Significance of Aristophanes Essay Example

Aristophanes' most significant contribution to the dialogue is not that the purpose of love is to produce virtue or that love goes beyond interpersonal relationships, but that love is a strong force that creates a longing for wholeness. As the comedic poet that Aristophanes is, he delivers his speech on a myth of what he believes is the history of love and why it is so strong.

A quote that articulates Aristophanes' main point in his speech is “‘love’ is the name for the desire and pursuit of wholeness.'' This quote is the basis of Aristophanes' argument on love. He is saying that love is only the name and what it stands for is much greater and stronger. Love describes an individual's longing and pursuit for wholeness. A person desires to find their “other half” in order to become satisfied and whole. Although Aristophanes’ story may be a myth and he inserts comedy throughout his speech, the point he is seeking to convey is that everyone's goal in life is to find their other half and have a lifelong togetherness, similar to a soulmate. He describes the intensity of this desire to find a person's other half as someone never wanting to let go of their soulmate when they find them. The example he uses to show this intensity is if Hephaestus, the craftsman god, asked two people who found each other if they wanted to be fused together, they would jump at the chance to be one. Those who have found their other half, desire to become one person so intensely that they have sexual intercourse because it is the closest to being one. Furthermore, these sexual relations lead to offspring which pleases the gods( more people worshipping them) and unites the two souls. In addition to this, another point Aristophanes states is that people do not look for certain qualities in a person so much as the person themselves. He says that love guides people to who they are closest to in nature and helps humans find someone who is a perfect fit not only for their physical self but their personality as well. 

Up until Aristophanes’ speech, the attention was focussed on what the benefits of love were and how people needed to love correctly in order to reap these benefits. Aristophanes switches up the point by talking about the nature of love and how it makes up a person. The other speeches did not go into the history of love as deeply as Aristophanes did and they neglected to talk about the people so much as the outcomes. Aristophanes disregards Eryximachus’ idea of love being connected to the abstract and instead decides to bring it back to the personal relationships between two people. He also does not discuss virtue to the same degree as Pausanius and Phaedrus do. He fails to mention how people become better when they find love but instead suggests that they complete each other which satisfies the Love god. Aristophanes brings new ideas into the discussion that leave the philosophers and party guests in awe. Although it could be interpreted as comedy, the true meaning behind the myth is that it tells people what true love is and how much strength it has.