Symposium (‘drinking-party’, ‘banquet’).

1. Dialogue by Plato written perhaps c.384 BC. The dialogue is supposed to have taken place at a banquet held in Athens at the house of the tragic poet Agathon who is celebrating his first victory in the competitions for tragedy at the Lenaea of 416 BC. The dialogue is narrated by a friend of Socrates, Apollodorus of Phalerum, who was not present (being too young) but had the story from an eye-witness and admirer of Socrates, Aristodemus. Each of the guests delivers a short speech in honour of love, Phaedrus from a mythical standpoint, Pausanias from that of a sophist, Agathon from that of a poet, and so on; Aristophanes turns the dialogue towards comedy. Each speech is a clever parody by Plato of the style of the purported speaker. Socrates takes the discussion on to a higher plane. He has learnt from Diotīma, the priestess of Mantinea, that love may have a nobler aspect. The need in a human being which is manifested on a lower plane by sexual love can also take an intellectual form, the desire of the soul to create conceptions of wisdom and beauty such as poets and legislators produce. One should proceed from the love of a beautiful form to the perception and love of universal divine beauty, which has no physical aspect. Alcibiades now joins the party, slightly drunk. He confesses the fascination which Socrates exercises on him and his hope of receiving lessons in wisdom from him. He tells of various incidents in the life of Socrates, including his own failure to seduce him. Socrates is like the statuettes of Silenus that conceal images of gods inside them, and like Marsyas the satyr who with his pipe could charm the souls of men.

The term ‘Platonic love’ refers to the argument for the superiority of non-sexual love.

2. A narrative by Xenophon of an imaginary banquet supposed to have taken place on the occasion of the Great Panathenaea of 421 BC at the house of Callias, Socrates being among the guests. Those present at the banquet are all well-known historical characters except for a comedian called Philippus and a Syracusan in charge of the dancers. The narrative gives a vivid picture of the conversation and amusements at an Athenian symposium. The conversation is a mixture of humour and seriousness, and Socrates is presented in a relaxed mood. There are a good many jokes about his personal appearance; he is the central figure, and, amid all the jokes, delivers a serious speech on the superiority of spiritual to carnal love.