Soulmates, Celestial Bodies, and The Origin of Love: Aristophanes' Speech in Plato's Symposium (Symp.189ff)

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Name: Plato Date: 428 BCE – 348 BCE Region: Athens [modern Greece] Citation:  Symposium 189d – 191b

It’s really important to learn about the early nature of mankind and what happened to them. For it did not used to be what it is now, but rather it was far different.

In the beginning, there were three types of people, not just the two we have now (male and female); there was also a third type, a mix of both. Nowadays, only its name remains (androgynous), but back then it was as the name implies, a mixture of male and female.

Furthermore, these humans were round in shape, having round backs and sides. They had four hands, four legs, and two faces conjoined at the neck, and were completely symmetrical. They had one head, with both faces turned in opposite directions.

This is the reason there were three types of people: the masculine type was born from the Sun; the feminine type was born from the Earth; and the third type was born from the moon (for the moon shares properties of both.[1])

Like their heavenly parents, people were spherical in both form and motion. For this reason, they had both strong bodies and powerful wills. In fact, they attempted to contend with the gods, and ascend the heavens the same way that Homer describes the feats of Ephialtes and Otis.

Therefore, Zeus assembled the other gods together and deliberated on what to do. There was a great discussion on options, since he found that they could not simply kill off humanity, as he had done with the Giants. They realized that if the human race was destroyed, their worship would end. On the other hand, he reckoned that such insolence should not be allowed to go on unchecked.

Finally, Zeus explained his plan. He said, “I have found a way that humans can still exist, but yet become more modest. This will happen if they become weaker. I will divide each and every one of them into two. Then they will become weaker, and there will be twice as many to worship us. From now on, they will walk upright on two legs. But if they again seem to become arrogant, I will cut them in half again, and they will be forced to hop forward on one foot.”

Having said this, he divided them in two, like how we cut eggs with a thread. And then he ordered Apollo to heal them and turn their faces and necks towards the part that was cut, so that upon looking at the wound they would become more modest. Apollo immediately turned their faces forward, and pulled together the skin in the middle of the stomach that we now call the navel.

From then on, the nature of mankind has been divided in such a way that when each one yearned to find their other half, they ran around each other, embracing one another and trying to fuse together again.

 

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[1] The moon emits no light of its own, like the earth, but also resembles the sun because is a heavenly body that shines.

ἡ γὰρ πάλαι ἡμῶν φύσις οὐχ αὑτὴ ἦν ἥπερ νῦν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀλλοία. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ τρία ἦν τὰ γένη τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οὐχ ὥσπερ νῦν δύο, ἄρρεν καὶ θῆλυ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τρίτον προσῆν κοινὸν ὂν ἀμφοτέρων τούτων, οὗ νῦν ὄνομα λοιπόν, αὐτὸ δὲ ἠφάνισται: ἀνδρόγυνον γὰρ ἓν τότε μὲν ἦν καὶ εἶδος καὶ ὄνομα ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων κοινὸν τοῦ τε ἄρρενος καὶ θήλεος…. ἔπειτα ὅλον ἦν ἑκάστου τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ εἶδος στρογγύλον, νῶτον καὶ πλευρὰς κύκλῳ ἔχον, χεῖρας δὲ τέτταρας εἶχε, καὶ σκέλη τὰ ἴσα ταῖς χερσίν, καὶ πρόσωπα δύ᾽ ἐπ᾽ αὐχένι κυκλοτερεῖ, ὅμοια πάντῃ: κεφαλὴν δ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἀμφοτέροις τοῖς προσώποις ἐναντίοις κειμένοις μίαν, ... ἦν δὲ διὰ ταῦτα τρία τὰ γένη καὶ τοιαῦτα, ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἄρρεν ἦν τοῦ ἡλίου τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔκγονον, τὸ δὲ θῆλυ τῆς γῆς, τὸ δὲ ἀμφοτέρων μετέχον τῆς σελήνης, ὅτι καὶ ἡ σελήνη ἀμφοτέρων μετέχει: περιφερῆ δὲ δὴ ἦν καὶ αὐτὰ καὶ ἡ

