Greek Myths XS: Looking for the Other Half

“Once, there were three kinds of humans, a male kind, a female kind, and one that combined both genders. Their shape was round, with four hands and four legs, and two faces on a rounded neck. But they were wicked and tried to attack the gods. In order to make them weaker, Zeus cut all of them in two. Apollo healed the wounds, and smoothed out the wrinkles, except for a few around the stomach and the navel. Now, since their natural form had been cut in two, each one longed for its own other half. This, then, is the source of our desire to love each other. A man who is split from the double sort runs after women. Women who are split from a woman, however, pay no attention at all to men. People who are split from a male are male-oriented. And so, when a person meets the half that is his very own, then something wonderful happens: the two are struck from their senses by love, by a sense of belonging. Why should this be so? It’s because, as I said, love is the name for our pursuit of wholeness, for our desire to be complete.” (Plato, 4th century BC)

The Kiss, Gustav Klimt, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Wien, Austria