Xenophon’s Symposium is a Socratic dialogue set at a drinking party hosted by the wealthy Athenian Callias in honor of the young Autolycus’s athletic victory. Socrates and several elite companions engage in playful yet serious competition in praise-speeches (encomia) of Eros, personal beauty, and virtue. The presence of a Syracusan entertainer, his boy and girl performers, and the clown Philippus allows Xenophon to juxtapose physical spectacle and erotic attraction with Socrates’ account of love as a force for moral improvement and friendship. Through speeches, banter, and minor set‑pieces of performance, the dialogue explores themes of kalokagathia (the unity of the beautiful and the good), self-control, friendship, and the proper object of desire, culminating in Socrates’ defense of chaste, intellectually elevating love against more sensual or mercenary forms of eros.
At a Glance
- Author
- Xenophon of Athens
- Composed
- c. 380–360 BCE
- Language
- Ancient Greek
- Status
- copies only
- •Eros as an educator toward virtue: Socrates argues that love, rightly directed, educates the lover in self-control and justice by orienting desire toward the moral and intellectual excellence of the beloved, rather than toward mere bodily pleasure.
- •The unity of the beautiful and the good (kalokagathia): The dialogue suggests that true beauty cannot be separated from goodness of character; physical attractiveness has its highest value when it expresses and stimulates moral virtue.
- •Superiority of spiritual over physical love: Socrates contrasts base, purely physical eros—often commercialized or exploitative—with a higher form of love that is non-possessive, non-sexual, and centered on mutual moral progress and shared pursuit of wisdom.
- •Virtue as the basis of true friendship: Xenophon has Socrates maintain that reliable, lasting friendship arises not from utility or pleasure alone but from stable character excellence; friends who are good become trustworthy allies in public and private life.
- •Philosophic self-mastery within sympotic culture: By his behavior and speech at the drinking party, Socrates shows that philosophical moderation and self-knowledge can coexist with elite conviviality, turning the symposium into a context for moral reflection rather than indulgence.
Xenophon’s Symposium is one of the principal sources for the literary and philosophical genre of the symposium in antiquity and a key witness to the reception of Socrates outside the Platonic tradition. It offers a counterpoint to Plato’s Symposium, presenting a more down-to-earth, ethical, and socially embedded account of eros, virtue, and friendship. The text illuminates Athenian elite culture, including attitudes toward pederasty, gender, and performance, while also illustrating Xenophon’s characteristic interest in practical virtue, leadership qualities, and the uses of self-discipline. In the history of philosophy, the work contributes to the understanding of Socratic ethics, especially the notion that erotic desire can be redirected toward moral education and that friendship is grounded in character excellence.
1. Introduction
Xenophon’s Symposium (Symposion) is a short Socratic dialogue that stages a convivial drinking party in classical Athens and uses this social setting to explore questions about eros, virtue, and friendship. The work belongs to the broader genre of sympotic literature, in which banquets provide a framework for performances, conversation, and philosophical reflection.
Unlike Plato’s more metaphysical Symposium, Xenophon’s dialogue presents a relatively down‑to‑earth Socrates, who participates in jokes and games while subtly redirecting talk about beauty and pleasure toward issues of self‑control and moral character. The guests—elite Athenians, an athlete, and professional entertainers—offer encomia of their own qualities (such as wealth, poverty, beauty, or wisdom), allowing Xenophon to contrast conventional values with Socratic ideals.
Modern interpreters generally see the dialogue as part literary entertainment, part ethical instruction. It illustrates how kalokagathia (the unity of the beautiful and the good) might be realized in everyday social life, and how eros can serve either as a source of indulgence or as an instrument of moral education. The text is also a key witness to non‑Platonic portrayals of Socrates and to Athenian attitudes toward love, gender, and elite sociability in the late fifth and early fourth centuries BCE.
