The Origin of Love

As sung by Hedwig and the Angry Inch

The Origin of Love [download mp3]
Rufus Wainwright- The Origin of Love [download]
inspired by Aristophanes’ speech in Plato’s Symposium

Aristophanes professed to open another vein of discourse; he had a mind to praise Love in another way, unlike that of either Pausanias or Eryximachus. Mankind, he said, judging by their neglect of him, have never, as I think, at all understood the power of Love. For if they had understood him they would surely have built noble temples and altars, and offered solemn sacrifices in his honour; but this is not done, and most certainly ought to be done: since of all the gods he is the best friend of men, the helper and the healer of the ills which are the great impediment to the happiness of the race. I will try to describe his power to you, and you shall teach the rest of the world what I am teaching you.

In the first place, let me treat of the nature of man and what has happened to it. The original human nature was not like the present, but different. The sexes were not two as they are now, but originally three in number; there was man, woman, and the union of the two, of which the name survives but nothing else. Once it was a distinct kind, with a bodily shape and a name of its own, constituted by the union of the male and the female: but now only the word 'androgynous' is preserved, and that as a term of reproach.

In the second place, the primeval man was round, his back and sides forming a circle; and he had four hands and the same number of feet, one head with two faces, looking opposite ways, set on a round neck and precisely alike; also four ears, two privy members, and the remainder to correspond. He could walk upright as men now do, backwards or forwards as he pleased, and he could also roll over and over at a great pace, turning on his four hands and four feet, eight in all, like tumblers going over and over with their legs in the air; this was when he wanted to run fast.

Now the sexes were three, and such as I have described them; because the sun, moon, and earth are three; and the man was originally the child of the sun, the woman of the earth, and the man-woman of the moon, which is made up of sun and earth, and they were all round and moved round and round because they resembled their parents. Terrible was their might and strength, and the thoughts of their hearts were great, and they made an attack upon the gods; of them is told the tale of Otys and Ephialtes who, as Homer says, attempted to scale heaven, and would have laid hands upon the gods.

Doubt reigned in the celestial councils. Should they kill them and annihilate the race with thunderbolts, as they had done the giants, then there would be an end of the sacrifices and worship which men offered to them; but, on the other hand, the gods could not suffer their insolence to be unrestrained. At last, after a good deal of reflection, Zeus discovered a way.

He said: 'Methinks I have a plan which will enfeeble their strength and so extinguish their turbulence; men shall continue to exist, but I will cut them in two and then they will be diminished in strength and increased in numbers; this will have the advantage of making them more profitable to us. They shall walk upright on two legs, and if they continue insolent and will not be quiet, I will split them again and they shall hop about on a single leg.'

He spoke and cut men in two, like a sorb-apple which is halved for pickling, or as you might divide an egg with a hair; and as he cut them one after another, he bade Apollo give the face and the half of the neck a turn in order that man might contemplate the section of himself: he would thus learn a lesson of humility. Apollo was also bidden to heal their wounds and compose their forms. So he gave a turn to the face and pulled the skin from the sides all over that which in our language is called the belly, like the purses which draw tight, and he made one mouth at the centre, which he fastened in a knot (the same which is called the navel); he also moulded the breast and took out most of the wrinkles, much as a shoemaker might smooth leather upon a last; he left a few, however, in the region of the belly and navel, as a memorial of the primeval state.

After the division the two parts of man, each desiring his other half, came together, and throwing their arms about one another, entwined in mutual embraces, longing to grow into one, they began to die from hunger and self-neglect, because they did not like to do anything apart; and when one of the halves died and the other survived, the survivor sought another mate, man or woman as we call them,--being the sections of entire men or women,--and clung to that.

Thus they were being destroyed, when Zeus in pity invented a new plan: he turned the parts of generation round to the front, for this had not been always their position, and they sowed the seed no longer as hitherto like grasshoppers in the ground, but in one another; and after the transposition the male generated in the female in order that by the mutual embraces of man and woman they might breed, and the race might continue; or if man came to man they might be satisfied, and rest, and go their ways to the business of life. So ancient is the desire of one another which is implanted in us, reuniting our original nature, seeking to make one of two, and to heal the state of man.

