The Symposium was written as a dramatic dialogue - a form used by Plato in more than thirty works - and is regarded as one of his best. Set in Athenian social life, it develops the themes of love and also of Socrates' character. There is little doubt that the content of the dialogue is fictitious, a...

The Symposium was written as a dramatic dialogue - a form used by Plato in more than thirty works - and is regarded as one of his best. Set in Athenian social life, it develops the themes of love and also of Socrates' character. There is little doubt that the content of the dialogue is fictitious, although Plato has built a very realistic atmosphere.