# [[📚Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson]] #### eros is lack Emma Bovary’s love letters to Rodolphe enact the same process: “But as she wrote she saw in her mind’s eye another man, a phantom composed of her most passionate memories, her most enjoyable books, and her strongest desires; at last he became so real and so tangible that she was thrilled and amazed, yet he was so hidden under the abundance of his virtues that she was unable to imagine him clearly” (quoted in Girard 1965, 63-64). The heroine of ItaloCalvino’s novel The Nonexistent Knight is a splendid voluptuary who finds she can only feel genuine desire for the knight of the title, an empty suit of armour; all others are either known or knowable and cannot arouse her. Here we arrive at the nub of the matter, not for the first time. That which is known, attained, possessed, cannot be an object of desire. “In love possession is nothing, only delight matters,” says Stendhal (1957, 112). Eros is lack, says Sokrates. This dilemma is given a still more subtle image by Yasunari Kawabata. His novel Beauty and Sadness (1975) recounts the early days of the marriage of Oki and Fumiko. Oki is a novelist and Fumiko a typist in a news agency. She types all his manuscripts and this connection is the substance of Oki’s newlywed fascination with his bride:It was something of a lover’s game, the sweet togetherness of newlyweds, but there was more to it than that. When his work first appeared in a magazine he was astonished at the difference in effect between a penwritten manuscript and the tiny characters in print. (34)As Oki becomes habituated to this “gap between manuscript and published work” his passion for Fumiko fades and he takes a mistress.It is in the difference between cursive and typeface, between the real Vronsky and the imaginary one, between Sappho and “the man who listens closely,” between an actual knight and an empty suit of armour, that desire is felt. Across this space a spark of eros moves in the lover’s mind to activate delight. Delight is a movement (kinēsis) of the soul, in Aristotle’s definition (Rh. 1.1369b19). No difference: no movement. No Eros. [Page 69](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=67&start=1614&length=453&search=Emma%20Bovary%E2%80%99s%20love%20letters%20to%20Rodolphe%20enact%20the%20same%20process%3A%20%E2%80%9CBut%20as%20she%20wrote%20she%20saw%20in%20her%20mind%E2%80%99s%20eye%20another%20man,%20a%20phantom%20composed%20of%20her%20most%20passionate%20memories,%20her%20most%20enjoyable%20books,%20and%20her%20strongest%20desires%3B%20at%20last%20he%20became%20so%20real%20and%20s) | | | | :--: | ---- | | 🪐 | [eros is lack](brain://api.thebrain.com/GHrLFdeH20SQwYOIyOv1GA/vj0mPQ44YUCuuT_STKMb-w/ErosIsLack) | | 📚 | [[📚Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson#eros is lack]] | | 🗿 | [[🗿Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson#eros is lack]] | *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 70](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=69) The change of self for Nietzsche (1967, 426) is profound. However, Nietzsche criticizes the modern world as an "ass" that says yes to everything. In contrast, the Greek poets do not say yes to everything. They acknowledge the sweetness of erotic experience, or *gluku*, and recognize the ideal possibilities for selfhood it opens up, often by associating it with the god Eros. Sappho, for example, idealizes "the man who listens closely" in fragment 31. A more self-centered lover, like Alkibiades in Plato’s *Symposium*, prioritizes his own self-improvement, stating, “For me nothing has a higher priority than to perfect myself” (Symp. 218d). However, he lacks the exultation of incorporating the self’s possibilities into its identity. In these ancient representations, bittersweet Eros consistently appears as a negative image. A positive image might be possible if the lover could integrate his lack into a new, better self. But is this what the lover truly seeks from love? Aristophanes explores this question in Plato’s *Symposium*. He describes lovers locked in an embrace and dismisses the idea that mere physical union (sunousia tōn aphrodisiōn, 192c) is all they desire. Instead, he suggests that the soul of each lover longs for something else, something that cannot be expressed in normal words but is hinted at through oracles and riddles (192c-d). What is this "something else"? Aristophanes continues to explore this deeper longing. *** #### the lover's journey explores whether love aims for positive self-reincorporation or remains in lack A mood of knowledge is emitted by the spark that leaps in the lover’s soul. He feels on the verge of grasping something not grasped before. In the Greek poets it is a knowledge of self that begins to come into focus, a self not known before and now disclosed by the lack of it—by pain, by a hole, bitterly. Not all lovers respond to erotic knowledge so negatively. We were struck by the equanimity with which Virginia Woolf’s character, Neville, records “Something now leaves me” (1931, 83) and we saw what a gust of elation accompaniesthe change of self for Nietzsche (1967, 426). But then, Nietzsche calls the modern world an ass that says yes to everyhing. The Greek poets do not say yes. They allow that erotic experience is sweet to begin with: gluku. They acknowledge ideal possibilities opened out for selfhood by erotic experience; they do so, in general, by divinizing it in the person of the god Eros. Sappho, as we have seen, projects the ideal in the particular person of “the man who listens closely” in fragment 31. A more narcissistic lover, namely Alkibiades in Plato’s Symposium, subsumes the ideal to himself, blandly announcing his motive for pursuing Sokrates:ἐμοὶ μὲυ γὰρ οὐδέν ἐστι πρɛσβύτɛρον τοῦ ὡς ὅτι βέλτιστου ἐμὲ γɛνέσθαιFor me nothing has a higher priority than to perfect myself. (Symp. 218d)But a sense of exultation at the thought of incorporating the self’s possibilities within the self’s identity is missing. In these ancient representations, bittersweet Eros prints consistently as a negative image. Presumably, a positive picture could be made if the lover were ever to reincorporate his lack into a new and better self. Or could it? Is that positive picture what the lover wants from love?An ancient answer presents itself. Aristophanes puts this very question to a pair of imaginary lovers in Plato’s Symposium. He pictures the lovers locked in an embrace and dismisses as absurd the notion that this “mere amorous union” (sunousia tōn aphrodisiōn, 192c) is all they want:ἀλλ’ ἄλλο τι βονλομένη ἑκατέρον ἡ ψυχὴ δήλη ἐστίν, ὃ οὐ δύναται ɛἰπɛῖν, ἀλλὰ μαντɛύɛται ὃ βούλɛται, καὶ αἰνίττɛται.No, obviously the soul of each is longing for something else which it cannot put into normal words but keeps trying to express in oracles and riddles. [Page 70](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=68&start=1642&length=536&search=A%20mood%20of%20knowledge%20is%20emitted%20by%20the%20spark%20that%20leaps%20in%20the%20lover%E2%80%99s%20soul.%20He%20feels%20on%20the%20verge%20of%20grasping%20something%20not%20grasped%20before.%20In%20the%20Greek%20poets%20it%20is%20a%20knowledge%20of%20self%20that%20begins%20to%20come%20into%20focus,%20a%20self%20not%20known%20before%20and%20now%20disclos) | | | | :--: | ---- | | 🪐 | [the lover's journey explores whether love aims for positive self-reincorporation or remains in lack](brain://api.thebrain.com/GHrLFdeH20SQwYOIyOv1GA/EpWYZQpPL069McqHK-PBlA/TheLoversJourneyExploresWhetherLoveAimsForPositiveSelfreincorpor) | | 📚 | [[📚Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson#the lover's journey explores whether love aims for positive self-reincorporation or remains in lack]] | | 🗿 | [[🗿Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson#the lover's journey explores whether love aims for positive self-reincorporation or remains in lack]] | *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 71](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=70) The ancient Greek lovers aimed for something beyond mere unity. This "something else" drives their desire, showing that lovers don't just seek oneness but strive for something perfect. Sappho's fragment 105a, with its image of the sweet apple still dangling, illustrates this longing. Sappho uses tactics of incompleteness to keep desire and desirability alive in her poetry. These tactics reveal lovers' strategies, creating a new kind of solitude. These are imaginative tactics that sometimes enhance the beloved and sometimes reshape the lover, all to define a specific difference: an edge between two images that can't merge because they come from different levels of reality—one actual, one possible. Understanding both, while maintaining their distinctness, is the essence of eros. