In the article we will consider the dialogue "Feast", present its brief content. Plato's “Feast” refers to the genre of symposia (table discussions). The rudiments of this genre are found in the literature of ancient Greece long before the birth of this philosopher. During the Trojan War, for example, the heroes of Homer eat, drink and have a “mutual conversation,” as described in The Illiad. And in the Odyssey, the protagonist’s travels of the work are presented using his own story about them at a feast at Alkinoi, the king of the feacs. The description of the feast made by Xenophanes - the poet and philosopher - in his elegy, also became a textbook.
The meaning of the name of the dialogue
Guests, after a hearty meal, turned to wine. That is why the word "symposion", used to denote the word "feast", is translated as "drinking together." In Greek, the name "Plato" of Plato also sounds like "Symposion." Conversations of Hellenic intellectuals over a glass of wine often turned to aesthetic, ethical and philosophical topics. The eponymous "Feast", a philosophical dialogue, was also created by Xenophon, the famous contemporary of Plato and his friend.
The main theme and idea
What is the author’s thought? We briefly analyze the work before presenting its brief content. Plato's “Feast” is a dialogue, the main theme of which is reasoning about love and good. According to a number of testimonies, in ancient times it had the subtitles “Speech on Love”, “On Good”, etc. It is impossible to say exactly when this work was created. It is believed that its most probable dating is 379 BC. e.
Platonic philosophy long before the creation of this dialogue put forward the doctrine of ideas. It was quite simple for Plato to explain what the essence of material things was. It was much harder to formulate the idea of ​​the human soul. The book "Feast" (Plato), a brief summary of which we are interested in, is devoted to an explanation of this issue. The philosopher believes that the idea of ​​the human soul lies in the eternal pursuit of goodness and beauty, in the love of love for them. Concluding the analysis of Plato’s dialogue “Feast”, we note that it consists of a short introduction and conclusion, as well as seven speeches of the feast participants, with the help of which the main idea is revealed.
Introduction
Plato, in the introduction to his dialogue, describes the meeting of Apollodorus with Glavkon. The latter asks Apollodorus to tell about the feast, which was given about 15 years ago in the house of the poet Agathon. At this feast, there was talk of love. Apollodorus, on the other hand, says that he himself did not participate in it, but he can convey the dialogues that were conducted there, according to Aristodem, one of the participants.
Further, Apollodorus talks about how Aristodem accidentally met with Socrates on the street. The philosopher went to dinner at Agathon and decided to invite him with him. Pausanias, one of those present at the feast, after it began, invited the participants to deliver a speech in honor of the god of love Eros.
Speech Fedra
In his speech, Fedr said that Eros, according to the assurances of Parmenides and Hesiod, is the oldest of the deities. He doesn’t even have parents. The force given by Eros is not comparable to any other. The lover will not leave the subject of passion to the mercy of fate, and the beloved is noble in that he is devoted to the lover.
Speech Pausanias
He draws attention to the fact that loving attraction is not always sublime. It may be base. Pausanias believes that there are two Eros, since the goddesses Aphrodite, whom many recognize his mother, are also two. Aphrodite Heavenly - the eldest of them, is the daughter of Uranus. The younger (Aphrodite the vulgar) is the daughter of Dione and Zeus. Thus, there are two Eros - vulgar and heavenly - which are very different from each other.
Noble heavenly love - a feeling for a man who is smarter and more beautiful than a woman. Such love cannot be called frivolous lust. This is a noble and worthy feeling. Everything is allowed to those who are covered by it, but only in the realm of the mind and soul, for the sake of perfection and wisdom, and not for the sake of the body. Such a person commits selfless acts.
Eriksimach Speech
Next, one funny episode is described by Plato ("Feast"). A summary of it is as follows. The line of talking after Pausanias was supposed to go to Aristophanes, the famous comedian. However, he was very drunk and could not cope with hiccups. The word was given to the doctor Ericksimach.
In his speech, he says that Eros lives not only in man. He is in all nature. The fact that there are two Eros is even necessary, since the essence of life is the maintenance of feelings in harmony. The same can be said about medicine. In it, the doctor’s task is to ensure the balance of healthy and sick principles. The same can be said about music, about its harmony of rhythm and sound. The same applies to the weather. Various natural forces (humidity and dryness, cold and heat) only make a year abundant when they “merge” (in an act of love) with each other “harmoniously” and “judiciously”. Even fortune telling and sacrifices are acts of harmonious unity of gods and people.
Aristophanes speech
Meanwhile, Aristophanes' hiccups pass, and he takes the floor. It is his speech that is further described by Plato ("Feast"). The summary of the words of the comedian comes down to the myth he composed that the people who inhabited the land in ancient times were androgynous women and men at the same time. They had 4 legs and arms, 2 faces that looked in opposite directions, 2 pairs of ears, etc. When such a person was in a hurry, he moved around, rolling on a wheel on 8 limbs.
Since the androgyns were very strong and indignant at the outrage of Zeus, he ordered Apollo to cut into 2 halves of each of them. The female and male halves were scattered on the ground. However, the memory of the former connection gave rise to a desire in people to look for each other in order to restore their former fullness.
