Among the Ancients II: Plato's 'Symposium'

Plato’s Symposium, his philosophical dialogue on love, or eros, was probably written around 380 BCE, but it’s set in 416, during the uneasy truce between Athens and Sparta in the middle of the Peloponnesian War. A symposium was a drinking party, though Socrates and his friends, having had a heavy evening the night before, decide to go easy on the wine and instead take turns making speeches in praise of love - at least until Alcibiades turns up, very late and very drunk. In this episode of Among the Ancients, Emily and Tom discuss the dialogue’s philosophical ideas, historical context and narrative form, and why Aristophanes gets the hiccups.
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Further reading:
Donald Davidson: Plato’s Philosopher
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Anne Carson: Oh What a Night (Alkibiades)
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M.F. Burnyeat: Art and Mimesis in Plato’s Republic
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ON SATIRE with Colin Burrow and Clare Bucknell
HUMAN CONDITIONS with Adam Shatz, Judith Butler, Pankaj Mishra and Brent Hayes Edwards
AMONG THE ANCIENTS II with Emily Wilson and Thomas Jones
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MODERN-ISH POETS: SERIES 1 with Mark Ford and Seamus Perry
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[@Simpaulme]

Good give and take between the two presenters 👍