Discuss aristophanes speech in platos symposium and explain
In the beginning, according to Aristophanies, there were three types of people instead of the two we know today. The male were the offspring of the sun, while females were born from the earth and androgynous were the progeny of the moon. These three gender did not embody the physical characteristics we associate with people today. Instead they had four legs and four arms and two faces on a rounded neck. This shape, while awkward, allowed them to move quickly by doing cartwheels and granted them incredible strength. Unfortunately they recognized their great strength and took for granted this gift from the gods. Rather then worship the gods that had given this gift to them they chose instead to try and overthrow them. They did not see them selves as being subordinate to their creators, but rather as equals. Despite their great strength and confidence they were unable to successfully overpower the gods and their rebellion was ultimately stopped. Rather then simply punish them Zeus sought to ensure that such an insurrection would never again occur. To achieve this end he had them split in half, which fit both criteria of punishing them and preventing this situation from repeating itself. Since they were now split in two they had h
Eros refers to our very strong sexual desires. Hubris refers to our ability to break the law. According to Aristophanes Zeus gave us the power to have sex to distract us from other passions, such as starting revolutions. Zeus hoped beings would have sex then return to tend to the things in their lives. Additionally if people were in pursuit of their second half they would not have time to rise up against the gods. The act of sex was not simply a pleasure filled way to reproduce. Instead it was a failed attempt by humans to “reconnect” our bodies. Through sex we try to reunite with one another and make one from two halves and heal the wounds of human nature. As already stated part of human reproduction was to distract us from other passions that would be harmful to the gods. Also, by allowing humans to reproduce the gods created more people to worship them. Without reproduction the human species would eventually die out. Also, Zeus simply took pity on beings after seeing them wander around looking for their other half and eventually dying after they failed. Aristophanes warns that if we misbehave again we will once again be struck into by the gods and left on “one leg hopping”. Additionally, beneath the surface of his speech is the idea that love was made to tame er
Some topics in this essay:
,
Aristophanes Zeus,
according aristophanes,
worship gods,
distract passions,
“reconnect” bodies,
search half,
sexual desires,
split half,
people instead,
Join now to see the rest of the essay!
Approximate Word count = 868
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
Example Essays Home
