Discovery Essay 1
Throughout the ages there has been many tales, poetry, and writings that date back to the dawn of time about men and women uniting together as one, or finding their other half. One could agree that we have spent time pondering the idea of when we are going to find ‘the one’ or our ‘significant other.’ This questioning and waiting help fuel us for the future and for many of us, keeps us awake at night. “When one of them meets the other half, the actual half of himself - the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the other 's sight.” The Speech of Aristophanes Plato demonstrates through his writing of dialogue how humans spend quite a bit of time searching for their other
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The man originated from the sun while the women originated from the Earth, and the combination of both the genders was an offspring of the moon. These creatures who were originally united as one began to anger Zeus, and he felt compelled to take action over the wrongdoings of these things who could be described in the as “completely round with back and sides in a circle, they had four hands each, as many legs as hands, and two faces each” (Plato 72). So Zeus decided to split these being’s in half, “so I shall now cut each of them into two, and with one stroke they will lose their strength” (Plato 72). After the bisecting of the human beings Zeus began to realize these creatures ran around hopelessly searching for their other half. They weren’t necessarily looking for their other half for sexual intentions, but perhaps they were trying to seek out their other half just for that connection that would allow them to feel complete again. Inflicted with the emotions of pity Zeus ordered Apollo to fix the wounds of these people. Eventually Zeus ended up …show more content…
It is also a true statement that most of us are subconsciously searching for our other half. As children we read stories and watch movies over fairytales about how a woman finds the man of her dreams and vice-versa. Examples include Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast and etc. This concept of finding our one true love or our significant other is embedded into our brains before we can even begin to question and think for ourselves. Children are fueled through the mainstream media of classical stories and tales about romance without even recognizing what it is. Many of us could use our own childhood as an example of how we are presented this idea without fully becoming aware of this
Aristophanes believes that two humans used to be combined as one, and we were separated by the Gods because they thought we had too much power together. He thinks the purpose of love is to seek out our other half and be with them. In his speech, however, he fails to think about whether or not our other half is good or bad. Diotima takes goodness into account. She says “…a lover does not seek the half or the whole, unless, my friend, it turns out to be good as well” (205E). Her speech is superior to Aristophanes’ because she states clearly that you are not supposed to love someone unless they are good. By good I mean having knowledge and wisdom.
Throughout Aristophanes’ “Clouds” there is a constant battle between old and new. It makes itself apparent in the Just and Unjust speech as well as between father and son. Ultimately, Pheidippides, whom would be considered ‘new’, triumphs over the old Strepsiades, his father. This is analogous to the Just and Unjust speech. In this debate, Just speech represents the old traditions and mores of Greece while the contrasting Unjust speech is considered to be newfangled and cynical towards the old. While the defeat of Just speech by Unjust speech does not render Pheidippides the ability to overcome Strepsiades, it is a parallel that may be compared with many other instances in Mythology and real life.
prized. This of course was more of a problem for a rich husband than a
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.
A great writer once wrote: “The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them -- words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they 're brought out.” Boundless things -- ideas, concepts, memories -- are all torn apart when we speak about them. They get cut up into little pieces, so that we may chew on them and digest them without choking. We end up turning these immeasurable things into literary defecation. Love, for instance, has been constant subject among writers and philosophers for eons. Everyone from E.L James to Plato has written on love and attempted to explore it with language. In Plato’s Symposium, love is discussed
Aside from all the prodigious number of Greek tragedies in history, stands a collection of Greek comedies which serve as humorous relief from the powerful overtone of the tragedy. These comedies were meant to ease the severity and seriousness sometimes associated with the Greek society. The ideas portrayed in the comedies, compared to the tragedies, were ridiculously far-fetched; however, although abnormal, these views are certainly worthy of attention. Throughout his comedy, The Clouds, Aristophanes, along with his frequent use of toilet humor, ridicules aspects of Greek culture when he destroys tradition by denouncing the importance of the gods' influence on the actions of mortals, and he unknowingly parallels Greek society with today's. Aristophanes also defiantly misrepresents an icon like Socrates as comical, atheistic, and consumed by ideas of self interest, which is contradictory to the Socrates seen in Plato's Apology or Phaedo.
