Diotima and the Priestess Who Taught Socrates About Love

When Socrates talks about love in Plato's Symposium, he credits everything he knows to a woman from Mantinea named Diotima. She is the only female philosopher in Plato's dialogues who speaks on her own authority, and her teachings frame the famous Ladder of Love that dominates Western ideas about eros and beauty. But who was Diotima? Was she a real historical figure, a fictional invention, or a priestess whose religious role as a mantis gave her unique insight into the daimonic nature of love? In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Diotima's place in the Symposium, her concept of the metaxy or intermediate state, her connection to the plague of Athens and the practice of delaying sacrifices, and why Plato chose a woman to deliver what is arguably the dialogue's central philosophical argument. They also discuss the controversy among scholars—from Martha Nussbaum to Mary Lefkowitz—over whether Diotima's gender is a rhetorical device or a genuine recognition of female intellectual authority in classical Athens. This episode touches on ancient Greek religion, Platonic metaphysics, the role of priestesses in Greek cities, and the surprising presence of women in the philosophical tradition that is often assumed to be entirely male. #Diotima #Plato #Symposium #Socrates #AncientGreekPhilosophy #Priestess #Mantinea #Mantis #Metaxy #LadderOfLove #Eros #PlatonicLove #MarthaNussbaum #MaryLefkowitz #ClassicalAthens #GreekReligion #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo