Plato in Love

I had never really realized that I didn’t understand why love is supposedly powerful.  It took down Voldemort, led Dorothy home, propelled Achilles into battle (and to his eventual death), and brought Westley back from the dead.  Love in literature is just one of those things you accept.  Someone evil was brought down?  Well, Love probably did it.

Interestingly, it was only when Plato himself answered the unasked question that I realized it was even there.  I will allow Plato himself to explain it:

“Imagine a man in love having some disgraceful action of his discovered … Being found out by (his lover) would cause him more distress than being found out by his father, his friends, or anyone else … The best conceivable organization (supposing it were somehow possible) for a community or a battalion would be for it to consist of lovers … since they’d compete with one another in avoiding any kind of shameful act.  It’s hardly an exaggeration to say that a handful of such men, fighting side by side, could conquer the whole world … Possession by Love would infuse even utter cowards with courage and make them indistinguishable from those to whom bravery comes most easily.  The effect that Love has on lovers is exactly what Homer described, when he talked about a god ‘breathing might’ into some hero or other … Moreover, only lovers are prepared to sacrifice themselves.” – a smattering of lines between 178d and 179c in Plato’s Symposium

Maybe it’s just me, but I think we are organized by Love.  Or at least, we all want to be.  Isn’t that what dating is all about?  Everyone wants to live with, fight the world and life with, someone they love.  And the people who win, the people who we think succeed, are the ones who find a lasting love.

I love the story of Johnny Cash and his second wife, June Carter.  While I don’t like that Johnny cheated on his first wife, I think he found true love with June.  And look what it did for them – June was able to get Johnny off of drugs, they were able to lead a happy life together, they died happily, within months of one another.

The Walt Disney Company had it right in Hercules when they say, “A man will do crazy things for the woman he loves.”  It works either way, and it’s so true.  Love, as Plato said, could conquer the world.  I wish it would, to be honest.  The world needs more love.  If everyone was in love, many problems would probably disappear.