2. Historical and Cultural Context
2.1 The Greek Symposium as Institution
The dialogue presupposes the classical symposium: an after‑dinner drinking party among male citizens, typically of elite status. These gatherings combined wine, conversation, music, and performances, and were governed by shared norms surrounding moderation, competition, and homoerotic courtship. Xenophon’s narrative draws on this recognizable social form to frame philosophical discussion.
| Aspect | Sympotic Practice in Classical Athens |
|---|---|
| Participants | Male citizens, often aristocratic youth and elders |
| Activities | Drinking, games, songs, dancing, erotic flirtation |
| Themes of Talk | Politics, warfare, poetry, philosophy, personal reputation |
| Social Functions | Bonding of elites, display of status, moral and erotic education |
2.2 Athenian Elite Culture and Eros
The honoring of the young athlete Autolycus reflects the prestige of athletic success and physical beauty in Athenian aristocratic culture. Pederastic relationships between adult male lovers and adolescent beloveds, subject to various social norms and controversies, formed a central context for discourse about eros. Xenophon’s dialogue engages with these practices by juxtaposing commercialized or purely physical desire with more normatively “noble” forms.
2.3 Intellectual Milieu
Composed in the early 4th century BCE, the work belongs to a flourishing Socratic literature after Socrates’ death (399 BCE). Authors such as Plato, Xenophon, and others produced dialogues depicting Socrates in diverse lights. Scholars disagree on whether Xenophon consciously responds to Plato’s Symposium or simply participates in shared sympotic conventions, but they generally agree that the text reflects contemporary debates about the ethical significance of eros and the role of philosophy in everyday social life.
3. Author and Composition
3.1 Xenophon of Athens
Xenophon (c. 430–354 BCE) was an Athenian soldier, historian, and writer associated with Socrates. He served as a mercenary, later living in exile or semi‑exile (for example at Scillus under Spartan protection), and composed works ranging from military memoir (Anabasis) to political treatise (Cyropaedia) and Socratic dialogues (Memorabilia, Oeconomicus, Apology). Scholars often stress his practical, didactic orientation and comparatively conservative ethical outlook.
3.2 Date and Circumstances of Composition
The Symposium is commonly dated to c. 380–360 BCE, though precise dating remains debated. Many place it after Xenophon’s departure from Athens, citing its nostalgic tone and its detailed yet somewhat distanced portrayal of Athenian elite society. Others argue that internal evidence does not decisively fix the place of composition and that Xenophon may be reworking material from earlier Socratic circles.
| Issue | Main Scholarly Positions |
|---|---|
| Relative to Plato’s Symposium | Written later in response; or roughly contemporary, reflecting shared traditions |
| Place of composition | Often linked to Xenophon’s residence at Scillus; some remain agnostic |
| Intended audience | Educated Greek readers, especially elites interested in Socrates and sympotic culture |
3.3 Aims and Genre
Interpreters differ on Xenophon’s primary aim. Some emphasize apologetic motives, presenting Socrates as morally exemplary within a familiar social context. Others stress literary and comedic aspects, treating the work as light entertainment with philosophical overtones. Still others see it as a serious contribution to ethical reflection on eros and friendship, expressed in a deliberately accessible, anecdotal style. There is broad agreement that the text is a crafted dialogue that reworks traditional sympotic motifs for didactic purposes.
4. Structure and Dramatic Organization
4.1 Overall Dramatic Frame
The action unfolds during a single evening banquet hosted by Callias in honor of Autolycus. Xenophon employs a straightforward, linear narrative, in which a narrator (often taken to be Xenophon himself) recounts the events. The setting remains essentially fixed—the dining room of Callias—while the focus shifts among guests and entertainers.
| Dramatic Phase | Content Focus |
|---|---|
| Arrival & Setting | Introduction of guests, purpose of banquet |
| Early Entertainment | Performances by Syracusan, dancers, and Philippus |
| Encomia Competition | Sequential speeches praising each guest’s attribute |
| Socratic Discussion | Extended exploration of eros, beauty, and self‑mastery |
| Dissolution | Departure of guests, quiet close on Socratic example |
4.2 Use of Sympotic Conventions
Xenophon organizes the dialogue around familiar sympotic elements—wine‑mixing, jesting, erotic banter, musical and acrobatic acts. These serve as dramatic triggers for philosophical reflection: a performance provokes a remark; teasing elicits a definition; a boast becomes an occasion for an encomium. Proponents of a “literary‑structural” reading highlight how the playful competition in speeches gradually transitions into more serious scrutiny of motives and values.
