The word “love” is used thousands of times in one day; a couple saying ‘I love you,’ how much a person loves an item, or even expressed when thanking someone for performing a favor. Love has an overwhelming presence in our everyday lives. However, what defines love? There is a multitude of synonyms for love: enamored, adored, infatuated. The list continues, but none of these hold the same value in society as the word “love.” In Our Inner Ape, Frans De Waal proclaims his views on how sex and relationships influence love in his chapter, Sex. On the other hand, Pausanias addresses the nature of love in his speech in the Symposium. Comparing De Waal’s Sex and Pausanias’s speech, the two tend to butt heads regarding their outlook of love. For instance, …show more content…
Whether this is idealistic or purely conventional is up in the air, but De Waal does argue that this monogamous relationship between husband and wife is unique and crucial to the human race, seen as the key to reproduction and a fundamental building block to two people falling in love. De Waal views the heterosexual affiliation as the dominant sexual relationship but touches on human homosexuality. In his opinion, “this same sex attraction exists to some degree in all of us…that surfaces under certain circumstances.” He does not see it as an “evolutionary problem inasmuch as it does not conflict with reproduction.” Pausanias, on the other hand, would disagree with this notion and argue that this heterosexual relationship between male and female does not fulfill each individual. Rather, he is an advocate of the lover-boyfriend relationship, a relationship between an older man (lover) and younger boy (boyfriend) in whom the lover receives sexual relations while the boyfriend obtains a mentor. He also sees females drastically inferior and incapable of pleasing males “as by nature [males are] stronger and more intelligent,” (Plato, 14). His preference, the lover-boyfriend relationship, benefits and satisfies both individuals. …show more content…
A probable explanation for De Waal’s and Pausanias’s differing views on love is the drastic time gap between the two, De Waal writing from a 21st century perspective verse Pausanias’s pre-Jesus Christ interpretation. Over this span, the science of evolution and human psychology were not only studied extensively but practically discovered. It would seem highly improbable that the two views would even be slightly comparable, let alone decently relevant and not far-fetched from one another as De Waal and Pausanias are. The two views share an overall concept of love as two individuals coming together to benefit one
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 is heavily intertwined with being human. Indeed, everyone doubtlessly experiences some form of love in their life, be it towards objects or people. This love is organized into three types; eros, philos, and agape. Eros, likely the most common kind of love in western culture, denotes sexual desire, or lust. Philos covers love among friends, or love for the purpose to gain something. Agape, the rarest of all, encapsulates selfless love, or the willingness to die for another. All forms are present within the three works, Voltaire’s Candide, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, and in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, albeit in differing levels.
The first chapter begins with an exploration of love and marriage in many ancient and current cultures. Surprisingly many cultures either avoid the discussion of love in marriage or spit on the idea completely. China and other societies believed that love was simply a product of marriage and shouldn’t get too out of hand, while a few Greek and Roman philosophers shunned excessive
Humans have many ambitions in life, yet most people’s ambitions fall into one spectrum. This spectrum? Love. People often express their desire for love, yet don’t realize that love is carried with them throughout their lives. In today’s society, ‘love’ is a commonly used term to describe a relationship based on affection for another person. However, love has many levels of complexities. Ancient greeks recognized the various forms love can take. Some of which include eros, storge, and philia. William Shakespeare, in his classic drama “Romeo and Juliet,” and other authors use eros, storge, and philia to explore the complexities of love and its effects.
This passage marks the first of several types of love, and gives us an intuitive
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.
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.
In classical Greek literature the subject of love is commonly a prominent theme. However, throughout these varied texts the subject of Love becomes a multi-faceted being. From this common occurrence in literature we can assume that this subject had a large impact on day-to-day life. One text that explores the many faces of love in everyday life is Plato’s Symposium. In this text we hear a number of views on the subject of love and what the true nature of love is. This essay will focus on a speech by Pausanius. Pausanius’s speech concentrates on the goddess Aphrodite. In particular he looks at her two forms, as a promoter of “Celestial Love” as well as “Common Love.” This idea of “Common Love” can be seen in a real life context in the tragedy “Hippolytus” by Euripides. This brings the philosophical views made by Pausanius into a real-life context.
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
Love is arguably the most powerful emotion possessed by mankind; it is the impalpable bond that allows individuals to connect and understand one another. Pure love is directly related to divinity. Without love, happiness and prosperity become unreachable goals. An individual that possesses all the desired superficial objects in the world stands alone without the presence of love. For centuries love has been marveled by all that dare encounter it. Countless books and poems have been transcribed to explain the phenomenon of love, but love surpasses all intellectual explanations and discussions. Love is not a definition, but rather a thought, an idea. This idea, the idea of love, burns inside us all. Instinctually, every soul on Earth is
The word “love” has always caught attention with its meanings. There have been many definitions used for this word throughout history, beginning with its start during the ninth century. With the examples of current use(from Urban Dictionary, Twitter, a student survey, a song, and a film) it is obvious that the definition of this word has been lost in translation in many different ways. Looking closely at the synonyms, along with the history and current use, the true definition is clearly seen through a usual worldly haze.
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. As the last speaker, and the most important one, Socrates connects his ideas with Diotima of Mantinea’s story of Love’s origin, nature and purpose. Different from the earlier five speakers who regard Love as an object and praise different sides of it, Socrates, referring to Diotima’s idea, considers Love as a pursuit of beauty gradually from “physical beauty of people in general” (Symposium, Plato, 55) to the “true beauty” (55).
Love and beauty is another theme that recurs in Greek discussion, especially in Plato’s dialogues. In the Phaedrus and especially the Symposium, Plato discusses the nature of erotic love and give the argument for the ultimately transcendental object of love: Beauty. In both dialogues, Plato presents Socrates as a quintessential philosopher who is a lover of wisdom, and through his great speeches we are able to grasp Platonism and Plato’s view on the interesting theme.
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.
Love is not a god as the fine philosophers of Greece once suggested. Love is something far more powerful and universal, for not all people believe in gods, yet people cannot refuse the existence of love. Instead, love is a condition of the human body that cannot be denied. True love is obstinate; in the way that music pours into the ears of an audience, love pouring into the heart of a man cannot be stopped, denied, or set off course. Love is a natural instinct. You cannot artificially make love where there is none or where it does not belong. Yet, the condition of being in love grows independent of all rationale. It grows places where an observer may not understand its existence. Attempting to fight love in such a situation leaves even powerful and noble families, such as the Capulets and Montagues, suddenly powerless. When love takes control of two souls, it takes the lovers on a journey. The journey is the growth of love throughout its many progressive stages. In this way, the growth of love between two people is analogous to the growth and development of a painted masterpiece. A work of art and a bond of love both have distinct stages and characteristics. A painting initially begins with a vision in the mind of the artist. This vision is a perfect vision that the artist will strive to replicate on her canvas. Similarly, love often begins on a visual level based on the physical attractions between two people. The vision of the painter is soon transformed into quick, loose sketches. The pencil freely marks the page; the artist has no control over where it goes, he merely paints. Similarly, lovers have no control over their new feeling of love that has taken over their bodies and rendered them helpless. After an artist has loos...