What Is Philia?

According to Aristophanes, love (eros) – the highest form of love that one human being can feel towards another – is the desire of dissected halves, one to another, for restoring the wholeness of the nature’s origin. I will explain what does Aristophanes mean by his metaphor and why do people fall in love.

Agathon hosted a gathering for a small group of philosophers to talk about how they perceive love and what their own unique ideas are of beauty, virtue, honor, or anything else that may fall under the category of love. Eros, or Love, is a god that the philosophers have decided to praise with a speech of their own perspective. You get to see each philosophers different style and way of thinking within their speeches. All philosophers have agreed to drink while each other is speaking, but there is no pressure from one another or one’s self to drink excessively. The first to kick off the speeches is Phaedrus, an idealist, who believes that being shamed upon who you love most is of the highest caliber of embarrassment, even compared to relatives

An Eros lover has a warm relationship with their family, falls in love at first sight, and idealizes love. In Juliet’s case, she has a warm relationship with her nurse, father, and brother. In the beginning Juliet was not anxious to fall in love, but when she met Romeo, everything changed. On her balcony, after her encounter with Romeo, she confesses her love for him. Even though she just met him she claims it is love at first sight, a characteristic in Eros lovers. In addition, she is desperate to have sexual intercourse with Romeo and compares herself to, “an impatient child that [had] new robes/ And [could] not wear them” (III.ii.88). In other words, she had married but was still a virgin. At this time she is idealizing the idea of love. Also, she considers love the most important activity, which is shown when she spends the entire day in bed waiting for Romeo.

In Joseph Campbell’s novel, The Power of Myth, he elaborates on the idea that there are two parts necessary to love, and one part that is not necessary, but typically occurs at the same time (232). Eros and Amor are necessary, while Agape is subsequent. Eros, or the biological urge, is the sexual desire and lust (Campbell 233). The next part of the triangle is Agape, which is “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Campbell 233).

Erotic love presents itself in two different ways—the traditional pursuit of a soul mate and a more abstract way—according to Nussbaum’s interpretation of Plato’s Symposium it has “two kinds of value [and] two kinds of knowledge” (Nussbaum 312). The first kind of knowledge and value is described by Aristophanes and Alcibiades, which defines love as the pursuit of wholeness. It constructs the idea that life is about finding the other half, Aristophanes explains a tale of traditional Greek mythology which reveals the concept of humans once being whole, but as punishment were separated into two beings, as a result life became the desire to become one again. Furthermore, Alcibiades contributes to Aristophanes description of love by telling his own life story of being unable to find his other half and describing himself as enslaved to love. Considering both accounts, Aristophanes and Alcibiades both share the common thesis that erotic love is defined by “[human] desire to be complete” (Plato 21). Despite Alcibiades contradiction of the theory through his fear of rejection, frustration, and loss; it is still prevalent because lessons can be learned from his hardship. Only through experience can this form of erotic love be understood. On a completely different page of understanding Socrates and Diotima argue the pursuit of being ‘whole’ is merely just a step towards the pursuit of erotic love. Socrates discloses erotic love as a ladder, starting with loving one person and progressing to loving the soul, eventually loving the form of beauty itself. Furthermore, Socrates argues loving the form of beauty exceeds the risk of frustration and rejection—the Forms are a constant that will never fail to please an individual. He believes the pursuit of knowledge through love’s desire for wisdom is the purpose of erotic love. However, his perspective is found to be abstract and complicated, his view is “removed from affection for concrete human beings” (Nussbaum 281). Particularly, it is difficult to understand his idea that human life could exist without jealousy, fear, affection and the emotions mixed with love. Ultimately, humans are drawn to relationships and connections with others; to introduce the notion that erotic love

