Deotyma

Portrait of Jadwiga Łuszczewska as Deotyma, Józef Simmler, 1855

Deothyma of Mantinea (Diotyma, Greek: Διοτίμα, V in p.n.), Greek philosopher. She lived in Socrates. Her character is mainly known by Plato's inclusion in his dialogue Feast. Because it is practically the only source of it, it is not certain whether it is a historical figure, but almost all the characters appearing in the Plato Dialogues have turned out to be real people living in ancient Athens. Socrates talks about her as her teacher who taught him about the origins of love - Eros, who is the son of "prosperity and poverty." Love is a way of divine contemplation. For Deotyma, the best way to love another person is to follow divine love. This becomes the beginning of the conception of platonic love. In true love the platonic beauty of the other person stimulates the mind and soul and directs the attention to what is spiritual. It is a process which, from the sight of one's beauty, leads to the appreciation of the Beauty existing in every person, to the concept of divinity as the source of beauty, to divine love. Identity

Deotyma (Diotyma) means Honored by Zeus, her home town of Mantineja was an ancient city on the Peloponnese Peninsula and the site of the largest naval battle in the Peloponnesian War. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, Plato was considered to have created a Deotmia character based on the life of Aspasia mate Pericles. Aspasia, however, appears under the name Meneksenos, and some scholars argue that Plato did not use false names, so Deotyma can be a historical figure.

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