Yesterday, November 22, was "Married Couples Day."
We have been married for four years, so the honeymoon phase has passed. Thankfully, we have lived peacefully every day without a single quarrel.
The term "better half" for a mate is said to be based on a story from the "Feast" written by the Greek philosopher Plato.
The "Feast" is a compilation of the story of Plato's teacher Socrates' visit to a banquet celebrating the victory of a poem by the Greek tragic poet Agathon.
The original title of the feast is also the root of the word symposium, shunposion, which refers to a banquet where casual friends and acquaintances gather to talk over a glass of wine.
At these feasts, it seemed that some theme was chosen and discussed, and the theme at that time was about Eros/Love.
Each participant talked about eros and love, and one of them was a playwright named Aristopanes. He said that originally there were men, women, and androgynes, both genders in the world.
They each had two faces, four arms, and four legs, but they were a race that was not only strong but also completely fulfilled. Eventually they began to rebel against the gods, led by Zeus.
Zeus, angered by this, decided to dispose of them. It would be easy to destroy them all at once by lightning, but if they were destroyed, there would be no one left to worship them.
Zeus then decided to cut their bodies in half. He ordered Apollo to sew the severed bodies together to create the human being in his present form.
Thus, we humans have come to desire the better half, the half that was once one body.
It almost seems like the ramblings of a drunk, but on the other hand, it is a very thought-provoking story. It is true that human beings are imperfect beings who cannot do anything on their own.
By the way, this thought occurred to me recently.
I thought that the better half is a better companion, but in fact, it is a being that brings out the better part of my imperfect self.
I can't help but feel that my wife has allowed the good parts of me to come out more than the bad parts.
So for me, my wife must definitely be my best half, not my better half.