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊHomoerotic desire, longing, and love in Greek texts are depicted as equally strong or stronger than the heterosexual equivalents.Ê Plato?s philosophers argue over who receives the privilege of sharing a couch with the handsomest of them.Ê Agathon and Pausanius are shown to be affectionate and loyal to each other.Ê Some of the strongest expressions of desire are found in Sappho?s lyric poetry.Ê She speaks of a certain woman as being what she most desires, claiming, ?I?d rather see her comely step, the shining luster of her face than the Lydians? chariots and infantry in armor (16 L-P lines

Phaedras continues on and speaks of the things that Love can inspire men to. Though he does not confine these benefits to homosocial interactions, he does specifically include them. After stating that older men are more prone to die than be humiliated in the sight of their eromenos, he goes on to say that, ??as for abandoning his boyfriend or not helping him when danger threatens ? well, possession by love would infuse even utter cowards with courage. ? Moreover, only lovers are prepared to sacrifice themselves ? and this goes for women as well as men.? (Phaedras, 179a)

Unlike Eros love that is solely based on a strong emotion and only being shown the good quality of each person, Philos love is based on a “give and take” where two people benefit mutually in varies way from each other. Being giving and taking equally is important in this type of love, and the concern that each partner is benefiting is essential to each partner. It can be statement in truth that Philos love is a higher type of love then Eros, where love is not just based on a strong emotion experienced before the understanding and appreciation of both partners that is gained from the pervious and continuing friendship.

Aristophanes in this speech has an accurate portrayal of what love that seems to be. The belief that love is a desire to belong to one another is a very romantic take on love that differentiates it from Eryximachus’ idea of love. By desire, Aristophanes is suggests that love is something that exists within all people. To the extent that, it exists within us from birth as a remnant of our ancestors. In other words, it is a desire hardwired into us from birth. Fulfilling this desire is one of the goals that all people have. Aristophanes believes that fulfilling this desire will lead to a happy

Love, in classical Greek literature, is commonly considered as a prominent theme. Love, in present days, always appears in the categories of books, movies or music, etc. Interpreted differently by different people, Love turns into a multi-faceted being.

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the fifth-most-populous city in the United States, and the core of the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the country. Located in the Northeastern United States at the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, Philadelphia is the economic and cultural center of the Delaware Valley. Popular nicknames for Philadelphia are Philly and The City of Brotherly Love. The city is the center of economic activity in Pennsylvania, and is home to the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and several Fortune 500 companies.

Plato’s Symposium is a philosophical text that contains many philosophers’ views on what they consider love to be. In Pausanias speech, he claims that love has many facets and he argues that loving is neither a good or bad act. He feels if loving is done properly and for the right reasons it is good, and if not it is bad. There are two different types of love that he describes. Common love is superficial love because its attraction is directed toward the bodies instead of toward the minds.

Platonic love only partially identifies with Pausanias’s theory. Pausanias’s speech and the speeches of the rest

“Love is complex: considered simply in itself, it is neither honorable nor a disgrace-its character depends entirely on the behavior it gives rise to,” (Plato 183d). There are two different types of love that Pausanius refers to, which are the common and heavenly love. The common love is based on your love for someone for their body, sex or beauty making it physical love and desire for a person. Heavenly love is love for the mind such as your intelligence and strength, someone you can benefit from making one more wise. Any love that is encountered has a purpose whether is it the love between a mother and daughter or the love between a husband and wife. In the end, all love leads and is directed to virtue and improves the loved ones.

The term “Eros,” referring to passionate love in English, has long been the mainstream of themes in drama, literature, arts, and cinematic media. The fascinating power of love has been exhaustively publicized, and the pursuit of love is diffused in streets and lanes. Conversely, in ancient times, many poets, especially Virgil, Ovid and Apuleius, described eros as such an evil spirit that it will destroy the female soul thoroughly, except for the one in Apuleius’ story of Cupid and Psyche. Even if taking into account the historical background of a patriarchal community and therefore the esteemed male dominance, the particular case of Psyche’s surviving and even thriving her encounter with eros