The modern word “erotica” comes from the name of Eros, the Greek god of love, in whose person the ancient Greeks worshiped the cult of fertility. The deity, which today is associated with a very unambiguous feeling - in ancient times the concepts of spiritual love, aimed at healing, freedom, beauty, as well as love for people and each other, were also attributed.
It was the ancient Romans who were responsible for the image of Eros that is popular today. They turned the sexy man Eros into the chubby cherub Cupid. As a rule, Cupid was depicted blindfolded, because love is blind - the arrows with which he pierces hearts do not always hit their intended target. In anticipation of Valentine's Day, Cupid is often depicted as Cupid, the god of pure love.
Appearance: In early depictions, Eros appears as a winged man with a magnificent torso and beautiful appearance. In later descriptions he is already mentioned as a cute, plump boy with wings.
Symbols and attributes: Eros (Cupid, Cupid) is sometimes depicted riding a dolphin or lion, but always with a quiver, bow and arrows. He is always on the hunt and is always ready to pierce the heart of his victim with a feeling of mad love.
Force: The power of Eros lies in love attraction, which ensures the continuation of life on earth.
Weakness: The God of love always remains a child, sending his golden destructive arrows willfully, regardless of the arguments of reason.
Parents: There are many myths and legends about the origin of Eros. In Roman mythology he is most often mentioned as the son of Mars and Venus. Some legends claim that his parents were Iris, the keeper of the rainbow, and Zephyr, the god of the north wind. In Phoenician legends, he is the son of Chronos and Ashtarta. According to the most common version in Greek mythology, the mother of Eros is the beautiful goddess of love, and the father of Ares is the god of war.
But there is also an older version. According to the most ancient legends, this god was born long before the birth of Ares and Aphrodite. He is the child of Chaos, hatched from the egg of the night. He himself is the creator of the ancient gods and winged creatures.
Wife: The beautiful Psyche underwent numerous trials before she gained immortality and took her place among the gods as the wife of Eros. Aphrodite, envious of her appearance, did her best to prevent the marriage. As a result, having run into his own arrows, Eros falls in love with Psyche and everything ends in a happy ending.
Children: According to one version, Eros and Psyche had a daughter - the goddess of pleasure and bliss - the beautiful Volupta. If we recall more ancient legends, then Eros is the creator of a much larger number of winged creatures and ancient gods.
Main myths: In the myths of the 6th century BC. Eros is a brave, winged archer who holds the keys to heaven, sea, earth and the kingdom of the dead.
For Plato, Eros is not a deity, but rather a demon - the eternal companion of Aphrodite, he is the son of Poverty and Wealth, conceived on Aphrodite’s birthday and inherited from his parents the thirst for possession, perseverance, courage and... homelessness.
Interesting Facts: Among the Greeks to this day, Eros is one of the most beloved divine characters. His images decorate vases, vessels and flasks with precious olive oil.
Eros was revered not only as the god of love, but also as a deity personifying life after death. Previously, tombs were decorated with his images. However, even now in modern Greek cemeteries you can find crypts with the traditional image of the flying away Eros and Psyche clinging to him, dying of grief.
Quote from Alexandra-Victoria
God of Love - Eros (Cupid, Cupid)... Rene Menard "Myths of Ancient Greece in Art" (part-1)
“I love you,” I said without loving - Suddenly winged Cupid flew in and, taking your hand like a leader, dragged me after you... Love has come into the world...
Birth of the god Eros (Cupid)
Hover over to see title
Just over two thousand years ago, the Roman poet Publius Ovid Naso described the triumph of Cupid this way:
Oh, why does the bed seem so hard to me,
And my blanket does not lie well on the sofa?
And why did I spend such a long night sleepless,
And, spinning restlessly, your body is tired and hurts?
I would feel, I think, if I were tormented by Cupid,
Or has a cunning person crept in, harming you with hidden art?
Yes it is. Thin-sharp arrows are already sitting in the heart;
Having conquered my soul, the fierce Cupid torments...
Yes, I admit, Cupid, I have become your new prey,
I am defeated and I surrender myself to your power.
There's no need for a battle at all. I ask for mercy and peace.
You have nothing to boast about; I, unarmed, defeated...
Your fresh catch is me, having received a recent wound,
In a captive soul I will bear the burden of unusual shackles
A sound mind behind you with hands in chains will lead you,
Shame, and everything that will harm mighty Love...
Your companions will be Madness, Caresses and Passions;
They will all persistently follow you in a crowd.
