h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It's interesting that you should mention the Greeks. In fact, the ancient Greeks had 4 different words for love:

Agape - spiritual love. These days, it's best described as charity, although this doesn't quite catch all the nuances. It's used most frequently in early Greek translations of the New Testament, in reference to Jesus' overflowing and inexhaustible fount of love for all things.

Storge - familial love. Obvious, really: the bond that's forged through the simple fact of blood kinship. It's most interesting, in this researcher's opinion, when twisted out of true: jealousy between brothers, as an example.

Philia - love between friends.

And Eros - sexual love.

There are so many other forms, though. In a way, the seven sins of Christian myth are all forms of love, as mentioned in David Fincher's excellent horror-thriller Seven. Excessive love, as in gluttony, greed, and lust, and misplaced love, as in the case of sloth, wrath, pride and envy.

Then there's courtly love. Chaucer's good on this one. Courtly love, in a (rather poor) nutshell, is the completely platonic bond between a knight errant and a lady. She cannot be his: the whole point of courtly love is that the knight can never be worthy of the lady's affections (indeed, she may even be married to another: the most famous example is Lancelot and Guinevere, although that particular line was crossed when he openly professed his love for her, with tragic results). The knight can, however, undergo quests and hardship on his love's behalf - indeed, that's the very point of it.

So it's a tricky one. From my point of view, however, love is seen primarily as something not in my life at the moment .

Ooh, that's a great topic. I've always known about the four standard types you mentioned... but I just recently experienced love in a way which doesn't fall into any of those categories. It's a new emotion, sort of like discovering a new color or flavor I'd never experienced before, so I don't know how to describe it without writing an entire article (hmm... maybe I should).

Strangely enough, mity fine writer like Lateral Blinking¡¦s life was devoid of luv.
I can¡¦t really write, but I luuuuuuv to have threads like this revived, perhaps with tinge of inspired free association in mine.

I have (and to an extent still do) experienced a very strong degree of philia towards a member of the opposite sex whom I happen (happened?) to know. Although, while she genuinely seemed like a very understanding type, she has now changed completely, and thinks it's something even stronger that I want. It'll be quite a while before I see her again, and I really want her to know how I genuinely feel. I'm not quite sure what exactly I should do.