Oportet in primis qualis hominum quondam natura fuerit, quaeve illius passiones, perdiscere. Neque enim qualis nunc est, olim erat, sed longe diversa. Principio tria hominum erant genera non solum quae nunc duo, mas & femina, verum etiam tertium quoddam aderat ex utrisque compositum. Cuius solum nobis restat nomen ipsum periit, Androgynum, quippe tunc erat, et specie et nomine, ex maris et feminae sexu commixtum... Praeterea tota cuiusque hominis species erat rotunda, dorsum & latera circum habens, manus quatuor, totidemque, crura, vultus item duos tereti cervice connexos, et omnino consimiles. Caput utrique vultibus contra versis, unum... Ob hanc vero causam tria genera et talia erant, quia masculum Sole genitum erat. Femina, Terra; promiscuum denique

πορεία αὐτῶν διὰ τὸ τοῖς γονεῦσιν ὅμοια εἶναι. ἦν οὖν τὴν ἰσχὺν δεινὰ καὶ τὴν ῥώμην, καὶ τὰ φρονήματα μεγάλα εἶχον, ἐπεχείρησαν δὲ τοῖς θεοῖς, καὶ ὃ λέγει Ὅμηρος περὶ Ἐφιάλτου τε καὶ Ὤτου, περὶ ἐκείνων λέγεται, τὸ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνάβασιν ἐπιχειρεῖν ποιεῖν, ὡς ἐπιθησομένων τοῖς θεοῖς. ὁ οὖν Ζεὺς καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι θεοὶ ἐβουλεύοντο ὅτι χρὴ αὐτοὺς ποιῆσαι, καὶ ἠπόρουν: οὔτε γὰρ ὅπως ἀποκτείναιεν εἶχον καὶ ὥσπερ τοὺς γίγαντας κεραυνώσαντες τὸ γένος ἀφανίσαιεν—αἱ τιμαὶ γὰρ αὐτοῖς καὶ ἱερὰ τὰ παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἠφανίζετο— οὔτε ὅπως ἐῷεν ἀσελγαίνειν. μόγις δὴ ὁ Ζεὺς ἐννοήσας λέγει ὅτι ‘δοκῶ μοι,’ ἔφη, ‘ἔχειν μηχανήν, ὡς ἂν εἶέν τε ἅνθρωποι καὶ παύσαιντο τῆς ἀκολασίας ἀσθενέστεροι γενόμενοι. νῦν μὲν γὰρ αὐτούς, ἔφη, διατεμῶ δίχα ἕκαστον, καὶ ἅμα μὲν ἀσθενέστεροι ἔσονται, ἅμα δὲ χρησιμώτεροι ἡμῖν διὰ τὸ πλείους τὸν ἀριθμὸν γεγονέναι: καὶ βαδιοῦνται ὀρθοὶ ἐπὶ δυοῖν σκελοῖν. ἐὰν δ᾽ ἔτι δοκῶσιν ἀσελγαίνειν καὶ μὴ 'θέλωσιν ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν, πάλιν αὖ, ἔφη, τεμῶ δίχα, ὥστ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἑνὸς πορεύσονται σκέλους

Luna. Utriusque enim luna est particeps. Spherica vero erant et figura, et motu, quia parentum similia. Unde et robusto corpore et elato animo erant. Quare cum diis pugnare temptabant, et in caelum ascendere quemadmodum de Ephialto & Oto scribit Homerus. Jupiter igitur unaque dii ceteri quid agendum esset consultaverunt. Qua in re non parva inerat ambiguitas. Nam neque quomodo eos interficerent, reperiebat, ne eorum sicuti Gigantum, fulminando genus delerent: extincto enim hominum genere, humanus deorum cultus veneratioque periret, neque in tanta insolentia perseverare illos permittendum censebat. Tandem sententiam Jupiter suam explicuit. “Inveni,” inquit, “qua ratione fieri possit, ut & sint homines, & modestiores sint. Idque erit, si imbecilliores fiant. Unumquenque nunc duas in partes dividam. Ex quo et debiliores erunt, et nobis etiam magis id conducit. Numero siquidem plures erunt qui nos colent. Recti duobus cruribus ibunt. Quod si rursus impie insurgere videantur, iterum in duo secabo, ut unico crure nixi,

