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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. According to Socrates, what is the lover directed towards?
(a) What he or she already has.
(b) What he or she does not have.
(c) What he or she will never understand.
(d) What he or she does not understand.

2. In Alcibiades' opinion, why does Socrates associate with young boys?
(a) He is confused by them.
(b) He is trying to change them.
(c) He is reminded of his youth by them.
(d) He is excited by them.

3. How many kinds of Love are there, according to Diotima?
(a) Many.
(b) Very few.
(c) One.
(d) Two.

4. According to Alcibiades, what type of music are Socrates' speeches comparable to?
(a) Tribal drums.
(b) A string quartet.
(c) Flute playing.
(d) Piano waltzes.

5. What example does Socrates use as a tale that has lived throughout generations?
(a) Agamemnon.
(b) Odysseus.
(c) Heracles.
(d) Achilles.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Agathon describe love?

2. What does Alcibiades assure Socrates of before he begins speaking?

3. According to Alcibiades, what tactic does not work with Socrates?

4. In Diotima's opinion, who is Love's father?

5. How does Diotima define a spirit?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Diotima and what is significant about the experience Socrates had with her?

2. What examples does Socrates provide of what men can leave behind?

3. Why does Socrates believe that love cannot be beautiful or ugly, and what analogy does he use?

4. What are the statues of Silenus and why does Alcibiades include them in his speech?

5. What is the definition that Socrates gives of love?

6. What events does Alcibiades describe in his speech, and how do they show that Socrates cannot be bribed?

7. How does Agathon disagree with Phaedrus in the beginning of his speech and why?

8. What is Socrates' opinion of the speeches he has heard?

9. How does Diotima help Socrates understand how a person can become a philosopher through love?

10. What does Socrates think the function of love is?

(see the answer keys)

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