Monday, February 22, 2016

Is It The Power Of Love?

“Men seemed to have failed completely to comprehend the power of Eros, for if they did comprehend it, they would have built to him the greatest altars and temples and offered the greatest sacrifices, whereas he is given none of these honors, although he should have them most of all…”


From Aristophanes’ Speech in the Symposium

Please use any of the myths we read about love to critique or support this quotation? In your response, react, evaluate, challenge, or contemplate. (Please complete this blog response by 2:30p.m. on Thur., Feb. 25th, 2016.)

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

This quote shows how much power love has over people, and how people can grow to ignore love's powers. Aristophanes believed in loves true power. He believed that the god of love, Eros, has the most power of all of the gods, and that people should me making their temples for Eros, instead of other, seemingly more important gods. I agree with this quote, in the sense that love holds a lot of power over us, and has the power to control our emotions.

Anonymous said...

I think power overrides people leaving no room at all for love. In movies and books the character has to choose job or the girl well in life we don't have those options we pick and choose. I think love is more valuable because you can be the most loving person and have all the power in the world but if you choose to be powerful before you are loving no one will love you back. Narcissism plays a role because if you have to much pride and love in yourself you are rotten or spoiled deep down and not producing love at all.

Anonymous said...

Love controls everything in our lives in one way or another. Love is one of the most meaningful and rewarding aspects of life. Without love and passion, we are simply living day to day with no purpose or drive. Love has the power to make us happy, sad, crazy, etc.; almost any and every emotion is tied to love. Psyche’s love for her sisters is what causes her to doubt and betray Cupid, but it is also love the reason the two married. Psyche’s love for Cupid is what allowed her to endure Venus’ trials, and in turn save their relationship. Aristophane is correct in saying that Eros deserves the grandest temples because love commands man and his actions.

Anonymous said...

Love has a major impact in our lives in many ways. Love can drive us in other ways that other emotions would not normally affect. In Pyramus and Thisbe when Pyramus thinks that Thisby died he killed himself out of his love for her and when Thisby sees him dead she also kills herself out of her love for him. If there was no love between those two they would not have killed themselves.

Anonymous said...

Love is pretty much the most powerful motivational force known to humans. Love can make us do things that we wouldn't normally do, and often contributes to our daily routines. As the quote says, love really should be appreciated more than it is, though it can at times have a very subtle appearance in our lives. Whether we love someone as a friend, family member, or significant other, loving has huge effects on our lives. Love is what made Psyche endure the trials Venus laid out for her, as well as what made Pyramus mourn someone enough to lead himself to kill himself to be with her. Aristophanes is right, and love is what controls us.

Anonymous said...

I believe this quote shows that love is taken for granted. Love holds some of the greatest power in our lives, and I feel that the quote is saying that we do not give love the attention it deserves. Pyramus and Thisby is a great example of this. Pyramus takes his own life when he thinks that Thisby is dead. Or how is the Cupid and Psyche myth, Cupid was so angry and upset with Psyche for breaking their trust, that he left her, but after some thinking, his love for her grew again and his anger passed, and he came back for her, showing that even love can overpower the god of love himself.

Anonymous said...

Love drives everything that we do in our lives: competing in a sport, getting married, laying in the sun, or anything else that someone might love to do. I don't think that love should have had temples dedicated to it because our accomplishments in life are what show how important love is to us. Reaching a goal time on a run or getting an A after studying is the result of loving something whether we know it or not. In the story of Pygmalion and Galatea, Pygmalion loves his art of creating statues, and even though he is resentful to women his love for his work leads him to create a statue so beautiful and perfect that he falls in love with it. Pygmalion did not have to build a temple of love to show his respect for what love is, he only had to show his love to get the gods' attention, who then brought his statue to life for him. Love is everywhere, so it's temple is best left within the hearts of humans who can bring it everywhere with them.

Anonymous said...

Love is the most powerful feeling a person can have. Love motivates you to impossible heights and has power. It is such a strong feeling that it can sometime blur reality, or your judgement. Just like in the story Pyramus and Thisby, love has the power to control your mind and actions. It shows how love has power to even take your own life. Love not only affects your thoughts and action but it changes the way you see and look at life. It brings more happiness in to your life but at the same tim has the power of destroying all that happiness. I agree with this quote in how love controls our lives and emotions, and is a powerful thing.

Anonymous said...

