Love In Phaedrus Symposium

Although the dictionary definition of love is “an intense feeling of deep affection”, everyone seems to have their own way of defining the word love based on their personal experiences. The characters in Symposium shared their personal thoughts on love in many different ways. Some of the speeches were thoughtful and intelligent, while others seemed to be more for entertainment purposes. Throughout the speeches, there was a sense of competition among the speakers. The best speech, however, came from Phaedrus, as he was able to convey the true power and effect love has on humankind.
Phaedrus certainly did not give the most complex speech in the story, Symposium, but his speech held the best message within. He simply gave a coherent speech, and gave evidence for the fact that, “Love is the most ancient of the gods, the most honored, and the most powerful in helping men gain virtue and blessedness” (12). By the end of the speech, he had everyone convinced that love truly is both the first
In speaking of love, he explains that, if there were a city that consisted of only lovers, “they would hold back from all that is shameful, and seek honor in each other’s eyes” (10). Love is a source of motivation to do only what is good. Nobody would want to act disgracefully in front of a lover, this puts them at a risk of losing love. Instead, people want to be praised and admired by their lovers. Love brings “a sense of shame in acting shamefully, and a sense of pride in acting well” (10). Being in love guides people to good actions by simply making them more conscious of what they do. Knowing a lover is often watching and sharing in the experience, the good feels even better, but the bad feels even worse. As a result, people in love strive for the good. It is a simple but fulfilling desire to make a lover proud. True love not only brings out the virtue of goodness, but also of