The Symposiacs offer a good entry point for understanding Plutarch’s dialogues. Plato’s, such
as the Symposion, are often used as a model to interpret Plutarch’s without consideration of
the changed circumstances in the Imperial period. Also, toward the end of Plato’s life, his
dialogues became treatises in which the interlocutors are hardly important. Plutarch used no
single character throughout his dialogues. Like Cicero he wanted to present the opinions of the
philosophical schools, and often his own position is difficult to discern. The role and importance
of various persons in the spirited intellectual discussions of the Symposiacs offer a clue to his
intentions in the dialogues. At the same time, unlike his dialogues, his own persona appears
frequently and with a surprising assertiveness. In some Symposiacs, especially the Ninth Book, as
in The E at Delphoi and the Erotikos, he appears as fairly young, possibly a distancing technique.
The Symposiacs in any case offered an opportunity to present his views in various shapes and
sizes.