Describe how Plato, Sappho, and/or Catullus conceive of love (and/or friendship)

In Plato’s Symposium, there is no such thing as a distinctive concept that is called love, it rather depends on the person experiencing it and their own conception of it. Phaedrus speaks of love being the oldest of the gods and it is what promotes virtue within people. Pausanias speaks of a common love and a heavenly love. Eryximachus states that love is not only something that can happen between two human begins, but it can be found other places as well. Aristophanes speaks of the concept of soul mates. What can be understood from all of these different conceptions of love, is that there is not only one but there are many. All of these views of love that are presented are surely true, but that depends on the person in question. Aristophanes concept of soul mates is something that some people of today believe in still, and Eryximachus statement that love can be found in other things such as music is just as true. To conclude, none of these men are neither right nor wrong in their own perceptions of love – it all depends on whom you are asking.