Essay on Tragedy of Alcibiades in Platos Symposium

The Tragedy of Alcibiades in Platos Symposium In Symposium, a selection from The Dialogues of Plato, Plato uses historical allusions to demonstrate Alcibiades’ frustration with both social expectations for the phallus and his inability to meet these expectations. Alcibiades’ inability to have a productive sexual relationship effectively castrates him and demonstrates the impotence caused by an overemphasis on eroticism. The tragedy of Alcibiades is that he realizes he is unable to gain virtue through sexual relationships and will therefore be forced to remain mortal, yet he is unable to alter his condition. Symposium is set during a festival for Dionysus, the goddess of fertility; this setting emphasizes the sexual expectations of†¦show more content†¦Socrates attempts to justify homosexual relationships by quoting Diotima’s differentiation between heterosexual relationships (those who are pregnant in terms of their bodies and produce children) and homosexual relationships (those who are pregnant in terms of the soul and produce prudence and the rest of virtue in their partner) (Plato 271).2 This ideal of productivity in homosexual relationships is realized by the lover passing knowledge and wisdom on to his beloved. Thus, Socrates successfully justifies homosexual relationships; with this reasoning, he demonstrates to the other partygoers that their homosexual relationships must be productive to be justified. Despite Alcibiades’ numerous male lovers (Crane),3 Plato portrays Alcibiades as unable to realize any productive sexual relationship (Crane Plutarch)4 because he fails to become the virtuous man that a productive relationship would have produced. Alcibiades admits that he occasionally succumbs to the honor [he gets] from many. Alcibiades is referring to the instances when, instead of spending time with Socrates, he surrender[s] himself to the flatterers who [tempt] him with many pleasures (Crane Plutarch). Alcibiades is prevented from having a productive sexual relationship by his sexual urges and overemphasis on physical eroticism. Alcibiades’Show MoreRelatedComparing Plato s The Symposium1704 Words   |  7 Pagesalcohol and the significance of drinking in The Symposium. Through this text, Plato is writing about philosophy is the setting of a narrative in order to reinforce the context of the story. Plato was a metaphilosophist that supported the theory of forms. He believed that understanding pure form, achieving true wisdom, is something that cannot be defined or reduced to words, and all people should strive to understand pure form. The main symbol in The Symposium, is wine, a representation of wisdom. ThroughoutRead MoreReview Of Platos Suddenness : The Symposium As A Tragic Comedy1112 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Suddenness†: The Symposium as a Tragic Comedy â€Å"All of a sudden he will catch sight of something wonderfully beautiful in its nature; that, Socrates, is the reason for all his earlier labors.† (210E) â€Å"Then, all of a sudden, there was even more noise. A large drunken party had arrived at the courtyard door and they were rattling it loudly†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (212C) â€Å"You always do this to me  ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€œ all of a sudden you’ll turn up out of nowhere where I least expect you!† (213C) â€Å"And then, all of a sudden, while AgathonRead MoreAnalysis Of The Speech Praise Of Eros On Plato Symposium1785 Words   |  8 Pages Jose A. Nunez Introduction to Philosophy 1113 Professor Dr. Sarah Woolvine March 23rd, 2015. Tittle: Analysis of Speeches Given in Praise of Eros on Plato’ Symposium Among the ancient Greek philosophers, Plato was one of the greatest. Known for his remarkable philosophical works, Plato was born into a very prominent Athenian family, and he was expected to have a proliferous political career, but the political scene at that time made Plato devote himself instead to his philosophicalRead MoreEssay Platos Symposium1171 Words   |  5 PagesPlatos Symposium Platos metaphor of the divided line is essentially two worlds; the world of opinion (the physical world or the world of becoming/existence) and the world of knowledge (the world of knowledge or the world of being/essence). This concept is key to the context of The Symposium: Love. It is important to note that as the speeches evolve throughout this particular work they parallel this concept. Plato has, in this writers opinion, reinforced his theory through the speakersRead MorePlato s Symposium, By Plato1273 Words   |  6 PagesIn the book,† Plato’s Symposium,† by Plato, who was a philosopher in Greece, he illustrates the dialectic discussion at a party at Agathon’s to celebrate his triumph of his first tragedy. In the Symposium; the guests Phaedrus, an Athenian aristocrat; Pausanias, the legal expert; Eryximachus, a physician; Aristophanes, eminent comic playwright; Agathon ,a tragic poet and host of the banquet; Socrates, eminent philosopher and Plato s teacher; and Alcibiades, a prominent Athenian statesman, orator