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Plato's two loves
Plato's theory of love essay
What are platos thoughts on falling in love
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Different cultures and societies have various mental schemas pertaining to the interpretation and proper expression of romantic love. Additionally, over time many societies have changed the way they view love by adopting new definitions and revising previously held beliefs. In The Symposium Pausanias’ claims that there are two forms of love, “common love” and love derived from a “heavenly goddess” (Plato, 14). He stresses that love derived from the “heavenly goddess” is superior to “common love” because it involves gay love and because lovers aim to further their boyfriend’s knowledge and virtue. Although this might have been a prevailing idea of love in ancient Greece, I disagree with Pausanias’ idea of what constitutes ideal love. His definition …show more content…
He describes common love as the type of love in which people “are attracted to women as much as boys, and to bodies rather than minds”. Contrastingly, he describes love derived from the “Heavenly goddess” as superior to the other type. Pausanias states: “...those inspired with this love (heavenly love) are drawn towards the male, feeling affection for what is naturally more vigorous and intelligent” (Plato, 14). Essentially, Pausanias is trying to convey that romantic love between males is a superior form of love compared to “common love”, where men are attracted to men and women equally. He believes that men have a superior intellect and are more spirited, therefore their love is more significant than love between a man and a woman or between two …show more content…
He claims that “heavenly love” is more rewarding because it is associated with gaining wisdom from a knowledgeable lover, whereas “common love” is associated with lust. Therefore, Pausanias claims “common love” can disappear if either partner loses their sexual attraction for one another, and generally, the lovers receive nothing valuable, such as knowledge, in
the time of Socrates and Plato. To them love was eros, a direct translation of
A History of Marriage by Stephanie Coontz speaks of the recent idealization of marriage based solely on love. Coontz doesn’t defame love, but touches on the many profound aspects that have created and bonded marriages through time. While love is still a large aspect Coontz wants us to see that a marriage needs more solid and less fickle aspects than just love. The first chapter begins with an exploration of love and marriage in many ancient and current cultures.
After Zeus had formed the first humans, they began conjoining themselves together, recreating their whole form for the rest of eternity (Cohen, pg.337). Those who had started out as males and females formed homosexual relationships, while those who were originally androgynous created heterosexual relationships. Adding to this, Aristophanes states that the fundamental ideas of love are innate in all humans, and their sexual preferences are predetermined depending on their ancestry. Rather than feeling shame for whichever sexual preference a person sees himself/herself as, Aristophanes says that they should be, “...bold and brave” (Cohen, pg.337), and they should not let social customs to dictate how they live their lives. According to Cohen, Aristophanes believed that when a person finally found their other half, he/she would find life long happiness (Cohen, pg.338). Although he goes on to add that sex is not the only way to portray love, he implies that it is a main component of the relationship. Rather than having sexual relations purely on aesthetic features, as believed by Pausanias, Aristophanes suggests instead, that such relations is meant to a form of appreciation towards the other person in the relationship. It may also represent the lifelong bond between the two individuals, where they are trying to form a whole.
Love and affection is an indispensable part of human life. In different culture love may appear differently. In the poem “My god my lotus” lovers responded to each other differently than in the poem “Fishhawk”. Likewise, the presentation of female sexuality, gender disparity and presentation of love were shown inversely in these two poems. Some may argue that love in the past was not as same as love in present. However, we can still find some lovers who are staying with their partners just to maintain the relationship. We may also find some lovers having relationship only because of self-interest. However, a love relationship should always be out of self-interest and must be based on mutual interest. A love usually obtains its perfectness when it develops from both partners equally and with same affection.
Pausanias brings up an excellent way to think about Love. He explains that love can be broken down into two types, that of Common and Heavenly love. The common love is that when a man and a woman join merely to satisfy their sexual desires. On the other hand the heavenly love is the type that occurs when two people are attracted to each other with a strong force that goes past the physical appearance but comes from deep within as if from the soul. Although Plato presents examples of the two loves with having the common love as if only happening between a man and a woman and the heavenly love happening between a man and a man, there is not enough proof in the text to say that this if what the whole of Athens really believed.
