Love is a powerful and indispensable force. In everything that we believe to be empty, fluctuations, whether emotional or energetic, spread. In humans, these sensations combine and allow us to experience a tumult of emotions. One of them is Platonic love, the most sublime admiration for another being described by Plato.
Although the meaning of platonic love has transformed over time. The reality is that this notion proposed by Plato (Greek philosopher) is, until now, the purest and truest description of love that we could experience.
What is platonic love?
For several years it has been believed that Plato’s love is an unattainable or impossible love. However, the true meaning of this notion is the love felt for the beauty of a person’s spirit, intelligence or essence.
It is not something physical and much less interested. Platonic love is a mutual admiration between two people, who manage to complement each other’s qualities. In addition to feeling a passion for the benefits of the human being, the abilities to be better and to change reality.
At the end of the day, platonic love described by Plato is total surrender to the spirit and essence of the other person. It has nothing to do with sexual or physical attraction, but with an indescribable connection between two beings where admiration is the main motivation.
Behind “The Banquet”
The Symposium is one of Plato’s most important works and also one of the most complex to understand. The work is like a structure of Chinese boxes in which narratives take place within other narratives.
It covers different conversations between Apollodor, Socrates, Aristodemus, Diotima and Plato himself, although it is not determined exactly if the latter is present at the banquet. During the play, the drunken diners are described who, at the request of Eryximachus, decide to talk about love or more specifically about Eros.
The narration goes through the descriptions of each guest, some deeper and others superficial. However, Plato seems to lead us especially to recognize the value of Diotima’s dialogue through Socrates, in which Eros is praised as the love of the soul.
From this sense it is understood that love is not a physical attraction, but a pure admiration for the soul of another person; be it man or woman. A truly advanced idea for the notions of that time and necessary for today.
The essence of loving a being for what it is and what it can become is the most powerful force in the world. This is platonic love; a partner who seduces you to be better, who motivates you to grow and learn so that this translates into deep admiration for your essence.
Reference:
García Gual, M. Martínez Hernández E. Lledó Íñigo (translations, introductions and notes by), Diálogos III. Phaedo, Symposium, Phaedrus. Plato, Madrid, Editorial Gredos, 1997.