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Plato's Symposium
Plato's Symposium: A Translation by Seth Benardete with Commentaries by Allan Bloom and Seth Benardete | Plato
18 posts | 53 read | 22 to read
Plato, Allan Bloom wrote, is "the most erotic of philosophers," and his Symposium is one of the greatest works on the nature of love ever written. This new edition brings together the English translation of the renowned Plato scholar and translator, Seth Benardete, with two illuminating commentaries on it: Benardete's "On Plato's Symposium" and Allan Bloom's provocative essay, "The Ladder of Love." In the Symposium, Plato recounts a drinking party following an evening meal, where the guests include the poet Aristophanes, the drunken Alcibiades, and, of course, the wise Socrates. The revelers give their views on the timeless topics of love and desire, all the while addressing many of the major themes of Platonic philosophy: the relationship of philosophy and poetry, the good, and the beautiful.
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review
batsy
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Pickpick

Is Symposium probably one of the best philosophical accounts of hangover chitchat in existence? 🙂 Plato's dialectical dialogue style of philosophical inquiry is very welcoming for people wading into philosophy, & I was blown away by how Socrates approaches the topic of Eros & beauty. Plato employs the fictional modes of a story within a story, so Socrates is made to share his views by relating his conversation with a seer/priestess, Diotima.

batsy She says: "All men are pregnant Socrates, both in body & in soul; & when they are of a right age, our nature desires to beget. But it cannot beget in an ugly thing, only in a beautiful thing. And this business is divine, & this is something immortal in a mortal creature, breeding, & birth". There is much to unpack in these ideas but there is something profoundly moving about attributing the desire to conceive something beautiful to every human. 2y
batsy All of this happens while the men are gathered together for a night of food & drink, & towards the end Alcibiades' crashes the party & goes on a tirade about his jealous longing for Socrates, while also praising his character. It is a short dialogue, rich in ideas, & also feels like very sophisticated Socrates fanfic. Deeply enjoyable. 2y
andrew61 That is a great review. I have never stuck my toe into philosophy or the Greek myths but your review has intrigued me. Where would a novice start ? 2y
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Graywacke I‘m so scared of philosophical stuff, i have sort of avoided this. But you make it sound delightful. In The Man Without Qualities, one of the main protagonists, the beautiful and chaste wife of an Austrian official, is nicknamed and always referred to as Diotima. 2y
Tamra @Graywacke I was too until it was required and I found it really is accessible and meaningful. Reading it recreationally would remove all the pressure and you can take your time. 2y
Tamra Lovely review! I always worried if I didn‘t “get” everything from these types of texts it wasn‘t worth reading. Not true - now I realize. They are meant to be reread multiple times. 😁 2y
batsy @andrew61 Thank you! I'm a philosophy novice as well, especially with classical stuff. This is my first full-length one & it seems like a good place to start? It feels quite "literary", like a story, & is pretty short. I'm doing the Greek plays chronologically as a year-long readalong based on this http://wutheringexpectations.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-cyclops-by-euripides-only-... & it's been really enjoyable ? 2y
batsy @Graywacke That's super interesting! And it makes sense wrt the "chaste" bit; I was super curious about Diotima & her origins are murky but she's meant to be a seer or a priestess who helped Athens avoid a plague, & thus her essential argument about Eros/love (attributed to Socrates) is that to be at the highest level it has to transcend the physical. 2y
batsy @Tamra Thank you! Yes, excellent point. I used to waste a lot of time thinking about whether or not I "get it" with philosophical or more theoretical texts but now I'm like, I'll just roll with it ? The point is to reread and revisit the arguments, for sure. 2y
81 likes4 stack adds9 comments
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TieDyeDude
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From Hedwig and the Angry Inch, based in part of the origin of love from Plato's Symposium #lipstickday #julyjam @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Eggs 💙💄💋💙 2y
26 likes1 comment
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BeansPage
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This book is an absolute classic of Western literature and I highly recommend it to everyone!

You can read my full review here:
https://sumisbooks.weebly.com/book-reviews/the-symposium-by-plato

49 likes1 stack add
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k323
Symposium | Plato, Alexander Nehamas
Pickpick

The funniest line in this translation is “‘Good evening, gentlemen. I‘m plastered,‘ … ‘May I join your party?‘” You can call any meeting you want a symposium, including coming uninvited to a friend of a friend‘s party to sip diluted wine and exposit about love.

