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Why We Have Partners In Plato's Symposium

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In Plato’s Symposium, Aristophanes story is very unique to why we have partners. Aristophanes story is like an old fable. It begins with three sexes all body’s had 2 heads,4 arms, 4 legs and two sets of genitals. These beings were very powerful could move very quickly in all directions and would spin using their circular bodies. Men came from the sun, women came from earth and the third gender came from the moon. The third gender “androgynous” had both sexual body parts and was both male and female. The gods felt threatened by these beings so they decided to cut all of them in half so they wouldn't be as strong. When Zeus split them in half he sent Apollo down to earth to trim their sides and make them more like humans we know today, leaving …show more content…

This passage discusses something wonderful happening when you find your other half, you get stuck to your partner all over again.You feel your sense of belonging to each other you never want to be separated from each other not even for a moment. I associate this description of love and finding of your soul mate when you first emerge into a new relationship. When it is fresh and new you want nothing but to be with that person. You don't want to be separated or away from that person for a long time and this feeling lasts for a long period of time. It can be described as the phrase “young love” when love first ignites our only “desire” is to be with another and to be struck together with that person. I believe eventually this feeling wears off and that is why I disagree with the passage, people may be struck to that person at first and be connected to the point where they don't want to be disconnected. I have been in relationships where at first it's beautiful it's everything I wanted and within time it withered and died. Eventually that feeling wears off maybe in the time period of this discovery the lovers were united and would die at the connection of each other but in this era love is not as “completing” to another person as it is in the reading. In 192B a statement is made about men “loving love” and that people don't want to get married and just experience love. In today's time love is a financial

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Plato’s Symposium begins with Apollodorus relating the events of the dinner to an unnamed friend. The seemingly unnecessary framing of the gathering actually creates a distance between the gathering and its retelling, sets up the later frame of Socrates and Diotima by the layers of reporting, and the movement of the characters involved further explores the themes discussed in Diotima’s speech to Socrates. Altogether, Apollodorus’s initial scene sets up ideas explored later on in the symposium itself. This imitation is necessary to the Symposium overall because it shows how the concepts discussed within the gathering can be applied to life. Allowing Apollodorus to start the dialogue forces distance between Apollodorus as the narrator and

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The Odyssey teaches students how to find a good and desirable partner and what a good relationship looks like. After reading about Odysseus and his interactions with Nausicaa and Calypso, readers learn that he wants homophrosyne, similar beliefs or common way of thinking and mortality; he doesn’t want immortality and physical beauty (6.12). This shows students that they should not just look at the physical beauty but look at personalities because in the end, people would want to be with someone who has a great

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        Plato wrote the Symposium around 360 BC. During this time, the prevailing view of love and sex emphasized the importance for men to be dominant over females.  Females were expected to view their role as “properly submissive”. Men viewed penetration as power and woman were viewed as sex

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In the Symposium, Pausanias (Greek geographer) conveys the second speech which talks about a few of the societal standards representing homoerotic relationships. The way that a companion (an older man) and his lover ( a younger man) may act towards each other is largely based on what society accepts. It is shown that the totality of this relationship is pursuer/pursued; the older man takes the initiative in the relationship and is the dominant during sexual intercourse whereas the younger man would gain in return the assistance, support and mentor ship from the older man. For example, Pausanias articulates the ethical component when he talks about the conditions under which it is adequate to satisfy a

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The union of both sexes is a notable metaphor in both “Symposium” and “Lysistrata”; however, the nature of the love between the sexes draws a distinction between both works. In Symposium, Aristophanes described how both sexes were so powerful when united; and when they were separated, human beings still strived to be united once more by any means. On the other hand, in Lysistrata the characters were already married and united; however, women found their true strength when they started a psychological war on their men. Even though both works drew the readers’ attention to the need for love, Symposium emphasizes the union of sexes in a way that the characters in Lysistrata will never reach; where love is not only about sex and physical attraction, but it’s also about a healthy relationship occupied with affection and caring.

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The symposium is a book constructed on Plato’s conceptions around the passionate erotic love. To Plato and others during this time love (eros) was known as a god, with such beauty and goodness that others praise and competing for its entity. As a young boy of royalty older men would advertise themselves for a chance at love (eros). This was an opportunity to raise a boy into a man, teaching all the necessary tools needed for adulthood. Some of these roles as a partner included being sexual active.

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He emphasizing the importance of the experience they have created before any conflict arose. The porter is trying to get the lady to forgive him based on who she has created a friendship with and who she has bonded with. This part of the verse goes along with the next. This part of the verse goes, “By the bond of the love that between us has grown. ”(103).

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The narrator continues with the metaphors, explaining that their partner “fell in love” with being with them, and how the narrator does not particularly like

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He simply says that passionate love should be allowed to mature before a couple decides to marry. By this, he means to let companionate love grow alongside the passionate love. Companionate love involves being much more intimate with one’s partner than does just sex. It is after all that initial passion fades that the relationship is truly tested. When passion fades, if companionate love does not take its place, then the relationship is destined to fail.

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