Symposium
...nd society ever created consisted of lovers. He claimed that the first army to be created in this image would rule the world. This is because lovers in combat would fight so bravely, so heroically, for their lover, that their zeal would be unmatched. A lover would rather die than to see his loved one become a deserter or die in a fight. They would fight so hard for one another that it wouldn’t matter who they were fighting. Their love for one another would breathe power and courage into them and make them the ultimate war machine. The perfect society would be formed for the exact same reason I gave above. No lover would want to do something bad in front of their loved one and would therefore only do good things. If everyone in a society had a loved one, then they would never commit crimes or cause problems. On this last point made by Phaedrus, I agreed whole-heartedly. Love is the best weapon to wield on the field of battle. In any case, not just a lover, but a friend or family member in danger as well, would cause such a change in a person that they would go through anything to save them. At least, that is how I feel. I believe that in order for me to go to the extreme of killing another human being, it would either be in self defense or if that person were threatening to kill a lover or family member. In the case of the other point that Phaedrus made about a lover feeling more ashamed in an act of shamefulness in front of their lover, I would have to agree as well. No one would want to be caught by their lover while doing something shameful or wrong. One always wants to portray the best of themselves to another, especially their lover. The next speech which I wish to convey was given by Pausanias. Pausanias claimed that there were two Aphrodites. The oldest and greater one was Heavenly Aphrodite, while the younger one was Common Aphrodite. According to Pausanias, Heavenly Aphrodite had no mother and was therefore purely male. This love he claimed was only felt for young boys by their lovers. It was a special kind of love, much different than Common Love and involved the love of the mind, rather than the love of the body or the physical. Pausanias claimed that this love was by far the most pure however he went on to say that men who were found to be taking advantage of the younger, less experienced boys should be punished. He claimed that there should be a law in place punishing men who did this. The other Love which Pausanias brought up was Common Love. He claimed that Common Love was the weaker and less pure of the two. He gave two reasons for this. The first was because Common Love was younger and because she was created by Zeus and Dione, therefore making Common Love the love felt for both men and women. He thought of this love as being weak and untrue because it was based on the body and not on the mind or intelligence. Pausanias went on further to say that this love was used my men to seduce younger and less intelligent boys and women for sexual intercourse. Pausanias believed that the love between a lover and his boy was the strongest because the lover loves the boy for his intelligence and wants to make him a life-long partner. He also wants to see him grow so that he may teach him virtues and to share his wisdom with him, hoping that one day that he will grow to become a good man. In response to Pausanias’ speech about the two Loves, I would have to disagree with him. I believe that there is one and only one Love. Everything else is either lust or some form of friendship. The Heavenly Love which Pausanias speaks of is the only Love which I acknowledge as true love. It is the love of the spirit and the mind, as well as the body. I believe that even if one is not completely physically attracted to another, and yet finds a way to fall in love with their mind, personality, and spirit, then their views of that person change. Their features become even more beautiful in your eyes and you learn to love their bodies for who they are as well. The Common Love which Pausanias speaks of sounds like lust to me. He makes it sound like the “lover” is using the “loved one” like a virus uses a body. It uses the body until it either withers away or becomes unappealing. That just sounds wrong to me and I cannot view that as Love. Aristophanes was one of the more influential comedians and playwrights in Ancient times, not really known for his philosophical views. And yet, his speech was the one which struck me to be by far the most enlightening and interesting. He used a different approach than all of those before him. He decided to voice his opinion through a myth. Aristophanes claimed that long ago, there were three genders o...