Plato's Symposium Sparknotes

In the book,” Plato’s Symposium,” by Plato, who was a philosopher in Greece, he illustrates the dialectic discussion in a party at Agathon’s to celebrate his triumph of his first tragedy. In the Symposium; the guests Phaedrus, an Athenian aristocrat; Pausanias, the legal expert; Eryximachus, a physician; Aristophanes, eminent comic playwright; Agathon ,a tragic poet and host of the banquet; Socrates, eminent philosopher and Plato's teacher; and Alcibiades, a prominent Athenian statesman, orator and general; discuss their own versions and viewpoints to praise the god of love. First we have Phaedrus who starts to say that love is the most ancient of the gods and should be praise worthy, next we have Eryximachus who states that love affects everything
in the universe and that it should be protected, next we have Aristophanes who states that the reason why love is on earth is because god has split humanity in half and that man should fear the gods and should embrace love to feel whole again, and last we have Socrates who suggests what Diotima explains that love is in the middle of two things or objects and has both characteristics. Phaedrus starts off the conversation of love stating how the god Love doesn’t get much attention in songs and that he should be praise worthy because he has helped men to gain honor and blessedness. This begins the symposium and functions as a way to tell the reader what the topic would be about and why the guests in the party should discuss it. Phaedrus states that,” What a strange thing it is, Eryximachus, that, whereas other gods have poems and hymns made in their honor, the great and glorious god, Love, has no encomiast among all the poets who are so many.” In this passage, it is shown how Phaedrus sees love as a god who doesn’t get much attention or contribution to him but Love should because he is praise worthy since he is the most honored and powerful in helping men to gain honor and blessedness. Next we have Eryximachus who explains his version of love as being the love of what you do or the profession that you wish to do. Eryximachus states his viewpoint of love is that it affects everything in the universe and that it should be protected because it helps people to love their profession like medicine.
This also suggests in the symposium about love to the reader what Eryximachus thinks about love. Eryximachus states that.” I feel sure it’s from medicine, my own area of expertise, that I’ve from medicine, my own area of expertise, that I’ve realized how great and wonder a god Love is, and how his power extends to all aspects of human and divine life. I’ll begin with medicine, to give pride of place to this form of expertise. It’s inherent in the nature of bodies that they manifest these two kinds of love. It’s generally agreed that bodily health and disease are different states and dissimilar from each other. When things are dissimilar, the objects of their desire and love are dissimilar. Therefore, love is different in the case of healthy and diseased body.” In this passage it shows how Eryximachus sees love through the viewpoint of his profession and therefore he explains that love affects everything in the universe and that it is capable of helping people to find out what they love to do or the profession which they love to do like medicine. Next we have Socrates and his version of love through the viewpoint of
Diotima. Aristophanes states that the reason to why humanity desire love is because ever since they have split apart by the gods for being too powerful and that it states that humanity should work with love to become whole instead of offending the gods as before. This also suggests in the symposium about love to the reader to understand what Aristophanes thinks about love. Aristophanes explains that,” So everyone should encourage others one outcome and achieve the other, with Love as our leader and general. No one should work against Love, and to get on the wrong side of the gods is to work against Love. If we are friends of the god and have on our side, we shall do what few people now do – find and become close to the loved ones that are really our own.” In this passage, it shows how Aristophanes sees love as a god who should indeed be worshiped because he has helped humanity to want one another even though they were split and it is best to worship him in case each gender is split in half again. Last we have Socrates who explains his version of love through the viewpoint of Diotima who states that love is the spirit between god and man as well as poverty and contrivance. Socrates states his viewpoint of love based off of how Diotima, a woman from Mantinea, suggests that love is a spirit between god and men because of his father and mother and that he shares their characteristics of being poverty and contrivance.
This also suggests in the symposium about to the reader to understand Socrates version of love through the viewpoints of Diotima. He states,” Because he the son of Resource and Poverty, Love’s situation is like this. First of all, he’s always poor; far from being sensitive and beautiful. As it commonly supposed, he tough, with hardened skin, without shoes or home. He always sleeps rough, on the ground, with no bed, lying in doorways and by roads in open air; sharing his mother’s nature, he always lives in a state of need. On the other hand, taking after his father, he schemes to get a hold of beautiful and good things. He’s brave, impetuous and intense; a formidable hunter, always weaving tricks; he desires knowledge and is resourceful in getting it; a lifelong lover of wisdom; clever at using magic, drugs and sophistry.” In this passage, it is shown how Socrates views the question of love as being part of both of poverty and recourse who is always in need and is brave in getting what he wants. Now conclude everything that these four speakers have stated about love, we have the conclusion to analyze the thoughts and viewpoints of the
speakers. In conclusion, the dialectics of love from the viewpoints Socrates, Aristophanes, Eryximachus, and Phaedrus suggest that there are different ways to look upon a topic. Socrates states the viewpoint of love through Diotima who suggests that love is between both god and man therefore making love a spirit with both characteristics of poverty and recourse. Aristophanes starts his viewpoint on how humans were once round balls before they were split apart and now how humanity wants to be together and how people seem to want and desire each other while hoping to connect to each other. Eryximachus starts his viewpoint on how love affects everything in the universe and that it governs the arts in ways to help people to express themselves and love their profession. Phaedrus begins his viewpoint on love that Eros is the most ancient of the gods because he has done great benefits to men but is the least worshipped as one of the great gods. This concludes that love comes through certain people in different ways depending on how they see love through their profession or experiences which they do or achieve everyday of their lives.