“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., Mar. 1st, 2018.)
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26 comments:
In the myths that we read, such as the Pygmalion myth, the man wants to have the most beautiful wife. Eros, the god of sexual beauty and fertility, would be the god able to give him this passion. While man did not realize Eros' full potential and godly powers, for if they did they would have made him the king of gods, and worshiped him beyond the other gods
I agree with the quote from Aristophanes’ Speech in the Symposium that man failed to comprehend the power of Eros because if they did then they would have built statues, altars, and temples. Many Greek gods and goddesses have been idolized by humans by creating temples and large statues to portray what they looked like and what they might have been able to do. For example, statues of Zeus have been built portraying him as a strong and brave god with the lightning bolts to show that he had a lot of power. This shows how other humans think that Zeus was a great and mighty god. Sunce they did not do the same for Eros, it shows that humans do not believe that he was a great god and that he was not mighty in a way that could have struck fear into humans or others with less power than him.
I am somewhere in the middle with this quote. I agree with these Aristophane's quote, because in the Bauchis and Philemon myth, it discusses the hospitality of the two to the gods, and how their actions should be rewarded. They were gifted with the a new life from Jupiter and Mercury. On the other hand, I disagree. In the Pryamus and Thisbe myth, the two lovers were set to run away together, but after Thisbe was chased by a lioness, it led to the death of the two.
While the people in the stories we read may not have noticed the power of Eros and worshiped him, his power is still present. Pygmalion fell in love with a statue because of it's beauty, not because he felt an emotional connection. Eros is the god of sexual attraction, so Eros is the reason Pygmalion fell in love with a statue. Although Pygmalion may not worship and give offerings to Eros, Eros was still important in his life.
This quote explains how love has an unparalleled power because it can greatly control one's thoughts and actions. This was shown in the myths "Pyramus and Thisbe" and "Ceyx and Alycone" as their love was able to survive death and was unbeatable. The myths also demonstrated how love was something that happened without choice. "Daphne" and "Alpheus And Arethusa" both showed how love could sometimes be one-sided, and how it wasn't a choice to feel it. These examples all demonstrate how love has the greatest power.
I support the quotation because it shows that Man underestimates the power of love and Cupid. The quotes shows that Man cannot comprehend the power of love, and he would be better off having a better relationship with cupid than they had. The quotes shows that love is such a powerful thing that man should be inclined to worship Cupid more, as love dictates everyday life. In the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, the two lovers kill themselves over each other. After their unfortunate deaths, the gods pity them. If they had known that love had been such a powerful force, they would've or should've prayed to the god of love.
I agree with this quote because I believe that no one really can completely comprehend the power of Eros and love. Humans don't look up to Eros to be as powerful as many other gods like Zeus Hades and Posiden. Eros is not as respected and understood as much as other. Just like how love is not completely understood.
It does make sense that Eros doesn't have any statues built to his name. He is a god that is not as well-known, and his powers are not really that awe inspiring that men really take notice of it. It is like the story of Alpheus and Arethusa, where is says that sometimes someone might love you and you don't. Eros is the god of sexual attraction but nobody in the real world truly cares for him.
I disagree with this quote because it shouldn't be about the tangible items that show how much a god is worshiped or appreciated. It should be about the followers he has and all the people that come together in his honor. But unfortunately that's not the way it is, Eros is not respected and is sort of irrelevant.
I agree with this quote because, In my opinion humans don't idolize eros like they would as the gods, eros are not respected as much as them.
I agree with this quote, it states that we take Eros and love for granted. We believe that love and desire are under our control, so they didn't believe that the God of love was someone who needed to be worshipped. They focused more on idolizing gods like Zeus and Demeter which they believed could change the weather and affect how their crops grew. Eros is also a misunderstood God, much in the same way that us humans misunderstand love itself. We often try to simplify love, even though its anything but. This is seen in stories such as "Endymion" and "Daphne."
I do agree with Aristophanes' quote. I think, for the most part, love goes unappreciated and unnoticed, but at the same time, it does take time, more or less depending on the person, to realize that, and to change going about it. I recently watched a YouTube video on the channel "Jubilee," it was called "3 Buff Men Share Their Feelings With Each Other," it was a part of their "Tea With Strangers" series, and it was a very well made video. One of the men was incredibly in tune with himself and the world around him, he had grown up without love, so it was tough for him to find it within himself. He said after he had his two daughters, he softened up and started to learn to love significantly. So I do agree, but I don't think it's necessarily a black and white, yes it does go unnoticed, or no, it is appreciated. Love takes time and is incredibly different from person to person.
Eros was the Greek god of love. In some myths, he was considered a child of Chaos, who blessed the union of Gaia and Uranus after which the universe came into existence. The quote explains how man and woman have underestimated the power of love in their lives. If someone truly cares about you they will go to the underworld and back for you like Herakles did for his family. the quote is underestimated in the power that it has, talking about how if everyone knew how they were going to fall in love or when they would praise Eros and Cupid with grande altars and temples devoted to them but since we don't understand or know when this will happen it is an after thought.
In the myths that we have read, Eros was beautiful, but also a constant source of trouble for both gods and mortals. He was definitely the Greek god of sexual attraction. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire"). Some myths make him a first god, while in other myths, he is the son of Aphrodite. He was the winged loved god while people did not know his full power of love and beauty. It makes sense it is the power of love.
