The Soulmate Theory

The Soulmate Theory

Attributed to Aristophanes, a Greek playwright

In the beginning, there were three parents, the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Each had a child that was round like itself; from the Sun a man was born, from the Earth a woman, and from the Moon an androgyne. Each of these children were doubles, with two faces set on one head, for arms and legs, and two sets of genitals. They moved the Earth with great speed, rolling hand over hand and foot over foot. These were the first humans, called the Golden Ones.

One day, the Golden Ones, who were far stronger and faster than humans today but more foolish, decided to climb Mt. Olympus and attack the gods. Enraged, the gods vowed to punish the Golden Ones for their insolence. Zeus, king of the gods, did not want to destroy them however. The gods needed these humans to worship them, and so destroying them would not do. Instead, Zeus came up with a plan to humble the Golden ones, deciding to cut them in half. This would leave them with only half their strength and speed, and teach them the price of arrogance.

Zeus enacted his plan, tearing the Golden Ones apart, separating the man-man, woman-woman, and man-woman into individual creatures. The god Apollo repaired the damage of this tearing, turning the Golden Ones' faces to the front and tying the loose skin into genitalia on their sides. Once separated, the Golden Ones immediately went to their other half and attempted to rejoin with each other. They could not, however, and were so stricken with grief they began to die of starvation and despair.

Zeus, whom still wanted these new humans to worship the gods, instructed Apollo to create a means for the Golden Ones to temporarily rejoin with their other half. He did so by moving the genitals from the Golden Ones' side to between their legs. This created a new way for the Golden Ones to reproduce, now requiring intercourse where before they simply sowed seeds into the ground.

This new way of joining led to the creation of preference; those who had once been man-man looked to males for their soulmate, woman-woman took females to bed, and the previously androgyn found comfort in the opposite sex. It was this way homo and hetero sexuality came into being, as the now Silver Ones, the second era of humans, struggled to find their other halves. 

                                                                            Works Cited

Gill, N.S. "Five Ages of Man in Greek Mythology." ThoughtCo. N.p., 16 Oct. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2017.

Gill, N.S. "Why Do We Have Soul Mates? Read Aristophanes' Explanation." ThoughtCo. N.p., 13 Feb. 2017. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.