View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Apollodorus' old name?

2. According to Phaedrus' story, how could Achilles have avoided death?

3. According to Aristophanes, how many faces does man begin with?

4. How many kinds of love does Pausanius think there are?

5. Besides Apollodorus, to whom else has Aristodemus recounted the events of the party?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the description of the creature that Aristophanes gives at the beginning of his speech?

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

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

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

5. How is Aristodemus' dilemma resolved when he and Socrates arrive at the party?

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

7. According to Aristophanes, how did humans begin to walk upright?

8. How is the story of the Symposium introduced and who is responsible for telling it?

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

10. What effect does love have on nature and the seasons, as mentioned in the end of Eryximachus' speech?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Diotima teaches Socrates about love and Socrates relates what he has learned to the guests at the Symposium.

1) Describe the definition of love that Socrates begins his speech with, as well as how he reached his opinion.

2) Discuss what Socrates thinks the characteristics of love are, along with why and how they contradict Agathon's speech.

3) Explain the reasons why Socrates believes that love is a spirit.

Essay Topic 2

Phaedrus speaks about the way people will fight and/or die for love.

1) Summarize Phaedrus' opinion of love and its ability to motivate people.

2) Describe the story of Alcestis as it is used in Phaedrus' speech.

3) Compare the stories of Achilles and Orpheus in the way they are referenced by Phaedrus.

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the different speeches given at the Symposium.

1) Analyze the similarities between Socrates' speech and Eryximachus' speech as well as what the main difference was between the two.

2) Explain which speeches had the most differences and why.

3) Describe the speech or speeches that you think made the most sense and/or contained the most important information.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 811 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample