“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 3:40p.m. on Tues., Oct. 1st, 2019.)
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24 comments:
I think Aristophanes is putting an emphasis on how little humans can actually understand the power of love. Much as Eros stands as a representation of this concept as a chubby winged baby. I suppose that to characterize such a serious representation with such a comical form is only accurate when we look at how people treat love. We understand it, maybe. But we do not take it seriously, at least not as seriously as we should. Perhaps Aristophanes believes that love is the most important factor in human life, and to that, I must agree. I understand his disdain at how people do not care about love or how they do not place importance on it.
I think this is one way to think of it but I feel as if the Greeks did not worship beauty as much as other aspects. Even though there were multiple gods for beauty and sexual attraction that the greek focused more on worshiping the gods with the most power. But a one-track mind might think that yeah, they should have made great temples to eros, but they were more mesmerized by power then looks. If they did they might have had a little more improvement in the looks of the men but they wouldn't have created such deep philosophy if they were only worried about looks. So in my opinion history is positively benefited by the fact they didn't only worship eros
In Cupid and Psyche this relates because Cupid didn’t want to express his love for Psyche until she went on an errand for Cupid and his mother. When he found her open the box, he saved her with the love, and they got together. My reaction to this quote is people don’t know who the Greek God Eros is. If people knew who the Greek God Eros is then we would comprehend what he did, that he was the greatest, to build altars, temples, and offered his sacrifices.
I think this quote did a good job explaining how love is one of the most powerful things. The Greeks worshipped the most powerful gods and thought that the gods with beauty should get the most powerful gods to protect their good looks. I think that is backward from what the Greeks had thought. A good example of how powerful love is, is when Psyche had to do the tasks Cupid's mother gave her. She could have left any time but chose not to because she loved Cupid. I think that it is good to recognize power and strength but love is a very big contender and one often overlooked.
-Nick B.
I think this quote is referencing that love(Eros) is one of the most powerful forces and man would do anything to see and experience love. The quote says that man would worship Eros if they knew the powers that he held but he was never worshipped because people never got to see his powers. I think most people view love as a scary thing that makes people do crazy things. For example, when Psyche lost Cupid's trust, the power of love got her to do something she probably wouldn't have been as compelled to do if love weren't involved. Love is such a special thing that shows how powerful and willing others are when they are willing to sacrifice themselves to love.
In the Cupid and Psyche myth, it both supports and strays from this quote. In the beginning, Psyche sacrificed everything to be with Cupid. Then, she betrayed him and looked at his face, ignoring the fact that it could ruin his love for her. In the end, she won his love back at a great cost. The myth shows that sometimes other desires can cloud love, but it the end it is above all else.
I think the quote is saying how people don't really know how important love is because otherwise they'd do all this stuff in honor of it. However I disagree and I think that Cupid and Psyche disagrees with the quote as well. In Cupid and Psyche, Psyche was willing to do literally anything to prove her love for Cupid. In real life I've seen people do some pretty crazy things just for love.
I think that when the quote says, "they would have built him the greatest altars and temples" when talking about man and Eros they are saying that mankind should be more grateful for the gift that eros has given them. Love being the gift. And we see that in our world today, where people get divorced due to the fact that one person doesn't appreciate what the other does. I think that the plot still has some effect in our lives today.
This quote really shows the power of love and how it is underestimated. I feel like one of the reasons Eros did not have as many temples and shrines dedicated to him was because love was kind of a hidden force. A lot of the gods that had temples built for them had physical things related to them that mortals could see and comprehend. The feeling of love was probably much more confusing to people because it could come and go, and a lot of times it is followed blindly, which was probably scary and unfamiliar to people. This can be seen in the Psyche and Cupid myth. Psyche almost ruined the relationship between her and Cupid, but she followed love's calling and completed many hard tasks to gain Cupid back.
The quote shows how the power of love is not understood by a lot. One of the reasons is because love is a force that we cannot describe, it is something that is divine and we can't see. No one knows what really causes this love, it makes no logical sense yet it exists and is very real. A lot of people today don't know if they genuinely love someone until they meet someone who they do love.
I think that the quote is talking about after Psyche looked at Cupid and she had to perform all of the tasks to get his love back. Without the force of love, Psyche would have been less motivated to perform all of the quests. Love brings them together and then they have to keep themselves together. Love is very powerful and if man understood it all they would give Eros more recognition.
