In his best-known work on ethics, Nicomachean Ethics, philia is expressed variously as loyalty to friends (specifically, "brotherly love"), family, and community, and requires virtue, equality, and familiarity. It is a dispassionate virtuous love, a concept developed by Aristotle. Philia ( φιλία, philía) means "affectionate regard, friendship", usually "between equals".Lovers and philosophers are all inspired to seek truth through the means of eros.
In the Symposium, the most famous ancient work on the subject, Plato has Socrates argue that eros helps the soul recall knowledge of beauty and contributes to an understanding of spiritual truth, the ideal form of youthful beauty that leads us humans to feel erotic desire – thus suggesting that even that sensually based love aspires to the non-corporeal, spiritual plane of existence that is, finding its truth, just like finding any truth, leads to transcendence. Plato does not talk of physical attraction as a necessary part of love, hence the use of the word platonic to mean "without physical attraction". Plato refined his own definition: Although eros is initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself. The Modern Greek word " erotas" means "intimate love".
brotherly love, charity the love of God for man and of man for God". Though there are more Greek words for love, variants and possibly subcategories, a general summary considering these Ancient Greek concepts is as follows: