... has yet to be a one universal explanation of love and there has yet to be one who understands it's powers fully. As we see from Plato's Symposium, even the wisest of men in a time when the search for knowledge was seen as the pathway to enlightenment love was still a concept that was ... Soon Phaedrus concludes his oration and Pausanias steps up to deliver another set of guidelines for love. Pausanias concerns himself with a topic much like Plato's guidelines in the Ideal Republic where he stated that honorable and virtuous acts were only those that were applied to noble and just causes...

• Word Count: 2004
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... group. The ideas these men put forward in describing the nature of something as powerful yet intangible as love are wonderful. The people in Plato's Symposium are truly great and wise men. They each have their particular viewpoints, based on their characters and professions. The physician and healer, Eryximachus, ... I know not any greater blessing to a young man who is beginning life than a virtuous lover, or to the lover, than a beloved youth. (Symposium, 20)" The moral value of this sentence is questionable. It basically condones, even promotes, homosexuality and the abuse of children...

• Word Count: 1657
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School