Kinds of love and their brief characteristic in Greek philosophy

At all times and in all nations, love was considered to be the purest, most profound and irresistible feeling that can completely take possession of a person and give him either unlimited bliss or a black emptiness, darkness and suffering. Every person in his life experiences this feeling and it is believed that there are various kinds of love.

But love is not the same. It can manifest itself in completely different ways, and each person carries within himself his own definition of love, based on experience. No one can say exactly what this is connected with, but there are many myths, legends and even philosophical treatises trying to somehow explain the nature of this feeling. This is how the most diverse classifications appeared, according to which there are kinds of love.

From this point of view, Greek philosophy and mythology is an interesting aspect for studying. For example, three main types of love are distinguished among the Greeks.

The brightest of them is Eros. Such love provides a strong passion, passion. Lovers tend to completely merge with a person, to possess them in a physical sense.

Ludus is considered a completely different form of love. This is a kind of game with a man in whom there is passion, passion, but the feelings here are rather superficial. Such emotions bring pleasure, missing the pain, jealousy and betrayal. Such love is synonymous with flirting, which does not bind you to anything and does not grow into something more.

There is also another form of love, which is called strict, and this is more friendship than love. Between partners there is always affection, tender and warm relations, but there is no all-consuming passion.

But in fact, these are only three basic, fundamental kinds of love, which are very rare in pure form. That is why in Greek philosophy there are also mixed kinds of love, which, by the way, are encountered much more often.

For example, a fairly common form is pragma, which by its nature is a mixture of strict and ludus. This is a vivid example of pragmatic love, or, as it is called, love of convenience. Yes, the feelings are not too deep, but at the same time people are attached to each other and experience some tenderness and warmth. Such feelings are very easy to control, and a person can easily manage them. Emotions never cloud the mind and do not force people to commit insane acts. It's just that people are well together and there may be a drop in this.

One of the most moving forms of falling in love is agape, which is a combination of strictness and eros. Such love is absolutely unselfish and patient, does not recognize selfishness and is based on caring for a loved one. Unfortunately, such feelings are rather rare. Loving people are absolutely faithful, they literally dissolve into each other, while feeling indescribable bliss. And if this love is mutual, then the couple in love will be happy together even in spite of domestic turmoil or small quarrels. On the other hand, this feeling is also somewhat dangerous. After all, if you take away from a person the object of his adoration, his life is simply lost meaning.

One of the most dangerous forms of this feeling is mania. Here the name speaks for itself, since mania is considered a mixture of Ludus and Eros. This is a very deep feeling, compare real obsession. Such love destroys happy families, causes murder and tragedy, brings pain and destruction to human life. After all, an obligatory element is dependence on the object of adoration and uncertainty about reciprocity. And if they still start living together, then such a variety, as a rule, grows into some other form or disappears altogether, leaving behind pain, hatred and anger. To live long with such overwhelming feelings is simply impossible, because together with happiness, they bring terrible spiritual anguish.

In fact, there are many treatises and works devoted to this immortal feeling. And if you study the forms of love from Fromm, you can see that he singles out the so-called brotherly love, which he considers fundamental. In this feeling there is concern, tenderness, desire to protect. This is a kind of biblical love, when a person loves his neighbor as himself, even if he has completely lost the ability to love.

Love can be completely different, bring happiness, or suffering, throw into the pool of beautiful sensations, or forever imprison in pain in a dungeon. It all depends on the nature of people, their inclinations and the desire to work on themselves.