Xenophon’s Symposium

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Xenophon’s Symposium is a Socratic dialogue by the ancient Greek writer Xenophon that portrays a lively banquet conversation exploring love, virtue, and the character of Socrates.

Aliases (2)


Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Socratic dialogue
ancient Greek literature
philosophical work
author Xenophon
containsScene Socrates’ defense of his own attractiveness
conversation about eros (love)
discussion of what makes a person truly beautiful
contrastsWith Plato's Symposium
surface form: "Plato’s Symposium"
featuresCharacter Antisthenes
Autolycus
Callias
Charmides
Critobulus
Hermogenes
Niceratus
Philip the jester
Xocrates
focusesOn Socratic method in informal settings
ethical questions
genre dialogue
symposium literature
historicalContext classical Athens
language Ancient Greek
literaryDevice banquet conversation
character sketches
humor
literaryForm dramatic dialogue
mainCharacter Socrates
philosophicalConcern how virtue is expressed in daily life
relationship between external beauty and inner goodness
philosophicalTradition Socratic philosophy
portrays Socrates
surface form: "Socrates as practical and moderate"

sympotic culture in classical Greece
relatedWorkByAuthor Xenophon's Apology of Socrates
surface form: "Apology of Socrates to the Jury"

Memorabilia
Oeconomicus
setting banquet at the house of Callias
settingPeriod late 5th century BCE Athens
structure series of speeches in praise of personal qualities
theme beauty
education
friendship
kalokagathia (noble-and-good character)
love
the character of Socrates
virtue

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Lamprocles mentionedIn Xenophon’s Symposium
Xenophon notableWork Xenophon’s Symposium
this entity surface form: "Symposium"
Xenophon's Apology of Socrates relatedWorkByAuthor Xenophon’s Symposium
this entity surface form: "Symposium (Xenophon)"