Aristphanes’ myth on my mind
As I decamp once again to warmer climes, settled into solitude, I am freed from the vestiges of the covid psychosis that remain in Kanada but are completely absent in Florida. Being liberated by the burden of seeing people caught in fear as a primary mode of interaction, I turn to that profound area about which humans have always been perplexed.
The essence and origins of Love.
As in all areas of human experience, we can wisely turn to the past and our shared Western heritage to learn from people who have passed through this brief life before us.
Who better to explore than the Greek playwright/philosopher Aristophanes, who may have been one of the first to consider the origins and essence of this thing we call Love.
Have things changed much in the 4500 years since Aristophanes put quill to papyrus? We don’t wear togas, but our hearts have not changed much at all. The heart seems to want what the heart wants - twas always thus.
But does the heart really know what it wants? Is the heart to be trusted? To what extent should we act on what we ‘feel’ versus what we ‘think’?
This is what Aristophanes attempts to answer by means of myth. His ‘Hedwig and the angry Inch’ is used to delve into what he considers the root of our yearning for Love. He was 4500 years ahead of the gender fluidity curve in which many people seem mired now, - he actually designates a ‘non binary gender!. In this myth, he set out the concept of an incomplete self ( a result of being divided in half as punishment by Zeus ) looking to find its ‘other half’ to rectify this unfortunate state of affairs. The historical line of this thinking leads right up to Freud in Western psychological circles.
Interestingly, in this myth Apollo had the temerity to reposition the genitals on the ‘severed side’ of the body. This of course makes sense because, as humans tried to ‘reconnect’ with their missing half, what better way to test the waters than with genitals facing each other?
The essence of this wonderful myth is an acknowledgment of the shared human experience of a lack of fulfillment as a solo sentient being. Without digressing into the Buddhist contrarian response to this, let’s follow the crumbs that Aristophanes leaves. The myth tells a story of people being called to placate the Gods and ask for their mercy in making them complete again. In this search for ‘completion’, humans must find someone who is like them in temperament and best suits the individual in order to join together and be whole once again.
Undoubtedly, the present human theatre littered with a 50% divorce rate is testimony to both the stalwart attempt and statistical failure by people to find their ‘soulmate’ - at least for the long haul. As we go though our lives we try to find that connection, that ultimate empathy and sense of true intimacy with whom we yearn to share life’s joys and, by necessity, life’s pain.
Is this a goal that is attainable? Aristophanes does not answer that.
As usual, the devil is in the details. In our search we are arguably encumbered by our emotions as much as assisted. The utopian western idea of Romantic Love emanating from the Romantic movement 200 years ago, in rejecting the Rationalism of the Enlightenment, put this emotional matrix on the front burner. Alas, the problem with utopian thinking is that by its nature it is chaotic and unattainable.
The ‘details’ to which I refer can be broken down into the emotional part and also the practical part, to be continued…..