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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Apollodorus talking with at the beginning of Symposium?

2. What princess does Phaedrus use as an example for a sacrifice made out of Love?

3. According to Socrates, who changes proverbs about Agamemnon and Menelaus?

4. How does Eryximachus define symphony?

5. What does Aristophanes state that mankind does not understand?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What are the different types of the creatures that Aristophanes speaks about?

4. As Eryximachus explains, what is the role of a doctor in healing a patient?

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

6. How many kinds of love does Pausanias claim there are and why?

7. How is the subject of the speeches at the Symposium decided?

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

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

10. How well does Apollodorus know Socrates in order to verify the information of what took place at the Symposium?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

After a brief argument with Socrates, Agathon gives his speech.

1) Explain how Agathon disagrees with Phaedrus.

2) Describe what the characteristics of love are, according to Agathon.

3) Explain how Agathon's reputation for being a playwright might have influenced his thoughts and views about love.

4) Describe the effect that love can have on people as they are given in Agathon's speech.

Essay Topic 2

Before Socrates starts giving his speech on love, he takes the time to make some observations about the other speeches and preface his own.

1) Analyze Socrates' opinions of the other speeches in general, including the compliments he has for them, along with the way he dismisses them.

2) Describe Socrates' comments about Agathon's speech.

3) Explain the irony in Socrates' assumption that the speeches should contain the truth and the way that he prepares the guests for his speech.

4) Describe why Socrates is compelled to speak the truth as he understands it, his lack of concern for who it might offend, and how that adds to his reputation.

Essay Topic 3

Describe the parallels between love and music that Eryximachus makes in his speech. Include several examples of how love and music are similar and why Eryximachus uses music as an effective metaphor in analyzing the way that love works.

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