rtue. Pausanias highlights that fact that solely sexual gratification in these sorts of relationships is completely inappropriate. His main point that differentiates this love from common love is that, “giving in to your lover for virtues’s sake is honorable, whatever the outcome. And this, of course, is the Heavenly Love of the heavenly goddess” (Symposium, 185C) Lovers in turn should improve their loved ones and teach them wisdom, otherwise, the love would only be of the common type.

Later during the discussion, the comical playwright, Aristophanes offers his entertaining opinion of what love truly is. Aristophanes takes on a different approach when beginning his speech by telling of the way humans were long ago. In the form of a myth he describes three different genders: male, female, and androgynous. Each of these people had twice the body parts they have now, everything from limbs to genitals. These people acted chaotically and often attacked the gods. As a punishment for their selfish actions, Aristophanes mentions that Zeus cuts each person in two, while Apollo heals their wounds. Aristophanes tells that love originates when the people kept trying to find their other half. To justify this point, he adds that Zeus moved their genitals around so when embracing their other half, the two could engage in sexual intercourse. Aristophanes highlights the braveness and masculinity the beings of male-male relationships show. Regardless of the sexual orientation of the relationship, Aristophanes points out that “when a person meets the half that is his very own,

Some topics in this essay:
Heavenly Love, Pausanias Aristophanes, Impressed Socrates’, Socrates Alcibiades, , Overall Alcibiades’, Love Pausanias, Zeus Dione, Common Aphrodite, Socrates Eventually, heavenly love, sexual gratification, common love, love common, love pausanias, love common love, shared socrates, alcibiades describes, common aphrodite, pausanias aristophanes, wisdom virtue,