Love: The Eros Of The Vulgar Aphrodite

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Recommended: Socrates views on love

Charlice Dawson
Professor Martin
PHL 126
31 October 2016
What is love according to the dialogue?
The dialogue presents many different interpretations of love. According to Phaedrus, love is the oldest of all the gods. Phaedrus also states that love is the one god that does the most to promote virtue in people.
Pausanias distinguishes between the Eros of the Vulgar Aphrodite and the Eros of the Heavenly Aphrodite. The Eros of the Vulgar Aphrodite takes place between a male and a female. They love their bodies instead of their souls. The Eros of the Heavenly Aphrodite only exists between a man and a boy. The man acts as a counselor of sorts to the young boy, teaching him virtue and wisdom in exchange for sexual favors.
Eryximachus maintains that love promotes order and moderation, not just in people but in everything. Through this ideology, it is plausible that Love can exist in such fields as art, music and medicine. …show more content…

In his story, humans once had four legs, four arms and two heads with identical faces. Some humans were male, some were females, and some were intersex, meaning they had one set each of male and female sexual organs. The gods were jealous of humans and were afraid humans would overthrow them. Zeus decided to cut the humans in half to diminish their power, and ever since they have been roaming the earth trying to rejoin with their other half. When they do, they cling to that other half with all their might, which is what Aristophanes calls

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