In this third of three sessions in our seminar, we will be focusing upon the final two speeches on love, delivered by Socrates

I will be presenting the key ideas and development from this section of the work during the session. These include:

• The strangeness of these two final speeches
• The character Diotima and whether she existed historically
• Socrates' sixth "speech" as a set of dialogues
• The key themes, style, and arguments of Socrates' sixth speech
• The culmination of the Platonic erotic ascent to the form of beauty itself
• Alcibiades' drunken entrance to the symposium
• Alcibiades seventh speech as praise not of love but Socrates
• The key themes, style, and arguments of Alcibiades' seventh speech
• The problem about comedy and tragedy the dialogue ends with
  
  
  

You do not have to have read the text previously, though of course, that may be helpful for understanding some of the key ideas that are worked out in them.

We will have plenty of time for Q&A and discussion during this session. You should feel free to ask questions at any point during the seminar, and you can use your microphone or the chat to do so.