Eros and Plato

“Eros: this Greek word, which has been taken into all European languages, is far more ambiguous than it is usually represented to be. From even a casual reading of the Platonic dioalogues, we begin to see how wide its range of meaning is. Affection kindled by physical beauty; intoxicated god-sent madness (theia mania); the impulse to philosophical contemplation of the world and existence; the exaltation that went with the contemplation of divine beauty–Plato calls all these things ‘eros'” (Faith, Hope, Love, p. 155-156).