Of all the speeches in the symposium, Eryximachus' speech may be the most difficult to understand. Looking at Eryximachus' early and more scientific approach to love, whereby he sees love as something that can be measured quantitatively, many find it difficult to accept the more abstract arguments of a "universal" love that he lays out later in the book. his speech. One may therefore ask: why does Plato present such a surprising, almost contradictory, set of arguments within Eryximachus' speech? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The initial portrayal of Eryximachus shows him as a man of science. From the beginning of Eryximachus' speech he begins with the statement: "I am sure that it is thanks to medicine, my area of ​​expertise, that I have realized how great and wonderful a god Love is, and how its power extends to everyone human beings". and divine life." These words indicate a man who clearly takes pride in his occupation in medicine. This “pride” for his profession then continues to manifest itself in his subsequent arguments. As shown in the statement, "Love is not only expressed in the emotional responses of human beings to beautiful people, but... in the bodily responses of every kind of animal, in the plants that grow on the earth", the pride of Eryximachus for medicine in his adherence to the belief that love can be seen, and therefore explained, in terms of medicine and science. This “scientific” view is supported by the fact that Eryximachus' statements imply that he believes that love is a quality that can be measured quantitatively. This is seen in his words “bodily responses” which support the idea that Eryximachus believes he can physically see and recognize the presence of love in all living things. Another important aspect of Eryximachus' speech is seen in the very nature of the speech itself. . Since Eryximachus' speech is so distinct from other speeches, it is clear that Plato uses this topic as a representation of a very specific way of viewing love. This tactic is evident in the fact that Eryximachus' speech uses a disproportionate number of personal pronouns - the words "I" and "mine" - which supports the idea that Plato clearly wishes to distinguish Eryximachus' speech from that of the other characters by showing to readers that Eryximachus himself believes that his speech is unique from other speeches. Furthermore, Eryximachus' first words, “This is what I think,” also provide another level of separation between his speech and other speeches by stating the obvious and asserting that what he is about to say about love is entirely original . From the beginning, this separation between Eryximachus' speech and other speeches helps provide a clear view of how Eryximachus thinks, allowing readers to compare and contrast this line of reasoning with a different one in Eryximachus's later argument. Eryximachus' following argument portrays a very different line of reasoning from the previous argument. After discussing the quantitative aspects of love, Eryximachus states a more abstract and philosophical argument that love is a universal force. Eryximachus' statement, "When the elements I mentioned before (hot and cold, dry and wet) are influenced by well-ordered Love, they are in harmony," provides insight into the idea that love is much more of a simple "bodily response", but rather a universal force that governs the balance between opposing forces. This "universal" vision of love is also shown.