Diotima of Mantinea

Diotima of Mantinea is a female philosopher who plays an important role in Plato"s Symposium. Her ideas are the origin of the concept of Platonic love. Since our only source concerning her is Plato, we cannot be certain whether she was a real historical personage or merely a fictional creation. However, nearly all of the characters named in Plato"s dialogues have been found to correspond to real people living in ancient Athens.