With this army you constantly humble people and gods,
If you lose this support, you will become powerless and naked...
The cult of Eros, the god of love, existed already in ancient times among the Greeks. Eros was considered one of the oldest gods. God Eros (in Roman mythology - the god Cupid) personifies that powerful force that attracts one living being to another and thanks to which all living things are born and the human race continues.
Eros is not only the god of love between different sexes, but Eros is also the god of friendship between men and boys. In many Greek male gymnasiums (wrestling schools), the image of the god Eros (Cupid) stood next to the statues of the god Hermes (Mercury) and the demigod Hercules (Hercules).
Cupid shooting an arrow, 1761, St. Petersburg, Pavlovsk Palace (Charles-Andre van Loo)
There were many options for the origin of Eros:
Hesiod has one of the first four cosmogonic potencies (according to A.F. Losev, along with Chaos, Gaia and Tartarus: “among the eternal gods, the most beautiful is Eros. Sweet-tongued, he conquers the earthly soul in the chest of all gods and people and deprives everyone of reasoning "(Theogony, 120-122) (translated by V.V. Veresaev).
According to Alcaeus, son of Zephyr and Iris.
According to Sappho, son of Aphrodite and Uranus.
According to Simonides, son of Ares and Aphrodite.
According to Akusilaus, Eros, Ether and Metis are the children of Erebus and Nyukta, who in turn descended from Chaos.
According to Orphic cosmogony, he was born from an egg laid by Night or created by Chronos. Called the great daimon.
Following the Orphics, the Pythagoreans believed that the soul of every person is bisexual and has male and female halves, which are called Eros and Psyche.
According to Ferecydes, “Zeus, intending to be a demiurge, turned into Eros: creating a cosmos of opposites, he brought it to harmony and love and sowed in everything an identity and unity that permeates the universe.
According to Parmenides - the creation of Aphrodite, in his cosmogony he writes that she created him “the first of all gods.”
Portrait of I.Ya. Yakimov - the illegitimate son of N.P. Sheremetyev in the costume of Cupid. Timing belt 1790
According to Euripides, the son of Zeus, or Zeus and Aphrodite.
According to Pausanias, son of Ilithyia.
Plato has the son of Poros-wealth and Penia-poverty (“Feast” 203b, further - according to Diotima), which is why his dual nature intends him to be a medium, a mediator for people in the pursuit of good and for the gods in descending to people.
Son of Chaos.
According to some version, the son of Gaia.
His father was also called Kronos, Orpheus, etc.
According to Hebrews, the son of Hephaestus and Aphrodite.
According to Cotta's speech, there were three:
Son of Hermes and the first Artemis.
Son of Hermes and the second Aphrodite.
The son of Ares and the third Aphrodite, aka Anteros.
According to Nonnus, he was born near the city of Beroi
According to the myths of ancient Greece, the origin of the god Eros is unknown, and no one knows who his father is, but late antique poets and artists began to recognize the goddess Aphrodite (Venus) and the god Ares (Mars) as the parents of the god Eros.
Birth of the god Eros-Cupid
The birth of the god Eros-Cupid [in the Russian tradition, this ancient god is also called Cupid] served as the subject for many paintings. Of these, one of the best is considered to be Lezuer's painting, depicting the goddess Venus surrounded by the Three Graces. One of the Graces gives Venus a lovely child - the god Cupid.
The god Eros was always depicted as a boy barely reaching adolescence. The goddess Aphrodite (Venus), seeing that her son was hardly growing, asked the goddess Thetis what was the reason for this. Thetis replied that the child Eros will grow up when he has a companion who will love him.
Eros and Anteros 
Eros and Anteros
Aphrodite then gave Eros Anterot as a companion (translated from ancient Greek as “divided, mutual love”).
Anteros (Anterot, Anterot, ancient Greek Ἀντέρως) is the god of mutual (“reciprocal”) love, as well as a god who takes revenge on those who do not reciprocate love or mock those who have feelings.
According to the beliefs of the ancient Greeks, first there was dark Chaos, then simultaneously from Chaos arose Chronos (Kronos - Time), passionate Eros (Eros - Love) and cold-blooded, rational Anteros (Anterot - Denial of Love). Sometimes Eros and Anteros are considered twin brothers and their simultaneous birth in Ancient Greece was considered almost sacred.
