The Symposium

What is love? For centuries, poets and philosophers have wrestled with this question, but few works capture its depth and complexity as vividly as Plato's Symposium. Set at an Athenian banquet, the dialogue unfolds as a series of speeches on eros—from the physical to the transcendent. Each speaker offers a different perspective: the noble, the practical, the medical, the comic, the poetic, and finally the philosophical. Socrates recounts the wisdom of Diotima, who leads him from loving a single beautiful body to contemplating beauty itself—an eternal, unchanging Form. Written by Plato in his prime, the Symposium is at once a dramatic masterpiece and a profound exploration of desire, creativity, and the human longing for immortality. This modern-English edition removes the barriers of archaic language and dated translation, letting Plato's ideas speak clearly to today's reader. Whether you are new to philosophy or returning to a classic, this edition invites you to join the conversation. Part of The Modern Wisdom Library.