Finding your other half in ancient Athens

Who would you invite to your ideal dinner party? Plato answered that question centuries ago with his sublime Symposium, a gripping, novel-like account of a gathering of Athenian notables, which is also a powerful philosophical exploration of the force of Eros, or love. We know that the feast is supposed to have taken place in 416 BC since its host, Agathon, has just won a prize for one of his tragedies. We also know that the setting is, alas, imaginary, since Plato makes sure to distance himself from the account by having Apollodorus tell the story to his friends some 16 years later, having heard it from an acquaintance.

Instead of boozing it up again, Agathon’s hungover guests decide to discuss the burning issue of Eros

Armand D’Angour has translated selections of the Symposium into idiomatic, immensely readable English. He briefly introduces the historical background, pointing out the essential nature of love (and death) in Greek literature, from the capture of Helen by Paris, through the lyrics of Sappho, and the consequences of love in the tragedies. But nowhere is love’s moral and ethical nature discussed, and that is the Symposium’s lasting achievement.

At Agathon’s house, the guests are hungover, having caroused over their host’s win the night before. Agathon has invited Aristophanes, the comedian (who suffers a fit of hiccups: classic Aristophanes); Socrates, the philosopher, who can drink anyone under the table and not display the effects; Pausanias, Agathon’s lover; and Alcibiades, the dashing, complex soldier-politician, who crashes in drunkenly later on. There’s also a doctor and a handful of other guests (though no women, since Athenian symposia excluded women, except courtesans and musicians, naturally).