The most terrible curse in Ancient Greece was considered to be hatred generated by love. It was precisely this kind of hatred that Anteros patronized. It generated a passionate desire to destroy the object of love. People unable to love were considered possessed by Anteros. The god Apollo always ridiculed Eros, for which the women he loved were obsessed with Anteros (nymph Daphne, Cassandra).
In Efremov’s novel “Thais of Athens” there is an episode in which Thais experiences horror at the sight of the Anteros altar, considering him the god of anti-love.
When they are together, the god Eros grows, but becomes small again as soon as Anterot leaves him. The meaning of this ancient allegory is that love or friendship must be shared by another person in order to grow and develop.
Erosstasia. Aphrodite and Hermes weigh Love (Eros and Anteros) 
Education of Eros
The education of the god Eros by the goddess Aphrodite (Venus) was very often depicted in antiquity on cameos and engraved stones. Mother Aphrodite plays with Eros, takes away his bow or arrows, teases Eros and frolics with him. But the playful child Eros does not remain in debt to his mother, and the goddess Aphrodite more than once experiences the effects of the arrows of the god Eros.
Cupid training 
Cupid training 
Cupid training
Eros, according to ancient mythology, is a civilizer who managed to soften the rudeness of primitive morals. Ancient art took advantage of this idea and, wanting to show the irresistible power of the god Eros (Cupid), began to depict Eros as a tamer of wild and ferocious animals.
On many cameos and engraved stones of antiquity, the god Eros is depicted riding a lion, which he tamed and turned into a tame beast. Eros is often depicted on a chariot harnessed to wild animals.
God Eros (Cupid) is terrible not only to people, but also to the gods. Zeus (Jupiter), foreseeing just before the birth of Eros all the troubles that he would do, ordered the goddess Aphrodite (Venus) to kill Eros, but Aphrodite hid her son in the forest, where wild animals fed him.
Ancient poets and writers constantly talk about the cruelty of the god Eros, that Eros knows no pity, that Eros inflicts incurable wounds, forces people to commit the most reckless acts and leads to crimes.
Time to cut off Cupid's wings
The ancient Greek poet Anacreon has several lovely poems on this topic. Here is one of them:
“In the middle of the night, at that hour when all mortals are fast asleep, the god Eros appears and knocks on my door. “Who's knocking there? - I exclaim. “Who interrupts my dreams, full of charm?” - “Open it!” - God Eros answers me. “Don’t be afraid, I’m small, I’m all wet from the rain, the moon has disappeared somewhere, and I lost my way in the darkness of the night.” Hearing the words of Eros, I feel sorry for the poor fellow, I light my lamp, open the door and see a child in front of me; he has wings, a bow, a quiver and arrows; I bring him to my fireplace, warm his cold fingers in my hands, wipe his wet hair. But as soon as the god Eros had time to recover a little, he took up his bow and arrows. “I want,” says Eros, “to see if the bowstring is damp.” God Eros pulls it, pierces my heart with an arrow and says to me, bursting into ringing laughter: “My hospitable host, rejoice; my bow is completely healthy, but your heart is sick.”
Type and distinctive features of the god Eros
In art, the god Eros has two completely different types: Eros is depicted either as a lovely winged child playing with his mother, or as a young man.
In the Pio-Clementine Museum there is a beautiful type of Eros as a youth. Unfortunately, only the head and shoulders survived.
The ancient Greek sculptor Praxiteles was the first to give the ideal type of the god Eros, which served as the prototype for all subsequent statues of this god.
Praxiteles was a great admirer of the beautiful hetaera Phryne, who asked Praxiteles to give her the best of his works. Praxiteles agreed to fulfill the request of the hetaera Phryne, but still could not decide to indicate which of his statues he considered the best. Then the hetaera Phryne resorted to the following trick. Phryne ordered one of her slaves to come and tell Praxiteles that his workshop was on fire; the alarmed artist rushed to the door, shouting that all the fruits of his many years of labor would be lost if the flames did not spare his two statues - the Satyr and the god Eros. Hetera Phryne reassured Praxiteles, saying that it was only a test and that now she knows which works Praxiteles considers the best. Phryne chose a statue of Eros for herself.
Kaufman Angelika, Praxiteles gives. Phryne statue of Eros 
Statues of Aphrodite of Knidos (copies), depicting the image of the hetaera Phryne - the muse of the sculptor Praxiteles
Hetera Phryne brought as a gift a statue of the god Eros by Praxiteles to her native city of Thespia, which had just been devastated by Alexander the Great. The statue of Eros was placed in a temple dedicated to the god of love, and people from different countries began to come there just to admire this great work of art. “Thespia,” says Cicero on this occasion, “has now been turned into nothing by Alexander, but the god Cupid of Praxiteles appeared in it, and there is no traveler who would not turn to this city to look at this beautiful statue.”
