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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who requests that Socrates sit near him at the party?
(a) Aristodemus.
(b) Agathon.
(c) Aristophanes.
(d) Eryximachus.

2. How does Eryximachus define astronomy?
(a) The study of how love orders the stars.
(b) The study of how the stars affect love.
(c) The study of the stars and their agreement with love.
(d) The study of the stars and their opposition to love.

3. How does Eryximachus define symphony?
(a) A disagreement based on a previous agreement.
(b) An agreement to disagree.
(c) A disagreement.
(d) An agreement.

4. Where does Pausanius think the laws are perplexing?
(a) Tripoli.
(b) Therapni.
(c) Lacedaemon.
(d) Leonidio.

5. What is Eryximachus' suggestion for the flute-girl?
(a) That she stop playing only when Socrates speaks.
(b) That she stop playing.
(c) That she continue to play as the guests speak.
(d) That she play for herself or the women.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Phaedrus describe Love?

2. Where does Phaedrus think that Achilles was sent after his death?

3. Why are the speeches between Phaedrus and Pausanias left out of Aristodemus' account?

4. How does Pausanius describe the countries of Elis and Boeotia?

5. With what animal does Aristophanes compare the "man-woman creatures"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What might be seen as controversial about Pausanias' speech?

2. How does Socrates first appear when he is introduced in the Symposium?

3. What do Socrates and Aristodemus talk about on the way to the house and what is Aristodemus' dilemma?

4. Who are the parents of love, according to Pausanias?

5. What is the setting of the Symposium and the circumstances around it?

6. How does Orpheus become an example used by Phaedrus to depict what not to do?

7. How is music used by Eryximachus as a metaphor for love?

8. How does Phaedrus use Alcestis' story as an example in his speech?

9. What is the intention of Aristophanes' speech, and what clarification does he add to the end of it?

10. In Aristophanes' opinion, what other changes do the gods make to humans, and what is the reason for the changes?

(see the answer keys)

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