By: Maria Larcomb
With Valentine’s Day nestled in the center of the month, much of Feb. is dedicated to love. However, although the focus is often solely placed on romantic love, it is essential to recall that there are multiple types of love classified by the Greeks—each of which holds great importance and deserves to be celebrated.
Believing love to be innately complex and practically indescribable, the ancient Greeks created six different terms to describe six distinct types of love: eros, passionate love; philia, love of friendship; ludus, playful love; agape, love for everyone; pragma, longstanding love; and philautia, love of self.
The Greeks regarded each kind of love with the highest importance; thus, they deemed it impossible to arrange them into a hierarchy and instead believed all six were equal to one another. Therefore, because Feb. is considered the “month of love,” it is fitting that all types of love should be celebrated and appreciated instead of solely those which are considered romantic in nature: eros, ludus, and pragma.
Philia, the love of friendship, was highly valued by the Greeks. Because deep friendship is a love built on the foundation of two people continually choosing to ensure the other’s wellbeing through constant support and loyalty, it creates a firm and nearly unbreakable bond. The true comradery created through making sacrifices for one another and sharing experiences, while asking for no gratification in return, is impossible to replicate. During this time of the year, we should make it a priority to not only treasure and show appreciation for our significant others, but also for our faithful friends.
Agape, often regarded as “selfless love,” calls for the love of all people and is considered by some to be the most difficult of the six types to execute. The idea of agape, which is translated from Latin as “charity,” appears in many religious traditions including both Christianity and Buddhism. Relying heavily upon empathy and equality, agape strives to love both the rich and the poor, family members and strangers, and friends and enemies the same. This year, instead of just prioritizing those we are closest to, we should strive to give the gift of ourselves and our love to everyone; celebrate humanity with love!
The last unromantic love to acknowledge is philautia, the love of self. The Greeks, noting that self-love practiced in an unhealthy manner leads to narcissism, classified philautia as a love which expands one’s capacity to love others when practiced correctly.
While we often view self-love as an action of secondary importance to the act loving others, we each have the undeniable right and opportunity to care for ourselves the way we care for other people. Although it is not a simple task, practicing self-love in a world that strives to tear it down is both a revolutionary and constructive act. While loving ourselves may include letting go of regrets, forgiving ourselves, or simply liking our freckles, we each deserve the love that we give others.
