Tuesday sept 12, 23

Literature and Love

Lecture 2

Love as a lofty concept

(Corinthians 13:4-8) – Well-known description of love from the Bible
- Love is described as a collective term for some of the loftiest human qualities –
patience, humility, kindness, honesty, trust, hope, fortitude, and strength.
- Love is described as pure, uncontaminated by negative emotions and behaviours, an
ideal humanity must aspire to.
- Love is represented using personification and seems almost godlike in its ability to
sidestep human shortcomings.

Echoes from the past

- Every culture in the world and throughout history has commentary about love
- Religious writings such as the Bible, often deal with universal love
- The ancient Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh is humanity's oldest surviving written poem
about the power of friendship.
- in many ways, the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu is depicted as stronger,
more meaningful and less corrupted than romantic love, which in recent centuries has
come to be seen as one of the most desirable and transformative forms of love.

Love and Ancient Greece

- The ancient Greeks were fascinated with love, producing some of the most powerful
literary and philosophical works on the subject.
- Many Greek dramatists and poets tackled theirs in their plays and poems – including
Sophocles, Aristophanes, Sappho, and Homer
- The influence of the ancient Greeks on western cultures has been immense.
- The Greeks contributed to mathematics, philosophy, astronomy, medicine,
architecture, sculpture, literature and theatre.
- The Greeks tended to be concerned with similar issues in relation to love.

Middle Ages – Contemporary Era

- From the Middle Ages up to our own contemporary era, ancient ideas about love
continue to hold sway, not only in the world of literature, but also in popular culture,
art, music, magazines, films, television, photography, and even advice manuals.

Eros (Romantic love)

Eros is an intense, passionate love, often involving erotic desire.
Tuesday sept 12, 23

Philia (Brotherly/Sisterly Love; friendship)

Friendship, goodwill, fondness, and companionship
Philia can be used to describe love between siblings, and the bonds that can form
between individuals

Storge (Love for family/nation)

2 Meanings: Familial love is the love that exists between members of the same
family
The second is a love for ones nation or cultural group

Agape (Universal love)

Divine love, altruistic and unselfish love for others
As charitableness, as love for the world of nature

Courtly love (Amour Courtois)

A codified form of idealistic romatantic love