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TsundokuAleax
Symposium | Plato, Alexander Nehamas
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I am stuck in the jury duty pool for the week. I have been catching up on my short reads and working on lines. It is highly unlikely that I will get on a case due to my dad's job but I am making good use of the time so I guess it works for me.

StayCurious My husband has that coming up soon 😕 5y
TsundokuAleax @StayCurious it has been fine but I did plan and bring a lot to do in case i did not get picked for a jury, which has been the case. 5y
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gradcat
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RohitSawant 👏🏼👏🏼 5y
gradcat @rohit-sawant Thank you, my dear. ♥️ 5y
67 likes2 comments
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GripLitGrl
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RohitSawant 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 5y
Cinfhen So cool!!! I never knew Greek Mythology was my jam 🥰 5y
33 likes2 comments
review
auria.linda
Il simposio | Platone
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Poi che la natura umana fu fatta in due, ciascuna metà desiderando l'altra, le andava incontro; e gettandosi intorno le braccia l'una all'altra allacciandosi, nella viva brama di rifondersi insieme, morivano di fame e di inerzia, non volendo far nulla l'una staccata dall'altra. Da così lungo tempo, come voi vedete, è negli uomini connaturato questo amore, mirando a restaurare l'antico essere nostro, che tenta far di due uno.

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Beautywithbooks
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Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.

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readingonarainyday
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Enjoyed a brief stop at the Symposium Books in Providence yesterday. I loved this cute little bookstore. It had a good collection of used books, a few new books, and some nice shelves of graphic novels and memoirs. Oh and some excellent t-shirts for bookworms!

LeahBergen 😍😍 8y
30 likes1 comment
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I-read-and-eat
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"each human being was a whole, with its back and flanks rounded to form a circle; it had four hands and an equal number of legs, and two identically similair faces upon a circular neck"

I had to draw the circle-people as described by Aristophanes in his speech. Very entertaining assingment for classical literature class.

*Zeus split the circle-people in two, out of revenge, that is why we spend our lives searching for our other halve.

I-read-and-eat Obviously I can't draw 😂 but at least it's not a stick figure 😂😂 8y
sneirr I love that story 😂 8y
katedensen Love this. 8y
I-read-and-eat @sneirr @katedfisher It is a great story. In this work Aristophanes goes on to say that gay men were circle-people made out of two male parts. And they are the best people because they are all man. And obviously men are the best 😂 8y
17 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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I-read-and-eat
Simposio | Platone
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Trainreading. A good book makes my daily commute something to look forward too. Where do you love to read?

#trainreading #train #plato #commute #translatedbooks #classicalliterature

BarbaraTheBibliophage Many years ago I had a train commute. Boy did I read a lot of books that year! 8y
I-read-and-eat @BarbaraTheBibliophage I almost wish my commute was longer! 8y
BarbaraTheBibliophage I had 90 minutes each way, which was great for reading and horrible for family life. Now I audio read on my commutes. ❤️📚 8y
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Alma I did my fair share of trainreading this summer, commuting almost daily. I kind of miss it now that I no longer get to do it :/ 8y
alexxisasynner I've always wanted to travel by train. #jealous 8y
I-read-and-eat @alexxisasynner you should come live in The Netherlands the trains are part of everyday life for most here. #trainlife 8y
I-read-and-eat @Alma I understand. It is the perfect place for reading. 8y
alexxisasynner @I-read-and-eat That would be amazing. 8y
13 likes1 stack add8 comments
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luciagreg
Simposio | Platone

Love is the name for our pursuit of wholeness, for our desire to be complete
#love #plato #symposium #book #culture

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luciagreg
Simposio | Platone

And so, when a person meets the half that is his very own, whatever his orientation, whether it's to young men or not, then something wonderful happens: the two are struck from their senses by love, by a sense of belonging to one another, and by desire, and they don't want to be separated from one another, not even for a moment
#plato #symposium #book #culture #love

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luciagreg
Simposio | Platone

"Amore è possesso perenne del bene"

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thehargreaves
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A (nice and diverse) dialogue about love.

review
Lylah
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Sexuality in Ancient Greece is incredibly interesting. Various characters based on real Greek men share their views on what makes Love (the God & the feeling) so great, mostly talking about gay love!! An intriguing read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

8 likes3 stack adds