Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by rico (A) on October 03, 2007 at 09:34:53

In Reply to: RE: That relationship wasn't platonic... posted by dave c on October 02, 2007 at 14:13:07

This common modern interpretation (i.e., a non-sexual relationship) is a misunderstanding of the nature of the Platonic ideal of love, which from its origin was that of a chaste but passionate love, based not on lack of interest but on spiritual transmutation of the sex force, opening up vast expanses of subtler enjoyments than sex. In its original Platonic form, this love was meant to bring the lovers closer to wisdom and the Platonic Form of Beauty. It is described in depth in Plato's Phaedrus and Symposium. In the Phaedrus, it is said to be a form of divine madness that is a gift from the gods, and that its proper expression is rewarded by the gods in the afterlife; in the Symposium, the method by which love takes one to the form of beauty and wisdom is detailed.