Soulmates

“According to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with 4 arms, 4 legs and a head with 2 faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search for other halves.” –Plato’s The Symposium

I first heard this story as a child, watching "Xena: Warrior Princess" with my father. I've loved this explanation of soul mates ever since. So I was a bit confused when the textbook said that Plato was an advocate against marriage because it left too much to emotion and chance. If Plato believed that the soul was essentially the immortal essence of a person and that the soul had so much power/affect on your disposition, habits, and intellect- intellect linking to where you belonged socially in life- then how come he thought marriage was detrimental to society? Or, how could it be, if the couple was connected in such a way?

However, when I went to actually look at the text, there is a lot more to it than just a cute little story that can slide into popular culture. It has a darker, almost anti-love and kind of homophobic twist, basically used to explain homosexuality.