Plato
...This drunken discussion of Eros
presents ideas which have not lost their relevance in the
millennia since. Many things have changed and there
have been a lot of different views on almost every subject
known to man, but the thoughts voiced in the Symposium
still hold truth today. However being what it was, and that
is many different peoples thoughts on the subjectof Eros,
there is a wide variety of theories to choose from. Which of
these speculations strikes a chord of truth in one's soul?
Diotima speaks through Socrates (who is speaking
through Plato) when she gives her version of where love
came from. She says that Love is the child of Resource and
Poverty, conceived on the day that Aphrodite was born.
Poverty had come to the feast to beg and found Resource
drunk and passed out. Poverty saw an opportunity to gain
more resources, so she slept with him and became
pregnant with Love. Love is a follower of Aphrodite because
He was conceived at the party following her birth, and
because "He is naturally a lover of beauty and Aphrodite is
beautiful"(Gill, 203c) Because of who His mother is Love is
always poor and homeless. He is quite tough from sleeping
on the ground or in doorways and from wearing no shoes.
Because of who His mother is, He is always in need, but
because of who His father is He is constantly scheming to
get good and beautiful things. He's clever, and skilled in...
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