Symposium

"It has been said that, after the Bible, Plato's dialogues are the most influential books in Western culture. Of these, the Symposium is by far the most delightful and accessible, requiring no special knowledge of philosophy or Greek society. Describing a party in the Athens of the fifth century BC, this short and deceptively unassuming book introduces profound ideas about the nature of love in the guise of convivial after-dinner conversation.

Published together with the Symposium is Phaedrus, in which Plato discusses the place of eloquence in expounding truth. Socrates plays the leading role in both dialogues, by turns arguing, joking, and teasing his followers into understanding ideas that have remained central to Western thought ever since."--BOOK JACKET.