4.3 Character Constellation
Each guest embodies particular social and moral types—wealthy patron (Callias), handsome youth (Critobulus), ascetic moralist (Antisthenes), athlete (Autolycus), comic parasite (Philippus). Socrates’ role is structurally central: he participates in the competition but also reframes it, guiding the group from external advantages to internal virtue. Some interpreters argue that the characters are arranged to contrast surface brilliance (beauty, wealth) with enduring excellence (self‑control, wisdom).
5. Central Arguments on Love, Virtue, and Friendship
5.1 Eros as Educator
Socrates’ speeches develop an account of eros as a potentially educative force. He suggests that when directed toward the beloved’s character rather than mere bodily pleasure, love motivates the lover to cultivate justice, courage, and self‑discipline. Physical attraction becomes a starting point for moral improvement rather than an end in itself.
“Those who love bodies alone are quickly sated; but those who fall in love with souls continue in their desire for life.”
— (Paraphrasing Socratic claims in Xenophon’s Symposium, middle sections)
5.2 Kalokagathia and Beauty
Debate over beauty—especially that of Critobulus and Autolycus—leads to the theme of kalokagathia, the unity of the beautiful and the good. Socrates questions the value of beauty divorced from virtue, arguing that beauty attains full worth only when it reflects and encourages noble character. Some scholars see this as a practical ethical reformulation of more abstract Greek ideals of the “beautiful and good.”
5.3 Self‑Mastery and Forms of Love
A recurrent argument concerns self‑mastery (enkrateia). Xenophon has Socrates distinguish between:
| Type of Eros | Features in the Dialogue |
|---|---|
| Mercenary / base | Linked to money, flattery, bodily gratification |
| Noble / higher | Chaste, reciprocal, oriented toward virtue and shared pursuits |
Socrates insists that the lover must govern desires lest eros become a tyrant over the soul. His defense of chaste intimacy with Critobulus exemplifies this model of disciplined affection.
5.4 Friendship Grounded in Virtue
The dialogue also links eros to friendship. Socrates maintains that reliable, lasting friendships arise from stable excellence of character, not transient advantage or pleasure. Good friends become trustworthy collaborators in public and private life, offering mutual benefit grounded in virtue. Interpretations vary on whether Xenophon regards erotic and non‑erotic friendships as distinct or as points along a continuum unified by shared moral aims, but most agree that the text privileges character over utility as the basis of enduring companionship.
6. Legacy and Historical Significance
6.1 Place in Socratic and Sympotic Literature
Xenophon’s Symposium is one of the principal surviving examples of the sympotic dialogue and a major non‑Platonic source for Socrates. It contributes to the development of the “Socratic conversation” as a literary form in which everyday social occasions prompt ethical reflection. Scholars often read it alongside Plato’s Symposium and other Socratic works to reconstruct competing images of Socrates.
6.2 Influence on Conceptions of Eros and Friendship
The work helped shape later understandings of eros as morally formative and of friendship grounded in virtue, themes that resonate in Hellenistic and Roman ethical writings. While Plato’s account of metaphysical ascent became more philosophically prominent, Xenophon’s practical focus on self‑mastery, noble love, and trustworthy companionship informed later discussions of character friendship and civic virtue.
