Eryximachus makes two principal points in his speech and—while he tries to connect them with various areas of study—he ultimately does not clarify their relationship. One of his points is that love is right when it gratifies those who are moderate but is wrong when it gratifies the self-indulgent. His other main point is that love reconciles conflicting elements.

As a doctor, Eryximachus, occupies himself with creating order in the human body. He is also interested in creating an ordered symposium: he is the one who suggests that each guest make a speech. His conception of love also sees order as a driving principle, as order must reign over disparate elements if there is to be love. We could see the disorder in Aristophanes' bout of the hiccups, and the sneezing needed to cure it, as undermining Eryximachus' point. The bout of hiccups could also be explained away as a device to place Eryximachus' speech before Aristophanes' more interesting speech, even though Aristophanes is the next in order.

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