Each of us when separated, having one side only, like a flat fish, is but the tally-half of a man, and he is always looking for his other half. Men who are a section of that double nature which was once called androgynous are lovers of women; adulterers are generally of this breed, and also adulterous women who lust after men. The women who are a section of the woman do not care for men, but have female attachments; the female companions are of this sort. But they who are a section of the male follow the male, and while they are young, being slices of the original man, they have affection for men and embrace them, and these are the best of boys and youths, because they have the most manly nature.

Some indeed assert that they are shameless, but this is not true; for they do not act thus from any want of shame, but because they are valiant and manly, and have a manly countenance, and they embrace that which is like them. And these when they grow up become our statesmen, and these only, which is a great proof of the truth of what I am saying. When they reach manhood they are lovers of youth, and are not naturally inclined to marry or beget children,--if at all, they do so only in obedience to custom; but they are satisfied if they may be allowed to live with one another unwedded;

And such a nature is prone to love and ready to return love, always embracing that which is akin to him. And when one of them meets with his other half, the actual half of himself, whether he be a lover of youth or a lover of another sort, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy, and one will not be out of the other's sight, as I may say, even for a moment: these are the people who pass their whole lives together, and yet they could not explain what they desire of one another. For the intense yearning which each of them has towards the other does not appear to be the desire of lover's intercourse, but of something else which the soul of either evidently desires and cannot tell, and of which she has only a dark and doubtful presentiment.

Suppose Hephaestus, with his instruments, to come to the pair who are lying side by side and to say to them, 'What do you mortals want of one another?'

They would be unable to explain. And suppose further, that when he saw their perplexity he said: 'Do you desire to be wholly one; always day and night in one another's company? for if this is what you desire, I am ready to melt and fuse you together, so that being two you shall become one, and while you live live a common life as if you were a single man, and after your death in the world below still be one departed soul, instead of two--I ask whether this is what you lovingly desire and whether you are satisfied to attain this?'--

There is not a man of them who when he heard the proposal would deny or would not acknowledge that this meeting and melting into one another, this becoming one instead of two, was the very expression of his ancient need.

And the reason is that human nature was originally one and we were a whole, and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called love. There was a time, I say, when we were one, but now because of the wickedness of mankind God has dispersed us, as the Arcadians were dispersed into villages by the Lacedaemonians. And if we are not obedient to the gods, there is a danger that we shall be split up again and go about in basso-relievo, like the profile figures showing only one half the nose which are sculptured on monuments, and that we shall be like tallies. Wherefore let us exhort all men to piety in all things, that we may avoid evil and obtain the good, taking Love for our leader and commander.

Let no one oppose him--he is the enemy of the gods who opposes him. For if we are friends of God and at peace with him we shall find our own true loves, which rarely happens in this world at present. I am serious, and therefore I must beg Eryximachus not to make fun or to find any allusion in what I am saying to Pausanias and Agathon, who, as I suspect, are both of the manly nature, and belong to the class which I have been describing. But my words have a wider application--they include men and women everywhere; and I believe that if our loves were perfectly accomplished, and each one returning to his primeval nature had his original true love, then our race would be happy. And if this would be best of all, the best in the next degree must in present circumstances be the nearest approach to such a union; and that will be the attainment of a congenial love.

Wherefore, if we would praise him who has given to us the benefit, we must praise the god Love, who is our greatest benefactor, both leading us in this life back to our own nature, and giving us high hopes for the future, for he promises that if we are pious, he will restore us to our original state, and heal us and make us happy and blessed.

This, Eryximachus, is my discourse of love, which, although different to yours, I must beg you to leave unassailed by the shafts of your ridicule, in order that each may have his turn; each, or rather either, for Agathon and Socrates are the only ones left.

à la française

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"Ladies and gentlemen*, whether you like it or not-Hedwig!"

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been in Nevada, outside Vegas since late last Sunday working for a Miracle and the Edwards Campaign in preparation for the caucuse on the 19th, so that's where I'll be until next Sunday. And I'll be sure to write more about my feelings and all that jazz later but this weekend is a huge statewide canvassing effort so I need to rest up so I can be at my persuasive best.
Anyway now that apologies are out of the way, I had also been stuck because my next post (this post) would be my 1000th post and I wanted to make it somewhat special and so since I couldn't think of anything that would stand out and because this movie is my absolute favorite and an inspiration for this site I decided to (after a lot of ripping and uploading and all other types of illegal technological mayhem) post it.
And so here is 2001's so utterly beyond fabulous "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" (a movie I loved so much that I saw the stage play in Rome, in Italian, which was quite an experience.) But... I hope you love it as much as I do

