The Symposium
Plato
Read by Geoffrey Edwards
The Symposium (Ancient Greek: Συμπόσιον) is a philosophical book written by Plato sometime after 385 BCE. On one level the book deals with the genealogy, nature and purpose of love, on another level the book deals with the topic of knowledge, specifically how does one know what one knows. The topic of love is taken up in the form of a group of speeches, given by a group of men at a symposium or a wine drinking party at the house of the tragedian Agathon at Athens. Plato constructed the Symposium as a story within a story within a story. This architecture creates the space for Plato to build his philosophy of knowledge. The speech of Socrates points out that the highest purpose of Love is to become a Philosopher, or Lover of Wisdom. (Summary from Wikipedia) (2 hr 15 min)
Chapters
| 1 - Symposium | 34:37 | Read by Geoffrey Edwards |
| 2 - Symposium | 41:01 | Read by Geoffrey Edwards |
| 3 - Symposium | 59:28 | Read by Geoffrey Edwards |
Reviews
This is Philosophy 101
Abraham Rocha
I first would like to praise Socrates from within my soul and secondly Geoffrey Edwards for reading this book with style and lastly Benjamin Jowett for translating this Epic Work of Plato. God bless the three of you!!!
unknown
A LibriVox Listener
The reader, while I very much appreciate that he took the time to read this for me (and all the other Librivox listeners), doesn't seem to have anything invested in it. He reads it as if he's reading a restaurant menu, or his great aunt's pharmaceutical ledger. HOWEVER, he speaks CLEARLY and SLOWLY which I really appreciate because some of those names are difficult. He would be fabulous at reading the voices of young men, but not so much the older men one might envision sitting around challenging each other in a duel of love speeches sans alcohol except what remains from the heavy drinking of the night before. Thank you, thank you for reading this, sincerely, but to better engage the listener, and to improve your own aloud-speaking skills, perhaps you might benefit by pretending you're acting more and reading less.
Charmed
I have always wanted to sit down and read philosophy books but do not read them entirely - so listening to the book has solved my problem thanks to LibriVox and volunteers 👍👍
Bravo reader! Thank you for your time and effort!
Bobby Maxwell
I enjoyed listening to this book. When I rest I like to listen and give my eyes a break. Thanks so much, Librivox! May you long prosper and continue sharing these wonderful books! I fully intend to read in the near future. All the best!
One thumb up
Gabriel
The reader is monotone. It helps one take in what is being said, but it gets dull. In his defense, it is hard to tell when Plato is serious or just recording something random.
thank you to Geoffrey Edwards for reading this for us
Michelle Pushka
Great stuff
A LibriVox Listener
Great retelling, thank you.