ἀσκωλιάζοντες.’ ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἔτεμνε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους δίχα, ὥσπερ οἱ τὰ ὄα τέμνοντες καὶ μέλλοντες ταριχεύειν, ἢ ὥσπερ οἱ τὰ ᾠὰ ταῖς θριξίν: ὅντινα δὲ τέμοι, τὸν Ἀπόλλω ἐκέλευεν τό τε πρόσωπον μεταστρέφειν καὶ τὸ τοῦ αὐχένος ἥμισυ πρὸς τὴν τομήν, ἵνα θεώμενος τὴν αὑτοῦ τμῆσιν κοσμιώτερος εἴη ὁ ἄνθρωπος, καὶ τἆλλα ἰᾶσθαι ἐκέλευεν. ὁ δὲ τό τε πρόσωπον μετέστρεφε, καὶ συνέλκων πανταχόθεν τὸ δέρμα ἐπὶ τὴν γαστέρα νῦν καλουμένην, ὥσπερ τὰ σύσπαστα βαλλάντια, ἓν στόμα ποιῶν ἀπέδει κατὰ μέσην τὴν γαστέρα, ὃ δὴ τὸν ὀμφαλὸν καλοῦσι.  ἐπειδὴ οὖν ἡ φύσις δίχα ἐτμήθη, ποθοῦν ἕκαστον τὸ ἥμισυ τὸ αὑτοῦ συνῄει, καὶ περιβάλλοντες τὰς χεῖρας καὶ συμπλεκόμενοι ἀλλήλοις, ἐπιθυμοῦντες συμφῦναι, ἀπέθνῃσκον ὑπὸ λιμοῦ καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἀργίας διὰ τὸ μηδὲν ἐθέλειν χωρὶς ἀλλήλων ποιεῖν.

utpote claudi, saltare cogantur.” Haec fatus bifariam partitus est singulos, instar eorum qui ova dividunt, ut sale condiant, vel qui capillis ova secant. Mandavitque Apollini, ut partitione statim facta, cuiusque vultum cervicisque dimidium in eam partem qua sectus est, verteret, ut scissionem sua considerans modestior fieret, reliquis autem mederit iussit. Ille continuo vultum vertit, et contrahens undique cutem in eum qui nunc venter vocatur, tanquam contracta marsupia et os unum faciens, medio in ventre ligavit... Postquam natura hominum ita divisa fuit, cum quisque dimidium sui agnitum cuperet, inter se concurrebant, circumiactisque brachiis se invicem complectebantur, conflari unum affectantes. Translated into Latin by Marsilio Ficino

Plato [428 BCE – 348 BCE, modern Greece] was an Athenian philosopher who is considered one of the most influential minds of Greek thought. Using his predecessor Socrates as his mouthpiece, he composed a number of philosophical dialogues that explored various ethical, philosophical, and moral concepts. He was the founder of the Athenian Academy, and was the mentor of the famous philosopher Aristotle.

A Transgender Man: Caeneus, Hyginus Fabulae XIV

Caeneus, Elati filius Magnesius...hunc nonnulli feminam fuisse dicunt, cui petenti Neptunum propter connubium optatum dedisse ut in iuvenilem speciem conversus nullo ictu interfici posset.

--Hyginus Fabulae XIV

Caeneus: Some say that he was once a woman, whom Neptune granted as a courtship gift the transformation into a young man (iuvenem) and [flesh] impervious to weapons.

HYGINUS	MAP:
Name: Gaius Julius Hyginus Date: 64 BCE – 17 CE Works: Fabulae*                De Astronomica	REGION 1 / 4*
BIO:	Timeline:
Hyginus was a freedman of the Roman emperor Augustus who was in charge of the Imperial library on the Palatine Hill in Rome. His work, the Fabulae, are a sourcebook for Greek and Roman myths. Although there is quite a bit of overlap between his writings and his contemporary and friend Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Hyginus’ works are much more succinct.	GOLDEN AGE ROME

* There is evidence that Hyginus was originally from Alexandria, Egypt (Suetonius, de Gramm. 20)

M/M: Kisses Sweeter Than Honey, Catullus XLVIII

Kissing Your Honey Sweet Eyes: Catullus Sings to His Boyfriend Juventius

Name: Catullus Date:  84 – 54 BCE Region:  Verona / Cisalpine Gaul [modern northern Italy] Citation:  Poem 48

Juventius,

If I could kiss your honey sweet eyes,

I would kiss them three hundred thousand times.