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 72](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=71) Symbolon Space extends from us and translates the world. Rilke says, “What Birds Plunge Through Is Not the Intimate Space.” Our investigation of bittersweet Eros began with a mistranslation of Sappho’s *glukupikron*. We thought Sappho emphasized sweetness (*gluku*) because it was obvious, while the bitterness (*pikron*) was not. However, Eros' sweetness and bitterness are inseparable and both play a role in our human desire for knowledge. Eros in a lover's mind resembles the act of knowing in a thinker's mind. Philosophers, since Socrates, have tried to understand this resemblance, but it's not just philosophers who are intrigued. Falling in love and gaining knowledge both make us feel truly alive. There is a unique, electrifying quality to both experiences. They are unlike anything else but similar to each other. How? We can consider the ancient poets’ concept of *glukupikrotēs* (bittersweetness) to shed light on this. Aristotle says, “All men by their very nature reach out to know” (Metaph. A 1.980a21). This reaching out is essential and reveals something important about our nature and our experiences of love and knowledge. *** #### eros is lack Emma Bovary’s love letters to Rodolphe enact the same process: “But as she wrote she saw in her mind’s eye another man, a phantom composed of her most passionate memories, her most enjoyable books, and her strongest desires; at last he became so real and so tangible that she was thrilled and amazed, yet he was so hidden under the abundance of his virtues that she was unable to imagine him clearly” (quoted in Girard 1965, 63-64). The heroine of ItaloCalvino’s novel The Nonexistent Knight is a splendid voluptuary who finds she can only feel genuine desire for the knight of the title, an empty suit of armour; all others are either known or knowable and cannot arouse her. Here we arrive at the nub of the matter, not for the first time. That which is known, attained, possessed, cannot be an object of desire. “In love possession is nothing, only delight matters,” says Stendhal (1957, 112). Eros is lack, says Sokrates. This dilemma is given a still more subtle image by Yasunari Kawabata. His novel Beauty and Sadness (1975) recounts the early days of the marriage of Oki and Fumiko. Oki is a novelist and Fumiko a typist in a news agency. She types all his manuscripts and this connection is the substance of Oki’s newlywed fascination with his bride:It was something of a lover’s game, the sweet togetherness of newlyweds, but there was more to it than that. When his work first appeared in a magazine he was astonished at the difference in effect between a penwritten manuscript and the tiny characters in print. (34)As Oki becomes habituated to this “gap between manuscript and published work” his passion for Fumiko fades and he takes a mistress.It is in the difference between cursive and typeface, between the real Vronsky and the imaginary one, between Sappho and “the man who listens closely,” between an actual knight and an empty suit of armour, that desire is felt. Across this space a spark of eros moves in the lover’s mind to activate delight. Delight is a movement (kinēsis) of the soul, in Aristotle’s definition (Rh. 1.1369b19). No difference: no movement. No Eros. [Page 69](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=67&start=1614&length=453&search=Emma%20Bovary%E2%80%99s%20love%20letters%20to%20Rodolphe%20enact%20the%20same%20process%3A%20%E2%80%9CBut%20as%20she%20wrote%20she%20saw%20in%20her%20mind%E2%80%99s%20eye%20another%20man,%20a%20phantom%20composed%20of%20her%20most%20passionate%20memories,%20her%20most%20enjoyable%20books,%20and%20her%20strongest%20desires%3B%20at%20last%20he%20became%20so%20real%20and%20s) | | | | :--: | ---- | | 🪐 | [eros is lack](brain://api.thebrain.com/GHrLFdeH20SQwYOIyOv1GA/vj0mPQ44YUCuuT_STKMb-w/ErosIsLack) | | 📚 | [[📚Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson#eros is lack]] | | 🗿 | [[🗿Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson#eros is lack]] | *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 70](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=69) ==Nietzsche refers to the modern world as an "ass that says yes to everything," contrasting sharply with the Greek poets who do not simply acquiesce. These poets recognize the initial sweetness (gluku) of erotic experience and the potential it holds for self-transformation, often personified in the god Eros.== Sappho, for instance, idealizes erotic experience in the figure of "the man who listens closely" in fragment 31. On the other hand, Alcibiades in Plato’s *Symposium* embodies a more self-centered approach, prioritizing his own perfection: "For me, nothing has a higher priority than to perfect myself." (Symp. 218d) Yet, this pursuit lacks a sense of joy in integrating the self's possibilities into its identity. In ancient texts, Eros often appears as a bittersweet, negative force. A positive transformation might occur if the lover could reincorporate their sense of lack into a new, better self. But is this what lovers truly seek from love? Aristophanes in Plato’s *Symposium* explores this idea. He imagines lovers in a passionate embrace, suggesting that mere physical union isn't their ultimate desire: "No, obviously the soul of each is longing for something else which it cannot put into normal words but keeps trying to express in oracles and riddles." (192c-d) ==This "something else" is what lovers truly seek, beyond mere physical connection.== ##### Nietzsche refers to the modern world as an "ass that says yes to everything," contrasting sharply with the Greek poets who do not simply acquiesce. These poets recognize the initial sweetness (gluku) of erotic experience and the potential it holds for self-transformation, often personified in the god Eros. ##### On the other hand, Alcibiades in Plato’s Symposium embodies a more self-centered approach, prioritizing his own perfection: "For me, nothing has a higher priority than to perfect myself." (Symp. 218d)å ##### Yet, this pursuit lacks a sense of joy in integrating the self's possibilities into its identity. In ancient texts, Eros often appears as a bittersweet, negative force. A positive transformation might occur if the lover could reincorporate their sense of lack into a new, better self. But is this what lovers truly seek from love? Aristophanes in Plato’s Symposium explores this idea. He imagines lovers in a passionate embrace, suggesting that mere physical union isn't their ultimate desire: "No, obviously the soul of each is longing for something else which it cannot put into normal words but keeps trying to express in oracles and riddles." (192c-d) ##### This "something else" is what lovers truly seek, beyond mere physical connection. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 51](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=50) ==The intense focus on conceiving eros as lack among Greek poets may partly arise from the heightened awareness of personal boundaries fostered by literate culture. Literate training encourages individuals to view their physical boundaries as integral to their self-identity. In such a context, maintaining control over these boundaries equates to possessing oneself. For individuals who value self-possession, a sudden and strong emotion like eros, perceived as an external force, can be alarming.== This contrasts with oral cultures, where emotional incursions are typical conduits of significant information. ==In literate societies, individuals come to understand that they are solely responsible for the content and coherence of their self. Consequently, an influx like eros is seen as a concrete personal threat. Thus, lyric poets depict love as something that invades and assaults the lover's body, challenging their control over themselves. This struggle is described from a consciousness that perhaps for the first time in history, perceives the body as a cohesive unity of limbs, senses, and self, and is astonished by its own vulnerability. This new awareness of the body as a unified, vulnerable entity contributes to the poets' portrayal of eros as a profound and often disturbing force.== Eric A. Havelock's work, beginning with "Preface to Plato" in 1963 and continuing with "The Literate Revolution in Greece and Its Cultural Consequences" (1982), explores these ideas. Other scholars, including Cole (1981), Davison (1962), Finnegan (1977), Goody (1968, 1977), Graff (1981), Harvey (1978), Innis (1951), Johnston (1983), Knox (1968), Pomeroy (1977), Stolz and Shannon (1976), and Svenbro (1976), have also contributed to understanding the impact of literacy on Greek culture and its perception of eros. ##### The intense focus on conceiving eros as lack among Greek poets may partly arise from the heightened awareness of personal boundaries fostered by literate culture. Literate training encourages individuals to view their physical boundaries as integral to their self-identity. In such a context, maintaining control over these boundaries equates to possessing oneself. For individuals who value self-possession, a sudden and strong emotion like eros, perceived as an external force, can be alarming. ##### In literate societies, individuals come to understand that they are solely responsible for the content and coherence of their self. Consequently, an influx like eros is seen as a concrete personal threat. Thus, lyric poets depict love as something that invades and assaults the lover's body, challenging their control over themselves. This struggle is described from a consciousness that perhaps for the first time in history, perceives the body as a cohesive unity of limbs, senses, and self, and is astonished by its own vulnerability. This new awareness of the body as a unified, vulnerable entity contributes to the poets' portrayal of eros as a profound and often disturbing force. