Pausanius: Male Shovinist

Among the speeches given during the evening described in Plato’s “Symposium,” I feel I have the most difficult time with Pausanius’ speech. In his speech made at the party, Pausanius states he has a problem with Eros because he is in fact not one, but, in a sense, has two versions. He speaks of two types of love including commonplace love, which is ordinary, vulgar, and lustful, and heavenly love, which is noble, divine, and longer lasting. Pausanius states that common place love is primarily experienced between men and women and young boys, while heavenly love is experienced by men and other men. Heavenly love, from man to man, is held with higher regard than commonplace love because it is a stronger commitment and involves an intellectual exchange. My problem with this is the fact that Athenian women were seen as intellectually equivalent to young boys and that they were incapable of being seen as anything else but an object of lust and desire. However, this did not occur in other societies around the world. For example, in Sparta, a woman was treated more as an equal than in Athenian society. When Spartan men went to war, the women would be in control of the city, much like American women during World War Two. Also, in Ancient Egypt, women had the same legal rights and status under the law as men. Women could be employed outside their home, run small businesses such as linen and perfume manufacturing, and although there was no formal grade school for girls, they could attend professional schools for medicine. Furthermore, in the Hindu religion, women were to be treated with affection and also deserved to be honored.