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Platos symposium analysis
Plato Symposium Essay
Platos symposium analysis
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“ Love” is the most romantic, powerful and meaningful to each human being on the earth, but what exactly is the meaning of “ love” ? Some say love is a streak of sunshine to light the darkness; some say love is an umbrella to keep them away from sadness; some say love is the fountain of happiness; in addition, a speaker , Phaedrus , who is from the book “ Plato’s Symposium”, said that “ Love is one of the most ancient gods”(This is a quote from the book, p873). Indeed, the love of god had given her great love to me since I were born, and so that I can write an essay as a newborn free man. However, as I look around that people who stand beside me and come alone with me, and no matter how lost I get they never abandon me, they always stick up for me. Why? Because this is what love is. So, I realize that love is simple that I can find it everywhere. …show more content…
When I was a child, I often asked my mom what the love is. My mom always replied me with smile “ You will know when you grow up.” I looked at my mom’s eyes for the answer, but I could not find it. The question of love I asked my mom about had confused me for 20 years; However, now I get the answer: Love is simple. I now can see the love clearly between me, my young brother and parents. I was so stupid because I thought the love might be some kind of magic, but no, love is just a simple way how my family to express what “I” means to them. This is love that my mom warns me put on a coat in a cold morning; this is love that my father frequently ask me about how my school is going everyday; this is love that my younger brother shares his ice cream with me in a hot summer afternoon. To others I am just a normal college student who is living in a normal life, but to my family, I am the only thing they care about. Love does not need any thing to decorate with but a simple greeting or a simple
Although different individuals and different cultures have diverse perceptions and ideas of love and the emotions it encompasses, we can easily communicate about love across the world. The emotions, actions, and type of people involved can determine how the lover’s relate to each other, to the society, and to the universe. This study will focus on how love was depicted in the Song of Solomon compared to the Ancient Egyptian Love Poems dating from the thirteenth to the eleventh century BCE. There is no known genetic continuity between the two, the comparison of both will help stress the perception of love. Both categories of literature focuses an ideal love rather than reality; we learn how some poets perceived love while defining its potential. Although these songs are similar in subject the way they approach love through the presentation and the use of imagery can be slightly different.
Can a simple emotion such as love be regarded as one of the greatest weapons to create or attain power? It’s a renowned fact that human beings are by nature designed to need, crave, and even require love as part of their survival mechanisms. It comes to no surprise that one of the first accounts of antique poetry maintains love and the craving for it as its main theme; thereby, reinforcing the deep importance that it upholds in the lives of many individuals. Sappho’s “Deathless Aphrodite” clearly epitomizes the suffering and bitterness that arises from an unrequited love. In Sappho’s case, which portrays the case of many, she constantly finds herself in loneliness and despair for though she tries repeatedly, she is only let down recurrently as no one reciprocates the love she gives. It is only the Greek goddess Aphrodite, who holds
The Symposium, The Aeneid, and Confessions help demonstrate how the nature of love can be found in several places, whether it is in the mind, the body or the soul. These texts also provide with eye-opening views of love as they adjust our understanding of what love really is. By giving us reformed spectrum of love, one is able to engage in introspective thinking and determine if the things we love are truly worthy of our sentiment.
This passage marks the first of several types of love, and gives us an intuitive
Love has the power to do anything. Love can heal and love can hurt. Love is something that is indescribable and difficult to understand. Love is a feeling that cannot be accurately expressed by a word. In the poem “The Rain” by Robert Creeley, the experience of love is painted and explored through a metaphor. The speaker in the poem compares love to rain and he explains how he wants love to be like rain. Love is a beautiful concept and through the abstract comparison to rain a person is assisted in developing a concrete understanding of what love is. True beauty is illuminated by true love and vice versa. In other words, the beauty of love and all that it entails is something true.
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 – a simple four letter word shrouded in mystery and many different meanings. Philosophers, poets, and writers have all tried to discern the significance or concept of love for many centuries. Plato, for example, was one such philosopher who in his work the Symposium (which means “Drinking Party”) wrote about “Eros” – the term for sexual love in Greek. The Symposium was written approximately around 384 and 379 B.C.E., and follows five elite Athenian men as they pronounce their admiration of Eros while lounging on couches listening to flute girls play in the distance. Each of the men has different backgrounds ranging from tragic poet, comedian, doctor, playboy, and even Socrates himself (Norton). All these characters bring diverse views on the subject of love, and each speaker seems to build on the last enhancing the story. Times have changed so much since Plato wrote The Symposium is it possible to compare Plato’s ornate description of love to love in the modern world? Love today is much like love in Plato’s time, and I believe people today are still searching for their “other half” – the missing piece, for it is a complete love which makes us better people.