"Eros Stretching the Bow" Marble. Roman work of the 2nd century. n. e. based on the Greek original (Hermitage)
The Roman emperor Caligula transferred the statue of Eros Praxiteles to Rome, and the emperor Claudius returned it to the Thespians, the emperor Nero took it away again, and it perished in a fire that destroyed most of Rome.
The famous Greek sculptor Lysippos also sculpted a statue of the god Eros. The statue of Eros by Lysippos was placed in the same temple where the work of Praxiteles was located.
In the temple of the goddess Aphrodite in Athens there was a famous painting by Zeuxis, depicting the god of love Eros, crowned with roses.
Before the Roman rule, the god Eros continued to be depicted as young men, stately and graceful in form. Only in this era does the god Eros appear on monuments of ancient art in the form of a winged and healthy child. The distinctive features of Eros the child are wings, a bow, and a quiver of arrows.
Attributed to Michelangelo Maestri (Italian, d. 1812) auction christies
Modern art very often depicted the god Cupid. In one of the rooms of the Vatican, Raphael painted Cupid on a chariot, driven by butterflies and swans. Almost all museums contain paintings by Raphael depicting the little god of love and the goddess Venus.
Cupid steals honey. Albrecht Durer, 1514 The god Cupid runs from a swarm of bees to his mother, the goddess Venus.
Correggio and Titian painted the god Cupid in various poses and forms, but no one depicted the god of love as often as Rubens: in almost all art galleries you can find his plump, ruddy and cheerful Cupids.
In the French school, Poussin, Lesueur, and especially Boucher, are artists - specialists of Cupids, charming and cheerful, but in no way reminiscent of the ideal type of Praxiteles.
Hans Zatzka
The artist Vien painted an interesting picture, the plot of which was borrowed from an ancient painting - it is called “The Cupid Trader”.
Prudhon also left many paintings, the subjects of which were the various adventures of the god Cupid. This god often shoots his arrows at random, like a blind man who does not see the goal, and that is why poets call love blind. Correggio and Titian, wanting to personify this idea, depicted the goddess Venus putting a blindfold on her son.
A cartoon for adults, which is based on a version of the ancient Greek myth from Simonides about the birth of the god of Love from Aphodite and Ares. Despite the resistance of the Olympian gods, Love came into the world. Eros is destined to transform the world, to give new meaning and significance to human relationships.
Venus and Cupid
Beautiful traditions and legends about the ancient gods, when people lived in harmony with nature, and saw a divine reason and plan in everything that happened, still excite the imagination of creative people. The goddess Aphrodite, the most beautiful inhabitant of Olympus - this article is dedicated to her.
Who is Aphrodite
The influence of neighboring peoples, as well as trade with other countries, left an imprint on the beliefs and religion of the ancient Greeks; sometimes similar cults merged and existing gods were enriched with new characteristic features. Who is Aphrodite in Greek mythology - historians and archaeologists believe that the cult of the Cypriot goddess was originally of Semitic origin and brought to Ancient Greece from Ascalon, where the goddess Aphrodite was called Astarte. Aphrodite is one of the pantheon of the 12 main gods of Olympus. Spheres of influence and functions of the goddess:
- fertility of nature;
- at his own discretion bestows beauty on people;
- patronizes lovers, marriages and the birth of children;
- voluptuousness;
- love;
- sensuality;
- sends erotic fantasies and dreams;
- punishes those who reject the feeling of love.
What does Aphrodite look like?
With the advent of the cult of the goddess of love, there was a leap in the development of art: the Greeks began to pay great attention to the reproduction of the naked body in paintings, frescoes and sculpture. The goddess Aphrodite, at the initial stage, differed from the images of other gods of the Greek pantheon in that she was completely naked. The appearance of the goddess spoke for itself:
- a beautiful maiden with long hair the color of gold;
- delicate and delicate facial features;
- forever young;
- graceful and graceful as a doe;
- eyes the color of emeralds.
Aphrodite's attributes:
- Golden cup of wine - a person who drank from the cup became immortal and gained eternal youth.
- Aphrodite's Belt - bestowed sexual charms and strengthened the one who wore it. In myths, Aphrodite sometimes gave the belt to other goddesses at their request to seduce husbands or lovers.
