Diotima was a philosopher who played a significant role in the symposium of Plato based on her ideas and concepts concerning significant factors presented at the symposium. Diotima refers to Zeus Honor, which is used to refer to a woman that honor or is honored by Zeus. The philosopher was considered to have originated from the city of Mantinea. Diotima was considered a prophetess based on her characteristics and behavior concerning making prophecies and overseeing things that turn out be true. Although the only source describing her existence is Plato, there have been some questions raised by different scholars that doubted the actual existences of the character. Majority of scholars and philosopher ought to think that the character was a mere fictional creation that did not exist in reality. However, considering Plato’s nature of using real names of actual people that existed increased the probability that Diotima could be a real historical figure.
Plato’s symposium entailed the discussion of the actual meaning of love considering philosophies and discussions that love. In the symposium, Diotima focused on developing a philosophy of love that helped in explaining the love and how human beings are entitled to love others truthfully. In her philosophy of love, Diotima gave a genealogy of Love, which was also referred to eros that helped in providing her own opinion and thoughts concerning the definition of love. According to Evans (2006), Diotima explained her thoughts concerning love and aspects of love in her dialogue in Plato’s symposium. In her thought, Diotima described love as means of observing the divine purpose of individuals in any given society. She argued that the issues of love among individuals play a significant role of inspiring the minds of individuals and helps in guiding individuals’ attention towards the achievement of spiritual things. In this case, Diotima portrayed a close relationship between love and spiritual connection in an individual’s life.
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The development of mysteries of Eros by Diotima was one of the essential functions that she played in Plato's Symposium (Nye,1992). The symposium provided an avenue that helped in an expression of thoughts and ideas concerning the mysteries of love among individuals and within a given setting. Some factors contributed to incorporating Diotima’s character in the symposium and focus on her philosophy concerning love the mysteries of love in order promote success and relevance of the symposium. The reasons why Plato incorporated the character in the reported dialogue in the symposium provided insight on the role and influence of Diotima in the symposium. The philosophical dialogues discussed in the given symposium provided an avenue for the character of Diotima to present individual thoughts and ideologies concerning a given subject matter. The symposium required incorporating ideas and thoughts concerning the theories of love from different philosophers to provide a comprehensive overview on the actual meaning of love and the relationship between love and other aspects of the life that are influenced by love.
The reasons behind Plato’s idea to include Diotima in the symposium other than any other character help in analyzing her role in the symposium. The first reason that let Plato develop a place for Diotima in the symposium was based on her capabilities as a philosopher who existed in the history of philosophies and her experiences in teaching Socrates on different concepts concerning major aspects of life. The second major reason for that influenced Plato’s idea of including the character was based on the fact that Diotima acted as a literary device that presented the philosophical thoughts and ideologies (Jones, 2014). Diotima’s speech and various writings on matters concerning love contributed to the idea of considering her a literary device that would be used in the future references when considering different aspects concerning the philosophy of love. The mentioned reasons for incorporating Diotima indicate that the character had important roles in enhancing the symposium. The character helped in symbolizing that philosophy owes religion based on issues concerning love and inspiration. The character helped in portraying the strength and abilities of the feminine gender in issues relating to the development and establishment of philosophical concepts concerning issues of love (Wedgwood, 2009).
In conclusion, Plato’s symposium acted as platform to present the character of Diotima and present different philosophies that are associated with the issue on love and mysteries of love. Diotima was a philosopher who defined theories and philosophies concerning love and other aspects concerning love and religion. Diotima was also a priestess that was concerned with the religious philosophies and theories that related to the normal lives of individuals in the society. The character of Diotima played a major role in providing philosophical concepts concerning the love and the mysteries of love in the society. The speech by Diotima during the symposium was significant as it portrayed the strength of the women on addressing philosophical issues relating to love and spirituality.
References
Evans, N. (2006). Diotima and Demeter as mystagogues in Plato's Symposium. Hypatia , 21 (2), 1-27.
Jones, R. (2014). Re‐reading Diotima: Resources for a Relational Pedagogy. Journal of Philosophy of Education , 48 (2), 183-201.
Nye, A. (1992). The Hidden Host: Irigaray and Diotima at Plato’s Symposium. Revaluing French Feminism: Critical Essays on Difference, Agency, and Culture , 3 (682), 77.
Wedgwood, R. (2009). Diotima's Eudaemonism: Intrinsic Value and Rational Motivation in Plato's Symposium. Phronesis , 54 (4), 297-325.
