Noble and Vulgar Love

463 Words2 Pages
In Plato’s Symposium, Pausanias mentions two different types of love, noble and vulgar. He refers to these types of love as “Heavenly Love” and “Common Love” because there are two different sides to the goddess of love, Aphrodite. These two types of loves are view differently due to their individual purposes. When done properly, it is considered honorable and when done otherwise, it is looked down upon and considered bad. Love when performed in the proper fashion is referred to as noble or heavenly love. This kind of love is usually male-male between older man (lover) and a maturing boy (loved one) who are both willing to do favors to benefit each other and there is potential for a life-long partnership. If done correctly, the lover is responsible for mentoring and educating the loved one in return the loved one should be willing to learn and gratify the lover. The main purpose of this love for the older individual to improve the mind and soul’s of the loved ones and does not involve cheating or lying. The other type of love Pausanias talks about is vulgar, common love. This love is considered bad because as Pausanias states its main focus is “to the body more than to the soul.” The main purpose of this love is simply to satisfy one’s sexual needs. Common love could both involve younger boys or female of any level of intelligence without the intentions of passing on virtue. He highly disapproves of vulgar love that he recommend laws be placed to prevent such acts. Pausanias believes love is only good when it is used for virtue and to increase one’s development and anything else is considered bad. For example, a lover is disgraced if they are tricked by a poor man who promises money but if a boy is tricked into sexually satisfying his lover in hopes of gaining knowledge and virtue is honored. Pausanias claims that noble love is more likely to be found
Open Document