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The Ladder of Love is a metaphor introduced by Socrates, representing the ascent from physical desire to the love of pure knowledge and finally to the love of the Form of Beauty.

Phaedrus posits that love is the oldest of all the gods and the most honorable, encouraging virtues such as bravery on the battlefield.

Alcibiades, in a drunken state, praises Socrates, comparing him to Eros and describing his own unrequited love for Socrates, thus blurring the lines between philosophical and physical love.

Apollophanes is not an actual speaker in the Symposium, but if he were, hypothetical discourse might involve praising love's capacity to inspire art and beauty in life.

Agathon argues that Love is the youngest of the gods and is characterized by beauty and goodness, rejecting physical expressions of love for a more abstract and idealized concept.

Although not a speaker in the Symposium, Aristotle's view on love, could be seen as valuing the deep friendship and virtue (philia) that emerge between equals striving for the good life.

Eryximachus presents a scientific view of love, considering it a cosmic force that regulates both the natural and human worlds, promoting health and order.

Socrates, recounting Diotima's teachings, suggests that love leads to a ladder of ascent from physical attraction to the contemplation of the Form of Beauty, which is the highest truth and the ultimate aim of love.

Pausanias distinguishes between Common Love, which is purely physical, and Heavenly Love, which transcends the physical to reach the intellectual and the spiritual.