Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Eros

Lewis has a very interesting take on love between a man and a woman that I have never heard described from anyone before quite like the way he does. It’s clear that Lewis is a firm believer in the emotional relationship between man and woman being the key to their success as a couple. In order to separate the emotional and sexual side of the relationship Lewis uses the terms Eros and Venus. Venus is the sexual desire and side of a relationship and Eros is the deeper more important part of the relationship. The way that Lewis describes Eros reminds me of the term soul mates. He says that Eros is the sensation of being “in love” and that when this happens the two people involved can’t stand to be apart from each other. He says that they reach the point where they would rather be together and miserable than apart and content.

It seems that in modern culture sex is so commercialized and, in some cases, has become so casual that we don’t think twice about how often we see it dispersed through the media. This is part of the reason why I was so surprised when describing Eros Lewis said “The fact that she is a woman is far less important than the fact that she is herself.” I was shocked to hear this line because it’s not often that you hear something poetic like that now, that really shows how deeply a person can be cared about for who they are alone, and not be expected to do anything else to be appreciated besides be themselves.

I liked Lewis’ connection to diving in and swimming to describe how Eros works. It is easy to dive in and fall in love. All you have to do is have a little faith and take the plunge. The tough part is when you are in the water and you have to stay afloat. Eros can get you in the water and it can for sure keep you in there, but in order to make the relationship work you have to add sense and responsibility to make sure that you are floating instead of drowning.

1 comment:

  1. I totally agree with you! Can I just suggest that you may want to finish all the readings of 'The Four Loves' and look at the other loves 'Storge', Philia and finally 'Agape' love (not in your assigned readings but worth a discussion) that can teach us how to love in Eros? I.e. Learning to be like Christ and loving your own family, and learning to have and cultivate friendships should come before those of Eros or Venus? I.e. Agape > Storge > Philia > Eros > Venus?
    I would encourage you to read it!
    God Bless,
    Adriana & Paulo

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