Eros God of love and desire.Major myth:

By Juliette Schwarz.

Eros: An introduction.

• Eros is the God of love, lust and desire. Eros is the most hansom of Gods being a young man or a teenager. He has two small wings that allow him to fly and give him a dreamy, naive image living up in the clouds looking down onto the earth. Eros’s character is described to be mischievous and charismatic. Eros is one of the oldest gods known. In the most famous creation myth by Hesiod in his Theogony, Eros was born from chaos along with the earth and the underworld which was a form of nothing. He was worshiped as the protogonus meaning the first born. Over the centuries variations to this myth occurred where Eros became the son of Aphrodite. There are two main symbols associated with Eros that are portrayed in pictures are the Bow and Arrows and his wings. With these tools Eros would either inspire love or hate. Eros was known to be bitter sweet to his victims. Eros appears in numerous myths, one of the most recognised of these major myths is the story of Eros and Psyche. Eros is the main character in this myth. He betrays his mother Aphrodite and falls in love with a beautiful mortal name Psyche. There are many other Gods and Goddesses that feature in this major myth.

Eros’s background:

• Family:

Eros’s family was developed in later Greek myths, with Aphrodite being Eros’s mother the Goddess of love and desire for men and woman. Occasionally it is claimed that Eros is the son of both Aphrodite and Ares. In some myths Eros has two brothers name Anteros who was the God of requited love which has never been returned and Himerus.

Eros’s background:

• Where Eros originated from, and where he lived: In the Earliest myths of Eros he was created from the primordial Chaos along with Gia the earth and Tartarus the underworld. In the play ‘The birds’, written by Aristophane, Eros originated from an egg laid by night and conceived with darkness.

• Eros lives in an Immortal world with his mother Aphrodite and all the other Gods, and Olympians in Olympia on Mount Olympus situated in Greece.

Symbols associated with the God Eros:

• The bow and arrows: The most powerful and recognised symbol associated

with Eros is the silver bow and arrow that he always had in hand. Eros uses the bow and arrow to shoot darts of love and desire into the bosoms or hearts of Gods and Mortals. There are two different arrows Eros uses to capture the desire of Gods and Mortals. One being a golden colour with dove feathers that caused instant love the other leaden with owl feathers that caused indifference. As it says in Hesiod’s Theogony, no one divine or Mortal could resist his spell of enchantment. The power of the arrows subdues the mind and sensible thought of anyone it approaches.

SYMBOLS ASSOCIATED WITH THE GOD EROS:

• The wings of Eros:

The one main thing that distinguishes Eros a God, from a teenage Mortal, are the two golden wings on his back. The wings of Eros were depicted as the wings of a dove. Eros is portrayed of having wings to represent the fleeting nature of passion. Eros uses his wings to fly and be undetected by his victims of love. He targets them and quickly flies away.

Identification of Eros:

• Looks and appearances in art: In Greek art Eros was portrayed as a handsome white winged

teenager, displaying a sense of beauty and charm to those around him. Eros always had his bow and arrows at hand targeting innocent Gods and mortals. In art he is occasionally blind or blind folded to symbolise the blindness of love. Eros has developed a very youthful innocent character over the centuries with mid length blond tousled hair, an unclothed body and a short stature. He has youthful facial features and a slight pudginess to his young teenage figure.

• What Eros is described to be doing in art: In most art Eros is displayed to be gripping onto his bow and arrow

ready to shoot, usually standing with one leg in front of the other. Eros was sometimes shown flying with his bow and arrow, as he has two small wings on his back. In other art work Eros could be seen posing with his lover Psyche from the major myth Eros and Psyche or with his mother Aphrodite.

Pictures of Eros’s appearances in art:

Eros. Attic red-figure bobbin, ca 470 BC-450 BC. Here you can see the detail of the Dove feathers in Eros’ wings.

Eros in Piccadilly circus London. Made 1983, of aluminium. Holding onto his Bow and Arrow ready to shoot.

Eros awakening Psyche. Reinhold Begas, 1831-1911. Marble statue.

The abduction of Psyche. By William-Adolphe Bougeureau, 1895. Oil painting. In this picture you can see Eros flying. It displays Eros’ youthful beauty with his golden long hair.

