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How does Plato’s Symposium describe love and beauty?

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The Greek philosopher Plato — Plato Plato, marble portrait bust copied from an original of the 4th century bce; in the Capitoline Museums, Rome.

In Plato’s Symposium, love—or eros—is described as a passionate, desirous reaching out of the soul toward a good it does not yet possess. Rather than a static state, love is an active aspiration for what is eternal and beautiful.12

The Hierarchy of Love

Plato, through the character of Socrates recounting the teachings of the priestess Diotima, outlines an ascending order of objects that eros pursues:23

Biological Immortality: In its most basic form, love manifests as a desire for physical beauty, driving individuals to procreate to achieve a substitute for immortality through their offspring.21
Spiritual Creation: A more elevated form of love seeks to win immortal fame by producing "offspring" such as sound institutions, laws, and rules of life.13
Intellectual Pursuit: The most spiritual endeavor involves associating with kindred minds to enrich philosophy and science with noble thoughts and discourses.1
Beauty Itself: The ultimate goal of eros is to transcend particular beautiful objects—such as bodies, souls, or practices—to reach a vision of Beauty itself and the Good.23

This progression represents a movement from the concrete and time-bound to the abstract and eternal, positioning love as the fundamental impulse that drives the human soul toward philosophical enlightenment and the apprehension of unchanging Forms.23