In the beginning there were three parents: Sun, Moon, and Earth. Each produced an offspring, round and otherwise like itself. From sun was produced the man; from earth, the woman; from moon, the androgyne. Each of these three was a double, one head with two faces looking out in opposite directions, four arms and legs, and two sets of genitalia. They moved about on the earth with a great deal more freedom and power than humans do now, for they rolled-ran hand over hand and foot over foot at double speed.
One day, these fast, powerful, but foolish creatures decided to scale Mt. Olympus to attack the gods.
So Zeus decided to punish them but splitting them apart: they were cut in half, and become half as fast and half as strong. Then they begun frantically to look for their other halves, seeking them out, embracing them, and trying to join together again. Unable to join, the creatures despaired and began to starve to death in their sorrow.
Zeus instructed Apollo to create a means to rejoin temporarily which he did by turning the genitals to the belly side of the body. The creatures who had been double women before, naturally sought out women; those who had been androgynous, sought out members of the opposite gender; those who had been double men, sought out the company of men, and not simply for intercourse, but so they could become whole again by being rejoined with their soul mates.
