That is why when people need the clarification of such concept as love, they often seek it in the works of ancient Greek philosophers. Therefore, Plato’s philosophical thoughts about human soul and love in particular remain popular up to now. Thereby, since Plato’s vision of love explains the origins and actual development of this inexplicit feeling, it is indeed the most valid opinion about love in history.

Plato described his vision of love in the philosophical text The Symposium (1995). In this prime essay writing work, he explained how the feeling of love (both non-sexual and sexual) can possibly appear and the main reasons for people falling in love with each other. In Plato’s opinion, true love begins when one directs his or her mind to the love of divinity (1995). However, this Plato’s thought may seem rather ambiguous to some people because they might interpret it as pure, non-sexual love for a person. One should understand Plato’s expression as the love of God; in this sense, I believe that Plato’s interpretation of love is quite accurate.

Plato himself saw true love as both pure love and love for spiritual phenomena. In other words, pure love entails inspiring the soul and mind of a person one loves and directing his or her attention to the spiritual concerns (Plato, 1995). Thus, Platonic love is genuinely asexual and based on the spiritual connection of two or more people. In my opinion, the idea of pure spiritual love is universal and can be applied to all kinds of love. For instance, I believe that Platonic love can be understood not only as the love between two partners. It can also be perceived as the love between parents and children, brothers and sisters, or friends, since parents, siblings, partners, and friends can inspire people for spiritual growth without any kind of sexual relationships.

On the other hand, Plato distinguished two types of love – Vulgar Eros and Divine Eros. Vulgar Eros is an attraction to a beautiful person based on sexual desire, physical pleasure, and reproduction intentions. Divine Eros is the opposite concept: it is a transformation of the physical attraction into the love for Supreme Beauty (Plato, 1995). In other words, Vulgar Eros and Divine Eros are interconnected; in this way, physical love can grow into the divine one. Thus, the idea of the Ladder of Love appeared based on the two types of Eros outlined by Plato. This idea is called so because each step on the way to reaching divine love relates to the rungs of a ladder. The first step of the ladder is sexual attraction to the body, but eventually, step by step, Vulgar Eros becomes Divine Eros, and the concept of beauty is not connected to the body anymore. I believe that this Plato’s idea concerning the transformation and growth of love is perfectly applicable to the modern society where people tend to start their relationships from Vulgar Eros and later reach Divine Eros by working on their relationships.

In conclusion, I admit that Plato’s vision of love is one of the most prominent descriptions of this phenomenon in history. Plato indeed had an accurate vision of love and was one of the first thinkers who managed to explain the genesis of this feeling. That is why the ambiguities that can be found and misinterpreted in Plato’s works are insignificant. His major ideas that illustrate the development of true love, such as the Ladder of Love and the transformation of Vulgar Eros into Divine Eros, are everlasting.