Translated from Georgian to English - www.onlinedoctranslator.

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Ana Lomidze, 4th year student (Bachelor)

Ancient-Renaissance understanding of love (Plato-S. Rustaveli)

Platonic love does not lose its relevance even today. It was and is recognized as an ideal form
of love. For people, it is an object of imitation. In ancient times and until today, platonic love
was the subject of legends. They wrote novels and poems about it. The couple wished they
could love like that, because it was the only way of true love. The idea of platonic love is
woven into Sh. Rustaveli's "Vepkhistkaosani". The real eros itself is discussed in Plato's
Nadim. The young tragedian Agathon pays Nadim to celebrate his victory. They gather on
this Nadim and talk about love. On Nadim there are Phaedrus, the sophist Pausanias, the
doctor Eryximachos, the comedian Aristophanes, the tragedian Agathon, Socrates and
Alcibiades. According to Plato, love is the main principle of the unity of the world, the
source of harmony, goodness and beauty. "One is many and thanks to love many are one" (p.
13 Plato, "Nadim" 1964) Love leads everything finite to the infinite and impermanent. Love is
the thirst for immortality. Diotimo tells Socrates. It is the vital impulse of the world. "There
is no beauty without love, even immortality without love." The universe is driven by this
force. Nadim talks about true intimacy, Eros. Eros is a great god and for many reasons,
primarily because of his origin, the most amazing among gods and men" (p. 17 Plato, "Nadim"
1964). Eros belongs to the number of ancient gods, it also gives us the greatest good.
Contemplation of a loved one is undoubtedly a source of happiness. Sh. Rustaveli writes in
"Vepkhistkaosan": "Far from confusion, far from burning, far from dying". Among the
immortals, he created Eros for the first time. Love leads a person to the true path (Plato,
"Nadim" 1964) and inspires the heroic spirit of even the most evil. For thousands of years,
Mijnuri would have chosen to die in battle rather than risk her life alone in distress, "Kham
cut a field for his loved ones". Eros inspires Mijnuri to heroic deeds. Eros makes people forget
everything, does unspeakable actions, "the language of mortals cannot express the feelings of
immortals". Alcestida, daughter of Peleus, chose to die for the sake of her husband. Umisod
Lkhini turned into a plague. Shota wrote that I have given strength to my loved ones, there is
another medicine in essence, i.e. they gave me healing, i.e. the land of Samari. Alcestida's
behavior fascinated the immortals so much that the gods, impressed by the dedication of the
soul of Pelas, called her out of Hades. (p. 19 Palton, Nadim, 1964) Why do loved ones or
spouses wish to die if their other halves die? We have to look for the answer to this again in
Nadim. In the beginning, Adam was one essence. There was no mother-man and father-man,
there was just a man who was a unique creation of God. People suffered from sins, Therefore,
God separated them into two sexes, and after that man was forced to find his other half by
his own work. After that, people will move to join their "other". Some find it, some can't. We
read: Maybe you want to become one, so that neither day nor night can separate you? (Plato,
"Nadim" 1964 p. 2).twoOne being is received from the being. One soul reigns in two bodies,
so it can be said as if one soul is in two bodies. Hades will accept such a couple as one ghost.
The desire for this wholeness and the longing for it is called love. The will of Eurcho Erosus
means the wrath of God to break itself. What God has joined, let men not separate. He is half
of the whole, and that's why he is constantly looking for his Ximboblon. It turns out that as
long as the other half of people is alive, they feel good, even if they have not found and do
not know him. When the other part of their "apple" dies, they get a feeling of emptiness. .
Imagine what it feels like to be a spineless person. They feel a sense of loss, as if the support
by which they lived, breathed, was taken away. Without them, life is impossible, because it
is part of the human puzzle. If one half does not have a holder, a filler, it will begin to
deteriorate, regress. Everyone needs their own support. With its death, the heart and soul of
people die. If one half of a piece dies, it takes the soul with it. The life of a soulless person is
unimaginable, it is almost dead, so loved ones choose the path of death to escape from this
terrible, empty reality. Death is a way of relief from suffering for them. They sacrifice
themselves for their own love. The goddess of beauty is Aphrodite. According to Nadim,
there are two kinds of Aphrodite. One is the true, pure, eternal goddess of love. The other is
the god of love driven by carnal passions. The way of love. Such love is eternal, because it is
the love of the human soul, physical beauty is fleeting. True love gives a person the ability to
perceive the world of ideas. The love of the soul is a great virtue, the most beautiful thing.
Rustaveli said: "She is different, fornication is different". True intimacy is a feature of the soul
and it reaches immortality. Love based on passions is a short-lived pleasure, it disappears
suddenly and it only brings sins that hurt the soul. Eros, the earthly Aphrodite, is truly
earthly and unbridled. It is this eros that reigns among earthly men" (Plato, Nadim, 1964, p.
21). The physical nature of eros contains two eros. The healthy and diseased elements of the
body are different and dissimilar elements, the dissimilar always seeks and meets the
dissimilar. It turns out that the love of a healthy body is different and that of a diseased body.
Eros can inspire love where it is not. He who inspires Eros is the greatest demiurge, because
he managed to create bodies. Connecting the most hostile elements. Harmony and rhythm
are also important in eros. Harmony and rhythm create the erotic. Music is also rhythmic,
that is, there is a certain eroticism in it. (Plato, Nadim" 1964 p. 23) The love that comes from
polymnia is an earthly love. We must be careful with it, because the joy that comes from it.
It is indecent. It is mentioned in Nadim that in the beginning there were three sexes of men.
They were female, male and the common gender for both, androgenion is called both in the
form and name of the so-called Akuma. (Plato, Nadim 1964 p. 33) It is mentioned that each
man It was in the shape of a sphere. It had round sides and hands, four arms, four legs, two
