Why is Diotima a woman? Essay -- essays research papers

Diotima, Socrates great teacher from the Symposium, a work by Plato was one of the most influential women thinkers of all time, whether she was a real somebody or a literary fictional character. She related to Socrates the theory of cognise that he described to the partygoers at Agathons banquet, a celebration of Agathons victory at the competition of Dionysis in Athens and of Eros.     Before we search for the approximation of wherefore Diotima is a woman, we should first discuss a little about her. We fuck that, if she were an actual person, she would cave in been born around 470 BCE and died around 410 BCE. She might have been a priestess from Mantinea. Now if she was a real priestess or poet is uncertain. There is archaeological evidence, plus the fact that no historians for hundreds of years ever challenged her existence, suggests Diotima was an historical person. Her authenticity was not disputed until the 15th century.     We shou ld also discuss about how women were in general treated in the days of the Symposium. We read in the beginning of the Symposium that Eryximachus wants to pretend rid of the women so that the men may stick to conversation. (Symposium 176.e3-177.a2) This invokes the idea that women are unable to have a meaningful conversation. This could be confirm because ancient Greeks thought our (women) emotions get in the way. The ancient Greeks (men) had wives for the purpose of producing babies. They had boyfriends for the ...