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 half the power that they had previously had. .
Aside from serving as an obvious deterent to future rebellions it also benefited the gods in other ways. The gods, according to Aristophanes, did not create these creatures for their own amusement. These beings were meant to sacrifice to and worship the gods. Following the split there were obviously twice as many people as there had previously been, and thus the number of sacrifices was also doubled.
To complete the process Apollo smoothed the tear in their skin into what we now know as our navel. The heads of these beings were also turned so that they faced the same way as their navel. It can be inferred that the navel was meant to serve as a reminder of our past crimes against the gods.
