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menintrees's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
ed_moore's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.5
Plato’s ’Symposium’ recounts a fictional dinner and discussion between philosophers and playwrights in celebration of the tragedian Agathon. The most notable faces present are Socrates and Aristophanes, and Plato in his commentary on love just has a bit of fun creating speeches for these great classical figures. They each make a speech on love, some more agreeable than others and all have a little debate and laugh about it, all in all it being positive vibes.
I found the opening of a companion asking for a recount of this dinner quite detached and unnecessary, but the rest was engaging and an interesting insight on the classical conception of love, and how really after so many years humans haven’t really changed. We still drink and foolishly pursue love or lament it and many of the ideas of Plato really haven’t changed.
There wasn’t much plot but the invented personas of the “characters” were lively and pleasant, it was the type of dinner I would want to be in attendance of. Also Alcibiades’ drunken declaration of love for Socrates is absolutely marvellous.
vampiresreadtoo's review against another edition
4.0
why did no one tell me how gay and fun reading plato was???