On Plato’s Symposium - 1. On Plato’s Symposium

On Plato’s Symposium

by

Dolores Esteban

In December 1816, Reginald Cavendish, a sophisticated London gentleman, published a periodical on Greek literature. The first copies sold, Reginald invited his friends to celebrate the occasion. On a Friday evening, Reginald and his guests assembled in the living room of his London house. Reginald handed out copies of his periodical. His guests turned the pages curiously.

"What do you think?" Reginald asked.

"It looks beautiful," Edward said. "I’ve read one of the poems. Very touching."

"I like the short story on page eleven," Jeffrey replied. "The one on heroic love. It’s very sophisticated at first sight. But it made me smile when I read between the lines."

Reginald laughed. "Thank you. I’m quite proud of the periodical."

"Yes, it is excellent work," Edward said. "I like the poem on Achilles."

"It touched me also," Winston said. "I can feel with him."

Reginald leaned back in his chair. "There are no apparent references to male-male love at first sight. But have a closer look and you will find what you like to read."

He turned his glass in his hand. "I was wondering if perhaps I should add Plato’s Symposium. It’s on love and beauty. Plato mentions Alcibiades and Socrates’ relationship. However, I refrained from adding the Symposium." He paused, thinking. "Perhaps," he continued, "Perhaps I do not publish it at all. I do not agree with it."

"Why?" Jeffrey asked. "I thought his essay justified male-male love."

Reginald looked at Jeffrey. "Why do you think so, Jeffrey?"

Jeffrey blushed. "Alcibiades praises his lover Socrates."

"Yes, he does," Reginald replied. "He praises that Socrates lifted him higher. Alcibiades wanted Socrates to love him, physically love him. But Socrates refused. Their carnal desire changed to a different kind of love. Platonic love. We all know the term."

"Do you mean the Greek ideal love is pure platonic love?" Winston asked surprised. "I have seen art works and china decorated with quite graphic scenes. They don’t conceal anything. Their art works show sexual acts in detail."

Reginald smiled. "Oh yes, Francis and I have a vase in our bedroom. I have a fantastic sight on it from the bed. It’s beautiful."

"You do anything for beauty, it seems, Reginald," Orson said with a half-grin.

"I do anything for love, my friend." Reginald smiled. "Yes, it’s true. Their art works are quite graphic. That’s why people think that the ancient Greeks were open-minded and accepted male-male relationships."

He put down his glass.

"Gentlemen, I truly adore Greek literature and art work. I published a periodical as a tribute to ancient Greece. But I did not refer to ancient Greece because I think the Greeks were without prejudice. I chose this background to not attract attention. My poems and stories are about love and relationships between men. They are coded and they will not attract attention, I dare say, because of the Greek style of writing. But I do not adore the Greek concept."

His guests looked at each other with surprise.

"We discussed it already," Orson said. "I agree with Reginald. In fact, I think the Greek concept is the reason for deep-rooted prejudices in our culture."

Jeffrey cleared his throat. "I have read a lot of Greek literature. I always thought they praised love and beauty. I thought they praised love between men."

"Reginald, you do not approve of the platonic concept, do you?" Edward asked.

Francis turned to Reginald. "You explained it to me already. Please, do explain it again. I think it’s worth pondering on it."

Reginald smiled. "Well, I think you all have read Plato’s Symposium. We all come across it sooner or later. We find out about ourselves. We discover ancient Greece. We read Greek literature and we find a truth in it. We see Greek art work. Again we find a truth, our truth. Ancient Greece reveals what is an ineffable secret nowadays. At least we think so."

Reginald rose from his chair and leaned against a bookcase. His friends looked at him expectantly.

"Gentlemen, let me summarize Plato’s Symposium. Socrates and his friends meet. They make themselves comfortable, each of them lying on a couch. They drink. They talk. I guess I would have liked the guys."

Reginald smiled briefly.

"They touch on a topic and they decide that each of them shall contribute to the discussion. The topic is love. They have different point of views. One of them says that Love is a god, a powerful force, a force driving men’s actions. Another one says that there are two worlds, the world of men and the world of the gods. He says that love is a bridge between them. On the path of love, man can reach the heavens. Another one says that physical love must not be forgotten. There must be a balance between physical and spiritual love. They belong together. Another one says that a long time ago each human being was divided into two parts, the halves now seeking one another to come together and to become one again. This is the union of body and soul. This union is love. Socrates has not yet spoken. They turn to him to ask his opinion."

Reginald paced the room. Finally, he leaned against the bookcase again.

"So Socrates speaks. He says that he went to see and ask a wise woman, Diotima. She told him that love was a desire inherent in every human being. Love is the desire for something we do not have and thus want to have and want to have forever. Love is the desire for everlasting happiness. Happiness we find in beauty. Beauty is the divine."

Reginald paused, looking from one to the other. His friends nodded.

