Love as a Trend

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Recommended: Romanticism and classicism in english literature

As Edgar Allan Poe once stated, “All suffering originates from craving, from attachment, from desire (Masters).” Today, we romanticize love. We create movies, books, novels, music, and everything in between off the concept that love is romantic. Although in ancient times, this was not the case. Love was seen in a completely different spectrum than marriage. Marriage and love are inseparable in the modern world. The real question is has love always been around or was in an invention of the modern world? Centuries have passed and the answer to this question is still a mystery.
The Greeks had a philosophy on love. Greeks divide love into three terms eros, philia, and agape. Eros being the term for erotic and passionate love and desire. Eros is the physical attraction to a person, idea, or thing. That indicates that you cannot properly have that attraction without finding it attractive in some form or other. Today, we often refer to this as lust. Lust is not love. Therefore, if you only have lust towards something, someone, or an idea, it is not true love. It then becomes desire. Although lust and love are often confused, they are two different ideals.
“Physical desire is held in common with the animal kingdom (“Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy”).” Which if we were to lower ourselves to animals, it would mean that we are not as an advancement of a race. That is exactly the reason that love outweighs desire. Anyone and anything can experience desire but only the human heart can experience love. Many people still interchange love and lust. Many believe that it is the same thing. Lust is only a physical attraction and once that physical appeal is gone there is no more desire. With love, you have that attraction towards the pers...

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...tly nonexistent. In many cultures, arranged marriage was the only way to get married. This is true for some cultures today. The modern idea of love allows for free will in the marriage and dating concepts. It is accustomed to know the person you will marry and choose him or her accordingly. Love has always been present but it has progressed through the centuries and now we see love as a principle to happiness, to marriage, and to happily ever after.

Works Cited
"Aphrodite." Aphrodite. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2014. .
"Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy." Philosophy of Love []. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2014. .
Masters, American (PBSAmerMasters). "“All suffering originates from craving, from attachment, from desire.” — Edgar Allan Poe #AmericanMasters". 05 Apr 2014, 23:25 UTC. Tweet.

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