How to Talk about Love: An Ancient Guide for Modern Lovers

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers

by Plato, Armand D'Angour (translator)

Explore the nature of love in this charming new translation of selections from Plato’s great dramatic work, the Symposium

What is love? In poetry, songs, fiction, movies, psychology, and philosophy, love has been described, admired, lamented, and dissected in endless ways. Is love based on physical attraction? Does it bring out our better selves? How does it relate to sex? Is love divine? Plato’s Symposium is one of the oldest, most influential, and most profound explorations of such questions—it is even the source of the idea of “Platonic love.” How to Talk about Love introduces and presents the key passages and central ideas of Plato’s philosophical dialogue in a lively and highly readable new translation, which also features the original Greek on facing pages.

The Symposium is set at a fictional drinking party during which prominent Athenians engage in a friendly competition by delivering improvised speeches in praise of Eros, the Greek god of love and sex. The aristocrat Phaedrus, the legal expert Pausanias, the physician Eryximachus, the comic playwright Aristophanes, and the tragic poet Agathon—each by turn celebrates different aspects of love before Socrates proposes not to praise love but to tell the truth about it. In the final speech, the politician and libertine Alcibiades argues that Socrates himself is the epitome of love.

Deftly capturing the essence and spirit of Plato’s masterpiece, How to Talk about Love makes the Symposium more accessible and enjoyable than ever before.

Genres: Philosophy, Romance, Nonfiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 2025

About the author

Plato (Greek: Πλάτων), born Aristocles (c. 427 – 348 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms. He raised problems for what became all the major areas of both theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy, and was the founder of the Platonic Academy, a philosophical school in Athens where Plato taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism.
Plato's most famous contribution is the theory of forms (or ideas), which has been interpreted as advancing a solution to what is now known as the problem of universals. He was decisively influenced by the pre-Socratic thinkers Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Parmenides, although much of what is known about them is derived from Plato himself.
Along with his teacher Socrates, and Aristotle, his student, Plato is a central figure in the history of philosophy. Plato's entire body of work is believed to have survived intact for over 2,400 years—unlike that of nearly all of his contemporaries. Although their popularity has fluctuated, they have consistently been read and studied through the ages. Through Neoplatonism, he also greatly influenced both Christian and Islamic philosophy. In modern times, Alfred North Whitehead famously said: "the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato."

Reviews

[Massimo Pigliucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

D’Angour takes us by the hand and gives us a brief but highly informative and entertaining tour of one of the most delightful of the Platonic dialogues: the Symposium, or drinking party. The scene is set in the house of the poet Agathon, who has just won a prize and wishes to celebrate with friends by talking about love. We are then treated to a sequence of insightful speeches that include Aristophanes’s famous (and funny!) myth about the origin of our quest for our “missing half,” as well as Socrates’s relating how he learned about the meaning of love from a woman, the mysterious Diotima (who may or may not have been Aspasia, the partner of Pericles, the most influential politician in classical Athens). The last speech is given by the flamboyant Alcibiades, a student of Socrates who relates how he has tried to seduce his master but failed miserably, because Socrates is interested in inner beauty, not in straightforward sex appeal (of which Alcibiades had in abundance, though not enough to make up for his lack of virtue). This book may or may not be helpful to prepare you for your next date, but it will certainly trigger plenty of stimulating thoughts about the very nature of the thing we call love.

[Ullas Gowda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love, relationships, and communication have been topics of intense contemplation for centuries, and How to Talk About Love demonstrates that timeless wisdom continues to pack a powerful punch today. This volume, a part of the Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series, offers the writings of Plutarch, a Roman-era Greek philosopher and historian, on love, marriage, and emotional attachment.

Instead of offering strict relationship guidance, Plutarch explores what makes love rich and lasting. He asserts that real love is not a matter of mere passion and lust but of profound intellectual friendship, emotional candor, and mutual respect. His thoughts defy the idea of love as ephemeral infatuation, instead presenting it as something that flourishes on virtue, wisdom, and common values.

A Book That Feels Surprisingly Modern
Perhaps the most striking thing about How to Talk About Love is how ageless Plutarch's thoughts feel. Though he wrote almost 2,000 years ago, his insights about people, marriage, and love are as relevant today as ever. He believes in a love founded on empathy and friendship and insists that couples must be peers who criticize and encourage one another on intellectual and moral levels. This view is invigorating, particularly when relationships tend to be overshadowed as being transactional or ephemeral.

A Short yet Deep Read
The book is brief and readable, making it a great primer for ancient philosophy. Unlike thicker classical works, this version is clear, well-structured, and translated in such a manner that Plutarch's sage advice remains uncompromised yet attractive to readers today. The accompanying commentary supplies background information so readers can appreciate how ancient Greek and Roman viewpoints about love contrast with (or resonate with) ours.

[Charlotte Booth · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone whose ancient History knowledge is firmly embedded in ancient Egypt rather than Ancient Greece I was unsure what to expect with this, but I found I really enjoyed it.

Essentially this book is a new interpretation of Plato's Symposium, where a group of inebriated philosophers gather around one of their homes and discusses their view on the meaning and complexities of love.

There are five speeches which are presented with a short introduction, and then the text is formatted alongside the original Greek, if you are so inclined (or able) to read it. Each of the five characters has a very different view of love and the god of love, Eros, which although would have been addressed specifically to readers in 380 BCE are just as relevant today. Offering such wisdom as love can be about external beauty but it's inner beauty that counts, and soldiers in love fight better as they don't want to look like cowards in front of their beloved. Each of the five guests present a clear stance on the topic.

There are a number of amusing asides as well such as one of the guests is unable to speak when his turn came around as he had hiccups, and made me feel that I was a fly on the wall of their party.

Personally, as someone unfamiliar with other translations of this text, this was a great introduction and may lead me to hunting out another, fuller translation in the near future.

[Anthony Hawkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greek literature never fails to remind me that Alcibiades is a playboy... but at this point he is a broccoli headed fuckboy. Horny, power hungry, pretty boy traitor.
Regardless, Plato's symposium is the gateway classic and truly lays down the foundation for many modern interpretations of love and beauty. I liked Phaedrus's take suggesting that love pushes one to noble deeds, as admiration from their beloved is utmost desirable. Also, I enjoyed the comic Aristophanes' nightmarish story of how the other half was created; I don't necessarily agree that one has their predetermined "other half," but rather one makes and is made into a fitting half.
Fun discourse, yet it's clear it's from antiquity as many of the ideas are now taken for granted in modernity.

[Lily Wieland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very simplistic analysis of The Symposium

[Lea Larsson-Skauli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kul å lese, spennende. Føler man lærer mye, men tror man lærer mest hvis man leser den fleire ganger

[Vickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book was about Plato’s Symposium. Socrates was at the gathering giving insight.

[Julian Simmons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very fresh and easy to read.