6.3 Reception and Evaluation
Ancient testimonies about the dialogue are sparse, but its preservation in the manuscript tradition indicates ongoing interest. Modern evaluation has been mixed:
| Aspect | Typical Modern Assessment |
|---|---|
| Literary artistry | Often judged less unified than Plato; others highlight its comic realism |
| Philosophical depth | Sometimes seen as modest; alternative readings emphasize subtle ethical teaching |
| Image of Socrates | Viewed as more conservative and exemplary; debated as to historical accuracy |
Debates continue over whether Xenophon should be read primarily as an apologist for Socrates, a keen observer of Athenian elite culture, or an original ethical thinker in his own right. The Symposium remains a key text for studying the intersection of social practice, erotic norms, and moral philosophy in classical Greece.
Study Guide
intermediateThe narrative and speeches are accessible, but understanding the philosophical core—Diotima’s daemonic ontology of Eros, the Ladder of Love, and the relation between personal desire and the Form of Beauty—requires some prior familiarity with Plato’s theory of Forms and basic Greek cultural context. The dialogue is easier to read than to interpret in depth.
Eros (ἔρως)
Erotic love or passionate desire; in the dialogue, it ranges from physical attraction and pederastic relationships to a daemonic drive toward beauty, goodness, and immortality.
Daimon (δαίμων)
An intermediate spiritual being between gods and humans; Diotima identifies Eros as a daimon who mediates between mortal and divine realms, need and fullness, ignorance and wisdom.
Form of Beauty (τὸ καλόν καθ’ αὑτό)
The eternal, unchanging, non-sensible Beauty itself that all beautiful things participate in; the ultimate object of desire at the top of Diotima’s Ladder of Love.
Ladder of Love
Diotima’s ordered sequence of erotic development: from love of one beautiful body to all bodies, then to souls, practices and laws, knowledge, and finally Beauty itself.
Heavenly and Common Love (οὐράνιος ἔρως / πάνδημος ἔρως)
Pausanias’ distinction between a noble, soul-directed eros tied to education and virtue (Heavenly) and a vulgar, indiscriminate eros focused on bodily pleasure (Common).
Symposium (συμπόσιον) as setting and genre
A formal Greek drinking party marked by shared wine, conversation, and performances; in Plato’s dialogue, a contest of speeches in praise of Eros replaces typical musical entertainment.
Pederasty and Athenian sexual norms
Socially structured relationships between an adult male (erastes) and adolescent male (eromenos), often combining erotic attraction with claims of education and moral improvement.
Philosophical method: elenchus, myth, and dramatic exemplification
The combination of Socratic cross-examination (elenchus), mythic narratives (e.g., Aristophanes’ androgyne myth, Diotima’s genealogy of Eros), and rich dramatic characterization (especially Alcibiades).
How do Phaedrus, Pausanias, and Eryximachus each define or characterize Eros, and what does each gain or lose by focusing respectively on heroic virtue, legal norms, and cosmic harmony?
In what ways does Aristophanes’ myth of the halved humans complement or conflict with Diotima’s Ladder of Love as accounts of what lovers ultimately seek?
Why is it philosophically important that Diotima describes Eros as a daimon rather than a god? How does this status relate to her portrayal of love as ‘in-between’ ignorance and wisdom, mortality and immortality?
Does Diotima’s account of spiritual ‘pregnancy’ and reproduction (in virtue, laws, and knowledge) provide a satisfying alternative to literal bodily immortality? Why or why not?
How does Socrates’ refusal of Alcibiades’ erotic offers challenge the norms of Athenian pederasty presented earlier in the dialogue?
To what extent should we treat Symposium as endorsing Diotima’s doctrine as Plato’s own view, versus presenting it as one voice among many in a deliberately pluralistic dialogue?
Is the ascent from bodily to spiritual beauty in the Ladder of Love necessarily a denigration of the body, or can it be read as a revaluation of bodily love within a larger ethical and intellectual framework?
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title = {symposium},
author = {Philopedia},
year = {2025},
url = {https://philopedia.com/works/symposium/},
urldate = {December 11, 2025}
}