"Again. Love is the desire for everlasting happiness. Man seeks happiness. Happiness is beauty. Man seeks beauty. Beauty is the divine. Man seeks the divine. Hence, mortal man desires for the divine. Hence, mortal man desires for immortality."

Reginald cleared his throat.

"Diotima says that love is the bridge between mortality and immortality. Man desires for immortality. A mortal man wants to create something that lasts forever."

Reginald’s friends looked at him in an attempt to follow his thoughts.

"Love is a concept then?" Jeffrey asked. "Love is not an attraction between two persons?"

Reginald nodded. "You can say that love is a concept. Diotima says that there are two ways of creating something immortal in a mortal world. One way is by having children. A man and a woman join their bodies and souls by their mutual desire to create immortality. Within their child they live on."

"Well, I think, this idea is familiar to us," Francis said. "That’s what the churches preach also. Sexual intercourse is permitted only to have offspring. Thus only a man and a woman may have sexual intercourse in order to have children. They must not do it for any other reason. And they must not do it in a position that avoids conception."

Reginald nodded. "Yes, this concept is very much appreciated. However, I honestly do not believe that man and woman lie together for just this reason."

Edward leaned forward. "You mean, Reginald, Plato favoured the relationship between man and woman? This thought sounds like an archconservative Catholic priest’s thought."

Reginald smiled. "The Catholics have stolen the concept, I’d say. But I have not yet finished. We say that man and woman are attracted to each other and that their attraction is love. Plato, however, says that they are attracted to each other in order to have children. They want to have children to create something immortal in a mortal world. Their desire for immortality is called love. Having children is a process of creation."

Winston laughed. "What about me? This concept of love is not made for me. I will never have children."

"Well," Reginald said, "We now come to the point that I pondered on for a long time. Assuming Diotma’s considerations were true…." He paused. "Let me start this way. Diotima says that love is the desire for the divine. She says this desire is inherent in every human being. So, Winston, according to Diotima’s considerations, you also seek for the divine."

Winston could not help laughing. The others joined in.

Jeffrey scratched his head. "You said that the family thing was one way to create something that lasted forever, Reginald. What is the other way?"

Reginald shifted his position and continued.

"I think we agree that many humans do not follow the described path. I mean, there are many women and men who never marry and do not have children and who have no desire for it. Also, there are humans who never feel attracted to the opposite sex. Let me continue. There’s another way. We can create something filled with beauty and the divine. We can create an art work, a painting for example, or a poem. The fine arts are a way to bring immortality to the mortal world."

Jeffrey nodded. "I understand. I paint. The paintings I paint on demand are decorative, appealing, and nice. But my private and secret paintings are outstanding. I do not praise myself. Painting a private painting, I feel that I am in touch with something that is bigger than I am. I can hardly explain. I paint with all my heart and with all my soul. I love painting. I do not think of immortality when painting. I feel obsessed by the sight of beauty and by my feelings, and I want to put my feelings into the painting. I love the process of painting. Of course, I am pleased with the result. But the process of painting means much more to me. It is like, well, it is like making love to the one you desire so much."

Jeffrey’s face was heated.

"I know what you mean," Winston said. "I do not paint. But I know this ecstatic state of mind. I’m in this state of mind when I do mathematics. I can spend hours on a problem. I love it. Sometimes I stay up all night to solve a problem. In the morning I feel tired out. I do love this feeling also."

"Does this mean that every man and woman not mating to have children seeks to transport immortality to the mortal world by creating an art work of whatever kind?" Edward asked in confusion.

"Yes," Jeffrey said. "I understand Plato’s concept of love. Assuming his assumptions were true, I seek immortality. But what has this got to do with my love to Edward? Let me speak frankly. I love him with body and soul. I cannot see what Plato says regarding my love to a man."

Orson cleared his throat. "Let me explain the Greek concept of male-male love."

Orson straightened.

"Love between men in ancient Greece was considered a good thing when an older man loved a younger man. This love implied two things. One thing was physical love and the second thing was education. The older man taught the younger man. The older man had to evoke noble and good virtues in the younger man. Such kind of love was acknowledged. Any other was not. We have a few exceptions, though. The love between Achilles and Patroclus, for example. Their love was outstanding since Achilles was bound to be an immortal himself. A love between a god and a mortal, so to speak. But not a love between two mortal men of equal rank. You see, love between men in ancient Greece was only acknowledged when noble education was involved. The older man taught the younger one and thus evoked divine virtues in his lover, while the younger man desired for the divine. This is Plato’s concept of love. You can sleep with him, but never forget the heavenly teaching."

Orson laughed aloud for almost one minute. Reginald grinned.

"What a sophisticated excuse they needed for sexual intercourse," Francis said, rolling his eyes. "God, they were so uptight about sex, I cannot believe."

"Yes," Orson said, "All this reasoning to just find an excuse for a sexual encounter. I wonder how they did it. Reciting The Iliad while...? Forgive me, I need to laugh. Just imagine it."

