The 3 main dimensions of love dating back to ancient Greece

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love dating back to ancient Greece

On the side of ancient Greece and its conceptions of love

We all have some notions of Greek philosophy, Aristotle and Plato, the first republics or the famous myth of the cave … But did you know that the greatest ancient orators had also philosophized about love?

And I think we have a lot to learn from these distant conceptions of love. A little wisdom and something to think about our relations today, whatever they may be. Ideas that should allow us to consider our love passions in a different light .

In fact, the Greeks enjoyed 3 terms to designate love. And although there are as many ways to love as there are drops in the ocean, it is these 3 dimensions of love that I propose you to discover, to learn a little more about how we love our half 

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The 3 main dimensions of love dating back to ancient Greece

Eros: love-desire

To put it simply, Eros love refers to physical love, to desire, to two fiery bodies that feel irresistibly attracted to each other. But for all that, Eros, it is not only a carnal attraction. It is much more. It is one of the facets of love linked to the body, but also to the soul.

It is this need for skin against skin, to feel the other, to touch it. It is carnal love and é.r.o.t.i.q.u.e which is, I believe, indispensable to the emotional knowledge of the other.

Philia: love-friendship (love dating back to ancient Greece)

Love Philia is benevolence. It is the complicity that develops with someone, in several years or in a few days: there is no rule. It is to care about the other and to attach oneself to him because we share common values or because our interests come together. It’s getting pleasure out of someone’s company.

It is for this reason that we speak of love-friendship. And as with love Eros, there is a notion of reciprocity here. Basically, we only really attach ourselves to the other if they attach themselves in return to us.

Agapê: the love of the other (love dating back to ancient Greece)

The love agape could be compared to the love of God for the people populating the Earth. It is a selfless and universal love. A love that is given naturally and that expects nothing in return. It is, one could say love with a capital A.

It is love to a more spiritual degree, which one feels for example for one’s partner. One could say that these are pure and innocent feelings, nourished by compassion. On a daily basis, it is that moment when we wake up, when we look at each other and when we can not help but smile .

So what do the Greeks teach us?

As presented here, these 3 designs are abstract, a little overused and not very fun, I grant you. But thanks to them, we get closer to what is the love lived, in all its complexity, its splendor and its difficulties.

It is impossible (and I do not want to) to gauge love, to choose one and to designate it as the most beautiful, but I believe that a true love is a bit of all that, a balance between these three dimensions. (love dating back to ancient Greece)

The desire of the other, sharing and selfless benevolence.

Love is great, it’s beautiful, it’s infinite, it’s multiple. It could be qualified as all the adjectives available to the French language. But love is above all indefinable and plural. A thousand forms of love exist and our way of loving our partner has many facets.

If everyday life often makes us forget the purity of our feelings and if the digital age sometimes deprives us of such a precious complicity with our partner, we must remember that we love and that it is undoubtedly the most beautiful thing in the world. And if ancient philosophy can bring us anything, it is hindsight. The ability to question ourselves and redefine our priorities in order to love as we are truly capable of. (love dating back to ancient Greece)

All this to say, again that nothing is fixed and even less love. Love is universal but it is also individual. It is born of each and develops according to its own rules, until crossing the path of the other and becoming reciprocal. After interpretation of Greek wisdom, to love is above all to give one’s being to those who are ready to receive it and to give themselves in return.

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