Paried:

~ Friends

Zeus

IARGEIPRACZing! Whoa, sorry Psyche! I didn't mean ~~:~~TY

Eros (Roman

to hit you. I'm JOustpracticing my aim, Cupid),intheform of a winged

hootinz mv cold 1 H cherub with a bowshooting my go ove arrows. ey, andarrow,isafamiliar symbol

don't look at me, girl-you know on Valentine'sDay. The actual

h 1 L bl d Y Th' St. Valentine, fort e ru es. ove is in! o! ere s whom the holidayis named, is the

A 11 Z 0 'G t d ith patron saint ofpo O. zng. 0 you goo WI engaged couples,

the gold, buddy. Now watch ! ::~:::~:r~:~?e:~to:this. Hey, Daphne! Zing! That ! =~::7'!:!;/"''''

was a lead arrow-wait until 111';.l~.~,t'~~~.'~~ .!'\

YOU see what happens next! ,~~~:f4jJ..:';'I"'}.. .Jf,~'.!M1'1:"'1':'Z;ng' Daphne ;:,,- ~j1/; .~

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Ganymede Apollo Daphne

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Epco~.,..s GREEK 70 MEIn the earliest myths, Eros (love) was

I said to be responsible for inspiring

the creation of earth, sky, sun, and

moon. Later myths describe him as

a handsome winged youth who flew

about shooting love arrows at gods

and mortals.

ErosWas here!

50

"All d i 1 "you nee 15 ove ...

I FIRSIGOD1It all started with Eros - maybe.

Eros, the god of love, had amysterious beginning. Some sayEros was the very first being,born out of the void known asChaos. After all, nothing couldbe born without love! Eros thensingle-handedly inspired thecreation of the earth, sky, sun,and moon, setting the entireuniverse in motion. Anotherversion of the story explainsthat from Chaos there emergeda huge egg that contained thesky (Uranus), the earth (Gaea),and love (Eros). After that, Eroswas imagined to be a violentpersonification of destructivelust and love. Still other stories

I suggest that Eros's parents wereIris, goddess of the rainbow,and Zephyrus, god of the warm

west wind. What a romanticparentage for the god of love!In later stories, Eros was ayouthful, mischievous god, oftenrepresented as a baby, whowas born to Aphrodite, goddessof love, and her war-lovingboyfriend Ares.

REALITY CHECKPaging Dr. Freud! Austrianpsychiatrist Sigmund Freud usedEros's name to refer to the positivelife force that drives humankind.

f ..=I LOYE+

Eros falls 1learns tha

In one stor.Aphrodite,mortal Psto be evenAphrodite. ,punish Psy,in love withEros fell in I,He took hepalace, wh

i like a goddtlone concm

II allowed to I

Psyche'she invitedI envious sis1

Idoubt in heEros mightI seemed. P~

I

the truth, S(

at Eros whilaccidentallyscolding P~

I, her promisEEros back,

Iof Aphrodit!who stililov

I Zeus to intE

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and allowec

REALITY I

Psyche's narunion with Eof "love" anc

l

"

~t a romantic1egod of love!Eros was aievous god, oftena baby, wholhrodite, goddess. war-loving

1CH!Austrianumd Freud usedlfer to the positivelies humankind.

LOVE + SOULEros falls for Psyche andlearns that love hurts.

In one story, Eros's mom,Aphrodite, was jealous of themortal Psyche, who was thoughtto be even more beautiful thanAphrodite. Aphrodite sent Eros topunish Psyche by making her fallin love with an ugly man. Instead,Eros fell in love with Psyche!He took her to his enchantedpalace, where Psyche was treatedlike a goddess. But there wasone condition: Psyche was notallowed to look at Eros.

Psyche was so happy thatshe invited her sisters to visit. Herenvious sisters planted seeds ofdoubt in her mind, hinting thatEros might not be as great as heseemed. Psyche had to knowthe truth, so she snuck a peekat Eros while he slept. When sheaccidentally woke Eros, he fled,scolding Psyche for breakingher promise. Desperate to winEros back, Psyche became oneof Aphrodite's attendants. Eros,who still loved Psyche, persuadedZeus to intervene. Zeus convincedAphrodite to be kinder to Psyche.Then Zeus made Psyche immortaland allowed her to marry Eros.

REALITY CHECKPsyche's name means "soul" so herunion with Eros is literally the unionof "love" and "soul."

