Written by: Plato
Date: c. 385–380 BC
Form: Dramatic Dialogue
Setting: Agathon’s house, following his victory at the
Dionysia (a theatrical competition and religious festival, 416 BC)
The Challenge: each man at the banquet is to deliver
an encomium (a speech in praise of someone or something) to the god of Love,
Eros.
The Speakers:
Phaedrus: an Athenian aristocrat, part of Socrates’
entourage
Pausanias: lawyer
Eryximachus: physician
Aristophanes: comic playwright (wrote Lysistrata)
Agathon: tragedian, companion of Pausanias, host
Socrates: philosopher and Plato's teacher
Alcibiades: statesman, orator, and general