Abstraction of Love essays

Abstraction of Love essays In the symposium, Plato discusses the many strong meanings of love through the conversation of characters at a symposium, or dinner party, in which the guests take turns on stating their views on love. Before the discussions begin the guests eat and afterward they begin the conversation. Before the speeches are given there are a few statements regarding drinking alcohol. The guests say they shouldnt drink heavily but in fact most of the guest if not all already have consumed a large amount of alcohol. So we could come to the conclusion that most of the speeches are given by people who are drunk. The views expressed about love in the novel are in many ways controversial and could be strongly argued in many ways. I believe that love was heavily treasured in the time period of the symposium and that today love is many times misused and has no real value to many people. The first speaker is Phaedrus and his main focus was that love is extremely old. He refers to love as a God and says that the God of love is one of the oldest Gods. As long as humans have walked the planet there had to have been some form of love in order for humans to have evolved. Another important statement made by Phaedrus is that love brings out the best virtues in people. In todays society love can either bring out the best virtues in people or the worst. Phaedrus also says that the god of love never received enough credit or praise from any poets. He states this in the quote, How could people pay attention to such trifles and never, not even once, write proper hymn to love? (Line 177c) Since love is a big part of all our lives it should be credited enormously and this is why everyone in the Symposium is giving their opinions on it. Phaedrus believes that love is inspiring, because it brings out virtuous qualities. Love is the bases of all other emotions and feelings that peo ple have. Because of love there is jealousy, broken hearts, hatre...