THE SYMPOSIUM (GREAT IDEAS S.)

by

128 pages

Published May 6, 2005 by PENGUIN BOOKS LTD.

ISBN:
978-0-14-102384-7
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OCLC Number:
60512491

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In the course of a lively drinking party, a group of Athenian intellectuals exchange views on eros, or desire. From their conversation emerges a series of subtle reflections on gender roles, sex in society, and the sublimation of basic human instincts. The discussion culminates in a radical challenge to conventional views by Plato's mentor, Socrates, who advocates transcendence through spiritual love. The Symposium is a deft interweaving of different viewpoints and ideas about the nature of love - as a response to beauty, a cosmic force, a motive for social action, and as a means of ethical education.

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