What Is The Theme Of Love In Plato's Symposium

Symposium by Plato is a story which discusses the different types of love and how each type of man present in the story views love. Men give speeches, discussing the different types of love, the love of men being of the heavens, and love of women being of the earth. However, when analyzing the pieces, it becomes clear that there is more meaning to the writing than simply the existence of an earthly and a heavenly love. Rather, Plato wishes to convey a deeper, societal message in his writing. The views that Plato expresses through Socrates in the Symposium is surprisingly feminist. During the time period of Symposium, women were not treated as equals to men, rather as much more insignificant beings. It was a common belief that women were of the earth, while the men were from the heavens. This belief lead to the thought that women were unable to understand any complex philosophy. Thus, when the men gathered at the symposium, they requested that the woman in the room be dismissed. Eryximachus proposes “...that we dismiss the flute-­girl who just came in. Let her play for herself, or if she prefers, …show more content…
The basis of his speech is from Diotima, and the meat of what he says comes from a retelling of their conversation. Socrates tells Agathon that the best way for him to understand love would be to retell what Diotima said to him, “As you noted, Agathon, one must first describe Love and his character, and then his works. I think the easiest thing would be for me to proceed as the foreign woman did, describing how she questioned me at that time” (Plato 39). He relies on Diotima’s wisdom for his argument, and thus his speech is stronger than it would have been if he had no clear ideas about anything and was simply contributing another theory. It is surprising to think that the great Socrates’ is taking knowledge from another, but it is more surprising that Diotima is a