Course outline
Module 1
Module 1: Plato's Symposium: An Introduction
Plato's Symposium: An Introduction
Knowledge check
Q1. Who is the main character in the Symposium who gives a speech about love being a form of madness?
- A. Socrates
- B. Diotima ✓
- C. Pausanias
- D. Alcibiades
Why: Diotima is the one who provides the speech explaining love as a form of madness and a divine madness that leads to philosophical insight.
Q2. Which of the following is NOT one of the main characters in the Symposium?
- A. Aristophanes
- B. Agathon
- C. Plato ✓
- D. Eryximachus
Why: Plato is the author of the Symposium, not a character in the dialogue.
Q3. According to Pausanias, what are the two types of love?
- A. Physical and Spiritual
- B. Common and Heavenly ✓
- C. Rational and Irrational
- D. Platonic and Eros
Why: Pausanias distinguishes between two types of love: the common, or base, love and the heavenly, or noble, love.
Q4. Which character in the Symposium compares love to a craftsman who creates beautiful things?
- A. Socrates
- B. Eryximachus ✓
- C. Agathon
- D. Alcibiades
Why: Eryximachus compares love to a craftsman who creates beautiful things, emphasizing the harmony and balance that love brings.
Q5. Who is the character in the Symposium who claims that love is the oldest of the gods and the most important?
- A. Socrates
- B. Agathon ✓
- C. Diotima
- D. Aristophanes
Why: Agathon gives a speech in which he praises love as the oldest of the gods and the most important, portraying it as the source of all good things.
Module 2
Module 2: The Nature of Love in Ancient Greece
The Nature of Love in Ancient Greece
Knowledge check
Q1. What does Plato argue love ultimately leads to?
- A. Sensual pleasure
- B. The pursuit of beauty and truth ✓
- C. Material wealth
- D. Political power
Why: Plato argues that love is a desire for beauty and truth, leading the soul toward the divine.
Q2. Which philosopher does Socrates engage in dialogue with in the Symposium?
- A. Aristotle
- B. Pausanias ✓
- C. Plato
- D. Xenocrates
Why: In the Symposium, Socrates engages in dialogue with several philosophers, including Pausanias, who discusses the different types of love.
Q3. According to Pausanias, what are the two types of love?
- A. Common love and divine love ✓
- B. Platonic love and romantic love
- C. Eros and Agape
- D. Physical love and spiritual love
Why: Pausanias distinguishes between common love, which is physical and base, and divine love, which is spiritual and elevates the soul.
Q4. Who is the main character in the Symposium?
- A. Aristophanes
- B. Socrates ✓
- C. Plato
- D. Alcibiades
Why: Socrates is the central figure in the Symposium, and the other characters give their speeches on love in his presence.
Q5. What does Alcibiades claim about Socrates?
- A. He is a philosopher
- B. He is a lover of beauty
- C. He is a great general
- D. He is a lover of himself ✓
Why: Alcibiades claims that Socrates is a lover of himself, meaning he is in love with his own wisdom and virtue.
Module 3
Module 3: The Role of Wine and Madness
The Role of Wine and Madness
Knowledge check
Q1. What does Socrates suggest about the relationship between love and madness?
- A. Love is a form of madness ✓
- B. Love is the opposite of madness
- C. Love and madness are unrelated
- D. Love is a cure for madness
Why: Socrates suggests that love is a form of madness because it drives people to act irrationally in pursuit of beauty and truth.
Q2. According to Plato, what role does wine play in the Symposium?
- A. It causes drunkenness and disorder
- B. It is a symbol of wealth and status
- C. It helps people reveal their true thoughts and feelings ✓
- D. It is a distraction from philosophical discussion
Why: Wine is seen as a means to lower inhibitions and allow people to express their true thoughts and feelings more openly.
Q3. Which character in the Symposium is described as being in a state of 'divine madness'?
- A. Pausanias
- B. Eryximachus
- C. Aristophanes
- D. Diotima ✓
Why: Diotima is described as being in a state of 'divine madness' because she is a prophetess and a teacher of love.
Q4. What does Alcibiades claim about Socrates' influence on him?
- A. It made him more rational
- B. It made him more emotional
- C. It made him more virtuous
- D. It made him more passionate and madly in love ✓
Why: Alcibiades claims that Socrates made him more passionate and madly in love, highlighting the powerful effect of Socrates' presence and speech.
Q5. What does Socrates mean when he says that love is a 'spiritual madness'?
- A. Love is irrational and should be avoided
- B. Love is a divine force that leads to higher truths ✓
- C. Love is a temporary emotional state
- D. Love is a form of mental illness
Why: Socrates suggests that love is a 'spiritual madness' because it is a divine force that leads individuals to seek higher truths and beauty.
Module 4
Module 4: Eros and the Ascent to the Divine
Eros and the Ascent to the Divine
Knowledge check
Q1. According to Plato, what is the primary function of Eros?
- A. To bring about physical pleasure
- B. To lead the soul toward the divine ✓
- C. To satisfy material desires
- D. To create social harmony
Why: Plato views Eros as a force that elevates the soul toward beauty and the divine, not merely for physical or material satisfaction.
Q2. What does Plato compare the ascent of the soul to?
- A. A journey through the underworld
- B. A climb up a mountain ✓
- C. C
- D. D
Why: Plato likens the soul's ascent to a climb up a mountain, symbolizing the effort and progression required to reach the divine.
Q3. Which of the following best describes the role of beauty in Plato's view of Eros?
