batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l1661-l1745
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg-l1661-l1745
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
passage_locator:
label: Symposium / SYMPOSIUM / INTRODUCTION. / SYMPOSIUM; lines 1661-1745
start: '1661'
end: '1745'
translation: Symposium
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: 'Aristophanes praises Love by recounting an account of original human nature:
humans were once three round double-bodied kinds with great strength, attacked
the gods, were cut in two by Zeus and reshaped by Apollo, and now seek their other
halves through love and union.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Aristophanes says he will praise Love differently from Pausanias and Eryximachus.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Love is described as a friend, helper, and healer of human ills, and as deserving
temples, altars, and sacrifices.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: 'The passage says original human nature differed from the present and that
there were originally three sexes: man, woman, and a combined double nature called
Androgynous.'
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Primeval humans are described as round, with four hands, four feet, one head
with two opposite faces, four ears, two sexual organs, and corresponding remaining
parts.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: 'The three original sexes are associated with sun, earth, and moon: man with
sun, woman with earth, and man-woman with moon.'
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The primeval humans are said to have great strength and to have attacked the
gods.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The passage refers to Otys and Ephialtes as a parallel tale of beings who
dared to scale heaven and lay hands on the gods.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: The gods deliberate whether to destroy humans with thunderbolts, but this
would end human sacrifices and worship.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:9
text: Zeus decides to cut humans in two, reducing their strength and increasing
their number, while preserving their usefulness to the gods.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: Zeus threatens that if humans remain insolent, they may be split again and
forced to hop on one leg.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:11
text: Apollo is instructed to turn the face and neck, heal wounds, shape the body,
and leave the navel and nearby wrinkles as a memorial of the former state.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:12
text: After division, each half desires its other half and embraces it, longing
to grow into one.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:13
text: The separated halves neglect food and activity and are near death because
they do not wish to act apart.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:14
text: Zeus changes the position of the sexual organs so humans can reproduce with
one another and continue the race, or be satisfied in embrace and return to ordinary
life.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:15
text: The passage explains desire as the ancient impulse to reunite original nature,
making one from two and healing the human condition.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:16
text: Different erotic attachments are explained as resulting from the kind of original
whole of which each person is a section.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Aristophanes
description: Speaker who presents this discourse on Love and original human nature.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Love
description: A god or divine power described as friend, helper, and healer of human
beings.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Original human beings
description: Primeval round double-bodied humans of three kinds, later split into
halves.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Zeus
description: God who devises and carries out the plan to split humans and later
changes their reproductive arrangement.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:9
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Apollo
description: God instructed to turn, heal, and reshape the divided humans.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: The gods
description: Divine council considering how to respond to human insolence without
losing sacrifices and worship.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Otys and Ephialtes
description: Referenced figures who, according to the passage, dared to scale heaven
and would have laid hands upon the gods.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Separated human halves
description: Post-division humans who desire and seek their other halves.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:10
- ev:11
roles:
- id: role:1
label: speaker of explanatory myth
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Aristophanes introduces and narrates the account of Love and human origins.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: healer and helper
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Love is described as helper and healer of the ills impeding human happiness.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: primeval whole beings
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Original humans are described as complete round beings with doubled limbs
and faces.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: rebellious beings
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Their strength and great thoughts lead them to attack the gods.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: divine punisher
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Zeus cuts humans in two to humble them and reduce their strength.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:6
label: preserver of the race
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Zeus devises a reproductive arrangement so the human race may continue.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:7
label: divine healer and shaper
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Apollo heals wounds and composes the forms after the division.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: role:8
label: deliberating divine authority
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The gods deliberate over how to respond to human rebellion.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:9
label: parallel heaven-scalers
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: They are cited as beings who dared to scale heaven and threaten the gods.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:10
label: seeking halves
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Separated humans seek, embrace, and long to reunite with their other halves.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:10
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: round primeval body
literal_form: Round human body with doubled limbs and faces
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: three original sexes
literal_form: Man, woman, and Androgynous man-woman
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: sun, moon, and earth parentage
literal_form: Sun, moon, and earth assigned as parents or analogues of the three
original kinds
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: cutting in two
literal_form: Zeus cutting humans into halves
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: navel memorial
literal_form: Navel and remaining wrinkles left as a memorial of the primeval state
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:6
label: other half
literal_form: Separated counterpart sought by each human half
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: sym:7
label: embrace of reunion
literal_form: Separated halves throwing arms about one another and longing to grow
into one
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Aristophanes introduces praise of Love
summary: Aristophanes says Love has been neglected and presents Love as a divine
helper and healer.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Description of original human nature
summary: Original humans are described as three round double-bodied kinds associated
with sun, earth, and moon.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Rebellion and divine deliberation
summary: The powerful primeval humans attack the gods; the gods consider destruction
but hesitate because they depend on human worship and sacrifice.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Zeus divides humans
summary: Zeus plans to humble humans by splitting them in two, reducing their strength
while increasing their numbers.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:5
label: Apollo reshapes the divided bodies
summary: Apollo turns the face and neck, heals the wounds, shapes the body, and
leaves the navel as a sign of the former condition.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Separated halves seek reunion
summary: Each divided half seeks its other half, embraces it, and longs to become
one again, endangering survival through self-neglect.
