The Lost Half: An Analysis of Aristophanes’ Myth in Plato’s Metaphysics of Love and the Construction of Sexuality and Love

Abstract

          Interpretations of love in Plato have often been constrained by gender binaries and moralistic readings that privilege heterosexual relationships as the normative center. This article therefore aims to revisit the concept of love in Plato’s metaphysical discourse on Eros through a close, exegetical analysis of the text, in order to explain Eros as a force of existence that transcends sexual division. It argues that Aristophanes’ myth presents the human being as a fundamentally deficient entity in search of its missing half, while Diotima’s teaching conceptualizes love as a process of ascent from the body to the soul without abandoning the significance of corporeality. The analysis demonstrates that the structure of love in this dialogue is grounded in a state of in-betweenness, which functions to connect body, soul, and knowledge, and thereby accords same-sex and different-sex love an equal ontological status. Furthermore, a critique of moral-theological readings reveals that such interpretations neglect the core of Eros as articulated by Plato—namely, Eros as a power arising from shared deficiency. This article thus proposes a reading of Plato as a foundational thinker of a non-gendered conception of love, one that understands love as a force of integration, transcendence, and coexistence within human difference. These findings open new spaces for contemporary discussions of sexuality, identity, and relationships, and suggest that Platonic love may serve as an ethical framework that promotes egalitarian coexistence in present-day society.