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 149](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=148) Socrates and Lysias agree on the basic facts of erotic experience, but they interpret these facts very differently. They agree that love changes a person drastically, making them seem like someone else. Traditionally, these changes are seen as madness. Lysias thinks the best thing to do with a mad person is to ignore them. ==This view aligns with common beliefs of the time, seeing desire as a negative force and valuing self-control as key to a good life.== Socrates challenges these ideas. He admits that love is like madness, but he believes this madness can be good. ==In traditional Greek thinking, losing oneself is seen as a clear evil. Socrates disagrees. He argues that not all madness is bad; some of the greatest goods come from divine madness.== ##### In traditional Greek thinking, losing oneself is seen as a clear evil. Socrates disagrees. He argues that not all madness is bad; some of the greatest goods come from divine madness. ##### This view aligns with common beliefs of the time, seeing desire as a negative force and valuing self-control as key to a good life. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 150](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=149) The story that a non-lover should be preferred over a lover because the lover is mad and the non-lover is sane is not true. If madness were purely evil, the story would make sense. ==But many good things come from madness when it is a gift from the gods. Sokrates argues that keeping your mind to yourself means shutting out the gods. Good and divine things exist outside you and should be allowed in. Prophets, healers, and poets need to lose their minds to practice their arts, according to Sokrates. Madness brings such intelligence. Erotic madness is valuable in private life because it gives wings to your soul. Sokrates' view of madness as beneficial is based on a theory of the soul. He responds to traditional poetry's questions about erotic control by transforming their metaphors of love. While poets see loss and damage, Sokrates sees profit and growth. Where they see ice melting, he sees wings growing. Poets see love as a force that takes over and causes harm, while Sokrates sees it as a path to growth and flight.== Despite some basic agreements, Sokrates' views on love are very different from those of Lysias and traditional Greek thinking. Plato captures this difference with the image of wings. In traditional poetry, wings symbolize Eros' power to take control of a lover. Wings cause change and make you lose control of yourself when you fall in love. ##### But many good things come from madness when it is a gift from the gods. Sokrates argues that keeping your mind to yourself means shutting out the gods. Good and divine things exist outside you and should be allowed in. Prophets, healers, and poets need to lose their minds to practice their arts, according to Sokrates. Madness brings such intelligence. Erotic madness is valuable in private life because it gives wings to your soul. Sokrates' view of madness as beneficial is based on a theory of the soul. He responds to traditional poetry's questions about erotic control by transforming their metaphors of love. While poets see loss and damage, Sokrates sees profit and growth. Where they see ice melting, he sees wings growing. Poets see love as a force that takes over and causes harm, while Sokrates sees it as a path to growth and flight. *** #### god-given madness brings the greatest benefits I must say this story [logos] is not true, the story that a nonlover should be gratified in preference to a lover on the grounds that the latter is mad while the former is sane. Now, if it were a simple fact that madness [mania] is evil, the story would be fine. But the fact is, the greatest of good things come to us through madness when it is conferred as a gift of the gods.(244a)Sokrates’ central argument, as he goes on to reevaluate madness, is that you keep your mind to yourself at the cost of closing out the gods. Truly good and indeed divine things are alive and active outside you and should be let in to work their changes. Such incursions formally instruct and enrich our lives in society; no prophet or healer or poet could practice his art if he did not lose his mind, Sokrates says (244a-45). Madness is the instrument of such intelligence. More to the point, erotic mania is a valuable thing in private life. It puts wings on your soul.Sokrates’ exposition of mania as a profitable experience for the individual depends on a theory of the dynamics of the soul that is carefully crafted to respond to the questions of erotic control raised by traditional poetry. His analysis subsumes, and at the same time subverts, the poets’ standard metaphors of eros so that he may recast their traditional picture of erotic experience. Where they see loss and damage, Sokrates insists on profit and growth. Where they see ice melting, he says wings grow. Where they brace themselves against takeover, he unfolds himself for flight. [Page 150](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=149&start=0&length=1541&search=I%20must%20say%20this%20story%20%5Blogos%5D%20is%20not%20true,%20the%20story%20that%20a%20nonlover%20should%20be%20gratified%20in%20preference%20to%20a%20lover%20on%20the%20grounds%20that%20the%20latter%20is%20mad%20while%20the%20former%20is%20sane.%20Now,%20if%20it%20were%20a%20simple%20fact%20that%20madness%20%5Bmania%5D%20is%20evil,%20the%20story%20would%20be) | | | | :--: | ---- | | 🪐 | [god-given madness brings the greatest benefits](brain://api.thebrain.com/GHrLFdeH20SQwYOIyOv1GA/nSidAYfbzUuFR--W_pMOpw/GodgivenMadnessBringsTheGreatestBenefits) | | 📚 | [[📚Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson#god-given madness brings the greatest benefits]] | | 📚 | [[📚Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson#By defining enemies as concepts, you create a disciplined approach that brings you nearer to the eternal]] | | 🌲 | [[🌲Individuals immersed in self-actualization radiate an alluring aura of bold defiance, humble devotion, and playful self-awareness that serves as a source of sexual attraction rooted in personal growth#god-given madness brings the greatest benefits]] | | 🗿 | [[🗿Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson#god-given madness brings the greatest benefits]] | *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 151](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=150) ==Sappho describes losing herself to desire in fragment 31. As desire takes over, she says "eptoaisen," meaning "it makes my heart fly inside me."== Anacreon has the same feeling, saying, "I am soaring toward Olympus on light wings for the sake of Eros." Helen's madness due to desire is also described similarly by Alcaeus: "[Eros] made Helen’s heart fly like a wing in her chest," causing her to lose her mind for a Trojan man and follow him over the sea. By Hellenistic times, Eros' wings were a common poetic theme. Arduas writes: "You should flee Eros": an empty effort! How can I escape on foot from one who chases me on wings?" ==Plato reimagines Eros' traditional wings. In his view, wings are not foreign invaders but have natural roots in each soul, a remnant of its immortality.== ##### Plato reimagines Eros' traditional wings. In his view, wings are not foreign invaders but have natural roots in each soul, a remnant of its immortality. ##### Sappho describes losing herself to desire in fragment 31. As desire takes over, she says "eptoaisen," meaning "it makes my heart fly inside me." *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 152](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=151) ==Our souls once lived on wings among the gods, enjoying the joy of seeing reality all the time. Now, we are exiled from that life, but we remember it sometimes, like when we see beauty and fall in love. We can regain this life through our soul's wings. Sokrates explains how wings can grow under the right conditions, strong enough to take the soul back to its beginnings. When you fall in love, you feel many emotions, both painful and pleasant—this is your wings sprouting. It is the start of becoming who you truly are. Beginnings are crucial to Sokrates. The start of love is a glimpse of the soul's immortal beginning. The moment of desire connects time to timelessness, where the gods exist, rejoicing in reality. When you enter this moment, you remember what it is like to be truly alive, like the gods.