In Athens of the classical era, around 422–421 BC, while the Peloponnesian War is ongoing and demagogues trouble the city, a gathering of cultured friends comes together for a symposium. The guests, differing in economic status, physical beauty, and mental cultivation, discuss issues related to human life, such as the nature of true love, the value of physical and mental virtue, the usefulness of exercise and knowledge, the importance of wealth, the significance of friendship, parental love, and piety. This symposium is described by Xenophon, historian and philosopher of the 5th and 4th centuries BC, emphasizing his teacher Socrates and presenting representative types of Athenian society.

G. H. Orfanos, as the translator of the work after many years of effort, renders the 9 books of Xenophon's "Symposium" into understandable Modern Greek, with respect, accuracy, and fidelity to the original text. He worked systematically from 2002 to 2005 and revisited the work after 2016, aiming to provide the intellectually curious with a soul-nourishing and instructive reading. The accompanying notes are based on extensive study of ancient Greek literature and aim to facilitate the understanding and absorption of the ideas of Socrates and the other figures in the work.