Symposium. In his book a number of speeches are given by Athenians from Greece, in particular Diotima, Alciabides, Pausanias, Eryxamachus, Aristophones, and Agathon. In the Symposium the speeches that are given are based on the philosopical matter of love, what it means for the Athenians that each say their speeches, and converse amongst each other about the matter. The story begins with an introductory dialogue where a man named Apollodorus encounters a man named Glaucon who asks Apollodorus about
want to speak on the topic of love. They decide to go in a circle and each man gives their account of love. Phaedrus account of love: Phaedrus begins. He states that gods and humans regard love as great and awesome. It is one of the most ancient gods. Love will make a coward,, a hero because a person does not want to seem weak in front of the one he loves. A lover will also die for you. Phaedrus uses the story
Plato’s Symposium provides six varying perspectives on love, each presented in different forms ranging from entertaining tales (Aristophanes) to formal rhetoric (Agathon). However, the most spectacular of the speeches on love comes from Socrates who pulls bits from the others’ dialogues and subtly incorporates them into his own to create the broad definition of love, encompassing both the love of wisdom and the love of various forms of beauty. His speech also serves as a defense in Plato’s Apology, where