Describe how Plato, Sappho, and/or Catullus conceive of love (and/or friendship). You can choose to only discuss one of the three works or compare two or three of them. You can also choose to compare their views on love with The Odyssey. You can also choose to focus more specifically on either the lover or the beloved if you like.

I greatly enjoyed reading all of the opinions on the meaning of love in Plato’s Symposium.

One of my favorite speakers in the work is Eryximachus (the doctor) because he introduced the concepts of “common” and “heavenly” love, which we touched on in class. He mentions that aside from medicine – athletics, agriculture, and music are all forms of love as well. Music is a form of love because a whole piece creates “agreement” between all of the notes.

We mentioned in class that common love is when one “loves” another person’s body. This type of love is based on lust and simple/mindless desires. Heavenly love; however, is when one is ready for a committed relationship. This kind of love is usually felt for boys of developing maturity who show signs of intelligence and with whom a life-long partnership is possible. This type of love is emotional (can be physical as well) and meaningful.

I also enjoyed the structure of this work. Its setting is mostly at dinner with the characters taking turns explaining their meanings of love while getting drunk. Also, I noticed that the conversation keeps getting deeper after every speaker. This is a very unique work, and that’s why it really kept my attention.