Aristophanes Speech On Love And Happiness - 850 Words

The philosopher I have chosen for this assignment is Plato, in Symposium. Based on the readings of The Speech of Aristophanes, the theorist- Aristophanes - states that the key to love and happiness is the search to finding ones other â€Å"half†, in which the couple becomes together or â€Å"whole†. In the quest to becoming â€Å"one†, the individuals find themselves in a lifelong togetherness, what some claim to be considered finding your â€Å"soul mate† When becoming â€Å"whole† the newly formed partnership embrace in sexual relations and share experiences with one another. In order to fully understand Aristophanes’ concept of erotic love, it is imperative to summarize and highlight details of the story in The Speech of Aristophanes. The form of Aristophanes’ speech, comes in as a myth of a story long ago where there were three genders: male, female and androgynous, all of which were twice what they -humans- are now. For example, two sets of hands and two sets of legs. Though the gods hated these beings, they knew they could not kill them, as forfeiting humans as sacrifices. So, in replace Zeus decided to cut the humans into two, but keeping them whole on either side, including their genitals. Because the humans, now half, had been whole for so long, they constantly had urges to find their other half to make them whole again, which begins Aristophanes’ theory of longing for one another. When found by another half, the couple would embrace in sexual activity and not want anything else,Show MoreRelatedPlatos Symposium : The Nature Of Love1592 Words   |  7 PagesSymposium describes the nature of love to be the driving force towards immortality. Aristophanes perpetuates this idea through his allegorical description of human’s original nature, and the component of the driving force of love within that nature. The underlying goal of this force of love is immortality, though he does not directly articulate it in his speech. 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