The Clouds by Aristophanes, the Apology, and the Republic by Plato collectively demonstrate the hazardous relationship between the philosopher and the city. Each work reveals how Socrates’ method of dialectic inquiry and search for wisdom hindered Athens’ city structure and order. The tension between the city and the philosopher ultimately leads to Socrates’ death. Yet, the jury’s decision does not denounce Socrates as a pious individual. The decision merely represents Socrates’ unwillingness to conform to the Greek traditions and beliefs.
Around the GCU campus, marriage and engagement is in the air. Men and women who have been together from a few months to a few years have made the decision to commit to each other for the rest of their life. In the Bible, there are four different Greek words that mean love: agape (Godly), eros (erotic), storge (family), and philia (friendship). In social psychology, there are three main types of love that combine to form different types of love. In Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love, there are three main types of love: liking (intimacy alone), empty love (commitment alone), and infatuation (passion alone) (Kassin, Fein, & Markus, 2013). When intimacy, commitment, and passion are combined, an experience known as consummate
In his Birds, Aristophanes seems to favor the creation of an escapist or fantasy utopia. Indeed, the two main characters, Pisthetarios and Euelpides are tired of their current situation in Athens and leave behind the city in search for greener pastures. After convincing the birds to give consent to share some of their space, Pisthetairos and Euelpides establish Cloudcuckooland and proclaim tyrannical rule. Pisthetairos, the leader of the project, outlines the functions of the new city-state in the agon on page 228-229 as well as assigning the name of the new city-state Cloudcuckooland. The outline provided clearly shows that Pisthetairos intends this new city-state to function opposite current Athens, thereby presenting a purified Athens of
A few days ago I was listening to Taylor John Williams’ song, “The Mates of Soul” in the shower. As I took carried out the exhilarating tasks of lathering and rinsing, I listened to the perplexed artist as he sung of the absurdities people who believe in soulmates fill both their minds and waking hours with. In his pragmatic testimony, Williams paints his verses with a voice of reason, questioning why so many individuals insist on maintaining a strong belief in the permanence of soulmates despite our human nature to inevitably change over time. Yet after my shower, even my quick-dry towel couldn’t quite soak up the droplets of Williams’ words from my skin: “they say to stay together and promise to [love each other] forever, even if forever never really wanted to stay.” Throughout the remainder of my day, I found myself wondering whether Williams was being prudent and wise in his beliefs, or simply illogical and cynical.
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.
In William Shakespeare play Julius Caesar, Caesar is assassinated, and the city of Rome becomes enraged, demanding the death of the conspirators that murdered him. Brutus, one of the main assassins, talks to the mob and persuades them to understand that they are at an advantage without Caesar, the tyrant, as the dictator of Rome. He then leaves Mark Antony, who has meticulous orders to not try to pin the murder on the conspirators’ selfishness, but can speak numerous praises about his superior. Mark Antony then speaks to the persuaded crowd about Caesar’s endeavors and the benefits that Caesar gave to the kingdom, giving everything that was necessary and more. Mark Antony’s speech riles the citizens of Rome to mutiny without actually revealing his personal intentions of wishing to do so. In William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, Mark Antony’s speech is more persuasive that Brutus’ speech
In the Symposium, a most interesting view on love and soul mates are provided by one of the characters, Aristophanes. In the speech of Aristophanes, he says that there is basically a type of love that connects people. Aristophanes begins his description of love by telling the tale of how love began. He presents the tale of three sexes: male, female, and a combination of both. These three distinct sexes represented one’s soul. These souls split in half, creating a mirror image of each one of them. Aristophanes describes love as the search for the other half of your soul in this quote: “When a man’s natural form was split in two, each half went round looking for its other half. They put their arms around one another, and embraced each other, in their desire to grow together again. Aristophanes theme is the power of Eros and how not to abuse it.
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).
Reason, moderation, balance, harmony: the key ingredients to a Greek society . Greeks were known for upholding strict social virtues and values. As many people can assume from mythology, the Greeks were very invested in religion, having polytheistic roots. From these roots the Greeks seemed to adapt to other religions very well and were much more open-minded than other civilizations. Despite being open-minded regarding religion, the culture was quite restricted when it came to war. From a young age, men were expected to begin preparation for the war. If a husband or son returned from war with a loss, the family would often weep in disappointment. Men’s entire purpose was to be glorious, men dominated the Ancient Greek society. Of course being brought up with these values, men loved war and loved fighting. Conflict eventually arose between the two main cities of Greece known as Athens and Sparta, during the Peloponnesian Wars. Greek writer, Aristophanes, had a very strong critique regarding the war . Through