Love In Aristophanes: The Existence Of Love

What is love? In the passage, Aristophanes tells us his theory on the existence of love and how it defines the different types of love that have been identified so far. In the context of the story told prior to this passage, he essentially says that love is a punishment. We are cursed with the task of trying to find our other half. In his theory on the origin of love and human desire to be with some one

It is organized as a logical argument with a statement, supporting ideas, and a conclusion. Aristophanes starts with the statement that “Each of us.. is a matching half.” This is the basis of the entire passage. It his explanation of love. By establishing that this is the truth his story is based on he gains credibility. His story contains the

He wants to “prove” that despite the common opinion that they are shameless, they are the only boys that grow up to be politicians. The modern connotation of politicians can sometimes be more negative than positive however during this time period, the leaders society were the politicians who were the most respected and educated. These boys who love men, admire the qualities that they wish to develop and express. Here he makes the connection between lovers of young men and lover of love. This is another way of saying that this love is pure and is brought about by the simple love of love. He later contradicts this in the conclusion of the

a sense of desire.]” Bringing his argument to a close, this last section directly contradicts the idea that love is something beyond desire. In the context of the story told prior to this passage, he essentially says that love is a punishment and that we are cursed with the task of trying to find our other half. With this in mind, ideas of attraction and desire, should not necessarily be include in his initial idea because if we know that there is only one person for us then the desire is in being complete, not in lust