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(p.463, 178c) According to Phaedrus, when a man loves another man it is pure beauty, a virtuous life lesson for the young man. By the young boy having an older man as a lover they each gained something from one another. The young boy gains guidance and maturity while in return the lover gains the very much treasured heavenly love: When the lover is able to help the young man become wiser and better, and the young man is eager to be taught and improved by this lover... it is honorable for a young man to accept a lover. (p.469, 184e) These young men were not only introduced to new facts of life through their lovers, but were said to be The only kind of boys that grow up to be real men in politics(p.475, 192b)
Instead of thinking that love is pure and delicate, as the heavenly love can be taken, Diotima thinks love is tough... always lying in the dirt without a bed... brave, impetuous, and intense. (p. 486, 203d) This statement should not be taken in the wrong direction and thought of as the common love, but as a new form of love that is something in between the heavenly love and common love. As most of her statements, Diotima believes that many of the beliefs on love that had previously been stated were in truth somewhere in the …show more content…
It is odd how Diotima is not actually present but highly esteemed even after the men know that she is in fact a woman, a being that is thought of as ignorant and a mere tool used for reproduction. My statement should not be taken the wrong way and thought of as men thinking this way about all woman, but only those that roamed the earth, it definitely excludes goddesses. The more curious thing about Plato bringing a woman into the discussion through Socrates is that this woman is made up just as all the other characters of the symposium are made up as well. With this information in mind it has brought me to believe that all these ideas are Plato's way of portraying his thoughts through these speakers on different opinions that the world had on
Instead of thinking that love is pure and delicate, as the heavenly love can be taken, Diotima thinks love is tough... always lying in the dirt without a bed... brave, impetuous, and intense. (p. 486, 203d) This statement should not be taken in the wrong direction and thought of as the common love, but as a new form of love that is something in between the heavenly love and common love. As most of her statements, Diotima believes that many of the beliefs on love that had previously been stated were in truth somewhere in the …show more content…
It is odd how Diotima is not actually present but highly esteemed even after the men know that she is in fact a woman, a being that is thought of as ignorant and a mere tool used for reproduction. My statement should not be taken the wrong way and thought of as men thinking this way about all woman, but only those that roamed the earth, it definitely excludes goddesses. The more curious thing about Plato bringing a woman into the discussion through Socrates is that this woman is made up just as all the other characters of the symposium are made up as well. With this information in mind it has brought me to believe that all these ideas are Plato's way of portraying his thoughts through these speakers on different opinions that the world had on