- Birds - pigeons and sparrows, a symbol of fertility.
- Flowers - rose, violet, daffodil, lily - symbols of love.
- The apple is the fruit of temptation.
The goddess of beauty Aphrodite is often accompanied by companions:
- nymphs - spirits of nature;
- choirs - goddesses of time and order in nature;
- Eros is an archer deity who strikes with arrows of love;
- the Harites, the goddesses of fun and joy, serve the goddess, dress her in beautiful outfits and comb her golden hair.
Aphrodite - mythology
The myths according to which the ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite appeared interpret this event differently. The traditional method of birth described by Homer, where Aphrodite’s mother is the sea nymph Dione, and her father is the supreme thunderer Zeus himself. There is a version in which the parents of the goddess are the goddess Artemis and Zeus - as a union of the masculine and feminine principles.
Another myth, more archetypal. The Earth Goddess Gaia was angry with the husband of the Sky God Uranus, from whom terrible children were born. Gaia asked her son Kronos to castrate his father. Kronos cut off Uranus's genitals with a sickle and threw them into the sea. Snow-white foam formed around the severed organ, from which the already adult goddess of love emerged. This event happened at Fr. Cythera in the Aegean Sea. The wind carried her on a sea shell to Cyprus, and she came ashore. The choirs put a golden necklace and a diadem on her and took her to Olympus, where the gods looked at the goddess in amazement and everyone wanted to take her as his wife.
Aphrodite and Ares
Aphrodite in Greek mythology is known for her love, including gods and mere mortals among her lovers. Historical sources indicate that Aphrodite’s husband, the god of blacksmithing Hephaestus, was lame and did not shine with beauty, so the goddess of love often consoled herself in the arms of a courageous and warlike man. One day, Hephaestus, wanting to catch Aphrodite in connection with the god of war, forged a thin bronze net. In the morning, when the lovers woke up, they found themselves entangled in a net. Hephaestus, in retaliation, invited those who wanted to look at the naked and helpless Aphrodite and Ares.
From love with the god of destruction and war, the children of Aphrodite were born:
- Phobos is the god of fear. His father's faithful companion in battle.
- Deimos is the personification of the horror of war.
- Eros and Anteros are twin brothers, responsible for attraction and mutual love.
- Harmony - patronizes a happy marriage, life in unity and harmony.
- Himeroth is the god of fiery passion.
Aphrodite and Adonis
Aphrodite - the Greek goddess experienced love and the torment of suffering. The beautiful young man Adonis, who surpassed even the gods of Olympus in beauty, won the heart of Aphrodite at first sight. Adonis's passion was hunting, without which he could not understand his life. Aphrodite accompanied her lover and became interested in hunting wild animals. One stormy day, the goddess could not go hunting with Adonis and asked him to heed her pleas to take care of himself, but it so happened that Adonis’s dogs attacked the trail of a wild boar and the young man hurried in anticipation of prey.
Aphrodite felt the death of her beloved and went in search of him, making her way through the thickets, all wounded from thorns and sharp stones digging into her tender legs, the goddess found Adonis lifeless with a terrible lacerated wound left by the fangs of a boar. In memory of her lover, Aphrodite created an anemone flower from drops of his blood, which became her attribute. Zeus, seeing the grief of the goddess, agreed with Hades that Adonis spends six months in the kingdom of the dead - this is the time of winter, the awakening of nature personifies the time when Adonis is reunited with Aphrodite for six months.
Apollo and Aphrodite
The myth about Aphrodite, the most beautiful of the goddesses of Olympus, is contrasted with the myths about Apollo, who personifies the most beautiful of the divine Greek pantheon. Apollo, the sun god, is dazzling in his beauty and loving. Aphrodite's son Eros, fulfilling his mother's will, often struck the brilliant Apollo with his arrows. Apollo and Aphrodite were not lovers, but were a kind of standards of masculinity, reflected in the Hellenic art of sculpture.
Athena and Aphrodite
The Greek goddess Aphrodite decided to try herself in some other craft other than love and chose spinning. Athena, the goddess of war and crafts, found the goddess at the spinning wheel, which made her indignation know no bounds. Athena considered this an encroachment and interference in her spheres and powers. Aphrodite did not want to quarrel with Athena, apologized and promised not to touch the spinning wheel again.
Aphrodite and Venus
The ancient goddess Aphrodite attracted the warlike Romans so much that they adopted the cult of Aphrodite and called her Venus. The Romans considered the goddess their ancestor. Guy Julius Caesar was proud and constantly mentioned that his family descended from the great goddess. Venus Victorious was revered as giving victory to the Roman people in battles. Aphrodite and Venus are identical in function.
