“The best things we have come from madness” (244a). This is a quote from a dialogue written by Plato featuring Socrates and his friend, Phaedrus. It is spoken by Socrates in a second speech about the difference between a lover and a non-lover. In this speech he claims that choosing the non-lover over the lover should only be accepted if madness was intrinsically bad, if instead madness was given as the gift of the gods then one should choose the lover. The relationship between love and madness is that without divine madness then love would cease to exist and souls could not see the true form of Beauty. In Socrates first speech, he states that a beloved should only accept the advances of a non-lover rather than those of a lover. However, after
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The good one, or the one given by the gods, divine madness and the bad one, the animal madness that is based on physical instincts and passion. Animal madness is seen in the form of a lover seeking to satisfy himself with a beautiful young man, and just as quickly leaving him for the next one that he likes, or perhaps staying with the young man only to isolate and degrade him and ruin his chances of succeeding in society out of jealousy or pettiness and also teaching the young man the same bad qualities. Divine madness is the one that overtakes a man’s soul who when the soul sees his beloved is reminded of true Beauty, in other words, the Form of Beauty, which was glimpsed over the edges of reality while following after the gods in heaven. Upon seeing this true Beauty the soul moves back into heaven since its immorality is constantly restored with love. So if the origin of madness is of humans then it is considered evil and hurtful and the divine madness is the only one that benefits the soul. The idea and nature of love is the main theme in Phaedrus, but madness being influenced by forces greater than oneself makes madness and love inseparable. The latest quote used as an example introduces madness as a companion of love. This is enforced when Socrates is talking about divine madness and says that the ancestors “never thought of madness as something to be ashamed of or worthy of blame” (244c). Just like love,
The good one, or the one given by the gods, divine madness and the bad one, the animal madness that is based on physical instincts and passion. Animal madness is seen in the form of a lover seeking to satisfy himself with a beautiful young man, and just as quickly leaving him for the next one that he likes, or perhaps staying with the young man only to isolate and degrade him and ruin his chances of succeeding in society out of jealousy or pettiness and also teaching the young man the same bad qualities. Divine madness is the one that overtakes a man’s soul who when the soul sees his beloved is reminded of true Beauty, in other words, the Form of Beauty, which was glimpsed over the edges of reality while following after the gods in heaven. Upon seeing this true Beauty the soul moves back into heaven since its immorality is constantly restored with love. So if the origin of madness is of humans then it is considered evil and hurtful and the divine madness is the only one that benefits the soul. The idea and nature of love is the main theme in Phaedrus, but madness being influenced by forces greater than oneself makes madness and love inseparable. The latest quote used as an example introduces madness as a companion of love. This is enforced when Socrates is talking about divine madness and says that the ancestors “never thought of madness as something to be ashamed of or worthy of blame” (244c). Just like love,