I believe that the author of this quote truly believes that Eros, or more specifically love, should be honored more, to the point of being the most powerful God. The author is getting across the message that the power of love is unparalleled. I think an argument can be made that this is true or not. Love can be ones greatest strength or weakness, dependent on the person. In Greek myth, sometimes it is used to show how far one will go for their loved one, or how one can be used because of that love, such is the duality surrounding Eros.

Anonymous said...


This quotation is very true. What we have seen in most myths we have read in the unyielding power of love. Many times people do things that they wouldn’t have normally done if not for love. We see this in stories like Pyramus and Thisbe or in Cupid and Psyche. Of course it is seen even more than just those, even in little ways. Eros has power even over the most powerful Gods like Hera and Zeus. It is curious then that Eros is not given more credit and devotion in Greek mythology. Maybe it was because man cannot fully understand the power that love holds over them and even their God(s). We typically see in Greek myth that the Gods have a very good side to them and a very bad side. This is true also with Eros. Love can be the best feeling for someone, but that same feeling can also be their ruin. Overall I think that this quote is very insightful and has a lot of meaning behind it.

Anonymous said...

I believe that power and love are very hard to compare to each other. If someone has power over you, you do what they say because they tell you to do it. There is no respect or care towards someone that has power over someone else. On the other hand, when you love someone, there is trust and care involved. If a person you love asks you to do something, you will most likely want to do it because you care for that person and want to see them happy. This quotation shows us a great example of this. People don't want to do things for people that simply have power over them, but rather do things for people they love.

Anonymous said...

This quotation can mean many things, but the main point that was made was the fact that love is underestimated. People really don't understand how strong the power of love is. It makes us do incredible, yet crazy things that we never thought we would do. Although there are gods other than Eros, water, fire, the underworld, and many other aspects of life are uncontrollable. Love is the only thing that we, somewhat, have control over. Mankind does take this quality for advantage, so when love is truly discovered it is an extreme take on. Due to this, man is afraid of Eros and this is the reason that he does not have extravagant temples or memorials.

Anonymous said...

I really agree with this quote. Love is extremely powerful it's demonstrated in most of these myths. All love is powerful wether it's between husband and wife, brothers etc. it will make you crazy and push you farther than you ever imagined. But as humans we don't always understand the power of it so we can take it for granted but once it's gone it's hard to get back.

Anonymous said...

I completely agree with this quote. Love is completely taken for granted. People seem to think that love is a right not a privilege, therefore they lose respect for it. Love is such a powerful feeling and power isn't always a good thing. Just like power, love can alter someones judgement and perspective on important things. Love should definitely be something that people respect and share with others. The myths prove that once love is neglected or taken for granted bad things will happen. We can learn from those stories.

Anonymous said...

I believe that love can be taken for granted. In the Cupid and Psyche myth, Cupid is devastated when Psyche breaks the trust, but in the end comes back to her because even love can overcome any obstacle. Out of all of the myths we have read, love has overcome some huge barrier, and shows once again that even love can overpower gods like Cupid, or mortals. I agree with this quote, love is taken for granted.

Anonymous said...

Love is one of, if not the most powerful motivator in history. People will do anything for love, like going to the underworld or completing impossible trials. However, love can be tainted as we see in many myths, the most prominent of which is Cupid and Psyche. Psyche's sisters cloud her judgment of her husband and because of this Cupid fled and Psyche had to regain his trust. When we love, it is like playing with fire, you have to be careful or one of the two of you is going to get burnt.

Anonymous said...

Almost every story, movie, boor, or myth told has a little bit of love shoved in it and it is a great deal in everyone's life even if we on't want it there. Love is either loved or hated but in the end love always seems to win even if the ending is death, such as romeo and Juliet. Love is one of the most powerful forces with everything and continues to be. Even if you start of hating love you will always end up loving love.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Love can and is very powerful and can over come anything. We have read about some love stories in mythology and it seems as though in the beginning the lovers don't understand how powerful their love is or they take it for granted like in Cupid and Psyche when even though she is in love she goes against her husbands wishes and looks at his face. So, like Psyche they in her story she doesn't understand love and that compares to this quote.

Anonymous said...

I do think that many myths show love and teach lessons to men and women such as cupid and psyche. That teaches us lessons of trust and forgiveness and many other morals but from the quotation above I do not believe that men have failed to comprehend we have simply changed with the generations and the myths show light back to the roots.