The Symposium Analysis: Plato’s Ladder of Love

After reading Plato’s Symposium, it is quite evident that Plato accepts and endorses the idea of the Ladder of Love as opposed to the other ideas discussed in the agora. In this particular symposium, their encomium was in regard to the God of Love, and what they believe is the correct interpretation of eros itself. I believe that the comedic relief following Pausania's speech points to the way in which Plato feels about what he had to say altogether. Not only that, but Diotima’s speech incorporates tidbits of what she holds as true from the other speeches, which then causes me to believe that the order in which the men speak is purposefully arranged. This type of placement is extremely similar to rungs on the ladder, so it’s pretty prevalent that Plato is emphasizing the ideology as a whole. Following Diotima’s point of view, what Alcibiades had to say led me to believe that Socrates has achieved the highest rung on the ladder, therefore making the ladder of love the ultimate form.

During the time this took place, 385 BC, men exemplified a non-normative idea of love and believed/practiced homoeroticism. Their beliefs consisted of men being higher than women, so men were thought to only deserve each other. This generated the roles of the “lover” and the “beloved,” which are names given to the roles of an older man and younger boys. The relationship between the lover and beloved is crucial to the understanding of the Symposium and is described and referenced several times in throughout the speeches. The young boy seeks advice, wisdom, and to create good social ties from the lover, while the lover seeks sexual gratification.
To begin, let’s focus on the argument that Pausanias spoke upon. Pausanias believes that if love is done correctly, it can be good. Otherwise, it is bad and shouldn’t be looked highly upon. He discussed the roles of the two Aphrodites: a common love and heavenly love. Common love is the love that “strikes wherever he gets a chance” and, what Pausanias believes is “the love felt by the vulgar (p.14, 181 B). It is indiscriminating, and more focused on the body as opposed to the mind. He believes that if an individual is more inclined to the love of a body, then they are far less concerned with the soul. Due to common love having a main concern in the body, the ones who encompass it are attracted to both women and boys and do so because they can get what they want with ease. On the other hand, heavenly love is strictly between two males, and find intelligence far more important. Pausanias mentions that those who experience heavenly love are “considerably older” therefore “frees them from the lewdness of the youth,” which points to the idea of the lover and beloved (p.14,181 C).

Pausanias’ speech is centered around the idea of virtue being the most crucial ingredient to the best kind of love. He also discusses the dichotomy of good and bad, which is brought up in Diotima’s speech later in the text. While he focused more on virtue and wisdom than Phaedrus did in his argument, the fact that Aristophanes hiccups occurred at the end could point to the narrator making fun of his ideas as a whole. Despite Pausanias’ giving a serious speech, he was exploited, which shows that Plato doesn’t fully accept the ideologies that he had to offer and wanted to make it known to the audience.

This brings me to the questioning and speech given by Diotima. First of all, the fact that Socrates spoke about what he heard from a woman in the agora is a wild concept for men during this time, but it proves Socrates' respect for women and how important her beliefs are. Socrates recalled Diotima challenging his beliefs and claimed that she shifted his perception of love as a whole. Diotima explained to Socrates that he must not “force whatever is not beautiful to be ugly, or whatever is not good to be bad” (p.46, 202E). She went on further to express that it goes the same in terms of love and that it “could be something in between” (p. 46, 202E).
Diotima goes in-depth regarding the idea of both the feminine and masculine root, and everyone can reproduce. Her standpoint is that everyone, both men and women, is pregnant, “both in the body and in the soul” and as soon as a person reaches “a certain age, we naturally desire to give birth” (p. 53, 206 C). When men are “pregnant” they give birth to virtue and wisdom, and will then decide they want to continue to be virtuous and search for true beauty. This goes hand and hand with achieving eudaimonia, which is exceedingly important according to Diotima. She goes on to emphasize that reproduction only occurs with harmony, and is a godly process, and goes in harmony with the divine. She referred to reproduction as immortal and claims that the ultimate object of love and its entirety is immortality. Toward the end of her speech, she goes into detail about the seven rungs and the importance of ascending on the ladder. Socrates recalled that the highest form of love is learning what Beauty is so that one can come to “know just what it is to be beautiful” (p. 59, 211 D). It was believed that the ultimate goal of an individual should be achieving the ultimate form of Beauty, which is the absolute form of the good.

What’s significant to take away from Diotima’s speech is that she includes elements of all of the other speeches given that night. She took the truth of what each of the men said to create an ultimate conclusion, thus, the order of the speakers must have been strategically placed by Plato. Beginning with Phaedrus and continuing all the way to Agathon, it’s made obvious that they’re placed in ascending order, similar to the rungs on the ladder. This leads me to believe that Plato’s ultimate view of love is Diotima’s interpretation of what it truly means.

Another reason that directs me to believe that the ladder of love is the view Plato accepts is brought by Alcibiades' speech. Right off the bat, Alcibiades tells the men all about his failed attempt at love with Socrates. He admitted that he believed that all he had to do was let Socrates “have his way with (him), and he would teach me everything he knew” (p. 68, 217 A). However, this plan failed and he went on to explain all of his other efforts to seduce Socrates. This included inviting him to dinner, going to the gymnasium, wrestling while they were alone, and having him spend the night (p.68-70, 217A-218E). Though Alcibiades is a good looking and well-deserving man, Socrates is not phased whatsoever. Due to being turned down, Alcibiades was left in a state of utter aporia. Since he was the interlocutor in this situation, he was left puzzled as to why he’s getting flat out rejected. This sort of feeling forced Alcibiades to reassess all of his prior knowledge when it came to love. He was so enamored by Socrates’ wisdom, not even his looks or what he had to give. All of these incidences prove that he has attained love unlike any other, and encompasses a love that exceeds the material world, similar to what was mentioned in Diotima’s proposal.

As a reader, we are made aware that he comes in late and is intoxicated. This alone is a massive shift in tone, considering Diotima’s speech was quite a serious matter. Plato attempts to give Alcibiades more of a comedic entrance, which causes the reader to be aware that it’s different from the others. Instead of praising love, he praises Socrates and states everything he has to say about him as a person. He suggests that Socrates is essentially the Daimon, and has qualities, unlike any man he has ever come across. Alcibiades notes that he doesn’t have sexual temptation, faced hunger better than anyone, resisted the cold temperatures, stood for an entire day while trying to figure out a problem, was an outstanding soldier, and didn’t care about money or fame (p.72-74, 219 E-220 E). According to Diotima, all of these qualities exist in those who have achieved the ultimate form of love- a form of beauty. It is made evident that Socrates is unlike anyone else, and stands above the norms in all aspects.