|
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
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.
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.
[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... |
|
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. |
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... 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.
