Poros to the Left, Metis to the Right, Stuck in the Middle with Eros

At the forefront of Plato's Symposium is the discussion of Eros, but equally as important is the force that moves the conversation. Eros itself is propelling the speakers. With each successive speech, the occupants of the symposium have fallen more and more to their passions for wine and revelry until the conversation makes its way to Socrates. He, representing wisdom, has not fallen to the drink, and instead speaks most clearly, and with the most telling message. In fact, his speech is about using the passionate desire for eros and beauty to escalate one's self to wisdom and the forms when the entire event has been comprised of a sort of microcosm of this; each speech moving from erotic passions, to love of beauty, and eventually arriving at Socrates. Diotima's ladder has itself been represented in the nature and progression of the symposium, as an event rather than just a title.

It is also worth noting that Socrates places Eros as between gods and men. It is not something that can sit content like the rest of the gods. Rather, it is a driving force, a hunger, and a catalyst for action. Socrates treats it much like the appetitive component of the will. It is not innately good or bad, but rather something to be trained for one's betterment. It can, if unchecked, drive one to become Alcibiades, or it can make one a lover and seeker of wisdom, but it is up to the rational will to decide. The most intriguing part of this treatment of the passions is that it is far from the typical view that Plato viewed all passion as negative, and far more closely in line with later Christian theologians such as Augustine who emphasize a turning of the will back to God (who by and large fits closely with Plato's description of the Good).