In the Symposium we see the upholding of a party among thinkers who not only desire to drink and engage in the natural pleasures of the flesh but also in the discussion of what is good, beautiful, political righteous, and the highest of all forms of philosophies. In the aftermath of this banquet, eros is thus analyzed in the matter of the society, and what can be higher than eros also becomes a topic among the men involved in this conversation. Socrates shows in this work how eros does not belong along to the natural and sexual parts of men, but to the whole soul of such. In it, such love slowly motivates Politics, and thus the political life is the response to love. And, ultimately, the maximum understanding of eros, is the eros that drives men towards the contemplation of wisdom and thus the study of philosophy. It is then that the endeavor of human life exists to seek philosophy but other things come into the life of the man which distracts us and sets us away from the highest path of truth and beauty.
My thoughts on the Symposium:
Love however is not just a word but, it is a relationship. Then when we proceed to see the philia between the Father and the Son. This relationship of love is the Holy Spirit. God, Himself is love. But, he still commands us to love one another (cf. John 13:34). Therefore, the love we experience, the love we have for each other is one within Himself. The relationship of love between each other is the same relationship between the Father and the Son. Thus, we partake in the oikonomia of the divine love, for when we love one another, that relationship between us is the Holy Spirit present. Thus, the Holy Spirit habits all love, for these proceeds from God Himself. It is then that prudence and virtue are appropriate for the soul, for they bring us closer to Him that inhabit our hearts (cf. Plato, Symposium, 209a 3-4). Thus, there is no higher virtue than the one that proceeds from the Father.
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