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Speech of Aristophanes: Everlasting Love.

 

            Throughout history Love has been a topic of conversation. Plato's Symposium provides us with many different views and theories about Love. Socrates and his intellectual partners discuss what Love is and twist it's meaning in every possible way. One of the memorable speeches is the Speech of Aristophanes. After describing history of Love, he proposes that each person is half of a complete love relationship, a whole.
             Some assumed that homosexuality alone is capable of satisfying "a man's highest and noblest aspirations". Whereas heterosexual love is placed at an inferior level, being described as only existing for carnal reasons; its ultimate purpose being procreation. Aristophanes contradicts his peers with the speech by treating heterosexuality at the same level as homosexuality, arguing that both are predestined. It is a great view of Love that Aristophanes presented to us, that all of us were slashed in half by gods since the beginning of human history, for attacking and defying them. It is perfectly noble to believe, each one of us, then, is a "matching half" of a human whole, that is bonded and guided by Love to find our second matching half. It is perfectly accepted having males seek Love with females; if no Love is found having males interacting with the females, so that by the mutual embraces of man and woman they might breed, and the race might continue. Or, equally so, if a man came to a man to seek Love; if Love is not found they might be satisfied and go about their ways to the business of life.
             It is reasonably useful to understand from Aristophanes speech mans true motives. Man is always looking for his other destined half and this need perhaps more than purely physical. When one's half meets with one's other half, the pair becomes lost in an amazement of love, friendship and intimacy, and spends their whole lives together as destined.
             Our everlasting purpose is to understand Love, it's reincarnation and friendship with one another.


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