The Symposium by Plato (Oxford World's Classics)

In his celebrated masterpiece Symposium, Plato imagines a high-society dinner party in Athens in 416 BC. The guests, including the comic poet Aristophanes and Plato's mentor Socrates, each deliver a short speech in praise of love. The sequence of dazzling speeches culminates in Socrates' famous account of the views of Diotima, a prophetess who taught him that love is our means of trying to attain goodness, and a brilliant sketch of Socrates himself by a drunken Alcibiades, the most popular and notorious Athenian of his time.

This new translation conveys the power, humor and pathos of Plato's creation, and is complemented by full explanatory notes and an illuminating introduction.

For over 100 years, Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text and up-to-date bibliographies for further study.

This book is featured on The Book Club with Michael Knowles, PragerU's show dedicated to the great books of Western civilization. In this episode, Michael Knowles is joined by writer Spencer Klavan to explore one of the most influential philosophical texts on love in Western literature, examining what love is and its true purpose in human relationships.

📺 Watch the episode: Spencer Klavan — The Symposium by Plato

Own the Oxford World's Classics edition of Plato's Symposium and discover why this 2,400-year-old dialogue on love still resonates today.