Comparative Literature and Culture 2125A/B Lecture Notes - Sacred Love, Philia, Politeia
Document Summary
Organized religions : islam, christianity, mosaism (judaism) Atheist: a person who believes they do not believe in any gods. Idea of belief: question of personal history, family upbringing, etc. Latin: eros > amor, agape > charity. Pagan: not considered christians, or christianity based. Muslims use infidels for their word for pagan. Christianity has been a militant religion : soldier of god. Christianity started spreading around 50 a. d: st. paul. Plato: distinction between three kinds of love > eros, philia, and agape, eros: sexual love. Define yourself as gay, lesbian, straight or bisexual: philia: love of friends, love of family members (non-sexual) In general, if it becomes sexual love = incest, which is heavily punished in many societies: agape: sacred love, love of the soul, transcends itself into the divine. Meets divinity, or the spirit of the divine. St. paul: reduced the kinds of love to only two, agape: the love of god.