I wouldn’t be satisfied

If our kisses were more plentiful

Than the waves of wheat in a field.

Kissing Your Honey Sweet Eyes: Catullus Sings to His Boyfriend Juventius

Mellitos oculos tuos, Juventi, 
si quis me sinat usque basiare,
usque ad milia basiem trecenta
nec mi umquam videar satur futurus,
non si densior aridis aristis
sit nostrae seges osculationis.

Catullus [Gaius Valerius Catullus; 84 – 54 BCE, modern Italy] was a Roman statesman born in Verona [modern Italy] who lived during the tumultuous last days of the Roman Republic.  His poetry offers rare insight into the lives of people who lived during his time period. Like Propertius and Tibullus, Catullus used a pseudonym for the objects of his attention; many of his love poems were addressed to either “Lesbia” or “Juventius.” 

W/W: A Poet's Longing: CIL 4.5296

 

Dreams of Kisses: A Pompeiian Woman’s Lament

Name: Unknown Date: prior to 79 CE Region: Regio IX in Pompeii [modern Italy] Citation:   CIL 4.5296

If only I could hold you

In my arms

And kiss your tender lips!

Go now, baby doll,

Entrust your happiness to the winds!

Trust me, the nature of men is fickle.

For often when I am lying awake

In the middle of the night,

I am undone

As I think to myself how Fortune dashes down

Those she had just recently lifted up.

Dreams of Kisses: A Pompeiian Woman’s Lament

O utinam liceat collo complexa tenere

Braciola et teneris oscula ferre labellis

I nunc, ventis tua gaudia, pupula, crede

Crede mihi levis est natura virorum

Saepe ego cum media vigilarem perdita nocte

haec mecum meditans: multos Fortuna quos sustulit alte

hos modo proiectos subito praecipitesque premit.  

M/M: I Accept You, Vergil, Aeneid 9.275-280

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Name:  Vergil Date:  70 – 19 BCE Region:  Mantua [modern northern Italy] Citation:  Aeneid 9.276 – 280

“With all my heart

I accept you and embrace you

As a companion in all my troubles.

I shall seek no glory without you. 

In war or peace,

You have my truest loyalty

In everything I say

And in everything I do.”

. ...iam pectore toto
[te] accipio et comitem casus complector in omnis.
Nulla meis sine te quaeretur gloria rebus:
seu pacem seu bella geram, tibi maxima rerum
verborumque fides.

Vergil, also known as Virgil, [Publius Vergilius Maro; 70 – 19 BCE, modern Italy] was born in Mantua, Cisalpine Gaul, and lived during the tumultuous transition of Roman government from republic to monarchy. His writing talent earned him a place of honor among Maecenas’ fellow authors under Augustan rule. He was friends with numerous famous authors of the time period, including Horace and Asinius Pollio. His former slave Alexander was the most influential romantic partner in his life, and the poet memorialized his love for him under the pseudonym “Alexis” in Eclogue 2. His masterpiece, the Aeneid, tells the story of Aeneas’ migration from Troy to Italy; it was used for centuries as the pinnacle of Roman literature.

A Quick Disclaimer

Both gender and sexuality are constructs defined by the society that created them. The Romans did not use the terms gay, straight, etc., and similarly, Latin terms like tribas, mollis, etc. will not have a direct equivalent in English.  This blog acknowledges this, but does use tags with modern terminology to allow readers to more easily find passages that correspond with a particular topic of interest.

Mission Statement

The purpose of this website is to provide authentic Latin passages that discuss LGBTQIA+ and gender topics for middle and high school level Latin classes (ages 14 - 17). Despite the growing amount of scholarship in gender and sexuality studies of the Greco-Roman world, most of these works are intended for a college-level audience and are inaccessible to the vast majority of Latin teachers. This blog hopes to provide classroom appropriate passages for middle and high school Latin students in order to add a more diverse representation to the curriculum and foster a discussion about the intersection of gender, sexuality, and society.