8 'S-£YEtEros creates one messy loveaffair after anotho r ,

Eros used his arrows to causesome love affairs that endedin tragedy. Perhaps that'sone reason why he is oftenportrayed as an immature babyor described as irresponsibleand dangerous. For example, toget even with the god Apollo formocking his archery skills, Erosmade him fall in love with thenymph Daphne, who preferredto turn into a tree rather thanaccept Apollo's love. Many ofZeus's ill-fated relationshipsbegan with Eros's arrows, likehis union with Semele (she died)and his romance with 10 (she wasturned into a cow). Even Eros'sown mother, Aphrodite, wasn't

safe from his arrows-somestories say that's how she fellin love with both Ares and thehandsome mortal Adonis!

51

__ ,__0-'-_-,._,. _

Since I stepped out of the sea foam, it's b~en! :ii~~TYThe Venus flytrap

Hel-lo Romance! The gods on Olympus are uses its leaves to~~ catch food" When"- TBT E J: Z h d d I an insect lands on

~ •••.~1 ' \,2G ! xcept I'Of eus-w 0 or ere one of its stickyI leaves, the leaf

me to marry that loser Hephaestus! Heph :r::St~:~~::t.

fell so hard for me that he wove me a =~=-';,:~Z7s~Tearn.hlml

magical golden belt that makes me moreirresistible than Iwas before (LOL). NowAres and Adonis totally me. BTW, I alsowon a beauty contest that just might havestarted a war.

XOXOXO

? Friends ? Foes

~ ;",1 ~~. ," • T "'-,

;;;t'Ires Anchises Helen

of TroyParis Melanion The Graces Helios Hera Artemis Hestia Athena

I.--1..--------.-17

1111' blf"tll or VClld'; W. :~ p "1", .'~-v jt'l't,lt1 irt.st ~;F 1 1 f- "hi . t,t

UU(H lla ~; ~.. ~.. ~to foam and froth. Suddenly,from the foam rose the beautifulgoddess of love, Aphrodite. Thewaves carried her to the islandof Cyprus, and as Aphroditestepped onto land, flowerssprang up beneath her feet.Now that's what you call makingan entrancei

A goddess as gorgeous asAphrodite was too special to beborn in an ordinary way. Afterthe Titan Cronus mutilated hisfather, Uranus (the sky), he threwsome of Uranus's body partsinto the sea. The waters began

il I? t·

,..----

IF~~RES'I 'HEMAlI Aphrodite v! contest-arI All the gods

were gathenexcept for 0

goddess of I

that she hacEris started i

a golden aPIthe Most Bereception. TIAphrodite, r-each clarnewas intendebegan to ar;god Zeus dsprince of Trothe argumerbeauty conncontestant choping that I

her as HParAp

Name: 6pk'.o.diAWhat is your gre~

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Final Notei: {Il!~~~L_----,'--

thoSuddenly,ose the beautifull, Aphrodite. Theier to the islandas Aphroditemd, flowerslath her feet.t you call making

FAIRESIOF'HEM ALLAphrodite wins a beautycontest - and starts a war!All the gods and goddesseswere gathered at a wedding,except for one: Eris, thegoddess of discord. Annoyedthat she hadn't been invited,Eris started trouble by tossinga golden apple marked "Forthe Most Beautiful" into thereception. The goddessesAphrodite, Hera, and Athenaeach claimed that the applewas intended for her, and theybegan to argue. The mightygod Zeus decided that Paris,prince of Troy, should settlethe argument by judging abeauty contest. Each goddesscontestant offered Paris a bribe,hoping that he would choose

her as the most beautiful.Paris couldn't resistAphrodite's offer: She

promised to make

. ,

him irresistible to Helen, themost beautiful woman in theworld. Helen was alreadymarried to Menelaus, king ofSparta, but that didn't stopParis. The prince kidnappedHelen and took her to Troy. TheGreek hero Agamemnon ledan expedition to rescue Helen,igniting the Trojan War.

"Well, obviouslythe apple wasmeant for me.I mean, duhl"

t'J;fJ C

_A~e~~- .-~

-- TII

I

BIG BABIESSons of the love goddessshare the love.The goddess of love was alwaysaccompanied by her sons Erosand Himeros. Eros (Roman,Cupid) is the better known ofthe two: He was the god of love.With his gold-tipped arrows hecould arouse love in anyonehe chose to shoot-god ormortal. But Eros also had lead-tipped arrows that could inspireloathing. Himeros was the god oflonging. He, too, had a bow andarrows that he used on gods andmortals. Unlike Eros, Himeroswas a minor god who was paidlittle attention by mortals exceptfor those he shot.

REALI'Y CHECHWhen Shakespeare's Romeo firstsees Juliet, he says, "Did my heartlove till now? Forswear it, sight!!For I ne'er saw true beauty till thisnight." Perhaps he was struck byone of Eros's arrows!

