Plato Symposium Summary

Because of the power and centrality that love holds in the human experience, men and women throughout history have been compelled by this mysterious force. From the peaks of felicity to the depths of despair, love remains the ultimate concern. It is undoubtedly the universal principle that drives all human activity—the object we strive to obtain and, at times, the downfall we endure.

Naturally, love is a subject that demands careful examination and discussion, and Plato does just that in his ancient treatise of speeches exploring the nature and function of love. For Plato, the highest form of friendship is the one that lovers share. The Symposium presents a type of philia (friendship) that arises from erôs (romantic or passionate love) and, in turn, nurtures and deepens erôs.

This extraordinary literary work is one of Plato’s masterpieces. Written on one of his most profound themes at the height of his philosophical and poetic powers, The Symposium aims to transcend human existence by connecting it to the eternal. Through a strong understanding of philia, Plato demonstrates how erôs can be developed to transform a selfish lust for possession into a shared desire for higher understanding—of the self, the other, and the universe.

In The Symposium, Plato suggests that sex is divine. Moreover, it is precisely because of its divine nature that sex transcends the ego; it becomes an outpouring that floods the self and stretches its boundaries. But why does our sexual appetite ebb and flow? Is sex pleasurable because it nurtures something deeper within us? Or is it so powerful that it disrupts our equilibrium, blinding us to the catastrophic endings many relationships face? Philosophy offers us answers to these questions.

Related articles: How to Manifest Your Soulmate
Related articles: How To Manifest Your Ex Back 

Honorable guests were invited to this banquet (symposium means banquet) to drink together joyfully and share their captivating love stories. None of these stories defended a view of erotic love as individualistic or ego-centered. Aristophanes poetically describes love as splitting a person into two perfect halves destined to find each other for eternity—giving birth to the story of the higher self and the soul.

Phaedrus speaks of love as self-sacrifice for the beloved, exemplified by Alcestis with Admetus or Achilles with Patroclus. Eryximachus presents erotic love as a cosmic force that moves the universe and binds its elements together. In modern times, symposiums are typically formal discussions led by experts on topics of great importance—much like a teacher passing knowledge to a student.

However, Plato envisioned symposiums as gatherings of friends, drinking and talking deep into the night with humanism and honesty at their core. From his otherworldly perspective on humanism, Plato identified the central figure of our existence: the inherent struggle to escape loneliness by joining with something or someone else to fill our emptiness and mask our vulnerability. This raises the question: Is sex truly something humans crave, or does it serve to mask deeper needs?

In our sexual lives, we sometimes yearn to lose our identity and connect with an absolute presence that feels divine. By surrendering to that absoluteness, we experience a fleeting sense of completeness. This ebb and flow of power and surrender have appeared throughout history—in the stories of kings and queens, merchants and peasants, and even modern-day encounters in a bar. Through sex, we do not merely return to an ego-centered structure; instead, we immerse ourselves in the vital and transformative flow of erôs.

Related articles: How to Attract Love Energy
Related articles: Signs Your Twin Flame Is Thinking of You 

During the tale, Aristophanes—one of the six special guests—shares an extraordinary story about love, centering on the idea that humans spend their entire lives trying to fill a void within themselves by finding "the one." This concept, widely recognized in modern times as finding a "soul mate," suggests that humans are spiritually connected to another person from birth, rather than existing as separate entities isolated by their egos.

Aristophanes describes humans as originally being round creatures with four arms, four legs, and a single head with two faces looking in opposite directions. These mythical beings could walk and talk like modern humans, but if one half moved too far ahead, they would roll and tumble through the air with their limbs flailing. This imagery humorously parallels modern relationships, where a lack of communication can lead to chaos and disconnection. Without communication, a relationship is destined to spiral out of control until both people find common ground and work together—an idea dating back as far as 385 BC.

Much like the Christian story of the fall of Adam and Eve, these arrogant humans defied the gods. Zeus, unwilling to disrupt sacrifices and worship, devised a way to humble and punish them. After careful consideration, he decided to split them in two, leaving humanity forever lonely and incomplete, endlessly searching for their other half to fill the void and extinguish the sense of longing.

Related articles: How to Give Off Feminine Energy and Become a High Value Woman
Related articles: What Is the Difference Between Feminine Energy and Feminism? 

Aristophanes poetically explains:
“…when one of them finds his other half, … the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy, and one will not be out of the other’s sight. … For the intense yearning which each of them has towards the other does not appear to be the desire of intercourse, but of something else which the soul desires and cannot explain. … Human nature was originally one, and we were whole, and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called love. There was a time … when the two were one, but now, because of the wickedness of men and gods, they have separated us…” (pg. 157)

As Aristophanes’ story has endured through the ages, it has inspired many lovers today to seek their soul mate. However, love only exists when it has an object to bestow itself upon; it exists in relation to another. For example, love exists when you tell your mother you love her, or when you feel love for your dog, a friend, or even a simple object around the house.

Socrates analyzes the true nature of love and explains, “Love is the love of something because to love nothing means no love at all.” This ultimately suggests that love is a desire for something that is lacking. If that concept feels abstract, consider this analogy: a poor man desires to be rich because he is not rich. A rich man, however, cannot genuinely desire to be rich—he already is. If he says he wants to remain rich well into the future, this expresses a love for his current state, implying the presence of a desire.

Related articles: What is Masculine Energy?
Related articles: Masculine and Feminine Energy in Relationships 

The same principle applies to love. We can only love something that we want but do not yet possess. Diotima deepens this idea by explaining the mystery of love:“…love is only birth in beauty, whether body or soul. There is a certain age at which human nature is desirous of procreation, and this mystery is seeking, as far as is possible, to be everlasting and immortal: and this is only attained by generation because the new is always left in the place of the old” (pg. 168–170).

Throughout history and today, humans have sought to create life or beauty as a way to feel whole. We intuitively want to give birth to beauty—whether literally through procreation or metaphorically through our actions and creations. Many wonder if their life has meaning: Am I doing things right? Am I a good person? Will anyone remember me when I’m gone? Have I done enough to leave a mark? These questions ultimately ask whether we are contributing something beautiful to the world.

Philosophy challenges us to dive deeply into our souls for answers that few can articulate, and Socrates is one of the rare thinkers who could. Still, because our desires differ, the answers to these questions vary from person to person. Yet, the power and centrality of love drive us all to create something—whether it’s within ourselves, in another human, or for the world. In doing so, we give birth to beauty, inspiring and motivating those around us.

Books: The Snows of Khione: Book 1 by Lisa K. Stephenson 

However, in modern society, superficiality has tainted our understanding of love. Many relationships, songs, books, and teachings promote shallow notions of love. Our instincts, shaped by a culture that values safety and security, often lead us to sexualize everything or seek validation in shallow pursuits. This normalization has left many feeling empty, temporarily masking their voids with sex and drugs.

Love, however, drives everything we do. Even when it feels unattainable, it remains the desire for goodness, beauty, and truth. Plato’s Symposium teaches us that if we try to satisfy this desire through shallow means—yes, sex can be shallow—we will endlessly attempt to fill a void that cannot be satisfied. Though simplistic and beautiful in its view, the yearning and struggle expressed in the Symposium lay the foundation for human motives and desires. After all, as Plato reminds us, “He whom love touches not walks in darkness.”

by Kayla McCullough