In Plato’s Symposium, the central insights are gleaned from a wise woman from whom Socrates learnt the single thing to which he laid claim to expertise: ta erotika. Since there is a widespread view that Plato stands at the head of a tradition of philosophical thinking in which women are eclipsed, or marginalised, this fact has been seen as significant. This chapter explores whether Diotima’s gender is significant for the philosophy of the Symposium. Gender categories are an explicit feature of this text, but Plato’s playful and provocative use of them is not just a dialectical ploy to provoke reflection on the social norms around sexuality and gender that held sway in his day; toying with them exposes the contingency of gendered categories and, ultimately, their irrelevance to the philosophical life. The wisdom of Diotima is that philosophy is beyond gender; it is, in that respect at least, inclusive.

Plato's writings are typically in the form of dialogues in which Socrates (born 469 BC) discusses philosophical questions with other characters of his day. Most of these are based on known historical figures, but the dialogues are not factual accounts; they are fictional, and often richly dramatic, products of Plato's philosophical imagination. The Symposium is a particularly dramatic work. It is set at the house of Agathon, a tragic poet celebrating his recent victory in 416 BC at one of the great dramatic festivals. Those present are amongst the intellectual elite of the day. They include an exponent of heroic poetry (Phaedrus), an expert in the laws of various Greek states (Pausanias), a representative of medical expertise (Eryximachus), a comic poet (Aristophanes) and a philosopher (Socrates). The guests participate in a symposium, a drinking party for aristocratic circles, on this occasion designed to honour Agathon's victory. Each guest delivers a speech in praise of eros, ‘passionate love’, or ‘desire’. The final speech is delivered by Alcibiades, a notorious associate of Socrates, who talks openly about his love for Socrates, in particular.

apollodorus: I believe I am quite well prepared to relate the events you are asking me about, for just the other day I happened to be going into Athens from my home in Phalerum when an acquaintance of mine caught sight of me from behind and called after me, jokily,

‘Phalerian! You there, Apollodorus! Wait for me, will you?’

So I stopped and waited.

‘I have just been looking for you, Apollodorus. I wanted to get from you the story about that party of Agathon's with Socrates, Alcibiades and the rest, the time when they were all together at dinner, and to hear what they said in their speeches on the subject of love. Someone else was telling me, who had heard about it from Phoenix, son of Philippus, and he said that you knew about it too. Actually he could not give any clear account of it, so you must tell me. You are in the best position to report the words of your friend. But tell me this first’, he went on. ‘Were you at that party yourself or not?’

‘It certainly looks as if your informant was rather confused’, I replied, ‘if you think the party you are asking about occurred recently enough for me to be there’.