This unique book challenges the traditional distinction between
eros
, the love found in Greek thought, and
agape
, the love characteristic of Christianity. Focusing on a number of classic texts, including Plato's
Symposium
and
Lysis
, Aristotle's
Ethics
Metaphysics,
, and famous passages in Gregory of Nyssa, Origen, Dionysius the Areopagite, Plotinus, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas, the author shows that Plato's account of
is not founded on self-interest. In this way, she restores the place of erotic love as a Christian motif, and unravels some longstanding confusions in philosophical discussions of love