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Hold On My Heart: Reevaluating the Platonic Theory of Love in the Symposium
Johnson, Mason Lee
Johnson, Mason Lee
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Honors papers, Greek and Roman Studies
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Abstract
In classical Athens, young elite men were educated in political life through pederasty, an
educational institution in which older citizens trained young adolescents in political and
social life. However, because of the sexual aspect of this relationship, many outside of
the ruling class found this practice to lie outside the bounds of Athenian sexual and
political mores. As a member of the Athenian elite, Plato was aware of the problems of
erotic attachment, and he dramatizes this tension through a discussion of eros in the
Symposium. Scholarship on the dialogue's pederastic theme follows two main veins. On
the one hand, some examine Plato’s conception of eros from a philosophical point of
view, largely ignoring the educative role pederasty played in Athenian culture. On the
other, there are those who acknowledge Plato’s engagement with pederastic themes but
fail to understand the importance of erotic love for his political philosophy. This paper
seeks to bridge the gap between the philosophical and the more socially focused
approaches by offering a new reading of the Symposium, which situates the dialogue
firmly within the sexual and political atmosphere of classical Athens. I argue that Plato
problematizes pederasty in the speeches of the work's interlocutors but proposes a unique
solution in the voice of Socrates, who transforms the institution into a vehicle for creating
virtuous rulers by freeing elite citizens from the unpredictable and destabilizing
emotional ties of erotic love.
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The author granted permission to publish this paper. It was submitted to the archives on a a CD.