Isn’t love a beautiful thing? We see someone and suddenly feel like we have been shot in our hearts and fall into an unrelenting love. When we look at the stories in Greek mythology, the reason why two people fall in love with each other is one of the arrows of the god of love, Eros. The Ancient Greeks, who often try to make sense of the love phenomenon that appears out of nowhere, believed that such a feeling only came from the god of love, Eros.
There are countless stories about Eros that have survived. In each of these, the existence of the god of love, his actions and even his appearance change. The most common point is that he is the god of lovers. Even though the old belief, the new mythological story, Eros, was told thousands of years ago, it is still possible to see its effects in popular culture today. Let’s take a closer look at who the god of love is Eros and see some of the stories that brought him to this day.
Who is Eros, the god of love in Greek mythology?
Events, which are a religious belief system of the Ancient Greeks period and transmitted from language to language through stories, have come to the present day and formed the foundations of Greek mythology. In the said belief system, the issues that we could not solve with our human mind at that time were attributed to a god and a god figure was created for almost every emotion and action.
The god used to make sense of love in Greek mythology is Eros. Eros, the god of love, lust, passion and eroticism, is the equivalent of Cupid in Roman mythology. The origin of the word erotic comes from the name Eros. Eros, who was portrayed as young and handsome in his original stories, began to be portrayed as a baby after the Hellenistic period.
What is Eros doing?
Eros’ title already makes it clear what he’s doing, he’s a cupid. It is the symbol of reproduction that will continue naturally from the day of humanity until the day it disappears. For this reason, it is also responsible for emotions such as love, passion, lust. Although he is sometimes depicted as a flame-armed, Eros is often human-like and makes people fall in love with his magic arrows, like many Greek mythology gods.
This is exactly the purpose of the emergence of Eros. Because, as we all know, emotions such as love and passion are emotions that often arise without any reason and turn a person into a real shot in the heart. The Ancient Greeks, who could not solve this confusion, said that it was the arrows of Eros, the god of love, that made people and gods fall in love with each other.
The origin story of Cupid Eros:
All the gods and goddesses in Greek mythology have a specific origin story. Eros is not one of them. Because, just as love does not arise for any reason, according to Greek mythology stories, Eros does not have a reason for its emergence. The god of love, Eros, emerged with the world and people.
When we look at different stories, we come across an origin story. According to this, while the beauty goddess Aphrodite was being created, two more gods emerged from the bubbles that formed around her. These are Eros and Anteros. While Eros falls in love with humans and gods, Anteros punishes humans and gods who do not reciprocate this love.
Eros, who is mentioned in some stories as the son of Aphrodite, is one of Aphrodite’s most loyal servants. Aphrodite represents the love of women, while Eros represents the love of men. There are also stories that Eros was caught by Kronos and his wings were eaten because Kronos informed Zeus when he went to eat Zeus.
Eros’ love Psyche:
When we look at many stories about Eros, it is mentioned that he made people and gods fall in love with his arrows, but those arrows had no effect on him. However, there is a story that even the god of love, Eros, talks about his love for a beautiful mortal woman.
According to the story, there lived a woman named Psyche. This woman was so beautiful that Aphrodite was madly jealous of her and gave Eros the task of making her fall in love with an ugly creature. When Eros went to the woman to fulfill his mission, he fell in love with her on the spot.
Eros cast a spell to hide Psyche from Aphrodite, but this spell was broken. Eros begged Aphrodite for forgiveness. Aphrodite gave Psyche three tasks that were impossible to accomplish. Psyche, who fulfilled these three tasks with the help of other gods, was rewarded with immortality.
Relationship of Eros with other gods:
In countless works that are accepted as the source of Greek mythology, we see that the relations between the god of love Eros and other gods are full of conflict. Because the arrows shot by Eros are strong enough to make the highest gods fall into an unrelenting love. The chief god Zeus, Apollo, Hades and even Aphrodite, with whom he worked, had their share of Eros’ arrows.
You may think that the gods will fall in love too, but remember that these characters rule the world. Seneca, in his Phaedra, tells that Eros’ arrow wounded Zeus with unquenchable flames, that is, with love. In the same work, it is mentioned that many gods were expelled from heaven and condemned to live on earth because of the arrows of Eros.
The figure of Eros in Ancient Greece:
The post-Hellenistic god of love, Eros, is often depicted as a little boy or baby with wings. However, as we see in the origin story, Eros is actually a young and handsome man. Moreover, his only talent is not to make people and gods fall in love with each other. Eros could also tame wild animals.
Due to Eros’ ability to tame wild animals, he was depicted with goats, rabbits, tigers and lions in the Ancient Greek period. Of course, it was not forgotten that there was a god of love in these figures and roses were added next to them. In most of his sculptures, Eros is shown so beautifully that some think that Eros is seen as the equivalent of perfection.
Eros in the modern world:
For the modern world, Eros is now the undisputed symbol of love. There are countless brands with the name of this character, which also finds its place in popular culture. Most brands use the name Eros to think that their products have passionate associations. Of course, on Valentine’s Day, which is indispensable for love, Eros appears on unforgettable and countless products either as a name or as a visual.
We answered the question of who is Eros, the god of love in Greek mythology, who makes gods and people fall in love with each other with arrows, and told some of the stories that brought him to this day. Our readers, who have had their share of Eros’ arrows, can share their thoughts in the comments.
1545
