For we all know that Love is
inseparable from Aphrodite, and if there were only one Aphrodite there
would be only one Love; but as there are two goddesses there must be two
Loves. And am I not right in asserting that there are two goddesses? The
elder one, having no mother, who is called the heavenly Aphrodite--she is
the daughter of Uranus; the younger, who is the daughter of Zeus and Dione
--her we call common; and the Love who is her fellow-worker is rightly
named common, as the other love is called heavenly. All the gods ought to
have praise given to them, but not without distinction of their natures;
and therefore I must try to distinguish the characters of the two Loves.
Now actions vary according to the manner of their performance. Take, for
example, that which we are now doing, drinking, singing and talking--these
actions are not in themselves either good or evil, but they turn out in
this or that way according to the mode of performing them; and when well
done they are good, and when wrongly done they are evil; and in like manner
not every love, but only that which has a noble purpose, is noble and
worthy of praise.
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