Plato Symposium (Hackett Classics)

All too often academic editions of classic works are dreadful on the Kindle, with poor proofreading and worse navigation. But Hackett has gotten it right, and delivered an excellent edition in this reading format. Footnotes are live links, so you can easily navigate from text to notes and back again without losing the flow of your reading. On the Kindle touch you can use swipe gestures to jump easily between chapters, which is extremely handy both in reading and in the classroom.It's frustrating that in early 2012 these qualities should be so rare as to be worthy of comment, but if you've ever had to deal with a bad Kindle edition of a classic -- and even otherwise excellent publishers seem to feel they can get away with this nonsense -- then you'll know that high standards for etexts are not something you can count on. Where they exist, they deserve praise, garlands, chocolate -- and oh yes (in my opinion), money.Hackett's priced the text at $3.45, which is considerably cheaper than the paperback. Given the high quality of the extext, this edition gives value for the money. It provides a better experience for new readers and students than you could get in the Project Gutenberg version, which uses the Jowett translation, I believe. In this edition you get: a text impeccably formatted for the Kindle; an introduction, bibliography, and notes that are informative but not overly obtrusive; and a very good translation that will be more accessible than many of the alternatives to readers who are new to the book. The translation is lively, readable, and fun. Its idiomatic English allows readers to appreciate sudden shifts between formal and informal language, as when Alcibiades, dangerously snarky even when smashed out of his mind, greets a more pedantic guest like this: "O Eryximachus, best possible son of the best possible, most temperate father: Hi!"As for what the Symposium is actually about -- I will leave that to the many excellent and informative reviewers who preceded me. I'm writing under the assumption that you navigated to this page because you've heard of the Symposium elsewhere, and you are trying to decide which edition to buy, whether for school or for your own pleasure. If you have never read the book, I promise you that you are in for a treat. This is one of the most delightful discussions of the nature of love that human beings have ever produced, anywhere. If you've ever been in love and felt something bigger was at stake in this feeling than simple lust, then this is the book for you to read. It will offer you five (at least) different perspectives on *why* so many people believe that love is not just a feeling for another person (though of course it is that) but a way of understanding the world and our place in it. Read the darn thing, if not in this edition than in some other. You won't regret it.

In this review I will compare 5 translations of Plato's Symposium:1. Alexander Nehamas & Paul Woodruff (Hackett Pub Co, 1989).2. Benardete (University of Chicago Press, 2001).3. R.E. Allen (Yale University Press, 1993).4. Shelley's Translation (St Augustine Press, 2002)5. Sharon (Focus Publishing/R.Pullins Co, 1997)I have given all translations 5 stars for their own unique perspectives. Each of these editions has its own strengths and weaknesses, and because of this, none of this edition is complete in itself. Inevitably, if you are serious in undertaking this work, you need to pick up more than one edition. I will give a recommendation on which one to use, at the end of this review.Symposium consists of a series of speeches on love (Eros), culminating in Socrates' and then Alcibiades'. What I am looking for is, first, ease of understanding the central concept of the book, this is obtained through different types of translations. My bias is toward a translation that is fluid, natural, and conveys the concept in a straight forward way. Second, I am also looking for helpful insights and philosophical explanations of some key thoughts. You get this from the quality of commentary/notes as part of the book.Both Sharon's and Nehamas' editions are similar in their lucid, straightforward, and current translations. I find that these 2 editions to be the best and easiest in understanding the text. On the translation side, I give these 5 stars. However, the commentaries in both editions are basic, and unsatisfying in my mind. For this, I give 4 stars.Benardete's edition has a superb commentaries both written by him and another (which is the gem here) written by Allan Bloom. You may or may not like Bloom's style, but he does give you a lot of background especially in ancient Greek pederasty culture, and valuable insights in each of the speeches. I give this a 5 star. I will recommend buying this book just for those 2 commentaries. On the translation itself, however, I am not a fan of Benardete's style. I have commented this in other reviews for his other translations, especially the "Sophist". For some reason, I find it more complex, long winded, and harder to understand. For this I give this edition translation 4 stars only.Allen's edition is superb for both translation and commentaries; this is a 5 star book for me.Finally, on Shelley's translation: this is a unique edition for a couple of reasons. It is a translation of a masterpiece work, by a master in literature himself, Percy Shelley. So, you are reading not only Plato's works, but also a work by one of the most influential literary figure in the English world. Secondly, there is an extensive commentary by David O'Connor, not only on the Symposium, but also on Shelley's process and motivation of doing the translation. A superb edition.My final recommendation: pick up either Sharon or Nehamas' book (personally I prefer Sharon's, it is beautifully done) for the translation, and then pick up Stanley Rosen's "Plato's Symposium" for the commentary (I have a separate review for this superb book). However, if you must read 1 and only 1 book, I would stay with Allen's.

This book is life-changing. The impeccable use of language is only matched by the character's display of reason. The contrast between the level of accurate communication of that time and today's is stricking.

one of the best books I have ever read

Clarity and beauty I got from this book and, as the best books provide, a different perspective shown, a breath of fine air from a higher view.

Condition is as described, no problems, would buy from this seller again

an almost literal translation, extremely helping for putting things in more idiomatic english when translating from the original greek

Didn't read the whole thing because it was dry.