faces on one head, four ears, etc. When it was about to run away, it would take the shape of a
ball and roll with all four limbs. According to Nadim, the reason for the existence of these
three genders was that that the sun gave birth to the male, the female was founded by the
moon, and the akuma was born by the moon. They became dominant and decided to fight
the gods to take their place. In short, the moon, the sun and the earth decided to dominate
the gods. And Zeus swore that they were surrounded by the strength of men. They would
save them from death and destroy their freedom. That is why both sexes were divided into
two. Their strength would decrease, therefore they would not be able to resist and the
number of people would increase, which would be beneficial. God ordered Apollo to heal
people, i.e. to turn their faces. Apollo stretched the skin towards the abdomen and cut it in
the middle of the abdomen, thus creating the navel. They longed for each other and could
not live without each other. This longing is called love. When one part would die, the sad
one part, planted alone, would start looking for another part, trying to get hold of it, trying
everything, but it was not part of him. In the end, the half that was left without its own
other half died. This caused, in fact, the destruction of the human race. Zeus felt sorry for
people who were left alone and did not like people dying, because he wanted to multiply
them. Finally, he thought so. He planted a shameful place in front of him, until now people
did not fertilize each other but put seeds in the ground. As a result of this, mutual
fertilization of people became possible. With this, Zeus absolutely achieved his goal. Humans
began to multiply and join. When they became one, establishing a connection, but when
they separated, they returned to their own existence. It was from this that love appeared in
the hearts of men, which returns the original face to a person, that is, they feel as if they
have become "Akuma". It creates the essence of the "united" and is also a means of
reproduction. In order to fall in love with something, one must establish an aesthetic
relationship with it. This subject must be perceived as beautiful. This love, according to
Plato, unites man with God and establishes him in the world of ideas. Beautification is
kindness turned into an object of love, therefore, when you love, you can no longer see the
flaw. Eros is fair to gods and men and demands the same in return. He does not need force,
everyone voluntarily obeys Eros. People also obey his laws. "Lords of the state" also describe
the highest wisdom. Prudence consists in not allowing judgment. And Eros has the greatest
amount of passion. Passions are inferior to Eros, so common sense is more powerful than
passions. Even Ares cannot surpass Eros in bravery. - Eros is wise. Sh. The following is
written about intimacy in Rustaveli's "Tigerskin". "Don't make him laugh, let him fall in love
first, don't make him laugh, don't make him suffer, let him give up everything to him, let the
fields fall for him." ", "There is the first affection not to stay, to hide the troubles". In short,
true eros is truly divine. It describes wisdom, bravery, beauty, enduring hardships, doing
heroic deeds, as well as committing ethical actions. In the eyes of the so-called "neighbors",
virtue is right, like the sun." If we recall the parable mentioned above, the sun is the creator
of the female gender Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty. A loved one should be kind, he
should have the principle of "Kalokagathia". Whoever does not fully understand this lacks
the morality of a loved one. According to Plato's Nadim, eros can be ugly. Because true eros
is a means between mortals and immortals. It is a quality of the soul. If the soul is beautiful
but ugly on the outside, it will fall in love, for example, Quasimodo. The eternal goal of love
is goodness. Love is the love of what is missing. It is the thirst to pass into eternity. Some
people try to immortalize themselves with their own creations. Love is loving what I lack.
Love is the love of that which is beautiful. Beauty is goodness turned into an object of love.
True eros is truly divine. It describes wisdom, bravery, beauty, enduring hardships, doing
heroic deeds, as well as committing ethical actions. In the eyes of the so-called "neighbors",
virtue is right, like the sun." If we recall the parable mentioned above, the sun is the creator
of the female gender Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty. A loved one should be kind, he
should have the principle of "Kalokagathia". Whoever does not fully understand this lacks
the morality of a loved one. According to Plato's Nadim, eros can be ugly. Because true eros
is a means between mortals and immortals. It is a quality of the soul. If the soul is beautiful
but ugly on the outside, it will fall in love, for example, Quasimodo. The eternal goal of love
is goodness. Love is the love of what is missing. It is the thirst to pass into eternity. Some
people try to immortalize themselves with their own creations. Love is loving what I lack.
Love is the love of that which is beautiful. Beauty is goodness turned into an object of love.
True eros is truly divine. It describes wisdom, bravery, beauty, enduring hardships, doing
heroic deeds, as well as committing ethical actions. In the eyes of the so-called "neighbors",
virtue is right, like the sun." If we recall the parable mentioned above, the sun is the creator
of the female gender Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty. A loved one should be kind, he
should have the principle of "Kalokagathia". Whoever does not fully understand this lacks
the morality of a loved one. According to Plato's Nadim, eros can be ugly. Because true eros
is a means between mortals and immortals. It is a quality of the soul. If the soul is beautiful
but ugly on the outside, it will fall in love, for example, Quasimodo. The eternal goal of love
is goodness. Love is the love of what is missing. It is the thirst to pass into eternity. Some
people try to immortalize themselves with their own creations. Love is loving what I lack.
Love is the love of that which is beautiful. Beauty is goodness turned into an object of love.

used literature:

1. Plato "Nadim" - translation by Bachana Bregadze, Tbilisi 1964

"Nadim" - article Oxford University Press 1994

Shota Rustaveli "Leopard" Publishing House Meridian 2006

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