phanes' discussion of lovers and their beloveds is orchestrated by his myth. However, the myth is only an analogy representing his adamant belief that human beings are incomplete without their beloveds. Lovers complement each other in many ways.An idealistic person will compensate for the realist, a romantic complements a stoic, and same for an optimist and a pessimist. Thus, lovers provide each other balance in life, which often means one thing..... happiness! The beloveds in Socrates' speech are symbolic nature of good and beauty. The lovers are those who desire possession of them. If this is so, then every human being is a lover; everyone of us is Love. For, we all know what it is to desire good and beauty. Nevertheless, Socrates installs boundaries and limitations when he says that people must devote themselves exclusively to the beloveds; only then are they 'in love' and are they considered 'lovers.' The love Socrates speaks of is almost absolute and unconditional. A revolutionist fighting for a cause would be considered a lover; the cause in which he believes to be good is his beloved. Socrates, however, argues that "a lover does not seek the half or whole." Thus, he opposes Aristophanes' view. However, in dissecting the speeches, one can interpret that Aristophanes' "other half" must represent good and beauty. And the special love Socrates speaks off, in essence, would fulfill and complete his existence. This may not necessarily be physical complement, but it is indeed, spiritual. What is the work of love? The central, grandest achievement of love is unity.Aristophanes believes that the union of lovers and their beloveds ultimately brings abouthappiness. In the myth, Aristophanes tells us that Apollo was commanded to heal the wound after human beings were split apart and reoriented. Here, he personifies love as a healer. It is the great work of love that mediates the union between lovers: "love calls back the halves of our origin...
