The Split Human in Greek Thought

Plato

Symposium 189c–193d

ca. 385–370 BCE

You must begin your lesson with the nature of man and its development. For our original nature was by no means the same as it is now. In the first place, there were three kinds of human beings, not merely the two sexes, male and female, as at present there was a third kind as well, which had equal shares of the other two. [ . . . ] The form of each…

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In Plato’s Symposium, Aristophanes offers a myth about the first humans. Once, people were whole beings—round, with four arms, four legs, and two faces. Some were male, some female, and some a blend of both. Fearing their power, Zeus split them in two. Ever since, each half longs for its missing other, and love is the desire to be made whole again. This tale parallels rabbinic speculations in Genesis Rabbah 8:1 which also imagine the first human as dual—either androgynous or double-faced—and later divided. Both traditions reflect ancient efforts to explain gender and desire, though the rabbis recast the theme within the framework of Torah.

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Creator Bio

Plato

ca. 427–347 BCE

Plato was a Greek philosopher, a student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle. One of the most influential figures in Western philosophy, Plato wrote on ethics, metaphysics, and political philosophy and is best known for his theory of Forms, according to which the physical universe is merely an imitation of unchanging Forms, or Ideas. His works include the Republic, the Symposium, and the Apology.