Global InformationEros information
| Eros | |
|---|---|
God of love, lust, desire and sex Primordial god and personification of love | |
| Member of the Erotes | |
 The Eros Farnese, a Pompeiian marble thought to be a copy of the colossal Eros of Thespiae by Praxiteles[1] | |
| Major cult center | Thespiae |
| Abode | Mount Olympus |
| Symbol | Bow and arrows |
| Personal information | |
| Parents | None (Hesiod)[2] Ares and Aphrodite |
| Siblings | Anteros, Phobos, Deimos, Harmonia, several paternal half-siblings and several maternal half-siblings (as son of Ares and Aphrodite) |
| Consort | Psyche |
| Children | Hedone |
| Equivalents | |
| Roman equivalent | Cupid |
| Greek deities series |
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| Primordial deities |
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In Greek mythology, Eros (UK: /ˈɪərɒs, ˈɛrɒs/, US: /ˈɛrɒs, ˈɛroʊs/;[3] Ancient Greek: Ἔρως, lit. 'Love, Desire') is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart is Cupid ('desire').[4] In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is described as one of the children of Aphrodite and Ares and, with some of his siblings, was one of the Erotes, a group of winged love gods.
He is usually presented as a handsome young man, though in some appearances he is a juvenile boy full of mischief, ever in the company of his mother. In both cases, he is winged and carries his signature bow and arrows, which he uses to make both mortals and immortal gods fall in love, often under the guidance of Aphrodite. His role in myths is mostly complementary, and he often appears in the presence of Aphrodite and the other love gods and often acts as a catalyst for people to fall in love, but has little unique mythology of his own; the most major exception being the myth of Eros and Psyche, the story of how he met and fell in love with his wife.
Eros and his Roman equivalent Cupid, are also known, in art tradition, as a Putto. The Putto's iconography seemed to have, later, influenced the figures known as a Cherub. The Putti (plural of Putto) and the Cherubim can be found throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Christian art.[5](pp 2–4) This latter iteration of Eros/Cupid became a major icon and symbol of Valentine's Day.[6]
- ^ A. Corso, Concerning the catalogue of Praxiteles' exhibition held in the Louvre. Conference paper presented at ИНДОЕВРОПЕЙСКОЕ ЯЗЫКОЗНАНИЕ И КЛАССИЧЕСКАЯ ФИЛОЛОГИЯ – 11 June 2007; p. 159
- ^ Hesiod, Theogony 116–122 states that Gaia, Tartarus and Eros come after Chaos, but this does not necessarily mean that they are the offspring of Chaos. Gantz, pp. 4–5 Archived 2023-09-24 at the Wayback Machine writes that, "[w]ith regard to all three of these figures—Gaia, Tartaros, and Eros—we should note that Hesiod does not say they arose from (as opposed to after) Chaos, although this is often assumed". Hard 2004, p. 23 says that "[a]lthough it is quite often assumed that all three are born out of Chaos as her offspring, this is not stated by Hesiod nor indeed implied, governed by the same verb geneto ('came to be'). Gaia, Tartaros and Eros are best regarded as being primal realities like Chaos that came into existence independently of her". Similarly, Caldwell, pp. 3, 35 says that the Theogony "begins with the spontaneous appearance of Chaos, Gaia, Tartaros, and Eros (116–122). By their emergence from nothing, without sources or parents, these four are separated from everything that follows."
- ^ Oxford Learner's Dictionaries: "Eros"
- ^ Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia, The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215.
- ^ Wood, Alice (2008). Of Wing and Wheels: A synthetic study of the Biblical cherubim. Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft. Vol. 385. ISBN 978-3-11-020528-2.
- ^ Anthony Grafton; Glenn W. Most; Salvatore Settis, eds. (2010). "Cupid". The Classical Tradition. Harvard University Press. pp. 244–246.