Without further adieu, here is an abstract for my paper
The explicit theme of Plato’s Symposium is a dialogue in praise of and on the nature of Eros, the god of love and desire, however, the implicit theme that Plato hides is his love for philosophy and The Philosopher: Socrates. In Plato’s dialogues there is little left to coincidence, so with this in mind we can see his underlying attempts to argue for the cause of philosophy, defend Socrates, and present a challenge to pretenders of loving wisdom: the poets.
Feeling the after-effects of Socrates’ trial, Plato saw the dangers that philosophy presented to himself and his like-minded friends. Instead of open ended discussion in the agora, Plato moved his philosophy to a school where he undertook the manifestation of Socrates’ dialogues in written form. At the Academy Plato was able to create a barrier from the masses, the likes of which prosecuted Socrates. Furthermore, by using the medium of written work, Plato was able to be selective about who took part in his ‘dialogues,’ and just in case, it afforded him the leisure of being ironic. In using irony, Plato was able to say what he wanted to without actually saying it. In the written format, Philosophy became safe. Protected from potential accusers, Plato went to work on his legacy of Socrates’ life compiling western philosophy’s most important texts. In the Symposium dealing with Eros we find what is probably Plato’s most personal effort, implicitly showing his love for philosophy and Socrates while aggrandizing them over poetry.
Now, I just have to go about proving my statements!
wish me luck ;)
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