Want to know more? Go to:http://shakespeare.mit.edu/romeoju/iet/full.htmf

19

~\I' .{ flOIlI"WllSnr

" ,\ ba-a-a-d guy.'~

The moment Aphrodite arrivedon Mount Olympus, her powerto inspire desire caused allthe gods to fall in love withher. Zeus feared that the godswould fight one another forher hand in marriage, so heordered Aphrodite to marryHephaestus, the god of fire andpatron of craftsmen. Zeus choseHephaestus because he wasknown to be dependable. Hewas also the only ugly Olympian.

Like the other gods,Hephaestus fell in love withAphrodite. Unfortunately, thegoddess of love didn't love himback, so Hephaestus usedhis skills as a craftsman to tryto win her affection. He wovea beautiful golden belt for herthat made her even moreattractive and irresistibleto others. Bad move!

Aphrodite wasn't about to let alittle detail like marriage interferewith her love life. Soon afterher wedding to Hephaestus,the goddess fell madly in lovewith Ares, the god of war. Oneday, when Hephaestus wasaway, the sun god Helios spiedAphrodite and Ares together.When Helios told Hephaestusabout his wife's cheating ways,the godly blacksmith set atrap for the lovers. He craftedan invisible net and draped itaround his wife's bedchamber.The next time Aphrodite andAres were together, SNAP!Trapped! Hephaestus invitedall the Olympians to view tilesneaky lovebirds, but instead ofbeing outraged, they thought itwas hilarious.

M£SS8HG ROUNDWITH ItOaYALSAphrodite falls for not one buttwo adorable shepherds,

The love-crazed goddesswas soon gaga over Adonis.a beautiful young shepherd.Aphrodite had given baby Adonisto Persephone, queen of theUnderworld, for safekeeping.But with one look at the adorableboy, Persephone fell in love withhim, too, and refused to givehim back.

One day, while hunting onEarth, Adonis was killed by awild boar (probably sent by thejealous Ares). Aphrodite pleadedwith Zeus to return Adonis to her.But Zeus, not wanting to angerPersephone, decided that bothgoddesses should share theboy for eternity: Adonis wouldspend spring and summer withAphrodite on Earth and the restof the year with Persephone inthe Underworld.

Later, Aphrodite had anaffair with another mortal, theshepherd Anchises, with whomshe had a son, Aeneas. He washer last mortal boyfriend.

Aphroditeher wrathdispleasecher. Psycfwoman, Sl

Aphrodite'that Psydmore atterAphroditeEros to usPsyche falman. lnstssaw Psyctwith her.

In the nhad told Fhis dauqhsuitable hlLifting hergod Zeph~

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goddessoverAdonis,~shepherd.iven baby Adonisqueen of ther safekeeping.k at the adorable3 fell in love withused to give

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xfte had aner mortal, theses, with whom"'eneas. He wasoymend.

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Aphrodite was well known forher wrath against people whodispleased or disrespectedher. Psyche, a beautiful mortalwoman, suffered because ofAphrodite's jealousy. Fearingthat Psyche was gettingmore attention than she was,Aphrodite ordered her sonEros to use his arrows to makePsyche fall in love with an uglyman. Instead, the moment Erossaw Psyche he fell deeply in lovewith her.

In the meantime, an oraclehad told Psyche's father to leavehis daughter on a cliff, where asuitable husband would find her.Lifting her from the cliff, the windgod Zephyrus carried Psyche to

a palace, where Eros joinedher during the night and leftbefore dawn, warning Psycheto never look at him. Psyche'sjealous sisters suggested thatEros (now her husband) mightbe a monster. So that night thegoddess snuck a peek at him.When Eros awoke and sawPsyche looking at him, he flewaway.

Psyche begged Aphroditeto help her win her husbandback. Instead, the goddess oflove assigned a series of nearlyimpossible tasks for Psyche tocomplete. Finally, Zeus madePsyche immortal so that sheand Eros could be together andAphrodite was appeased.

In another story, Aphroditewas furious that the womenof Lemnos had stoppedworshipping her. So sheafflicted them with such terriblebody odor that their husbandsall left them for new wives!

APHRODI'fE'SAftEtlDAIiISGuess who's the most popular ,goddess in the group?

Aphrodite was so beautifulI and beloved that she almost

always attracted a crowd. Inaddition to her boyfriend of themoment (Adonis or Ares) andher sons (Eros, Himeros, andAeneas), Aphrodite had manyfemale friends. The Graces,female personifications ofcharm, joy, and beauty, werenaturally drawn to Aphrodite,as were the Hours, whorepresented the harmony of thenatural order. Among her otherfriends were Chloris, a goddessof flowers, and her husband,Zephyrus, the god of the warmwest wind and spring. Bothenjoyed Aphrodite's company.

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