The Symposium of Plato - Paperback

by Suzy Q. Groden (Translator), John Brentlinger (Editor), Plato (Author)

This new translation of Plato's dialogue on love avoids the cumbersome locutions of Victorian versions and presents Plato's ancient drinking party in a vigorous contemporary idiom. The character of Socrates emerges with unexpected wit and humor, adding new dimensions to his familiar irony. A poet and philosopher have collaborated to give an English version that is fresh and clear, and accurately renders the ideas of the speakers.

A detailed internal analysis of the structure of the dialogue is given in the introduction. The afterword presents an historical interpretation of the two ways of love, eros and agapé, an a reinterpretation of eros in Plato.

Back Jacket

This new translation of Plato's dialogue on love avoids the cumbersome locutions of Victorian versions and presents Plato's ancient drinking party in a vigorous contemporary idiom. The character of Socrates emerges with unexpected with and humor, adding new dimensions to his familiar irony.

Author Biography

Outstanding graphic artist LEONARD BASKIN has contributed a series of line drawings, including portraits of Socrates and Diotima.SUZY Q GRODEN, who lives and writes in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the acclaimed translator of The Poems of Sappho.JOHN A. BRENTLINGERreceived his Ph.D. from Yale University and is a member of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts.