Study Questions
1. Phaedrus 178a – 180b
2. Pausanias 180c – 185c
3. Eryximachus 185d – 188e
4. Aristophanes 189a – 193e
5. Agathon 194a – 197e
6. Socrates 198a – 201c
7. Diotima Part I 201d – 206b
8. Diotima Part 2 206c – 209e
9. Diotima Part 3 210a – 212b (SGR)
10. Alcibiades Part 1 212c – 217a
11. Alcibiades Part 2 217b-223a
PHAEDRUS:
1. Who (or what) is love, according to Phaedrus?
2. According to Phaedrus why is love so beneficial?
3. Why is an army of lovers such a good idea?
4. Why does Phaedrus use Alcestis as an example of a lover?
5. Why is Orpheus considered a bad example of a lover?
6. What criticism of Aeschylus does Phaedrus make?
7. According to Phaedrus, why did the gods honor Achilles more highly than Alcestis?
8. What can we learn from this speech? …show more content…
Who was Socrates?
2. What is Socrates’ complaint about Agathon’s eulogy?
3. What points does Socrates make about the nature of love in his conversation with Agathon?
4. According to Socrates, what is the relationship between Love and beauty?
5. Why does Agathon take back everything he just said?
6. What do we call the approach that Socrates uses in pursuing the right answer with Agathon?
DIOTIMA Part I:
1. Who is Diotima? Is she real?
2. Why would Socrates make up the character of Diotima?
3. According to Diotima, why is love not a god? What then is love? What is his function? How does this pick up on ideas developed by Eryximachus?
4. Who were the parents of Love, according to Diotima? How did they produce a child?
5. How does the parentage of Love affect its characteristics?
6. According to Diotima, what is the goal of the lover of the beautiful? Why?
7. How does Diotima define love?
DIOTIMA Part 2:
1. Why is procreation an important part of love?
2. What do immortality and harmony have to do with procreation?
3. What is the difference between pregnant in body and pregnant in mind? Which is better and why?
4. What does Diotima mean by ‘spirtual