Abstract
This discursive encounter about Eros, a passionate form of philia, the classical Greek generic term for Love, between Socrates and the mysterious priestess Diotima allegedly took place at an erotic symposium in fifth-century Athens and is recounted in Plato’s philosophical and poetic masterpiece, the Symposium. Also, and importantly for my purposes here, included in Plato’s Symposium was the first philosophical discussion on “pedagogic pederasty” or “pedagogical eros,” a homosexual form of relationship, which was germane to the ancient Greek educational and pedagogical cultures, which, in the case of classical Athens, was epitomized by the concept of paideia.
–What is Eros, then, Diotima?
–He is a great spirit, Socrates... Eros is in love with what is beautiful, and wisdom is extremely beautiful. It follows that Eros must be a lover of wisdom. Eros is giving birth in beauty, whether in body or in soul... Now, some people are pregnant in body, and for this reason turn more to women and pursue Eros in that way, providing themselves through childbirth with immortality... and happiness as they think, while those who are pregnant in soul... are pregnant with what is fitting for a soul to bear and bring to birth... wisdom and the rest of virtue, which all poets beget, as well as all the craftsmen who are said to be creative (Plato Symposium: 202D–209A, passim).
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Kazamias, A.M. (2010). The Owl of Athena: Reflective Encounters with the Greeks on Pedagogical Eros and the Paideia of the Soul (Psyche). In: Mattheou, D. (eds) Changing Educational Landscapes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8534-4_2
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