== There is a paradox in this memory of timelessness. The main difference between Sokrates' and Lysias' views on love lies in this paradox. Lysias is disturbed by the paradox of desire and rejects it. For him, each moment of desire is just the beginning of the end, preferring a changeless, unending past. ==Sokrates, however, sees this paradoxical moment as the start of the soul's true self.== A blind spot seems to open up, where the past disappears. ##### Our souls once lived on wings among the gods, enjoying the joy of seeing reality all the time. Now, we are exiled from that life, but we remember it sometimes, like when we see beauty and fall in love. We can regain this life through our soul's wings. Sokrates explains how wings can grow under the right conditions, strong enough to take the soul back to its beginnings. When you fall in love, you feel many emotions, both painful and pleasant—this is your wings sprouting. It is the start of becoming who you truly are. Beginnings are crucial to Sokrates. The start of love is a glimpse of the soul's immortal beginning. The moment of desire connects time to timelessness, where the gods exist, rejoicing in reality. When you enter this moment, you remember what it is like to be truly alive, like the gods. ##### Sokrates, however, sees this paradoxical moment as the start of the soul's true self. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 142](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=141) He had the same attitude to his life as a sculptor to his statue or a novelist to his novel. A novelist can rewrite or erase parts of their novel if they dislike them. But Zdena’s existence stopped Mirek from doing that with his life. Zdena insisted on staying in the beginning of his story. She refused to be erased. Plato shows Lysias as someone who thinks he can control all the risks and emotions of love through careful planning. Lysias' approach to life and love uses familiar tactics. The non-lover stands apart from his beloved's life, viewing it from a distance like a writer. Lysias’ ideas on love are a writer’s ideas, treating love as a fixed text that can be started anywhere or read backwards, always making sense. It is a boring speech, and the non-lover would be a dull lover. Yet, at one time, Phaedrus was charmed by the speech, reading it repeatedly as if he loved the words. There is a powerful attraction in Lysias’ words. What is it? Lysias' text offers readers something anyone in love would want: self-control. How do external events come in and control one’s mind? *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 143](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=142) The Greeks were very focused on the idea of desire, especially in its erotic form. In Homer's Iliad, this is shown in an encounter between Helen and Aphrodite. Aphrodite appears suddenly and makes Helen feel desire. Helen tries to resist, but Aphrodite threatens her, and she gives in. Desire is shown as something you can't escape. In Greek poetry, eros (desire) is often portrayed as an outside force that takes control of a person. It affects the lover’s body, mind, and life, making them feel weak and crazy. Poets describe eros as an invasion, illness, madness, or disaster. Eros can melt, burn, bite, or sting the lover. It uses nets, arrows, fire, and other things to attack. No one can fight off eros. It takes over quickly and changes you, usually for the worse. Plato, writing for an audience familiar with these ideas, reflects this belief. Lysias, a contemporary writer, also shows how eros can be harmful. He agrees that lovers are often out of control and cannot think clearly or control themselves. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 144](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=143) Lovers admit they are not in their right minds and can't control themselves. The lover taken over by eros can't control their mind or actions, leading to what Greeks call erotic madness or mania. Once eros enters, the lover goes mad. But it's hard to pinpoint when desire begins until it's too late. When falling in love, it is already too late. If you could find the moment love starts and block it, you'd control eros. Lysias' non-lover claims to have this control but doesn't explain how. This claim seems unbelievable since he speaks from the end of a love affair as if never overtaken by desire. Non-lovers remain "masters of themselves" (232a). Sokrates says such control is neither possible nor desirable for humans, calling it an economy of death. He says non-lovers' intimacy is mixed with mortal self-control, leading to miserly behavior that creates a begrudging spirit in the beloved, wrongly praised as virtue. Non-lovers avoid desire by measuring their emotions like a miser counting gold, taking no risks in their interaction with eros because they avoid the risky moment when desire starts. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 145](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=144) "Now" is the moment when change happens. The nonlover avoids change, like cicadas protected by a shell of self-control. He is confident in his life and love choices. He knows how his story will end and has erased the beginning. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 140](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=139) The static flowers of Adonis answer the question, "What would the lover ask of time?" Plato says that lovers and readers have similar, paradoxical desires. Lovers want ice to stay ice without melting, and readers want knowledge to stay fixed on a page. These desires cause pain because you watch your desire disappear. Plato understands this pain and recreates it in his dialectic to help communicate understanding. In the Phaedrus, Plato's analogies are like floating images in three-dimensional space, not flat diagrams. These analogies involve something paradoxical: Eros. Eros is the underlying force in the myth of Adonis and Aphrodite, reenacted in rituals of gardens. Eros is also the foundation of meaningful conversations and their written forms. These rituals and reenactments happen outside real time, in a controlled, suspended moment. We love this suspended time because it differs from ordinary time. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 141](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=140) We enjoy activities like festivals and reading because they take place in a special, timeless state and are not serious. This concerns Plato. He believes someone who confuses these activities with real life makes a big mistake. Just as rootless plants aren't the same as a dying Adonis, written words aren't the same as real spoken words. If a person mistakes symbols for reality, they end up with something lifeless, like a dead garden or a loveless relationship as Lysias suggests for the nonlover. Such a relationship lacks something vital: Eros (true love). *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 146](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=145) Read me the bit again about the thing that is pure. … read that bit, the thing we cannot turn our eyes to, you begin it. But Socrates keeps insisting on the beginning. After Phaedrus has read Lysias’ speech once, Socrates asks him to reread the opening words: "Come on, read me the beginning of Lysias’ speech." (262d) And then he asks him to reread it again: "Please, will you reread his beginning one more time?" (263e) Phaedrus is politely reluctant. He knows there is no real beginning in it, and he says so: "If you think so; but what you are looking for isn't there." *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 147](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=146) The thing Socrates is looking for is the 'now' of desire. However, Lysias starts his speech by talking about the past. He tells his boy, "You know my business and how I think these things that have happened should turn out." Socrates cannot find the beginning of Lysias' speech or his desire, which is very important. Beginnings are key. Socrates says that everything has a beginning except the beginning itself. Only the beginning controls itself. Lysias tries to control the start of eros by writing, but this is fiction. The real beginning of eros is something you cannot control. It is unpredictable and comes as a gift from the gods. After that moment, the story is up to you. This is the main difference between Socrates' and Lysias' views on desire. Socrates has Phaedrus search for the beginning in Lysias' speech to show that it is not something you can write or read. In Greek, "to read" means "to know again," so if you are reading, you are not at the beginning. According to Socrates, your story begins when Eros enters you. This is the biggest risk of your life, and how you handle it shows the quality and wisdom inside you. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 148](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=147) You suddenly realize what you are, what you lack, and what you could be. This perception is so different from ordinary perception that it is called madness. When you fall in love, you feel like you are seeing the world as it truly is. You seem to understand what is real and what is not. This feeling lifts you toward a clear understanding, making you joyful. Socrates believes this is not a delusion. It is a glimpse into time, showing realities you once knew, as beautiful as your beloved's glance (249e-50c). The moment Lysias removes from his speech, when Eros enters the lover, is the most important for Socrates. "Now" is a gift from the gods and a view into reality. Understanding what happens in your soul when Eros enters helps you learn how to live. Eros teaches you the true nature of yourself. Once you see that, you can become it. Socrates says this is a glimpse of a god (253a). Socrates' answer to the problem of time in love is opposite to Lysias'. Lysias edits out "now" and narrates from the past. Socrates says removing "now" is impossible and foolish. Even if it were possible, it would mean losing a unique and valuable moment. Socrates wants to embrace "now" so it lasts throughout life and beyond. Socrates would write his story within the moment of desire. This Socratic ambition will seriously affect Plato's story in the Phaedrus, making it disappear. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 149](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=148) Socrates and Lysias agree on the basic facts of erotic experience but interpret them very differently. Both see eros as something that changes a person drastically, often seen as madness. Lysias thinks that, like a mad person, someone overtaken by eros should be excluded or written out of your life. This view is in line with conventional ideas that see eros as a negative experience and value self-control (sōphrosynē) highly. Socrates challenges these ideas. He acknowledges that a nonlover can achieve self-control and that eros is a kind of madness. However, he sees this madness as something positive. Traditional Greek thought views change of self through eros as a loss and an unquestionable evil. Socrates disagrees, saying that it is not logical to prefer a nonlover over a lover just because the lover is mad. He argues that not all madness is bad; in fact, the greatest goods come to us through divine madness. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 150](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=149) I must say this story is not true, the story that a non-lover should be favored over a lover because the latter is mad and the former is sane. If madness were simply evil, the story would be fine. But the greatest good things come from madness when given by the gods (244a). Socrates' main argument is that keeping your mind to yourself shuts out the gods. Good and divine things are outside you and should be let in to change you. These divine influences instruct and enrich our lives; no prophet, healer, or poet could practice without losing their mind (244a-45). Madness is the tool of such intelligence. Erotic madness is valuable in private life, giving your soul wings. Socrates' explanation of madness as a beneficial experience relies on a theory of the soul that addresses questions of erotic control from traditional poetry. His analysis changes the poets' metaphors of eros to reshape the traditional view of erotic experience. Where poets see loss and damage, Socrates sees profit and growth. Where poets see ice melting, he sees wings growing. Where poets brace against takeover, he opens up for flight. In the end, there is a big difference between the erotic views of Socrates and those of Lysias and traditional Greek sentiment. Plato sums up this difference with one image: wings. In traditional poetry, wings symbolize Eros' power to control the lover, causing damage. When you fall in love, wings bring change that makes you lose your self-control. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 151](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=150) Sappho describes losing herself to desire in fragment 31. As desire takes over her body, mind, and senses, she says "eptoaisen," which means "it makes my heart fly inside me" or "it puts the heart in my chest on wings." Anakreon also describes this feeling, saying, "I am soaring toward Olympus on light wings because of Eros," for the boy he desires does not share his youth with him. Alkaios portrays Helen's madness from desire similarly: Eros made Helen's heart fly like a wing in her chest, driving her mad for a Trojan man and leading her to follow him across the sea. By Hellenistic times, the image of Eros' wings had become a common poetic theme, as seen in Arduas' epigram: "You should flee Eros": empty effort! How shall I elude on foot one who chases me on wings? Plato reimagines the traditional wings of Eros. In his view, wings are not foreign invaders but natural parts of each soul, a leftover from its immortal nature. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 152](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=151) Our souls once lived on wings among the gods, nourished by constantly seeing reality. Now we are exiled from that life, but we remember it when we see beauty and fall in love (246-51). We can recover this state through the soul's wings. Socrates describes how these wings grow under the right conditions, strong enough to carry the soul back to its beginnings. Falling in love causes sensations, both painful and pleasant, as your wings sprout (251-52). This is the start of what you are meant to be. Beginnings are crucial. Socrates emphasizes them because the moment eros begins is a glimpse of the immortal beginning of the soul. The "now" of desire connects time to timelessness, where the gods float, rejoicing in reality (247d-e). Entering "now" makes you remember what it's like to be truly alive, like the gods. This "memory" of a timeless time is paradoxical. The real difference between Socrates' and Lysias' views on love lies in this paradox. Lysias is scared of the paradox and rejects it; for him, every erotic "now" is just the start of an end. He prefers a constant, unchanging "then." But Socrates sees the paradoxical "now" as a moment of curious movement. At the beginning of the soul, a blind spot opens where "then" disappears. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 153](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=152) Wings mark the difference between mortal and immortal love stories. Lysias fears the beginning of eros because he thinks it is an end, while Socrates sees the beginning as endless. The presence or absence of wings in a lover’s story shapes their approach to love. Lysias values self-control (sōphrosynē) as a defense against the changes eros brings. Change is risky, but Socrates believes the risk is worthwhile. In the Phaedrus, negative images of changelessness include Midas, the cicadas, and the garden of Adonis, which remain unaltered by time. These images suggest that avoiding change leads to a lifeless existence. Conversely, Socrates' myth of wings shows what mortals can gain from eros. He understands that falling in love offers infinite benefits, but also acknowledges that something significant and difficult to quantify is lost when true eros affects you. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 154](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=153) When you fall in love, you leave behind the forms of ordinary life. The lover only cares about being with their beloved. Everything else becomes insignificant. Socrates describes this: the lover forgets his mother, brothers, and friends. He doesn’t care if he loses his property through neglect. He disregards the social norms and decency he once valued and is willing to be a slave, sleeping anywhere, as close as possible to his desire (252a). Falling in love changes your perspective on what is important. This leads to unusual behavior and ignoring social rules. Socrates says this is the common experience of lovers, which people call Eros (252b). But Eros has another name, Socrates reveals, leading to a pun. Socrates warns Phaedrus that the pun is “pretty outrageous” and possibly untrue (“you can credit this or not,” 252c). The pun involves two spurious lines of Homer, where the second line doesn’t scan properly. The lines highlight the difference between the language of gods and men. For the word desire, the difference is just two letters: Mortals call him winged Eros, but the gods call him Pterotas (winged one), because of the necessity of wings. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 155](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=154) Immortals call Eros "Pteros" because he has wings. The gods use the word "Pteros," from the Greek "pteron," meaning "wing." This name reflects the idea that desire involves a "wing-growing necessity." In Greek mythology, gods have their own language, as mentioned by Homer and discussed by Plato in Cratylus. Ancient Greeks believed that gods' names held deeper meanings. Socrates in Cratylus claims that divine names are more accurate. "Pteros" is truer than "Eros" because it explains both what desire is and why it exists. Mortals recognize the feeling of desire as "winged" but don't understand its cause. The gods, however, know the reason and name things accordingly. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 156](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=155) Pteros represents a gain in meaning but fails as poetry. Socrates warns that his quote is unmetrical; Pteros disrupts the rhythm of the second line. The verse is a dactylic hexameter, which scans fine except for the word "de," a short syllable that should stay short but turns long due to the following consonants "pt-" in Pteros. This causes a metrical issue similar to children wanting to hold ice but also put it down. "De" cannot be both long and short at the same time. Gods see reality differently, and their truth resists human measures. Plato uses this to show the difference between divine and human perspectives. Pteros disrupts metrics like Eros changes lives. Meter controls words in time for beauty, but Eros brings his own beauty, canceling previous values (252a). Plato’s flawed verse represents our interaction with Eros: gaining meaning by accepting Eros as Pteros but losing formal beauty. Lysias, in contrast, creates a perfect but meaningless love affair. Eros’ wings highlight the critical difference between gods and humans, defying human expression. Our words and rhythms are too limited, and true desire's meaning eludes us. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 157](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=156) Understanding Eros, especially through divine terms like "Pteros," isn't just about orthographic and metrical conventions—it's deeper. Even when we see Eros in his divine form or encounter a poetic line that hints at the true nature (pathos) and reason (aitia) of desire, we might not grasp it fully. For instance, the phrase "wing-growing necessity" in poetry is unclear to us because translators don't always understand its full meaning. This phrase is supposed to explain why Eros is called Pteros, but it's ambiguous. Does Eros have wings, need wings, or make others need wings? The gods might mean all these possibilities at once, but we can't be sure. Socrates acknowledges in Cratylus that understanding divine names is beyond human comprehension. For modern readers, figuring out Eros' name is even harder due to textual inconsistencies. Manuscripts of the Phaedrus offer different versions of the adjective translated as "wing-growing." "Pterophutor" (wing-growing) seems the most plausible, but our uncertainties about the text highlight Plato's point. No matter how advanced our technologies, our understanding of Eros remains unclear. While the gods might know the precise meaning of Pteros or "wing-growing necessity," we do not. We try to understand the experience of desire as it impacts our lives, but the deeper reason (aitia) remains hidden, disappearing into Plato's written words. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 158](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=157) The Phaedrus explores the dynamics and dangers of controlled time for readers, writers, and lovers. Socrates believes a true logos, like a real love affair, must be experienced in time. It can't be the same backwards as forwards, entered at any point, frozen at its peak, or ignored when interest fades. A reader, like a bad lover, might think they can jump into a text at any point and grasp its wisdom. A writer, like Lysias, might think they can rearrange their story without considering its life over time. Readers and writers dabble in the allure of words without undergoing the complete transformation that true erotic takeover involves. Like Odysseus bound to the mast, a reader might tease themselves with knowledge without being changed. This is voyeurism, as seen when Phaedrus is seduced by Lysias' written words. In Plato’s view, Lysias’ text is like philosophic pornography compared to Socrates' erotic logos. To demonstrate this, Plato can't just compare Lysias and Socrates as one dead text beside another. The demonstration requires a clever approach to be truly compelling. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 159](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=158) Plato layers different meanings and perspectives in his dialogues, creating a complex interplay. Other writers, like Sappho in fragment 31, layer desire on multiple levels, allowing readers to see both the actual and the possible simultaneously. Longus uses a similar technique by describing an apple on a tree plucked bare of fruit, captivating Daphnis and defying logic. Zeno's paradoxes suspend motion, showing Achilles running but going nowhere. These writers aim to recreate a mental and emotional action—reaching for an unknown meaning, which is never fully grasped and is bittersweet. In the Phaedrus, Plato's interplay of logoi (arguments) imitates this reaching action. As Phaedrus reads Lysias' speech and listens to Socrates, a deeper understanding of logos begins to emerge, showing the difference between what a logos is and what it is not. Eros represents this difference. Like a face moving across a mirror, Eros is elusive. You reach for him, but he disappears. The Phaedrus ends by discrediting written dialogues, a paradox that continues to intrigue readers. The knowledge of Eros, developed through the dialogue, vanishes into a blind spot, taking the logos with it. The conversation shifts from love to writing, and Eros is no longer mentioned. This transition perplexes those trying to define the dialogue concisely. But this elusiveness is fitting. If you try to grasp Eros within the Phaedrus, you will be eluded. Eros never looks at you directly; he moves in the space between. This elusive movement is the most erotic aspect of Eros. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 160](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=159) Imagine a city without desire. People still eat, drink, and have children mechanically, but their lives seem flat. They don't theorize, play, or use figurative speech. Few avoid pain, and none give gifts. They bury their dead and forget the graves. Zeno becomes mayor and copies the legal code onto bronze sheets. Occasionally, a man and woman might marry and live happily, like travelers meeting at an inn. At night, they dream the same dream, seeing fire move along a rope that binds them, but they likely forget the dream by morning. Storytelling is neglected. A city without desire lacks imagination. People only think what they already know. Fiction is seen as falsification, and delight is irrelevant. This city has an akinetic soul, a condition Aristotle might explain: whenever a creature moves toward what it desires, that movement... *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 161](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=160) Desire starts with an act of imagination, which Aristotle calls phantasia. Without imagination, neither animals nor humans would move beyond their current state or what they already know. Imagination drives minds to action by representing the desired object as desirable, telling the mind a story. This story must show the difference between what is present/known and what is not, between the desirer and the desired (Arist., De An. 3.10.433a-b). This concept is reflected in how poets, novelists, and philosophers portray desire. Sappho’s fragment 31, for instance, uses an “erotic triangle” to make all components of desire visible simultaneously, showing the interaction between the lover, the beloved, and the gap between them. This triangular shape is not just poetic elegance; it’s essential for understanding desire. Aristotle’s view of phantasia supports this. Every desiring mind uses imagination to reach its object. Thus, no lover can separate their desire from the imaginative, triangulating process seen in Sappho’s work. As ancient wisdom says, “Eros makes every man a poet” (Eur. Sthen., TGF, fr.663; Pl. Symp. 196e). Eros involves a story where the lover, the beloved, and the difference between them interact. This interaction is a mental fiction that carries an emotional charge, both painful and sweet, and emits a light like knowledge. Sappho understood this clearly and described it accurately. Her term "glukupikron," meaning 'bittersweet,' captures the essence of erotic experience. She also called Eros a 'myth-weaver,' reflecting the complex, imaginative nature of desire. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 162](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=161) Socrates calls Eros a Sophist, while Sappho calls him a “weaver of fictions” [mythoplokon], according to Maximus of Tyre (18.9; Sappho, LP, fr. 188). The term mythoplokos and its context highlight key aspects of Eros. For Sappho, the desirability of desire is linked to the fictional process she calls “weaving of myth.” Socrates, however, sees this process as similar to sophistry. This connection between Sappho and Socrates—pairing the storyteller with the professor of wisdom—shows they share Eros in common. In Greek texts, there is an ancient analogy between the pursuit of knowledge and the pursuit of love, seen from its earliest mention in the Homeric verb mnaomai. When we reconsider this analogy, with Sappho and Socrates representing its two poles, we encounter a difficulty. Socrates often merges these poles into one. For him, understanding reality and pursuing the desirable are the same quest. He frequently speaks of his search for wisdom as a knowledge of “erotic things” (ta erōtika: Symp. 177d; Theag. 128b). While he does not explicitly define ta erōtika, we can infer its meaning from his life story. Socrates loved to ask questions, hear answers, build arguments, test definitions, and solve riddles, watching them unfold in a spiraling structure within logos (Phdr. 274a; cf. 272c) or a vertigo (Soph. 264c). He loved the process of coming to know. He explains exactly where Eros fits into the process of knowing or thinking. Eros lies at the intersection of two principles of reasoning. Reasoning involves perceiving and bringing together scattered particulars to clarify and understand. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 163](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=162) According to Plato, thinking involves two key activities: "collection" and "division." Collection (synagoge) means gathering different things together to form a single definition or idea. Division (diaeresis) means splitting things into categories based on their natural differences. This process allows us to understand similarities and differences simultaneously. A thinking mind grasps what it knows and reaches out to what it doesn’t know, connecting the two while keeping their differences clear. This space between the known and unknown is an "erotic space," requiring careful balancing, much like Sappho’s fragment 31 and its layered representation of desire. Socrates locates Eros in this intellectual space. He describes "collection and division" as the foundation of his ability to think and speak, and he claims to be in love with this process. He says to Phaedrus, "I am myself a lover [erastēs] of these divisions and collections." This statement is significant and reflects Socrates' dedication to this method, driven by a question that began with the Oracle at Delphi declaring him the wisest of men, as recounted in Plato's Apology. This declaration deeply affected Socrates and guided his lifelong pursuit of knowledge. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 165](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=164) After much research and reflection, Socrates concluded what the oracle meant: "In this one small thing at least it seems I am wiser—that I do not think I know what I do not know" (Ap. 21d). Socrates' wisdom lies in recognizing the difference between what is known and unknown, motivating his lifelong search. He loved this pursuit. From Socrates and Sappho's testimonies, we can imagine life in a city without desire. Both describe Eros with wings and flying metaphors, as desire moves hearts from here to there, launching minds on a story. In a desireless city, such flights are unimaginable. Wings are clipped. The known and unknown align so closely that they seem the same from a proper angle. Visible differences fade, and mnaomai (to recall or remember) might mean "a fact is a fact." Reaching beyond facts, as Socrates did, risks leaving the city and perhaps this world. Socrates saw this risk as worthwhile because he loved the pursuit itself. And who doesn't? *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 68](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=67) Claw is covered with many shining diamonds. ==The original branch cannot be recognized anymore. Crystallization is a mental process that finds new proofs of the loved one’s perfection from everything that happens. Kierkegaard talks about this “sensuously idealizing power” that makes the desired person appear more beautiful.== He says Don Juan’s power to seduce comes from this “energy of sensuous desire.” Freudian theory also notes this ability of human erotic instinct, calling it ‘transference’ in psychoanalysis. Transference happens when a patient falls in love with the doctor, even if the doctor remains distant and discouraging. The patient learns an important lesson about love by realizing they are creating a love object from nothing. Modern novelists are fascinated by this. In "Anna Karenina," Anna’s passion for Vronsky involves a mental act where she compares the real Vronsky to the perfect image she has of him in her mind. Similarly, in "Madame Bovary," Emma’s love letters to Rodolphe reflect her imagining him as a mix of her strongest desires and fantasies, making him almost real but not quite clear in her mind. ##### The original branch cannot be recognized anymore. Crystallization is a mental process that finds new proofs of the loved one’s perfection from everything that happens. Kierkegaard talks about this “sensuously idealizing power” that makes the desired person appear more beautiful. *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 69](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=68) Calvino's novel The Nonexistent Knight features a woman who only desires the knight, an empty suit of armor. She can't desire anyone else because they are either known or knowable. The main idea is that once something is known or possessed, it can't be desired anymore. ==Stendhal says in love, only delight matters, not possession. Socrates says Eros (love) is about lack.== Yasunari Kawabata’s novel Beauty and Sadness gives a subtle image of this. It tells about Oki, a novelist, and Fumiko, his typist wife. Oki is fascinated by the difference between his handwritten manuscripts and the printed versions. This fascination fades as he gets used to the gap between them, and he loses passion for Fumiko, taking a mistress instead. ==Desire is felt in the difference between reality and imagination. Delight, according to Aristotle, is a movement of the soul. Without difference, there's no movement and no Eros. This spark in the lover's soul creates a feeling of nearly grasping something new, often leading to self-discovery.== Not all lovers respond negatively to this knowledge. Virginia Woolf's character, Neville, feels a mix of loss and elation. ##### Stendhal says in love, only delight matters, not possession. Socrates says Eros (love) is about lack. ##### Desire is felt in the difference between reality and imagination. Delight, according to Aristotle, is a movement of the soul. Without difference, there's no movement and no Eros. This spark in the lover's soul creates a feeling of nearly grasping something new, often leading to self-discovery. *** #### eros is lack Emma Bovary’s love letters to Rodolphe enact the same process: “But as she wrote she saw in her mind’s eye another man, a phantom composed of her most passionate memories, her most enjoyable books, and her strongest desires; at last he became so real and so tangible that she was thrilled and amazed, yet he was so hidden under the abundance of his virtues that she was unable to imagine him clearly” (quoted in Girard 1965, 63-64). The heroine of ItaloCalvino’s novel The Nonexistent Knight is a splendid voluptuary who finds she can only feel genuine desire for the knight of the title, an empty suit of armour; all others are either known or knowable and cannot arouse her. Here we arrive at the nub of the matter, not for the first time. That which is known, attained, possessed, cannot be an object of desire. “In love possession is nothing, only delight matters,” says Stendhal (1957, 112). Eros is lack, says Sokrates. This dilemma is given a still more subtle image by Yasunari Kawabata. His novel Beauty and Sadness (1975) recounts the early days of the marriage of Oki and Fumiko. Oki is a novelist and Fumiko a typist in a news agency. She types all his manuscripts and this connection is the substance of Oki’s newlywed fascination with his bride:It was something of a lover’s game, the sweet togetherness of newlyweds, but there was more to it than that. When his work first appeared in a magazine he was astonished at the difference in effect between a penwritten manuscript and the tiny characters in print. (34)As Oki becomes