Orson leaned back, grinning. Francis turned to Reginald. "Promise me one thing, please, Reginald. Never recite a poem when you touch me."

Reginald looked at Francis, his arms still crossed. A smiled appeared on his lips.

"I cannot promise, my dear. Sometimes I think you lack education."

Francis reached out his hand to punch Reginald. Reginald smiled. He cleared his throat.

"Gentlemen, I see that Plato’s concept is stirring emotions. Just let me add one or two sentences. I agree with Orson. Male-male love in ancient Greece was acknowledged as long as the platonic idea of love was involved. Since two men cannot have offspring, in ancient Greece they had to choose the second way. This meant creating something of value. Good breeding, teaching and education. Orson described it already."

Reginald crossed the room and sat down in his chair.

"Can you see, gentlemen, why I do not agree with Plato’s Symposium? His ideas still live on. In a sense, he achieved immortality." Reginald smiled briefly. "But exactly these ideas impede liberalization. In a sense, the union between a man and a woman is holy since they usually have children together and thus walk on the path to heaven. I deliberately chose these words to emphasize. The churches took up this idea. No wonder, it guarantees followers. All these men and women consider themselves on the right path. They are taught they are. Hence, all others are wrong. Do you see why the majority of people are prejudiced against us? We are wrong."

Reginald took his glass from the table.

"Plato mentions Alcibiades and Socrates’ relationship. Alcibiades praises that Socrates lifted him higher. He wanted Socrates to love him physically. But Socrates refused. Their carnal desire changed to a different kind of love. Platonic love. Love with the idea of a superior teaching his inferior lover. So, can you see, gentlemen? The only way to justify a relationship between men is to choose the way of platonic love. A younger man and an older man might also share a physical love, as long as teaching is involved. Men of equal rank may not. Instead, they have to deny their carnal desires and have to ascend to a higher love. Can you see, gentlemen? In a sense, you have to vow celibacy. Become a Catholic priest or a monk maybe. Many do, gentlemen, many do. Thus they gain a little respect at least, since they are teaching the divine. You see again Plato’s concept adapted to our culture."

Reginald took a sip of his wine.

"But if you are a man who loves another man and you cannot deny your carnal desires, you have failed entirely, since you cannot walk on the first path and you deliberately did not step on the second. You refused the only way that was offered to you. Gentlemen, anybody practicing this kind of love is an outcast, an outlaw, a criminal. My thanks to Plato. Cheers to him."

Reginald emptied his glass.

We looked at each other for a few minutes in silence. Reginald’s reasoning was quite conclusive.

"Two thousand years have passed and nothing has changed. I feel utterly shocked," Edward said.

"Yes," Reginald said. "Two thousand years ago that guy sat down and wrote his essay. And this essay affects my life in the year 1816. It is a shame. Almost two thousand years ago Jesus said ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’. Perhaps we should discuss this also some day. It seems, however, that Plato won the race a long, long time ago."

"Well," Winston said. "Look on Plato’s essay again. His argumentation is based on assumptions, a series of assumptions. Man seeks happiness. This desire is called love. Happiness is gained by beauty. Beauty is the divine. The divine is an equivalent to immortality. A series of assumptions and not matters of fact. Plato’s argumentation is based on assumptions. His conclusions are based on these assumptions. If any of these assumptions were changed, his conclusions might well be different ones."

Reginald raised an eyebrow and nodded. "You are right. We have not discussed the assumptions."

"Yes," Winston continued. "I think that Plato’s essay is a philosophical discourse written for discussion. Read it in a dispassionate way and you will see that it is just another discourse. However, I agree that something went very wrong. At some point Plato’s ideas were looked upon as divine truth. This is the mistake. We enter the realm of belief. Can you see? The churches took up Plato’s thoughts and made an inviolable truth of them. Do not touch this truth. Do not question the divine. You are a sinner, if you do so. You are a criminal. I blame the churches."

"That’s a good point," Orson said. "And, it leads to a question. Why, I ask you, why do people not question this ‘truth’?"

"Well, this is easy to answer," Edward said. "The majority of people live quite well with it. They are on the right path. They are right. That’s all they want to hear. They are happy that they are not made the scapegoat for what is wrong in the world. I am wrong. I am the scapegoat, whereas they happily copulate and beget children. This is all they need to do in order to reach heaven. Believe me, they are happy with it."

Orson nodded. "Yes, why reflect on things when you can have an easy life. Why think independently? Do what you are told. This is far less exhausting."

"Nobody is perfect," Francis said. "I am a mortal, after all. And mortals can fail. Perhaps we should follow our heart. It will lead us on the right path. I feel love, and I want to share it with my beloved and with my friends. It makes me happy."

Orson nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, Francis, this is very true."

Reginald smiled. "Gentlemen, I think we could go on discussing the matter for another couples of hours. But it’s already nine o’clock. I invited you to celebrate with me. A dinner is prepared in the dining room. After dinner, I will show you the Greek vase in our bedroom."

~~**~~