P's Reviews > The Symposium

Bizarre and beautiful. An interesting meditation of various ideas surrounding love. It's very specific to its time and culture, but has much that remains relevant and thought-provoking today.

I love the reminders that humanity has not changed in a substantial manner. Phaedrus's criticism of Aeschylus's interpretation of Achilles and Patroclus's romantic dynamics is straight out of an online debate.

I find Aristophanes’s idea of the split two-headed beings as the origins of humans and love is unbelievable but a gorgeous idea. Agathon’s part makes some of the most sense and has some of the most beautiful text. The Alcibiades section seems very different than the other sections, the rant of a spurned would-be lover. Fascinating and passionate, but so wildly different.