The Nature Of Love, By Aristophanes

Before Aristophanes begins his speech he is interrupted by a bout of hiccups, allegorically suggestive regarding the nature of love as unpredictable and out of our control, something to which our reason is subverted. After the hiccups have ceased, Aristophanes recounts the alleged story of human origin, how humans were once whole beings who were separated into halves by the Greek god Zeus as punishment. These halves are now on a quest for unification with their corresponding half in order to achieve wholeness again. This intense longing and pursuit is Eros, or love. The speech given by Aristophanes is both comic and profound. According to the story, there is a unique irreplaceable individual for everyone. The story speaks truth to our insatiable

This reflects most closely the love we see today, a passionate loving relationship with a significant other. As humans, a part of us seems to acknowledge and agree with their viewpoint. There is something special about loving the individual, and not just embracing the individual for their good virtues, but for their entire self. We stand to gain something we cannot otherwise possess by any other means. It seems good to allow our entire being, our senses, emotions, and intellect to be involved in informing us and shaping us. But this love is not without its downfalls. It is filled with many risks, riddled with possibilities of hurt and rejection. It appears to make us act irrationality. We make decisions based on emotions and feelings rather than reason. It often leads to a dependency on the other person, an enslavement, a constant need to be validated and fulfilled through

Both accounts are severely reductionistic, destructive to some aspect of love and thus a complete human life. Human beings are both mind and body. To the nature of the mind I will not speak, but I think most will agree when I say we are rational beings capable of thinking and higher level processes. We are also fleshly beings, attached to the world in a way that cannot be ignored. Socrates view of love puts emphasis solely on our mind, rejecting the body. Alcibiadies and Aristophanes view of love puts emphasis on our body, rejecting the mind. The problem is that either account misses an essential to our being, a part of us that is needed for meaning and happiness. Cultivation of both the mind and body nurtured by love is the formula needed for nothing less than a holistic human existence. An alternative is necessary, a synthesis of the two. One that recognizes a genuine place for love in both the mind and body. A synthesis that mixes the earthly love of Alcibiadies and Aristophanes and the transcendent love of Socrates. But, how can this synthesis be