Symposium

Socrates is on his way to Agathon’s victory feast when he stops in a neighboring portico and disappears into thought. By the time he arrives, the wine is waiting—and the company is ready to talk about love.

In Athens, after the young tragedian Agathon has won his first prize, his guests gather for supper, still wary of the previous night’s drinking. Apollodorus recounts the evening through a chain of memories: Aristodemus arrives uninvited, Socrates turns up late, and the company agrees to take turns praising Eros. Their speeches weigh love’s power to inspire courage, shape desire, and lift the mind beyond the everyday. But Socrates has a way of unsettling easy answers. What will these guests discover when they try to say what love is?

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