Xenophon's "Symposium"

Author: (Greek) Xenophon
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Xenophon's Symposium provides a detailed description of a unique night spent by Socrates and his disciples and acquaintances. It gives us insight into the various types of people who were drawn to Socrates, as well as the motivations and hopes that brought them to him. Through its consistently lively and relaxed tone, Xenophon allows us to see into Socrates' circle. At the same time, Symposium expresses the core issues of Socratic philosophy in an extremely concise and humorous manner. To see these issues, readers must first be willing to delve into the details of this lively Xenophon's Socrates work, even into the seemingly trivial details, because it is the combination of lightheartedness and seriousness that reveals Xenophon's intention. One of the great values of Xenophon's Symposium is that it encourages readers to begin thinking about Socrates and the life of Socrates, as well as these issues, from the perspective of love, beauty, nobility, and other directly relevant and important topics. Additionally, one of the main charms of Symposium is the elegant and vivid humor that accompanies this line of thinking. However, only by considering the fates of the main participants in the dialogue—fates that were already known to Xenophon at the time of writing—can one fully appreciate this humor or liveliness.