figure_refs:
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: scene:7
label: Zeus establishes reproductive union
summary: Zeus changes human sexual arrangement so that human embraces can produce
offspring or satisfaction and allow people to return to life’s business.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- ev:10
- id: scene:8
label: Erotic orientations explained by original sections
summary: The speaker explains different attachments as arising from whether a person
is a section of an original man, woman, or Androgynous being.
figure_refs:
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: primordial doubled beings split into halves
taxonomy_refs:
- duality
basis: The passage states that humans were originally doubled round beings and that
Zeus cut them in two, producing the present divided human condition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:6
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy label is broad; the passage’s specific form is a philosophical-mythic
account of human division.
- id: motif:2
label: longing to reunite with the lost other half
taxonomy_refs:
- annihilation_union
basis: Separated halves desire each other, embrace, and seek to become one again;
desire is explicitly said to make one from two and heal humanity.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:10
confidence: high
cautions: The taxonomy reference is approximate because the passage emphasizes reunion
and healing rather than literal annihilation.
- id: motif:3
label: divine punishment for assault on heaven
taxonomy_refs:
- divine_judgment
basis: Primeval humans attack the gods, and Zeus imposes a bodily transformation
to humble them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The punishment preserves rather than destroys humans, and is framed as
a humorous explanatory myth within a speech.
- id: motif:4
label: divine healer completes transformed humanity
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Apollo is commanded to heal wounds and compose the forms after Zeus divides
humans.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a functional episode within the larger division myth rather than
a standalone motif family in the supplied taxonomy.
- id: motif:5
label: body mark as memorial of primordial condition
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The navel and wrinkles near it are left as a memorial of the primeval state
after bodily reshaping.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: No supplied taxonomy reference directly matches this etiological body-mark
motif.
- id: motif:6
label: mythic explanation of erotic attachments
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage explains different sexual and romantic attachments by reference
to the original whole of which a person is a section.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: high
cautions: The account reflects the speaker’s discourse and categories in the passage;
no broader comparison is asserted.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage itself compares the primeval humans’ attack on the gods with
the tale of Otys and Ephialtes, who dared to scale heaven and threaten the gods.
claim_level: same_function
target: Otys and Ephialtes heaven-scaling episode in Greek epic tradition as cited
in the passage
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The claim is limited to the explicit comparison made in the passage
and does not establish historical dependence beyond the citation.
- id: claim:2
claim: The divine council’s option of destroying humans with thunderbolts is presented
as analogous to what the gods had done to the giants.
claim_level: same_function
target: giants destroyed by thunderbolts as cited in the passage
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The giants episode is only briefly referenced as a precedent; details
are not supplied in this passage.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 1661-1671
quote_or_summary: Aristophanes announces a different praise of Love and describes
Love as neglected, deserving worship, and as the best friend, helper, and healer
of human beings.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 1671-1685
quote_or_summary: 'Original human nature is said to have had three sexes: man, woman,
and Androgynous; primeval humans were round and had four hands, four feet, two
faces on one head, four ears, two sexual organs, and corresponding parts.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 1685-1691
quote_or_summary: The three original sexes are connected with sun, earth, and moon,
and their round movement is compared with their parents.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 1691-1696
quote_or_summary: The primeval humans are powerful, have great thoughts, and attack
the gods; the tale of Otys and Ephialtes is cited as a similar daring attempt
to scale heaven and seize the gods.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 1696-1702
quote_or_summary: The gods debate whether to destroy humans with thunderbolts as
they had the giants, but hesitate because this would end sacrifices and worship.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 1702-1714
quote_or_summary: Zeus proposes to humble humans by cutting them in two, decreasing
their strength, increasing their numbers, and threatening further division if
they remain insolent.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 1714-1728
quote_or_summary: After Zeus cuts humans apart, Apollo is ordered to turn face and
neck, heal wounds, shape the body, fasten the belly’s drawn-in skin at the navel,
and leave marks as a memorial of the original condition.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: 1728-1737
quote_or_summary: After division, each half desires its other half, embraces it,
longs to grow into one, and risks dying from hunger and neglect because it does
not wish to act separately.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: 1737-1744
quote_or_summary: Zeus, pitying the halves, changes the position of their generative
parts so that male and female union may produce children and the race may continue,
while male-male embrace may bring satisfaction and allow return to daily business.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: 1744-1745
quote_or_summary: The speaker states that ancient desire reunites original nature,
makes one out of two, and heals the human condition.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: '1745'
quote_or_summary: The speaker explains attachments to women, female companions,
and males as arising from whether individuals are sections of the original Androgynous,
female, or male forms.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/symposium-jowett.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The passage is explicit about figures, sequence, and major motifs. Taxonomy
mapping is partly approximate because the available motif families are broad.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
Used only the supplied passage and metadata. All quotations avoided in favor of concise summaries.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-plato-symposium-jowett-gutenberg__l1661-l1745
passage_sha256=6aa0f18c777b3884bea6a3d70dd669f9e75a881102a81927d05313642bff7f34