I think this quote focuses on how people do not value love. Love is not something that not everyone has. Eros,being the god of love, should have more respect and honor. Love always comes with trials and tribulations, but it it something that people sacrifice for. For example, Cupid and Psyche went through many tasks to be together. Connecting to today, love is a magical thing that we know almost nothing about. This quote is saying that despite all our hope and reliance on love, we don't honor the god that would help us get that.
Eros is the greek counterpart of to Cupid. He is the God of Love who according to myth falls in love with a beautiful maiden named Psyche. What this quote is trying to portray about Eros is that the power of love should be held above all else as it has the power to take complete control over someone. Eros even fell prey to his own strength which symbolizes how immensely powerful love can be. If men could comprehend this power they would value him even greater. Eros is the God of everything that humans hold dear and interact with every day yet, his power is under appreciated and is not recognized to the level of power that should be comprehended.
I believe that, although his suggestions are concrete ideas, Aristophanes’ ideas of Eros are more so metaphorical. It is not the power of Eros that he admires, but the power that Eros represents. Eros is the god of love and attraction, and this is what Aristophanes admires as a great force of power. The power of love can affect all, causing them to do things that they would otherwise never do. In many of the myths we have read, one of the lovers endures struggles greater than anything they would ever consider without the power of love guiding them on their path. One particular instance that comes to mind is in Cupid and Psyche, where Psyche believes that she must overcome many harrowing trials in order to regain her trust and love with Cupid. She was not an adventurous or heroic person to begin with, but she continued on with Cupid in her mind.
I think this quote is showing how people don't appreciate love. Love is something you have to work for and when the trials and tribulations happen people tend to give up because they lose that thought that love is magical, but true love us worth working for.
This quote is saying that humans do not partake in love as if it should be. In today's society people think that love come out of know where and it will be perfect. But what most people do not realize is that love is one of the farthest thing from perfect. Real people have to wait and go through the rough terrain until they find true love. I think that the god of love who is Eros is purposely not that important of a god because they wanted to give a message to the people that love should not be taken for granted.
I think that this quote was saying that we kind of take love for granted and we're not as grateful for it as we should be. So saying that Eros is the god of love, we don't respect him and look up to him as much as we should. Just like in Cupid and Psyche, I think that they really show that love is something that you have to earn, especially from another person.
I believe that humans as a whole should give more respect(or I suppose have given) to Cupid/Eros for what he represents and that they should have truly built him monuments and statues etc that embody what he represents as a whole. Without Cupid/Eros, love would be a completely different thing than what we humans see it as now.
I agree with kenzie that the quote was saying we take love for granted and we forget where love comes from. I think it says that we don't really respect them anymore because if we did we would be building statues and monuments in respect of them.
This quote to me is saying that for some people "love" is physical beauty and that looks are what's importants. And based of our current society this quote is very factual just based on how accurate it is.
I agree with the quote because if you think about what makes so many people happy and what so many people couldnt live without it is love and attraction and to have that be such a big part of life people should worship eros more. In almost every story we read there were many examples on how good love is and the things people go through for love and what they would do and or sacrifice for love.
Throughout many different myths, the power of love is shown through time and time again. You can see it in different myths such as Cupid and Psyche where it is shown through trial. Where Psyche after looking at Cupid realizes what she did by breaking the fact that she should not look upon her lover. She then goes off to ask for forgiveness and what's to prove her love to Venus. She goes on many different trails in order to prove her love such as sorting the grain with the help of the ants or getting the golden fur from the deadly sheep. All in order to Prove her love for Cupid. There are other instances of this like the eight brief tales of love show this idea so well. Like the forbidden love story of Pyramus and Thisbe were when one of them thinks that the other is dead they end up killing themselves. The other fine them and kills themselves as well. Then you have other stories like Ceyx and Alcyone or Baucis and Philemon who wanted nothing more but to spend the rest of eternity with their lover in which both cases the gods granted that. Baucis and his wife ended up turning into two trees joined by the trunk and the other they became birds even after one of them died at sea. You could also look at how love makes one crazy and makes people and even gods do things that are irrational. You see that in the Daphne story were Apollo chases her until her father turns her into a tree or the Alpheus And Arethusa story where Alpheus chases Arethusa and the only escape from it is Artemis changes her into a river. Which still does keep either of them way seeing as Apollo maker her his champion tree and Alpheus connects his river to hers in order to be together. The thing about all of this is that people don’t really understand the power of love. It makes them do strange things or makes them love someone to the point of wanting to be with them for eternity. They see its power but don’t understand it. This lack of understanding of the source and overall power of love makes it a hard power to worship. They don’t have the ability to worship something they don't understand. Unlike Poseidon or Zeus or Athena, their domains and powers are more concrete and making it easier to worship. His power is something so abstract and so hard to comprehend that people have a hard time worshipping it. Overall this is why I agree with the statement that “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…”
Eros is the God of Love, maybe better known as Cupid. Love is a hard thing to understand, but also love can be powerful. Not just for adults, but teenagers as well. It’s something that people can’t really understand and wrap their head around. I would agree with this quote because I think that if people could understand the power of love and understand what it means to be in love, they would’ve worshiped Cupid more. However, it’s not always true for everyone. There are some people who can understand the power of love and how important it is, but sometimes people can’t understand it.
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