*and those in between
(and just remember the fat lady has never sung after the first two scenes)

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Post 300! Purely Self-Congratulatory

Wow, how the hell do I have 300 posts? Anyway on this momentous occasion I felt it's only appropriate to tell you more about the site in an effort for you to know me better, as a reward for you, you mythic loyal reader for being there for the last 299 of these rants and rambles.
So the address midnighttransmission, as well as the "title" of the blog A Dream or A Song comes from either my favorite or my second favorite song (behind Wig in a Box) from my favorite move Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
The song is Midnight Radio and when I was trying to think of an address and name for this site that actually meant something to me, but that would be somewhat familiar to other people I focused a lot on Hedwig and memorable lyrics from that film. The line "and you're shining like the brightest star, a transmission on a midnight radio" is such a pretty and hopeful image and that is sort of what I wanted this site to be (failed though I have); a beacon of sorts. And I also figured that a midnight transmission implies some danger and/or illictness and at midnight the posts I transmitted would be true and , in a way , like a beacon to reach others and tell them that I am/was here.
About the song, I actually get really emotional and happy whenever I hear it...so I think I'll put it here for you enjoy as well, though it really is better if you've already seen the movie (if you haven't, what's wrong with you? buy it, watch it, love it.)


As I think I've mentioned before the picture to the right, in that about me section, is of Candy Darling, one of my tragic idols who I'm just a little fascinated by. The quote " I'd rather learn from a bird to sing than teach 10000 stars how not to dance is from a poem by e.e. cummings. I stumbled upon it while looking for something beautiful to send to Hubby and I thought these words would be a lovely gift. It's assumed title, though cummings didn't title his work, is "you shall above all things be glad and young" {ED: and isn't that just a wonderful thing to wish on anyone}

you shall above all things be glad and young.
For if you're young, whatever life you wear

it will become you;and if you are glad
whatever's living will yourself become
Girlboys may nothing more than boygirls need:
i can entirely her only love

whose any mystery makes every man's
flesh put space on;and his mind take off time

that you should ever think,may god forbid
and(in his mercy)your true lover spare:
for that way knowledge lies,the foetal grave
called progress,and negation's dead undoom.

I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance

As for the blog description, or whatever is in that I think it's a peach box, the quote comes from one of my favorite movies Se7en. When I started this I had nothing in particular that I was going to focus on, like politics or sports, or zebras, but rather this site was just going to be whatever was on my mind at any given time. Kind of like the journals of John Doe that Somerset is referencing.

For those of you (no one) who has asked, and more because I want to see my name in something fun when I vanity search in a few months my official and legal name will be Jacqueline Frances Stella Dey. I've always liked the name Jacqueline, it's so pretty and noble, not too common and exudes glamour and how it could also be abbreviated to Jacqui, which is so cute and functional and the fact that it means both (referring back to the story of Jacob and Esau) "one who supplants", which is kind of what it would be, supplanting my previous identity (Jacob did get the better of that deal), in a way, but in a more pleasant light it also means "may God protect." Frances is in honor of St. Francesca Romana who's feast day is my birthday (plus the fact she's from Rome means it is meant. to. be!) and Francesca would be too much. Speaking of Rome when I was there and studying Christian iconography and apse mosaic art, in most mosaic somewhere written in gold would be the phrase "stella dei" or something similar, which means Star of God. I think Stella is such a pretty yet hip name so I wanted it, and so as a last name Dey seemed perfect, to be a star of god, I couldn't resist. I'm a sucker for poetry. So that's how Jacqueline Frances Stella Dey came to be, or the name at least. (it may just be folk etymology or etymology that I just made up, but that's good enough for me. and speaking of folk etymology stella day, star day, star of the day, that works too.)

Finally, if you click on my profile I just figured out how to post an audio clip and I couldn't decide what I wanted to have it say. As of writing this the quote is...well you can just check it. But I love that quote! Hopefully you know where it's from. But I'm not sure if I want to stick with that one. I was debating between that and the last lines from Sunset Boulevard. I'm just worried if I stick with the Silence of the Lambs one, that along with the Se7en quote may make this site seem a little darker and violent than it really is, whereas if I change my mind and go with Gloria Swanson, well that and the picture of Candy in a director's chair could make it seem I'm fascinated by the ultrafemme and glamourous nature of cinematic stars in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Hmm, know that I write it out I think I prefer the latter. And this is totally how I want to go out:

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