Aphrodite and Dionysus
Dionysus, the god of fertility and winemaking, sought in vain the favor of Aphrodite for a long time. The goddess often found comfort in casual relationships, and luck smiled on Dionysus. The son of Dionysus and Aphrodite, Priapus, who appeared as a result of a passing infatuation, was so ugly that Aphrodite abandoned the child. The huge genitals of Priapus, which the vengeful Hera endowed him with, became a symbol of fertility among the Greeks.
Aphrodite and Psyche
The ancient Greek Aphrodite had heard a lot about the beauty of the earthly woman Psyche and decided to destroy her by sending Eros to hit Psyche with an arrow of love for the ugliest of men. But Eros himself fell in love with Psyche and made her his, sharing a bed with her only in complete darkness. Psyche, persuaded by her sisters, decided to look at her husband while he was sleeping. She lit the lamp and saw that Eros himself was in her bed. A drop of wax fell on Eros, he woke up and left Psyche in a rage.
The girl is looking for her lover all over the world and is forced to turn to Eros’s mother Aphrodite. The goddess gives the poor thing impossible tasks: to sort different types of grains dumped into one huge pile, get the golden fleece from maddened sheep, draw water from the Styx and in the underworld get a potion to treat Eros' burn. With the help of the forces of nature, Psyche copes with difficult assignments. The recovered god of love, touched by care, asks the celestials of Olympus to legitimize the marriage with Psyche and grant her immortality.
Aphrodite and Paris
“The Apple of Discord” is the most ancient Greek myth about Aphrodite, Athena and Hera. Paris, the son of the Trojan king Priam, was having fun playing the flute and admiring the beauty of nature, when he suddenly saw that the messenger of the gods Hermes himself was walking towards him, and with him the three great goddesses of Olympus. Paris ran as fast as he could out of fear, but Hermes called out to him, saying that Zeus ordered the young man to judge which of the goddesses was the most beautiful. Hermes handed Paris a golden apple with the inscription “To the Most Beautiful.”
The goddesses decided to bribe Paris with gifts in order to receive the fruit. Hera promised Paris power and rule over Europe and Asia. Athena promised eternal glory among the sages, and victory in all battles. Aphrodite approached and affectionately promised love to the most beautiful of mortals - Helen the Beautiful. Paris, who desired Helen, gave it to Aphrodite. The goddess helped kidnap Helen and patronized their union. For this reason, the Trojan War broke out.
Aphrodite and Poseidon
Aphrodite, the goddess of love, was also not indifferent to the god of the sea elements, Poseidon, who was inflamed with lust for her after seeing her naked in bed with Ares, at the moment when they were caught in Hephaestus’s net. Aphrodite, to shake up Ares' feelings of jealousy, responded to Poseidon with a mutual outburst of short-term passion. The goddess gave birth to a daughter, Rhoda, who became the wife of Helios, the solar deity.
Myths and Legends * Cupid (Eros, Eros, Cupid)Cupid (Eros, Eros, Cupid)
Cupid (Chaudet Antoine Denis)
Material from Wikipedia
Eros(Eros, ancient Greek. Ἔρως
, also Eros, Cupid, among the Romans Cupid) - the god of love in ancient Greek mythology, the constant companion and assistant of Aphrodite, the personification of love attraction, ensuring the continuation of life on Earth.
Origin
Lorenzo Lotto - Cupid
There were many options for the origin of Eros:
* Hesiod considers him a self-generated deity after Chaos, Gaia and Tartarus, one of the most ancient gods.
* According to Alcaeus, son of Zephyr and Iris.
* According to Sappho, son of Aphrodite and Uranus.
* According to Simonides, son of Ares and Aphrodite.
* According to Akusilaus, son of Erebus and Nyx.
* According to Orphic cosmogony, he was born from an egg laid by Night or created by Chronos. Called the great daimon.
* According to Pherecydes, Zeus became Eros as a demiurge.
* According to Parmenides, the creation of Aphrodite.
* According to Euripides, the son of Zeus, or Zeus and Aphrodite.
* According to Pausanias, son of Ilithyia.
* Plato has the son of Poros and Penia.
* Son of Chaos.
* According to some version, the son of Gaia.
* His father was also called Kronos, Orpheus, etc.
