Before coming to the McConnell Center I had never read any of Plato's writings before. I was nervous about reading The Symposium, but after finishing it I was highly pleased with what I had read. Instead of finding literature that was too deep for me to understand or too boring for me to appreciate I was pleasently surprised with an action packed and entertaining story. The characters were lively and wise and the plot was sharp and amusing. My favorite aspect of The Symposium was each characters view of love and its place in society. I found this part to be applicable and appealing to even our society today. Phaedrus sees love as inspiring a lover to earn the admiration of his lover by showing bravery on the battlefield because nothing is more shameful than to be seen by their beloved committing some inglorious act. Eryximachus notes that love has total power and is the ultimate source of happiness. He also states that love enables people to be associates, friends, and have relationships with gods and superiors. Socrates explains that Diotima says that love is the son of resource and poverty, he contains attributes of both its mother and its father by being beggarly and harsh but also delicate and resourceful. Socrates ultimately says that the highest purpose of love is to be a lover of wisdom. I truly enjoyed the symposium and because of it I will not cower in fear anymore once the name Plato is mentioned.
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