EROS PAIDIKOS KONTRA MIŁOŚĆ MAŁŻEŃSKA W UCZCIE I EKONOMIKU KSENOFONTA – POCZĄTEK STAROŻYTNEGO SPORU

Abstract

In Xenophon’s Symposium and Oeconomicus we can observe two ways of manifestation of Eros: eros paidikos (i.e. pederasty) and matrimonial love between man and woman. On the one side, Xenophon describes eros paidikos as a power creating true, lasting and deeply affectionate friendship, which, still, may not include sexual intercourses; on the other, matrimonial love can offer erotic reciprocity and mutual respect, but a man and his wife remain quite different and, in fact, unequal. This picture helps us to understand reasons of the ancient controversy between followers of these two kinds of eros, which remained unsolved for many centuries.