Symposium Cave Allegory

Starting at 210a of The Symposium, Diotima speaks with Socrates about reaching the final vision of the mysteries. She starts talking about a young boy who is starting to be attracted to beautiful bodies. He first loves one body; and then, realizing that all bodies are relatively alike, he begins to love all beautiful bodies. After that, he comes to appreciate the beauty of minds, not caring anymore about physical attraction. After all stages, the boy will ultimately come to loving beauty itself and all beautiful things. This gradual climb to the final vision is similar to the climb out of the cave in Plato's "Allegory of the Cave."

In the "Allegory of the Cave," the chained down prisoners are limited with their perception on reality. At first, they can only see moving shadows on the wall in front of them. Once released, the prisoners' sense of reality is changed as they can see the people making those shadows. The prisoners can then climb up the ascent of the cave and eventually bask in the Sun's rays. After stepping outside the cave, the prisoner accepts a new reality while taking in all the objects around him. Although Diotima's speech involves love and the "Allegory