Diana disarming Cupid
(Pompeo Batoni, Metropolitan Museum)
According to Cotta's speech, there were three:
* Son of Hermes and the first Artemis.
* Son of Hermes and the second Aphrodite.
* Son of Ares and the third Aphrodite, aka Anteros.
According to Nonnus, he was born near the city of Beroi.
Basic myths
Everything submits to love (Cupid)
Caravaggio,1602 (Amor Vincit Omnia)
Eros- a world deity who unites gods in marriage pairs, was considered the product of Chaos (dark night) and bright day or Heaven and Earth. He dominates both external nature and the moral world of people and gods, controlling their hearts and wills. In relation to natural phenomena, he is the beneficent god of spring, fertilizing the earth and bringing new life into existence. He was represented as a beautiful boy with wings, in more ancient times with a flower and a lyre, and later with arrows of love or a flaming torch.
In Thespiae, every four years a festival was held in honor of Eros - Erotidia, accompanied by gymnastic and musical competitions.
A young girl defending herself from Eros
(Adolphe William Bouguereau, 1880)
In addition, Eros, as the god of love and friendship that united boys and girls, was revered in gymnasiums, where statues of Eros were placed next to images of Hermes and Hercules. The Spartans and Cretans usually made a sacrifice to Eros before the battle. His altar stood at the entrance to the Academy.
Erosstasia. Aphrodite and Hermes weigh Love (Eros and Anteros)
on the golden scales of fate
The mutual love of youth found a symbolic image in the group of Eros and Anterot (otherwise Anterot, Anteros), located in the Eleatic gymnasium: the relief with this group depicted Eros and Anterot challenging the palm of victory from each other. Ovid mentions “both Eros.” The nurses of Eros, the Charites, went to Delphi to Themis with a question about his short stature.
In art
Cupid in the form of a child
(slave of Etienne Maurice Falconet, after 1757, Hermitage)
Eros served as one of the favorite subjects for philosophers, poets and artists, being for them an ever-living image of both a serious world-governing force and a personal heartfelt feeling that enslaves gods and people. The LVIII Orphic hymn is dedicated to him. To a later time belongs the emergence of the group of Eros and Psyche (that is, Love and the Soul captivated by it) and the famous folk tale that developed from this representation.
The image of Cupid in the form of a naked child is used when painting ceilings, and furniture is rarely decorated with the image of Cupid.
Eros (Cupid, Cupid)
Eros (Musei Capitolini) 
This god of love (“Eros” - love) is usually depicted as a playful, playful boy, armed with a bow and arrow. The wounds it inflicts are not fatal, but can be painful and excruciating, although they often evoke a sweet feeling or the bliss of quenched passion.
Venus, Cupid and Satyr (Bronzino)
The ancient Greeks considered Eros to be an unborn god, but an eternal one, on a par with Chaos, Gaia and Tartarus. He personified a powerful force that attracts one living being to another, giving pleasure, without which they cannot exist and copulate, giving birth to more and more new individuals, neither gods, nor people, nor animals. Eros is the great force of attraction between the two sexes, the force of universal gravity of love.
But there was another version of its origin, a later one. According to this version, Eros is the son of Aphrodite and Hermes or Ares, or even Zeus himself. There were other assumptions about Eros's parents. The poets agreed on one thing: the god of love always remains a child and sends his golden destructive arrows willfully, regardless of the arguments of reason.
Hesiod wrote:
And, among all the gods, the most beautiful is Eros. Sweet-tongued - he conquers the soul of all gods and earth-born people in the chest and deprives everyone of reasoning.
Philosophers did not limit the area of Eros's dominion to gods, people and animals. The ancient Greek thinker Empedocles believed that in nature, either Love or Enmity alternately prevails, and the first brings everything into unity, defeating Enmity. Thus, Eros becomes the personification of the cosmic forces of unity, the desire for fusion. Thanks to him, the fabric of life is not interrupted and the unity of the universe is preserved.
However, in ancient texts, Eros often appears as a force that awakens primitive “animal” passion. According to Plato, Eros “is always poor and, contrary to popular belief, is not at all handsome or gentle, but is rude, unkempt, barefoot and homeless; he is lying on the bare ground in the open air, at the door, on the street...” However, a disclaimer follows: it turns out that Eros is drawn to the beautiful and perfect, is brave and strong; he is a wise man and a fool, a rich man and a poor man.
