Eros The Real Cupid
Eros and Althena. Ceiling at Frederiksborgmuseet, Copenhagen
My name is Love, Supreme my sway
The greatest god and greatest pain
Air, earth, and seas, my power obey,
And gods themselves must drag my chain
In every heart my throne I keep
Fear ne’er could daunt my daring soul
I fire the bosom of the deep
And the profoundest hell control
Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, Part II, Chapter XX
Special Objects: Gold & lead arrows
Childrens names: Voluptas
Other Names: Amer, Cupid
Wife: Psyche (who by the way was mortal)
What would Valentine’s Day be without Eros? Although most know him by other names such as the Roman Cupid or the Greek mythology Amor or Eros. I personally prefer to call him Eros, the son of Chaos. As a Daughter of Chaos, I felt the overwhelming desire to tell the story of Eros to pay homage in writing on this Greek God.
Eros the Greek God of love and sexual desire has been presented as a strong forceful youth who impregnated many goddesses and humans. Not the kind that Hallmark would like to show on the cards that we all know and love. Represented by a winged Cupid shooting arrows into unsuspecting passer-bys, this god shoots arrows of gold and lead. The golden arrows are with dove feathers which are to be used for love while the lead arrows have owl feathers and are for indifference.
Eros, the son of Aphrodite and Ares according to the recent mythology. One of the first gods to emerge form primeval Chaos hence is also called the son of Chaos. Eros, himself is thought to be one of the oldest of gods. The ancient Greeks thought of him as the force love. The Greeks also thought of him as the force behind creation.
The Birth of Eros
Eros has been seen as coming from the cosmic egg of Nyx, known as the goddess of night. This world egg which is Chronos, or in common word, Time, he then laid in the bosom of Chaos, which is known as the origin of the creation of all beings. Eros is also deemed the “first born” due to the way he was born (The egg of Nyx).
Family Members
Eros of course has family. According to the Greeks his parents were Aphrodite and Ares, but some accounts say that his father was Zeus, or Hermes. Let us not forget Chaos. His brother, Anteros is his counterpart in all this love conspiracy. Anteros is the god of mutual love, he will punish those that do not return the love for others. Why is this? Eros can not survive without love, so his brother makes sure that it is followed through. Even though he does this in order to make sure his brother survives, they often depict him as Eros’s opponent. Eros has friends and associates. His associations are the Muses and Graces, as he himself is seen as being in constant attendance on Aphrodite. Such a good boy. Others that he is associated with are; Pothos and Himeros (Longing and Desire), Peitho (Persuasion). All you ladies wondering what his martial status is, he is taken by none other than Psyche (Soul).*See next for their love Story
To some philosophers Eros was not just the god of sexual love he was also seen as being loyal and devoted with friendships of mortal men. There are many different cultural references as those that were devoted to him. Namely the Theban Sacred Band, the Cretans and Spartans. The Cretes and Spartans offered sacrifices to Eros before they were to go into battle.
Artwork over the centuries have seen Erosas the winged beauty with bow, arrows and a flaming torch. Pointing at those he wished to fall in love. There are many things that are associated with Eros that are seen in the various paintings; such as the hare, cock rose and the goat.
There have been many quotes regarding Eros and his abilities. Some such are:
- Eros is the striving of mankind to be pure, the good the beautiful–Plato–
- Whoever judges not Eros to be a mighty god is either stupid or, having no experience of good things, knows not of the god who is the mightiest power to men–Euripides–
- Ruthless Eros, great bane, great curse to mankind, from you come deadly strifes and lamentations and groans, and countless pains as well have their stormy birth from you–Apollonious Rhodius–
Now that you have a little of the information on sexy Eros, next Valentines Day when you think of Cupid shooting those arrows, he who looks like a cherub, you may stop and think that he was a little more than cute. He was a very powerful god which could wound both gods and men with his arrows of desire (of the sexual nature).
With that being said read on for the Love Story of Eros & Psyche