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In light of eros

This essay gives a reading of eros at the intersection of Plato and Aristotle in its anthropological and cosmic implications, using archaic and modern sources. The discussion is articulated in four sections: the first is devoted to Aristotle’s Metaphysics Alpha and Lambda, where quotations from Parmenides and Hesiod prepare the elaboration of nous, the unmoved mover, as eromenos, the beloved. The second section takes up eros in its cosmic/physical dimensions, as developed by the physician Eryximachus in Plato’s Symposium. The third and central section delves into the specifically human experience of eros, by reference to Plato’s Symposium and Phaedrus as well as lyric poets such as Sappho and Ibycus. The fourth and final section analyzes the myth of the androgyne as a figure (1) of the desire for literal, biological fusion with the beloved and (2) of psychic/spiritual completeness. A brief consideration of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando concludes the essay.