Eros and his powers:

EEros was an important God worshiped for his power of love and sexual desire. He was a potent irresistible God. Eros could break the will of the wisest God or the strongest Mortal when scratched by one of his arrows. He inspired desire in countless Greek Gods, Goddesses, Heroes and Heroines. The power wielded by Eros is made clear in this passage “no one divine or mortal could resist his spell of enchantment”, written in Hesiod's Theogony. He represented immortal love. An example of Eros’s power of love, is the myth of how the Trojan War began. Helen, the daughter of Zeus, was smitten by Eros’ arrow deeply in love she abandoned her husband and sailed off to Troy with her lover Alexandros.

The relationships of Eros between other Gods, Goddesses and Heroes:

Eros had many relationships with Gods such as Apollo and Zeus. Eros’s most well known relationship is with the Goddess Aphrodite.

Goddesses: Eros has a strong relationship with Aphrodite his mother, this was recorded in many Greek myths. Aphrodite was said to be the Goddess of love between man and woman. Eros had the same roll but for the men. In this assumption of Aphrodite being Eros’s mother he looses some of his ‘power and prestige’ and a companionship is formed between the two Gods. As a companion Eros helps his mother Aphrodite and is able to go on quests for her as seen in the myth of Eros and

Psyche. The relationship between Eros and Aphrodite is complex as Eros is also found disobeying his mother and keeping secrets, as he is only a teenager, this is also shown in the myth Eros and Psyche.

Major Myth involving Eros:

• Eros and Psyche:

Eros’s mother, Aphrodite was jealous of the beauty of a young Mortal, Psyche, as she was being worshiped for her great beauty. Many mortals were saying she was more beautiful then Aphrodite herself. In her jealous state Aphrodite asked Eros to shoot his arrow into Psyche’s heart to make her fall in love with the most ugliest man on earth. Eros agreed to carry out his mothers wishes, but on seeing her beauty Eros fell deeply in love with Psyche. Eros would only visit Psyche at night and made himself invisible by ordering her not to light the room. Psyche fell in love with Eros even though she had never seen him. After a visit from Psyche’s two jealous sisters curiosity overcame her. One night she concealed a lamp and while Eros was sleeping she lit it revealing the identity of the young beautiful God.

Major Myth involving Eros:

Unfortunately a drop of hot oil spilt on one of Eros’s wings awakening the young God. Angry at Psyche for revealing his identity, Eros fled. Psyche roamed the earth trying to find her lover. When Aphrodite discovered that Eros haddisobeyed her and fallen in love with Psyche she is determined to make her suffer. She tries to make it impossible for Psyche to find Erosby setting tasks along the way. Psyche over comes all the obstacles that Aphrodite sets out for her. In the end Zeus takes pity on Eros and Psyche and reunites them, he alsogives them permission to marry. Psyche is eventually reconciled with Aphrodite and is made an immortal.

This myth lets us understand that ‘where there is no trust there is no love.’ Erosstates this when Psyche sees him for the first time.This myth became the basis for the modern fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast.

The role of Eros in the Myth:

• Eros departs from his usual role as an unscrupulous mischief maker, wounding the hearts of all, he takes on a mortal roll falling in love himself .

• Eros plays the main character, a young teenager who disobeys his mothers commands for the first time. Eros sets his sights on a young beauty even though he knows this will anger his mother.

• Eros wanted to prove that a person would fall in love with him for his kindness and good deeds not just his handsome looks.

• From Eros’ role we understand the moral of the myth, that ‘where there is no trust there is no love.’

• Following the love story of Eros and Psyche we sympathise with the lovers as these are feelings that we can all relate to in our every day life.

References:

• Internet:- http://.ny.essortment.com/erospsyche_rvde.html

- http://www.pantheon.org/articles/e/eros.html

- http://en,wikipedia.org/wiki/Eros

- http://messagenet.com/myths/bios/eros.html

- http://www.maicar.com/GML/Eros.html

- http://www.loggia.com/myth’eros.html

- Pictures from Google images.

• Books:- Classical Mythology written by Marion Findlay,

published 1999.