Agathon goes on to speak about the virtues of Love. SparkNotes is brought to you by Barnes & Noble. 1. What is left underneath the skillful prose disguised as parody might be a complete lack of knowledge. Love is braver even than Ares, god of war, since Ares fell in love with Aphrodite and was thus mastered by Love. Plato constantly challenges the tragedy-comedy dichotomy in the Symposium, and Agathon’s speech is a major element in this challenge. Agathon’s speech was more clearly comedic.

They also end the conception of attributing all good qualities to Love; rather than base their idea of Eros on the beloved, they should do so on the lover. Agathon replies that Socrates is trying to fluster him by suggesting that everyone expects a great speech from him. To avoid comparisons to the previous speeches, he asks if he can speak in his own way. Agathon ends his speech praising Love, stating all men should follow this god. Agathon concludes with a rhetorically complex eulogy praising every aspect of Love, who is responsible for beauty, excellence, mildness, wisdom, goodness, excellence, and much else besides. Not affiliated with Harvard College. Symposium study guide contains a biography of Plato, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. He equates Justice with nonviolence, courage and moderation with power, and wisdom with technical skill. Love is wise since he is the inspiration for all other acts of wisdom. A paradox arises where he tries to praise a deity, even though that deity is anthropomorphic, in terms of virtue, but to complete his argument abstracts from man. SparkNotes is brought to you by Barnes & Noble. I'm familiar with the concept of integrative thinking but unsure on the details of it that would cover such a complex set of variables. No poet can be wise without love, nor could the gods or muses master their respective arts without love for those arts. To prove Love’s wisdom, Agathon equates Love’s poetry, making those in love poets, the production of animals, and his effect on artisans and professionals as being wise. After all present applaud for Agathon, Socrates tells Eryximachus, reminding him he had said he would have nothing to say after Agathon spoke. Agathon follows up Aristophanes, and gives a rhetorically elaborate speech that identifies Love as young, beautiful, sensitive, and wise. People want to preserve qualities they have now that they want to possess in the future. After they have finished eating, Eryximachus picks up on a suggestion of Phaedrus', that each person should in turn make a speech in praise of the god of Love. In other words, “Love is the love of something” and he loves what he needs in the present. It is ironic, however, that while he praises Love for what he is, Agathon uses virtue, a human excellence, as the criterion in praise. The speeches are to be given in praise of Eros, the god of love and desire. In discussing the virtue of Love, he describes the characteristics it is generally divided into, which the previous speeches have described: courage (Phaedrus), justice (Pausanias), temperance (Eryximachus) and he substitutes wisdom for piety (Aristophanes). In the case of Heavenly Love, the boy, or loved one, sexually gratifies the man, or lover, in exchange for education in wisdom and virtue. Symposium | Socrates and Agathon | Summary Share. therefore, he starts by describing the qualities of the god. He argues that Agathon has attempted to make love appear "as attractive and perfect as possible" without any regard for the truth. Socrates answers that, having seen Agathon at the festival, he knows that Agathon can speak with great confidence before large crowds. Love has the four cardinal virtues of Justice, Moderation, Bravery, and Wisdom. Symposium essays are academic essays for citation. Agathon concludes with a rhetorically complex eulogy praising every aspect of Love, who is responsible for beauty, excellence, mildness, wisdom, goodness, excellence, and much else besides.

Socrates remarks that if Eryximachus were in his position, not having spoken yet and having to follow Agathon, he would be quite frightened. Then he turns to Phaedrus, telling him this is the speech he has prepared, admitting part of it was in fun, but part of it was still moderately serious. This applies to qualities that are not permanent. The Symposium is a philosophical text by Plato dated c. 385–370 BC. He praises Agathon’s speech, saying it reminded him of Gorgias. Strong critics of Agathon however have referred to his writing as being simply imitation. Socrates replies that it is easy to argue against Socrates, but that Agathon cannot argue with the truth. When everyone else has finally fallen asleep, Socrates gets up and goes about his daily business as always. He is also delicate, settling in gentle characters, of fluid and supple shape to enfold souls, and attractive. Agathon begins by explaining how he plans to shift his speech from the previous by describing the nature of Love and celebrating him, rather than congratulating humans on the good things that come from Love.