Producción CyT
Congreso
Autoría
Fecha
2013
Editorial y Lugar de Edición
Università de Pisa, Dipartamento di Filologia, Letteratura è Linguistica
Resumen
Información suministrada por el agente en
SIGEVA
In the Higher Mysteries the right way of dealing with erotic matters implies that beautiful bodies must be scorned, insofar as love for them is just a first step (SMP. 210a6-7) which needs to be surpassed in order to ascend to Beauty itself. As said at 210c5-7, bodily beauty is "something trivial" by comparison with beauty of the soul. In addition to this, as asserted at SMP. 211d3-8, the attainment of knowledge of beauty itself is easier if we are detached, as far as possible, from t...
In the Higher Mysteries the right way of dealing with erotic matters implies that beautiful bodies must be scorned, insofar as love for them is just a first step (SMP. 210a6-7) which needs to be surpassed in order to ascend to Beauty itself. As said at 210c5-7, bodily beauty is "something trivial" by comparison with beauty of the soul. In addition to this, as asserted at SMP. 211d3-8, the attainment of knowledge of beauty itself is easier if we are detached, as far as possible, from the body, in agreement to which is repeatedly expressed in the PHAEDO as well. In short, the true lover, that is to say, the philosopher, loves beautiful bodies just insofar as the eidetic realm is revealed through them. However, in some respects, the dialogue suggests a positive view on physical love and, along with it, the bodily. a) In Diotima´s speech, although sexual desire, which springs from the body and looks for physical satisfaction, is an inferior expression of erôs, it is beneficial. Insofar as the basic expression of ÉROS is not as desire for knowledge and the production of beautiful LÓGOI but as biological procreation, bodily craving is presented as a vital, positive force. Animal passion is something good, insofar as it is part of a general drive of mortal nature towards (a kind of) mortality through replacement and, then, similar to the universal desire for the good which drives every human soul. b) Sexual desire is valued in Aristophanes´ and Alcibiades´ speeches, even if in tragic opposition to the fleshless love of the philosopher described in Diotima´s speech. Aristophanes´ discourse (SMP. 189c - 193e) certainly expresses an overall positive assessment of sexuality, particularly of the yearning for intimate contact which overcomes to each individual after the encounter of his/her original half (SMP. 192d-e). Moreover, Alcibiades´speech (SMP. 215a - 222b) illustrates and describes in detail his unambiguous physical attraction towards his beloved, that is to say, Socrates. Here I aim to show how these apparently opposite views towards the body in the SYMPOSIUM need to be understood within a wider context and are in fact complementary.
Ver más
Ver menos
Palabras Clave
"SYMPOSIUM"SOULEROSBODY