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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/39669
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/39669
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

One of the four forms of love Greek philosophy recognised, [Philia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philia) is usually translated as "brotherly love". It is the love between true friends. It was considered a "higher form" of love than [Eros](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eros_(concept)) - the romantic, sexual love. Philia is what Kirk and Spock shared, for example.

And the reason I chose Kirk and Spock as my example is of course the incredible amount of slash-fic that pairs those two together.

**How can I indicate that a particular relationship is all Philia, no Eros involved?** The tricky thing is, it _is_ love, not "just" friendship. I've written two characters who share a very strong emotional bond, they are more devoted to each other than they are to their wives. It's just not an "Eros" bond. I would have thought that the fact they both have wives would be enough, but for all that Kirk is _known_ for ogling (to say the least) every female human or alien around, and never does he show any similar attraction towards men, he's still getting paired with Spock.

(To clarify, it's not that I have anything against LGBT characters. I've got several LGBT characters. It's just that sometimes two characters do not have Eros for each other. They have Philia. They share a strong emotional bond, in which sexual attraction plays no part. That's what my question is about. Nor am I implying that only men can experience Philia. But for some reason, a strong bond between female friends is accepted, whereas whenever men are involved, sexual overtones get added in.)

Philia is different from [Platonic love](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_love), to which [this question](https://writing.stackexchange.com/q/35903/14704) relates: platonic love implies that physical attraction is at least possible, but decided against (see Wikipedia source). Philia is _deeper_ than platonic love, or Eros, and has no Eros component even potentially. In a way, contrary to the other question, this _is_ a love story - just not the romantic kind of love.

Original score: 15