Aristophanes thinks that a human’s love is clearly “a lack” – a lack of one’s other half- and having no meant to satisfy themselves they begin to die. Zeus, having failed to foresee this difficulty repairs the damage by inventing sexual reproduction (191 b-c). Any “embracements” of men with men or of women with women would of course be sterile – though the participants would at least “have some satiety of their union and a relief,” (191 c) and therefore would be able to carry on the work of the world. Sex, therefore, is at this stage a drive, and the object is defined only as human. Sexual preferences are to emerge only as the human gains experience, enabling them to discover what their “original form” had been.
The meaning of love is as intricate and unique as the purpose that it serves. It seems that the nature of love is found in the mind, the body and the soul. In Plato’s Symposium each member of the drinking party gives their own interpretation of love. As each speaker engages in their discourse, the concept of love is evaluated from different angles. According to Phaedrus, homoerotic love is the highest form of love and that sacrificing oneself for love will result in a multitude of rewards from the gods, while Pausanias believes that there are two forms of love: Commonly and Heavenly. As a physician, Eryximachus claims that love appears in every part of the universe, including plants and animals and that protection results from love. Before starting his speech, Aristophanes tells the group that his discussion about love may seem completely absurd, as he explains that in the beginning one body had two people who were eventually split in half by Zeus. This is meant to explain why people are constantly looking for their “other half”. Moreover Agathon, the poet the symposium is celebrating, critiques the previous speakers by stating that they failed to praise the god of love. He claims that love rejects feebleness and embraces youthfulness while also implying that love creates justice, courage and wisdom.
Love, in classical Greek literature, is commonly considered a prominent theme. Love, in present days, always appears in the categories of books, movies, music, etc. Interpreted differently by different people, Love turns into a multi-faceted being. In Plato’s work Symposium, Phaedrus, Pausania, Eryximachus, Aristophane and Agathon, each of them presents a speech to either praise or definite Love. Phaedrus first points out that Love is the primordial god; Pausanias brings the theme of “virtue” into the discussion and categorizes Love into “good” one or “bad” one; Eryximachus introduces the thought of “moderation’ and thinks that Love governs such fields as medicine and music; Aristophanes draws attention to the origin and purposes of Love; Agathon enunciates that the correct way to present an eulogy is first to praise its nature and gifts.
Love is a concept that has puzzled humanity for centuries. This attachment of one human being to another, not seen as intensely in other organisms, is something people just cannot wrap their heads around easily. So, in an effort to understand, people write their thoughts down. Stories of love, theories of love, memories of love; they all help us come closer to better knowing this emotional bond. One writer in particular, Sei Shōnagon, explains two types of lovers in her essay "A Lover’s Departure": the good and the bad.
While courtly love may seem like a fixation of the ancient past, the model courtship, in which two young people fall in love and e...
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.
According to “Type of Love” in Academic Encounter, there are five types of love: ludus, storge, mania, pragma, and eros. Though every five types of love have a virtue for finding a partner, I will focus on how pragma lovers might choose a mate, and argue that their way is the good one. In fact, pragma lovers’ relationships seldom get worse.
with some very different views of love as brought to us by Agathon, Phaedrus and
Some people believe that there is no such thing as “true love” they believe that love is nothing but an illusion designed by social expectations. These people believe that love ultimately turns into pain and despair. This idea in some ways is true. Love is not eternal it will come to an end one way or another, but the aspect that separates true love from illusion, is the way love ends. “True Love” is much too powerful to be destroyed by Human imperfection; it may only be destroyed by a force equal to the power of love. Diotima believed that “Love is wanting to posses the good forever” In other words love is the desire to be immortal and the only way that we are able to obtain immortality is through reproduction, and since the act of reproduction is a form of sexual love, then sexual love is in fact a vital part of “True love”. Sexual love is not eternal. This lust for pleasure will soon fade, but the part of love that is immortal, is a plutonic love. You can relate this theory to the birth of love that Diotima talks about. She says that love was born by a mortal mother and immortal father. The mother represents the sexual love, the lust for pleasure. The father represents the plutonic love that is immortal. Plutonic love is defined as a true friendship, the purest of all relationships. A true plutonic love will never die; it transcends time, space, and even death.
Eros* (ἔρως, érōs) is simply "erota me ta panta" (the path of being love with everything.) It is a passionate love, often misinterpreted as only sexual or erotic desire. Plato refined his own definition in The Symposium: Although Eros is initially felt for a person, with contemplation and the acquiring of knowledge, it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within souls or entities, or it even becomes appreciation of beauty