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emma_in_dreamPlato, The Trial and Death of Socrates, c 387 BCE
Plato had this wonderful image of all people having a matching half of the human whole who they were always searching for. Only he says there were three types of people originally created - one male, one female, and one androgynous. Each of these "originals" was split in half to begin the human race.
This means the male split is looking for anther male, the female split looks for another female and the androgynous male looks for his counterpart female.
But this isn’t that book. These dialogues are about Socrates’ last days and his debates about the nature of life and death, beauty, honour and immortality.
On the other hand, Plato also has one of his protagonists, Phaedo, note in passing that Socrates petted his head, as was his custom. It is the kind of detail that makes the ancient Greeks seem so very far away. What does this mean? Obviously it was a gesture of affection, but does it mean they were lovers? Or is it the kind of gesture that men made to other men in a world where women were considered to be a sort of animal?
Plato had this wonderful image of all people having a matching half of the human whole who they were always searching for. Only he says there were three types of people originally created - one male, one female, and one androgynous. Each of these "originals" was split in half to begin the human race.
This means the male split is looking for anther male, the female split looks for another female and the androgynous male looks for his counterpart female.
But this isn’t that book. These dialogues are about Socrates’ last days and his debates about the nature of life and death, beauty, honour and immortality.
On the other hand, Plato also has one of his protagonists, Phaedo, note in passing that Socrates petted his head, as was his custom. It is the kind of detail that makes the ancient Greeks seem so very far away. What does this mean? Obviously it was a gesture of affection, but does it mean they were lovers? Or is it the kind of gesture that men made to other men in a world where women were considered to be a sort of animal?
