This course focuses on two key texts of Plato: Republic and Symposium. While some have argued that the Republic is most of all a text on ethics, the title is a translation of the Greek Politeia, which refers to the affairs of the city state. The main theme is justice, which has led other scholars to claim it is a political text, first and foremost. What is fascinating about the longest and, for many, most well-known dialogue of Plato is that it includes his theory of knowledge (epistemology) as well as a metaphysics, in his theory of the forms and account of the soul. Further, his analysis of mimesis provides a surprising critique of art and poetry while also speaking to the philosophy of being. This course will examine these topics through a close reading of the Republic and then turn to Plato’s dialogue on love, the Symposium, to consider the meaning of eros, and its connection with beauty, knowledge, creation, the good, and the life of the philosopher.