“When a… person…meets that very person who is his other half, he is overwhelmed… with affection, concern and love. The two don’t want to spend any time apart.”
(Aristophanes, from Plato’s Symposium.)
The Myth of Aristophanes
Long ago, says Aristophanes, the human-race was very different than it is today. Each person was shaped like a ball - with two rounded backs, four arms, four legs, two sets of genitals and two heads. Back then, humans were powerful and proud. So much so, that they attempted to overthrow the gods. As a punishment, Zeus sliced each of them in half, making the kind of individuals we see today. What we now experience as erotic love is really the desire to be re-united with our other halves and made whole again.
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