Plato's Symposium

We begin our exploration of Plato's more visionary dialogs with the Symposium, a nuanced and complex inquiry into the nature of Love. It shows Plato at his most literary and dramatic, and frames the domain of the erotic in ways that influence us to this day.

Suggested reading: Enjoy the whole dialog if you have the time. But if you’re short on time, concentrate on the speech of Socrates (201d-212c).