Abstract

The ancients were interested in the questions of what love really is, why it exists, and how it is experienced. This book presents the best examples, from Homer to Apuleius, interpreted and analyzed by the author. Through an examination of these selections from Greek and Latin literature, some main themes are revealed: success in love with the help of a god; the pursuit of happiness, unity, and completeness; love and beauty; love as an illness, wound, or suffering; betrayal in love, adultery, murder, and death; love as the creating force of the world; the existence of friendship; the basis of parental love; the meaning of love for oneself; the basis and the results of the gods' love for humans. Also included is a comparison of ancient ideas of love with those in later literature and our own ideas about love today.