Small Group #3
Assignment
1. Describe Socrates’ relationship with his friend at the
opening of the Protagoras.
What do you think
Socrates is trying to teach the friend
by telling him this story about himself
and Hippocrates going to visit the sophists at Callias’ house?
2. Describe the
relationship between Hippocrates and
Socrates in the Protagoras. What does Hippocrates think he will learn
from Protagoras? What is
Socrates trying to teach Hippocrates about the learning process?
3. Describe the
relationship between Apollodorus and the friends that he tells the story of
Agathon’s party to. Do you see any
similarities between the opening of the Symposium
and the opening of the Protagoras? Is Apollodorus trying to teach them
anything?
4. In your view what is
Socrates trying to teach the
symposiasts by telling them about his
encounters with Diotima?
What is he trying to get them to
see about love that they do not currently
see?
5. Within that
story, how would you describe the relationship between Socrates and
Diotima? What is she trying to teach him
about the nature of love? (I think there are three main parts to this lesson)
6. Do you think
Alcibiades understood what Socrates was
trying to teach him about love and the nature of philosophy?
If so, why do you think Alcibiades turns away from
philosophy toward politics? If not, what
limitations in Socrates as a
teacher or Alcibiades as a student (or
them both as people more generally) might have hindered Alcibiades’ ability to learn?
