Ficino's Commentary on the Symposium of Aristophanes

Ficino is drawing extensively on Platinus for his understanding of the symposium. Both take an allegorical approach, especially to the more mythological aspects of the dialogue. In the speech of Aristophanes, we are told that humans began as eight-limbed, ball-shaped creatures that were split in half by the gods. Humans as we know them are each half of a full organism, with erotic desire explained as a longing to be made whole once again.