I think this quote shows how people underestimate the power of love. When people built the temples I think it was a way of showing the thanks for giving love to us. Eros was trying to show that love is powerful and everyone should be thankful for the gift of it and showing how to thank him etc.. was thanks for it. I think today a lot of people still take that for granted like multiple marriages or marrying for no reason.
I think this quote is talking about how the power of love is greatly underestimated. This would explain why Eros did not have as many temples dedicated to him but other gods who were seen as more powerful did. The power of love is looked past and if man had known of the power that love contains then more people would have built shrines dedicated to Eros. The power of love is shown within the Cupid and Psyche myth, Psyche was willing to go through all of these horrendous tasks to regain Cupid's love and trust.
I think that this quote resembles how many people misjudge the power of love. I don't think that people really think about love instead they just feel it. I feel like people take love for granted in modern-day society. Eros is trying to show people that the gift of love is most powerful and the ones who understand this build him temples as a way to show gratitude.
I would say that love is the foundation for all other belief and worship. To be able to worship a god, one must believe that they are being loved and paid attention to. To be forgiven is to be loved just like how Cupid forgave Psyche.
The quote shows how little humans thoroughly respect Cupid. Most people build statues to powerful gods like Zeus, and Apollo. It shows that most mortals at the time couldn't fully grasp the concept of love. It said that they underestimate the power of love and cupid because if they knew the power of it they would have respected cupid differently. They somewhat overlook love and don't focus on it enough like they would other gods.
I believe that Cupid is a very powerful god. I agree with this statement. He can make anyone fall in love. With arrows he can be the most powerful god. It has been shown time and time again, that those in love will do anything to be with their loves. Look at Psyche. HSe literally traveled to the underworld and completed many tasks for Cupid because she loved him. As well as Romeo and Juliet. THey killed themselves to be with their lovers.
I think that this quote is accurate because it tells us that love is very very powerful. This can be supported by the myth cupid and psyche because cupid and psyche love is the most powerful dn that even venus can't keep them apart. Some people may think that the story is telling us that trust is the most powerful. This is incorrect because even after the trust was broken, cupid loved psych and came back to her.
I think this quote is correct because it is saying no one truly understands love and what it can do to someone. The quote refers to building temples and worshipping love more if they understood it more. Love should have the most honors because it makes you do crazy things for it. When Psyche's love for Cupid was tested, she traveled to the underworld for it, and in many other myths many people die because of it. For it controls your actions, thoughts and every aspect of your life. Therefore, it should be treated with more "respect" then it does now.
I think that human beings seem to value physical forms of power which is why people worship gods like Zeus or Apollo. But when you look at the underlying cause in may of the myths it comes down to one person's love for another. In many cases Eros is directly responsible for that bond. People underestimate Eros because they picture some winged cherub shooting arrows, but they underestimate the power of love as a driving motivator for actions.
In most of the myths, Eros is viewed as weak and unimportant to the other gods and humans, and not as important as the other strong gods like Zeus or Ares. Eros is responsible for so much like one persons love to another and yet is viewed as weak and is not listed anywhere near as worshiped as the other gods, like the quote relates. That is my reaction and opinion as the god Eros not being viewed and worshipped as equally as the other gods, even though he is just as important in my opinion.
Mortals tend to view raw physical strength and power as more valuable, but people at the time truly did not understand the power of love and Aristophanes was correct when stating, "they would have built to him the greatest altars and temples and offered the greatest sacrifices" if they did understand it. Love is powerful because it makes people do crazy, challenging things, such as in Cupid and Psyche when she went through all those trials, even going to the underworld to prove her love of Cupid. Cupid and Psyche love was also so powerful they defied Venus. If love can make people do anything that is very powerful in its own way. They should have also built temples to Cupid as love is a wonderful gift many people desire.
Most of the myths that we read Eros doesn't come up this is because he isn't as well know as some of the stronger gods. This is just because his influence is different then Zeus's or Hera. He doesn't have as many followers and this is because he doesn't play as big of a roll.
The myths that we have read in class do not ever mention eros and that is due to the fact the even people in ancient times favored the more physically powerful gods and gods that have a huge influence in famous stories rather than gods that don't play a role. The quote by Aristophanes: "they would have built to him the greatest altars and temples and offered the greatest sacrifices" tells the story of how people didn't understand the power of love in ancient times and even in modern times they still don't. Love is more powerful than anything becasue it makes people to crazy things and can even permanently change people. For example, in the cupid and psyche myth of how psyche did all those insane trials for cupid becasue she was in love and also how cupid defied venus becasue he was in love. Love is very powerful and can even be dangrous at time which is why people should respect it more than strength.
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