Within the Platonic writings the Symposium deals the question, “What is love?” This question has remained the same for thousands of years and people’s answers change over time as they conceptionalize the idea of love. In the Symposium the Greek play write Aristophanes references the myth of the orignal humans who had two heads, four arms, and legs. The gods became jealous of these humans and the great king of the Olympians Zeus sent a thunderbolt to separate humans into two halves. Aristophanes then says that the sexual act of two people is not just a physical act, rather its the urning of the two souls to become one once more. My definition of love based on this myth is that what we see in our partners is the qualities that we lack and that’s what attracts us to one another. Our counterparts seem to have a divine presence because of these ideal qualities that we lack. The true definition of love in my opinion is that we see these qualities and our significant other’s help and push us to acquire these traits. So much so that in time they are not two individuals anymore, but they become more and more like another to the point where their souls become one . This is my interpretation of love and the myth of Aristophanes through my lens of my Christian background.

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