Aristophanes concludes that Eros - the desire of the halves to each other to restore their original nature and integrity. However, this is possible only if they honor the gods, because in case of wickedness, the gods are able to cut people into even smaller parts.
We turn to the speech of Agathon and present its summary. Plato's “Feast” is the dialogue that takes place in the house of this particular person.
Agathon's Speech
Speech at the banquet after Aristophanes is kept by the poet Agathon, the owner of the house. With poetic ardor, he praises the following properties of Eros: body flexibility, tenderness, eternal youth. According to Agathon, the god of love does not tolerate any violence in the passion he causes. Feeling rudeness in someone's soul, he forever leaves her. Eros gives courage, judgment, justice, wisdom to man. Agathon believes that love is the most worthy of leaders. It is after him that all people should follow.
Speech of Socrates
The book "Feast" (Plato) is perhaps the most interesting is the speech of Socrates. The words spoken by Agathon provoked a stormy reaction of the audience. Socrates also praises her, however, in such a way that a discreet contradiction to the poet is captured in his speech. The philosopher ironically remarks that commendable speech is attributing it to an object of a huge number of excellent qualities, without thinking about whether this object possesses them or not. The philosopher declares that he intends to tell only the truth about Eros.
Socrates, in his speech, resorts to mayevtica — the dialectical method he has chosen. The author describes how, by conducting a dialogue with Agathon and asking him questions that are skillfully related, the philosopher gradually forces the interlocutor to abandon what he just said.
Socrates says that love is a man’s ardent desire for something. However, passionate desire can only be when you feel the need. What is necessary is what you yourself do not have. Since Eros is a love of good and beauty, it follows from this that he himself is devoid of good and beauty. This, however, does not mean that this god is ugly and angry, because he is inevitably inherent in the craving for the good. Rather, Eros is somewhere in the middle between these two extremes. He does not have the fullness of life, so he strives for it. And if he does not have this fullness, then he cannot be called a god. Thus, the genius of love is something between a mortal and an immortal being. Staying between the gods and people, Eros connects humanity with the divine nature.
Socrates further tells the myth of how this god was conceived. This happened at the birthday of Aphrodite in the garden of Zeus. In the conception participated the god Poros (Wealth), who had fallen asleep from intoxicated nectar; and the poor Singing (Poverty). Eros, who was born from this connection, is poor, rude and ugly, like a mother. However, he is striving for fullness, for perfect and beautiful, thanks to the properties of his father. Eros strives for all kinds of good qualities: not only for beauty, but also for heroism and courage. He seeks wisdom, therefore devotes his life to philosophy, remaining in the middle between ignorance and wisdom. After all, if Eros had managed to know the essence of being, then he would have begun to own it, and therefore would have ceased to strive for it, as Socrates believes.
The erotic hierarchy described by him continues the dialogue of Plato “Feast”. Socrates's philosophy regarding love is formed into a whole system. He disposes manifestations of this feeling as their spiritual qualities increase. Having fallen in love only with the body, after a while we gain the idea of ​​Beauty, which combines all the beautiful bodies into a single alluring symbol. However, through it, a person gradually begins to love the soul rather than the body. So the image of the Beautiful Soul appears. Reason (the highest part of our being) after some time thanks to this craving gains a thirst for science and wisdom. From individual sciences, a person then proceeds to the idea of ​​the Beautiful, which is the limit of desires of all people.
Speech Alcibiades
We continue to describe the dialogue of Plato “Pir”, a summary of which is given in the review. Further, the author talks about how Alcibiades bursts into the feast. He is drunk, surrounded by a group of revelers. Guests at the banquet barely manage to explain the essence of the conversation to Alcibiades. He is invited to express his opinion about Eros. However, having read the contents of the speech of the previous speaker, he fully agrees with him. In his words, the theme of love in Plato's work “Feast” does not receive further development. Since he has nothing to add about Eros, Alcibiades decides to give a speech in honor of the great philosopher Socrates.
He compares the appearance of the philosopher with silens (companions of Dionysus) and with Marsyas, an ugly satyr. However, Alcibiades notices that when he listens to Socrates, his heart beats faster and tears pour from his eyes. The same thing happens with many other people. Socrates makes his speeches live in a new way and avoid unworthy deeds. In the divine words of the philosopher, one can find answers to all the questions that are asked by those who long for the highest nobility.
The behavior of Socrates is also impeccable. Alcibiades participated with him in a military campaign and was struck by the heroism of the philosopher and his great physical endurance. Socrates saved his life in battle, and then modestly refused the reward for it. This person is not like other people, both ancient and modern.
Plato, transmitting the speech of Alcibiades in his work, leads us to the idea that it is in Socrates that the features of a “homeless”, “not shod”, “rude”, “ugly”, “poor”, but inseparable from the desire for “perfect” are embodied "And" beautiful "genius. This ends the philosophical discussion in the dialogue of Plato “Feast”, a brief retelling, analysis and general information about which are presented in this article. It remains for us to describe only the finale of this work.
Conclusion
After the speech of Alquid, a small conclusion was presented, which ends the dialogue of Plato “Feast”. Its summary is not of great interest from the point of view of philosophy. It tells how guests of the feast gradually disperse. This concludes our brief summary. Plato's “Feast” is a work that many philosophers turn to today.