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Lesher, J., D. Nails, and F. Sheffield, editors, Plato's Symposium: Issues in Interpretation and Reception
Diagrams and Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. The Symposium and Plato’s Philosophy
1. The Symposium as a Socratic Dialogue, Christopher Rowe 2. The Role of the Earlier Speeches in the Symposium: Plato's Endoxic Method? Frisbee C. C. Sheffield 3. A Platonic Reading of Plato's Symposium, Lloyd P. Gerson Part II. Interpreting Plato’s Symposium
4. Medicine, Magic, and Religion in Plato's Symposium, Mark L. McPherran 5. Permanent Beauty and Becoming Happy in Plato's Symposium, Gabriel Richardson Lear 6. A Study in Violets: Alcibiades in the Symposium, C. D. C. Reeve 7. Where is Socrates on the "Ladder of Love"? Ruby Blondell 8. Tragedy Off-Stage, Debra Nails 9. The Virtues of Platonic Love, Gabriela Roxana Carone Part III. The Symposium, Sex, and Gender
10. Agathon, Pausanias, and Diotima in Plato's Symposium: Paiderastia and Philosophia, Luc Brisson 11. Female Imagery in Plato, Angela Hobbs 12. Plato in the Courtroom: The Surprising Influence of the Symposium on Legal Theory, Jeffrey Carnes Part IV. The Reception of Plato’s Symposium
13. Plato's Symposium and the Traditions of Ancient Fiction, Richard Hunter 14. Some Notable Afterimages of Plato's Symposium, J. H. Lesher 15. The Hangover of Plato's Symposium in the Italian Renaissance from Bruni (1435) to Castiglione (1528), Diskin Clay 16. Platonic Selves in Shelley and Stevens, David K. O’Connor Contributors Works Cited
Acknowledgments
To our students past, present, and future
Each of the essays included in this volume was presented at a conference held at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, DC, in August of 2005. On behalf of all the conference participants we would like to thank the Director of the Center, Professor Gregory Nagy, Associate Director Douglas Frame, Programs Officer Jennifer Reilly, Executive Assistant Abby Porter, and staff members Adam Briscoe, Sylvia Henderson, Zoie Lafis, Jill Curry Robbins, Ruth Taylor, and Temple Wright. Our conference on Plato’s Symposium represents only one of the many outreach initiatives recently undertaken by the Center to foster greater understanding and appreciation of our Hellenic heritage.
One of the requirements established by the Center was that copies of the conference papers be made available to all participants well in advance of the event. Lori Keleher of the University of Maryland and two members of the Center’s publications staff, Mark Tomasko and Professor Leonard Muellner, converted the documents into the required electronic format. Once the conference had taken place, the papers were made available to the general public through electronic publication on the Center’s Web site.
In preparation for the appearance of the papers in book form, two anonymous external readers were engaged by the Center whom the participants also wish to thank. Zoie Lafis provided the handsome image of Diotima and Socrates that appears on the cover, and Jill Curry Robbins obtained the many permissions required for the use of visual materials. Professor Leonard Muellner provided technical support, and Chet McLeskey of Michigan State University assisted with copy-editing and indexing the volume in its final stages.