How to Talk about Love by Plato

Author:Plato
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2024-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

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E. From ancient times, then, Love for each other has been implanted in human beings, a love that draws us back to our original nature and seeks to make one out of two and so repair human nature. Each of us is a half-token of a human, split like flatfish to make two out of one, and each is constantly looking for his matching token. […]

This is the root cause of our desire to unite: our original nature was like this, and we were wholes; and the name for the desire and pursuit of wholeness is Love.

Before this, as I say, we were one, but now because of our transgressions we’ve been dispersed by Zeus, the way the Arcadians were dispersed by the Spartans. There’s a risk that, if we don’t give due deference to the gods, we’ll be chopped in two again and go around sawn in half through the nose, like figures carved in relief on gravestones, and will end up like dice cut in half. That’s why we should urge reverence of the gods, so that everyone might avoid that fate and enjoy a better one, seeing as Love is our appointed leader and commander. […]

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