In the pre-modern view, love relationships were regarded as necessary for society to flourish. In The Symposium, love relationships had a general progression. One must love a single body. Then, realize that all bodies are beautiful. Finally, one must love another for one’s soul, and not just for one’s body; as we age, this physical beauty of the body fades. Love of the soul would last for the lifetime. Loving one’s soul leads to beautiful discourse. This beautiful discourse allows us to experience beauty itself, the ideal goal sought after by Plato. Love was not simply an emotion either, but rather a spirit within that connected beings; it was the compulsion for the good in another. Now, like sex, it is everywhere, in our romantic comedies...
Despite being one of the most powerful emotions, the definition of love cannot be encompassed in one, singular statement. However, it can be said that love is a fundamental life force experienced by all beings, humans and animals alike. The complexity of love can be explained by the fact that there are many different types of love that exist. Romantic love is characterized by feelings of desire and affection between two people. Parental love highlights the protective, caring relationship shared by parent and child. Platonic love is the supportive, closely-knit connection that occurs among friends. While love in all forms is beautiful, the nature of love can sometimes become obsessive, and fog all other thoughts that an individual has. This obsessiveness, in turn, can have disastrous effects on the individual and those around him or her. In literature, the obsessive love often serves as the central focus of books, short stories, plays, and poems. The Great
“Love is the state in which man sees things most decidedly as they are not. The power of illusion is at its peak here, as is the power to sweeten and transfigure. In love man endures more, man bears everything. A religion had to be invented in which one could love: what is worst in life is thus overcome – it is not even seen any more.”
Nowadays there are many meanings to the word ‘love’, and people use the word ‘love’ to express emotions. Love is different for each individual because it can be felt for a person, an object, or a way of life, which makes it difficult to encompass a true interpretation of it. In English there is only one word for love and that is the word love. The more frequently the word love is used then it is more likely for the true meaning of the word to become dim. In the Greek language, different words are used to describe different types of love such as Eros, Phileo, Storge, Agape, and Philautia. Eros describes sexual and passionate love. Phileo is used to talk about friendship. Storge is a family
Love is said to be one of the most desired things in life. People long for it, search for it, and crave it. It can come in the form of partners, friends, or just simply family. To some, love is something of a necessity in life, where some would rather turn a cold shoulder to it. Love can be the mixture of passion, need, lust, loyalty, and blood. Love can be extraordinary and breathtaking. Love being held so high can also be dangerous. Love can drive people to numerous mad things with it dangerously so full of craze and passion.
Love by definition is an emotion explored in philosophy, religion, and literature, often as either romantic love, the fraternal love of others, or the love of God based on the definition found in The Encarta Encyclopedia. As I explored the definition by means of the Internet, books, and articles I noticed the definitions changed quite a bit, but yet had the same basic understanding. The definition I found in The Encarta Encyclopedia was probably the most simple and most basic. It refers to love in the whole aspect, which is Godly, fraternal, and romantic. All in which can only be defined by one word and that it love.
According to Vultaggio (2015), Maya Angelou once said: “In the flush of love 's light, we dare be brave. And suddenly we see that love costs all we are, and will ever be. Yet it is only love which sets us free.” Dr. Rappleyea (2015) once stated that love is a very complex emotion perhaps the most complicated of all human emotions. Some might even add that love is not only an emotion but it is also an action shared between one or more individuals. Family greatly influences how we love and the way we show our love for one another. In fact we first learn what love is or what it is not in our household, and gradually our meaning of love will mature. Psychologist Robert Sternberg developed a triangular theory of love which explains the topic of
What is love? Love is a very special and meaningful word to each human being. Each human being has his/her own thoughts about love to guide himself/herself to land safely and smoothly into the kingdom of Love. Without this preconceived idea of love, people would be acting like a blind person searching for the light with thousand of obstacles in front of him.