A Valentine’s Day Drinking Party to Honour the Spirit of Love – Come Celebrate by reading Plato’s Symposium
Come Celebrate by reading Plato’s Symposium
Sunday 14th February 2021 2.30 pm to 3.30pm
With optional follow-up sessions on 3 consecutive Sundays
The Symposium, or Drinking party, is said to be masterpiece of dramatic dialogue. It is set at a dinner party, to which are invited several celebrities of Athenian society. Each is invited to make a speech in praise of Love. What follows is a brilliant dialogue which explores the nature of Love: how it is conceived and where it leads. This is truly a celebration which has at once wisdom, depth, humour and insight.
We invite you to join our ‘dinner party’ (with or without refreshment!) and together we shall read and enjoy this inspiring and wingéd dialogue.
We are in good company for our host is Agathon and we are invited to his home together with Socrates, Aristodemus, Phaedrus (a literary man), Pausanias (Agathon’s lover), Eryximachus (a doctor), Aristophanes (a comic poet) and the brilliant Alcibiades (orator and military commander). Each speech is eloquent but the Flame of Love reaches its apotheosis in the words of Socrates.
This dialogue will cast light upon our own ideas about the nature of Love -what we believe it to be and how we can share it.
Facilitator Elizabeth Medler will also draw upon Marsilio Ficino’s commentary to the Symposium which further illuminates the nature of Love.
(We will be using the free download: http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/symposium.html).
Now Plenty who was worse for nectar, went into the garden of Zeus
and fell into a heavy sleep, and Poverty considering her own
straitened circumstances, plotted to have a child by him,
and accordingly lay down at his side and conceived Love.
Love is Conceived
Tickets are free, but please register in order to receive a Zoom invitation.