- A. Beauty is a distraction from true knowledge
- B. Beauty is a stepping stone toward the contemplation of the Form of Beauty ✓
- C. Beauty is the highest form of knowledge
- D. Beauty is irrelevant to the soul's ascent
Why: In Plato's view, beauty is a guide that leads the soul from the physical to the contemplation of the eternal and unchanging Form of Beauty.
Q4. What is the ultimate goal of the ascent described by Plato in the Symposium?
- A. To achieve physical immortality
- B. To attain knowledge of the Forms ✓
- C. To become a philosopher-king
- D. To experience eternal pleasure
Why: The ultimate goal of the ascent is the knowledge of the Forms, particularly the Form of Beauty, which represents the highest truth.
Q5. What does Plato suggest about the relationship between love and wisdom?
- A. Love is the opposite of wisdom
- B. Love is a form of wisdom
- C. Love leads to wisdom ✓
- D. Wisdom is unnecessary for love
Why: Plato suggests that love, particularly the philosophical kind, leads the soul toward wisdom and the understanding of the divine.
Module 5
Module 5: The Speeches of the Symposium
The Speeches of the Symposium
Knowledge check
Q1. Who gives the first speech at the Symposium?
- A. Aristophanes
- B. Phaedrus ✓
- C. Pausanias
- D. Eryximachus
Why: Phaedrus gives the first speech at the Symposium.
Q2. According to Phaedrus, what is the origin of love?
- A. A divine force that brings order to the cosmos
- B. A divine force that inspires the soul to seek beauty ✓
- C. A result of the division of the human soul
- D. A result of the soul's desire for immortality
Why: Phaedrus describes love as a divine force that inspires the soul to seek beauty.
Q3. Which of the following is NOT one of the two loves described by Pausanias?
- A. Common love ✓
- B. Vulgar love
- C. Heavenly love
- D. Divine love
Why: Pausanias describes two types of love: vulgar love and heavenly love.
Q4. What does Eryximachus compare love to?
- A. A war
- B. A disease
- C. A harmony in the body ✓
- D. A philosophical debate
Why: Eryximachus compares love to a harmony in the body, emphasizing balance and health.
Q5. Which speech is considered the most famous and influential in the Symposium?
- A. Phaedrus's speech
- B. Pausanias's speech
- C. Diotima's speech ✓
- D. Alcibiades's speech
Why: Diotima's speech is considered the most famous and influential in the Symposium.
Module 6
Module 6: Plato's View of Love and Philosophy
Plato's View of Love and Philosophy
Knowledge check
Q1. According to Plato, what is the highest form of love?
- A. Love of beauty
- B. Love of wisdom ✓
- C. Love of the physical
- D. Love of wealth
Why: Plato believes that the highest form of love is the love of wisdom, which leads to the pursuit of philosophical truth.
Q2. In Plato's view, what does love of the physical lead to?
- A. True knowledge
- B. Moral virtue
- C. Philosophical insight
- D. Desire and confusion ✓
Why: Plato argues that love of the physical leads to desire and confusion, as it is based on temporary and changing things.
Q3. Which of the following is NOT a stage in Plato's Ladder of Love?
- A. Love of beauty in the body
- B. Love of beauty in the soul
- C. Love of beauty in the mind ✓
- D. Love of beauty in the divine
Why: Plato's Ladder of Love includes love of beauty in the body, soul, and divine, but not specifically the mind as a distinct stage.
Q4. What does Plato suggest is the goal of philosophical love?
- A. To attain wealth
- B. To achieve fame
- C. To reach the Form of the Good ✓
- D. To find a romantic partner
Why: Plato suggests that the goal of philosophical love is to reach the Form of the Good, which is the highest and most perfect reality.
Q5. In the Symposium, which character gives the speech that outlines the Ladder of Love?
- A. Pausanias
- B. Eryximachus
- C. Diotima ✓
- D. Agathon
Why: Diotima is the one who gives the speech outlining the Ladder of Love, explaining how love progresses from physical attraction to the pursuit of wisdom.
Module 7
Module 7: Love in Modern Interpretations
Love in Modern Interpretations
Knowledge check
Q1. According to modern interpretations, what does Plato's Symposium suggest about the nature of love?
- A. Love is purely physical
- B. Love is a journey toward the divine ✓
- C. Love is a form of possession
- D. Love is a social construct
Why: Plato suggests that love is a spiritual ascent toward the divine, as seen in the speech of Socrates and the allegory of the soul.
Q2. Which modern philosopher is known for reinterpreting Plato's view of love in terms of psychological development?
- A. Friedrich Nietzsche
- B. Sigmund Freud ✓
- C. Jean-Paul Sartre
- D. Martin Heidegger
Why: Sigmund Freud reinterpreted Plato's view of love through the lens of psychoanalysis, focusing on the development of the individual.
Q3. What is the modern interpretation of the 'ladder of love' in the Symposium?
- A. A metaphor for social climbing
- B. A metaphor for spiritual growth ✓
- C. A metaphor for romantic relationships
- D. A metaphor for political power
Why: The 'ladder of love' is interpreted as a metaphor for spiritual growth and the ascent of the soul toward the divine.
Q4. How does modern psychology view the concept of 'Platonic love'?
- A. As a form of romantic love
- B. As a form of unrequited love
- C. As a form of non-romantic, deep affection ✓
- D. As a form of familial love
Why: Modern psychology views 'Platonic love' as a deep, non-romantic affection between individuals.
Q5. In modern times, which aspect of love in the Symposium is most frequently emphasized?
- A. The physical aspect
- B. The spiritual and philosophical aspect ✓
- C. The political aspect
- D. The economic aspect
Why: The spiritual and philosophical aspect of love is most frequently emphasized in modern interpretations of the Symposium.