Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Individual
Group Discount
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews September 28, 2023 September 21, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan - Group Discount
Qty: 00
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
The protagonist of The
A woman from Mantinea whom Socrates claims once to have met, and who taught him everything he knows on the subject of Love. There is very good reason to doubt if Diotima is meant to represent any real person, especially since her speech is so authoritative and oracular. Just as Diotima passed her wisdom on to Socrates, so Socrates passes this wisdom on to his friends.
Probably the most significant Greek tragedian after Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, Agathon is presented here as celebrating after his first victory in the dramatic festival. Agathon is presented as young, beautiful, and very clever with words. He is the passive partner in a life-long relationship with Pausanias. None of Agathon's plays survive today.
The greatest comic poet of ancient times, Aristophanes (445 - 385 BCE) exercised a tremendous influence on the course of comedy in the Western tradition. Many of his plays survive, and in one,
A familiar figure to any reader of the Athenian historian Thucydides, Alcibiades (c. 450 - 404 BCE) was a charismatic politician who played a prominent role in the Pelopennesian War. He was responsible for a disastrous attack on Sicily and even turned on Athens and sided with Sparta for a time. He was a friend of Socrates', and his dishonor was one of the factors responsible for Socrates' trial and execution. In The
A doctor and a guest at the symposium. He is presented throughout as rather pompous, confident in his medical skills, and insistent on maintaining order.
The life-long lover of Agathon, Pausanias is another guest in The Symposium.
The main interlocutor of the Platonic dialogue that bears his name, Phaedrus is a handsome young man and an admirer of Socrates. He suggests that all the guests should make speeches in praise of Love.
Another guest found in The Symposium, Aristodemus is a great admirer of Socrates, and the first-level narrator of the events.
The second-level narrator of The
Please wait while we process your payment