habituated to this “gap between manuscript and published work” his passion for Fumiko fades and he takes a mistress.It is in the difference between cursive and typeface, between the real Vronsky and the imaginary one, between Sappho and “the man who listens closely,” between an actual knight and an empty suit of armour, that desire is felt. Across this space a spark of eros moves in the lover’s mind to activate delight. Delight is a movement (kinēsis) of the soul, in Aristotle’s definition (Rh. 1.1369b19). No difference: no movement. No Eros. [Page 69](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=67&start=1614&length=453&search=Emma%20Bovary%E2%80%99s%20love%20letters%20to%20Rodolphe%20enact%20the%20same%20process%3A%20%E2%80%9CBut%20as%20she%20wrote%20she%20saw%20in%20her%20mind%E2%80%99s%20eye%20another%20man,%20a%20phantom%20composed%20of%20her%20most%20passionate%20memories,%20her%20most%20enjoyable%20books,%20and%20her%20strongest%20desires%3B%20at%20last%20he%20became%20so%20real%20and%20s) | | | | :--: | ---- | | 🪐 | [eros is lack](brain://api.thebrain.com/GHrLFdeH20SQwYOIyOv1GA/vj0mPQ44YUCuuT_STKMb-w/ErosIsLack) | | 📚 | [[📚Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson#eros is lack]] | | 🗿 | [[🗿Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson#eros is lack]] | *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 70](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=69) Nietzsche talks about the change of self and criticizes the modern world for agreeing to everything. The Greek poets, however, do not always say yes. They admit that erotic experience is sweet at first (gluku) and see ideal possibilities for selfhood through it, often by making Eros, the god of love, divine. Sappho shows this ideal in the person listening closely in her fragment 31. In Plato’s "Symposium," Alkibiades, a more self-centered lover, pursues Socrates to perfect himself. He says nothing is more important than becoming the best he can be, but he lacks the joy of seeing self-improvement as part of his identity. ==In ancient stories, bittersweet Eros is usually seen negatively. A positive view might happen if the lover uses his desires to become a new and better self, but is this what the lover truly wants from love?== Aristophanes in Plato’s "Symposium" questions this by imagining lovers embracing and suggesting they long for something deeper, something they can't express clearly but hint at through riddles and oracles. This "something else" remains undefined but is a profound desire of the soul. ##### In ancient stories, bittersweet Eros is usually seen negatively. A positive view might happen if the lover uses his desires to become a new and better self, but is this what the lover truly wants from love? *** #### the lover's journey explores whether love aims for positive self-reincorporation or remains in lack A mood of knowledge is emitted by the spark that leaps in the lover’s soul. He feels on the verge of grasping something not grasped before. In the Greek poets it is a knowledge of self that begins to come into focus, a self not known before and now disclosed by the lack of it—by pain, by a hole, bitterly. Not all lovers respond to erotic knowledge so negatively. We were struck by the equanimity with which Virginia Woolf’s character, Neville, records “Something now leaves me” (1931, 83) and we saw what a gust of elation accompaniesthe change of self for Nietzsche (1967, 426). But then, Nietzsche calls the modern world an ass that says yes to everyhing. The Greek poets do not say yes. They allow that erotic experience is sweet to begin with: gluku. They acknowledge ideal possibilities opened out for selfhood by erotic experience; they do so, in general, by divinizing it in the person of the god Eros. Sappho, as we have seen, projects the ideal in the particular person of “the man who listens closely” in fragment 31. A more narcissistic lover, namely Alkibiades in Plato’s Symposium, subsumes the ideal to himself, blandly announcing his motive for pursuing Sokrates:ἐμοὶ μὲυ γὰρ οὐδέν ἐστι πρɛσβύτɛρον τοῦ ὡς ὅτι βέλτιστου ἐμὲ γɛνέσθαιFor me nothing has a higher priority than to perfect myself. (Symp. 218d)But a sense of exultation at the thought of incorporating the self’s possibilities within the self’s identity is missing. In these ancient representations, bittersweet Eros prints consistently as a negative image. Presumably, a positive picture could be made if the lover were ever to reincorporate his lack into a new and better self. Or could it? Is that positive picture what the lover wants from love?An ancient answer presents itself. Aristophanes puts this very question to a pair of imaginary lovers in Plato’s Symposium. He pictures the lovers locked in an embrace and dismisses as absurd the notion that this “mere amorous union” (sunousia tōn aphrodisiōn, 192c) is all they want:ἀλλ’ ἄλλο τι βονλομένη ἑκατέρον ἡ ψυχὴ δήλη ἐστίν, ὃ οὐ δύναται ɛἰπɛῖν, ἀλλὰ μαντɛύɛται ὃ βούλɛται, καὶ αἰνίττɛται.No, obviously the soul of each is longing for something else which it cannot put into normal words but keeps trying to express in oracles and riddles. [Page 70](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=68&start=1642&length=536&search=A%20mood%20of%20knowledge%20is%20emitted%20by%20the%20spark%20that%20leaps%20in%20the%20lover%E2%80%99s%20soul.%20He%20feels%20on%20the%20verge%20of%20grasping%20something%20not%20grasped%20before.%20In%20the%20Greek%20poets%20it%20is%20a%20knowledge%20of%20self%20that%20begins%20to%20come%20into%20focus,%20a%20self%20not%20known%20before%20and%20now%20disclos) | | | | :--: | ---- | | 🪐 | [the lover's journey explores whether love aims for positive self-reincorporation or remains in lack](brain://api.thebrain.com/GHrLFdeH20SQwYOIyOv1GA/EpWYZQpPL069McqHK-PBlA/TheLoversJourneyExploresWhetherLoveAimsForPositiveSelfreincorpor) | | 📚 | [[📚Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson#the lover's journey explores whether love aims for positive self-reincorporation or remains in lack]] | | 🗿 | [[🗿Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson#the lover's journey explores whether love aims for positive self-reincorporation or remains in lack]] | *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 71](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=70) ==Suppose Hephaistos, the god, came to two lovers lying together and asked, "What do you want from each other?" If they were unsure, he would ask again, "Do you want to be so close that you never leave each other, day or night? If that's what you want, I can melt you together and make you one being. You will live and die as one."== Hephaistos offers eternal oneness. The lovers' response isn't given. Instead, Aristophanes says, "No lover could want anything else." But can we trust Aristophanes or Hephaistos on what lovers really want? There are two problems. First, Hephaistos, who is often betrayed, isn't the best expert on love. Second, Aristophanes' claim is contradicted by his own story. The round beings in his myth weren't perfectly happy before they were split. They started having big ideas and tried to reach Olympus. ##### Suppose Hephaistos, the god, came to two lovers lying together and asked, "What do you want from each other?" If they were unsure, he would ask again, "Do you want to be so close that you never leave each other, day or night? If that's what you want, I can melt you together and make you one being. You will live and die as one." *** #### [Eros the Bittersweet - an Essay by Anne Carson Page 72](x-devonthink-item://6DEE4279-3246-4320-9C55-4472DACBCA3A?page=71) They started to reach for something beyond the gods. So much for oneness. As we've seen, the lover’s mind does not focus on the number ‘one’ when expressing desire. Triangulation shows his true self. His joy is in reaching; reaching for something perfect would be perfect delight. The sweet apple still hanging in Sappho’s fragment 105a shows this painful but delightful fact. ==We've examined Sappho’s tactics of keeping desire and desirability alive by creating incompleteness. Similar tactics appear in lovers' logic, creating a new kind of solitude. These are tactics of imagination, sometimes enhancing the beloved, sometimes rethinking the lover. They aim to define a clear edge or difference between two images that cannot merge because they come from different levels of reality—one is real, one is possible. Knowing both and keeping the difference visible is the trick called eros.== ##### We've examined Sappho’s tactics of keeping desire and desirability alive by creating incompleteness. Similar tactics appear in lovers' logic, creating a new kind of solitude. These are tactics of imagination, sometimes enhancing the beloved, sometimes rethinking the lover. They aim to define a clear edge or difference between two images that cannot merge because they come from different levels of reality—one is real, one is possible. Knowing both and keeping the difference visible is the trick called eros. ***