The Split Human in Greek Thought

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 person was round all over, with back and sides encompassing it every way; each had four arms, and legs to match these, and two faces perfectly alike on a cylindrical neck. There was one head to the two faces, which looked opposite ways; there were four ears, two privy members, and all the other parts, as may be imagined, in proportion. The creature walked upright as now, in either direction as it pleased. [ . . . ] Then Zeus [ . . . ]  said [ . . . ] I propose now to slice every one of them in two. [ . . . ] Now when our first form had been cut in two, each half in longing for its fellow would come to it again. [ . . . ] Thus anciently is mutual love ingrained in mankind, reassembling our early estate and endeavouring to combine two in one and heal the human sore.

Translated by W. R. M. Lamb.