Therefore, people must revere the gods, which will happen if we let Love guide us. In this way they could have accomplished their pursuit for completeness.ĭanger still exists that if order is not kept, humans will be split in half once more. He exemplifies this by saying that if Hephaestus, the craftsman god, were to ask to people what they want from each other, those who found their other half would say to become one and never separate, so as to even suffer a single death. This goes beyond sex, but rather deals with what the soul of a lover longs. Love, therefore, is the “pursuit of wholeness.” When one finds their other half, they are stuck together and don’t want to ever be separated. They are bold, brave, and masculine, and cherish the same in others they are lovers of Love. Aristophanes says these are the best boys because they are most manly in their nature. Men split from androgynous go after women, and many of these men and women are lecherous. Now, reproduction would occur inside the woman, “by the man in the woman.” When the previously androgynous hugged, they would have children and when male embraced male, they would enjoy intercourse.Įach of us today is a “matching half” of a human whole. Before, these were outside, casting seeds in the ground, rather than in each other, to make children. As they were dying out, Zeus took pity and moved their genitals to the front. This caused some to die from hunger and idleness as they would do nothing else. Now each half longed for its other half, and they would hug, wanting to grow together.

He did so and Apollo turned each person’s head toward the wound as a reminder of the cut, which was healed by drawing skin at what is now called the stomach, fastened at the navel. Zeus proposed cutting them in half, reducing their strength and increasing their number, resulting in more worship and sacrifice, all of which benefitted the gods. Zeus and the other gods decided against wiping them out, as that would rid them of receiving worship and sacrifices. The male kind came from the sun, the female was an offspring of the earth, and the androgynous of the moon.īeing so strong they tried to ascend to heaven to attack the gods. Having so many limbs, they were very fast and strong.

They were all round shaped, with four hands and four legs each, two faces, and two sets of sexual organs, much like two human beings stuck together. First he explains that long ago there were three types of human beings: male, female, and androgynous, a form made up of male and female elements.

Aristophanes’ speech focuses on Human Nature and a mythical account of how Love plays out among humans.

Platos the symposium