Eros is the youngest god, but he goes so far as to say that Eros seeks the young and flees

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