Love as a literary work

For a topic such as love it seems interesting that one would use a literary work, in multiple forms, to describe it. However, for Plato a literary work is the best way to express loves complex nature. For you see, in Symposium Plato reveals what love is in a multitude of ways. His use of speeches, dialogue and even myth allows for an array of styles to explain what love is. For Plato, love is not some tangible thing that can be touched directly (at least not necessarily), love instead is something that has at its utmost level a pure form. At different levels however it can be revealed in a wide assortment and as a result is experienced differently by each individual. As a result, Plato was forced to undergo a literary work to define/describe love. His lack of self involvement in the piece only further exemplifies this because a biased opinion of love would only damage the statement above (that love is experienced differently by everyone and therefore, has not definitive form outside of its pure, etherial, realm).

A literary work also would be a useful tool in demonstrating love to the multitude. Since the work would be read by many and then told to many others in ancient Greece such a method would allow for these views of love to be demonstrated throughout the modern world. Although the intention is not clearly audience it is still a viable reason that one would choose to use such a method to demonstrate love.