According to Diogenes Laertius, the Stoics argued: “Lust is an unreasonable desire... Love is a desire that is not suitable for worthy people, because it is the intention to get close to someone because of conspicuous beauty.” And Epicurus clearly divided: “When we say that pleasure is the ultimate goal, we do not mean the pleasures that consist in sensual pleasure... but we mean freedom from bodily suffering and mental anxieties. No, it is not continuous drinking and revelry, not the enjoyment of boys and women... that gives rise to a pleasant life, but sober reasoning, examining the reasons for every choice... and expelling [false] opinions, which produce the greatest confusion in the soul.”
Cupid and Psyche 
In Ancient Rome Eros (Cupid) got a name Cupid ("Love") and became especially popular. Apuleius created a legend that tells about the desire of the human soul in the image of Psyche (“psyche” - soul) to find Love. “With the help of Zephyr,” writes A.F. Losev, retelling the legend, Cupid received the royal daughter Psyche as his wife. However, Psyche violated the ban on never seeing the face of her mysterious husband. At night, burning with curiosity, she lights a lamp and looks admiringly at the young god, not noticing the hot drop of oil that fell on Cupid’s delicate skin. Cupid disappears, and Psyche must regain him after going through many tests. Having overcome them and even descended into Hades for living water, Psyche, after painful suffering, again finds Cupid, who asks Zeus for permission to marry his beloved and reconciles with Aphrodite, who was viciously pursuing Psyche.”
What is the hidden meaning of this story? It can be assumed that it talks about the “blindness” of the initial love attraction caused by unconscious emotions. The mind's attempt to understand the essence of love leads to its disappearance. Painful doubts, worries, conflicts arise: this is how feelings take revenge on reason for invading their kingdom. But true love overcomes these obstacles and triumphs - forever.
Just over two thousand years ago, the Roman poet Publius Ovid Naso described the triumph of Cupid this way:
Oh, why does the bed seem so hard to me,
And my blanket does not lie well on the sofa?
And why did I spend such a long night sleepless,
And, spinning restlessly, your body is tired and hurts?
I would feel, I think, if I were tormented by Cupid,
Or has a cunning person crept in, harming you with hidden art?
Yes it is. Thin-sharp arrows are already sitting in the heart;
Having conquered my soul, the fierce Cupid torments...
Yes, I admit, Cupid, I have become your new prey,
I am defeated and I surrender myself to your power.
There's no need for a battle at all. I ask for mercy and peace.
You have nothing to boast about; I, unarmed, defeated...
Your fresh catch is me, having received a recent wound,
In a captive soul I will bear the burden of unusual shackles
A sound mind behind you with hands in chains will lead you,
Shame, and everything that will harm mighty Love...
Your companions will be Madness, Caresses and Passions;
They will all persistently follow you in a crowd.
With this army you constantly humble people and gods,
If you lose this support, you will become powerless and naked...
Cupid (Cupid, Eros) has been sung by poets at all times; Philosophers talked about it. It turned out that this deity has not one or two, but many guises, although high Eros, like any peak, is not accessible to everyone: one must be worthy of it.
Series of messages " ":
Part 1 - Myths and Legends * Cupid (Eros, Eros, Cupid)
Eros (Eros) - in Greek mythology, the god of love, understood as a special world deity and as the constant companion and assistant of Aphrodite. According to Hesiod, he is one of the five gods born of Chaos (Theogony, 116-122). According to the account of the mythographer of the 5th century BC. e. Akusilaus, Eros was the grandson of Chaos, born to his children Niktas and Erebus.
The tradition of Greek classical poetry represents Eros as a son (Euripides, Hippolytus, 533), the offspring of Iris and Zephyr (Alcaeus, Fragments, 80). In later legends, Eros is usually called the son of Aphrodite and Ares, so that he gradually takes on the features of a “golden-winged” god, marking a gradual transition to the graceful, light and capricious Eros of Hellenistic poetry.
He became, as noted by Apollonius of Rhodes, a beautiful, wayward and hard-hearted boy, full of cunning and cunning, a cruel tormentor of gods and people. He flies everywhere on his golden wings, thoughtlessly shooting arrows that arouse love not only between a man and a woman, but also same-sex love. Eros dominates both external nature and the moral world of people and gods, controlling their hearts and wills. In relation to natural phenomena, he is the beneficent god of spring, fertilizing the earth and bringing new life into existence. He was represented as a beautiful boy, with wings, in more ancient times - with a flower and a lyre, later - with arrows of love or a flaming torch.
The Eros type received artistic development under the chisel of the sculptors of the younger Attic school - Scopas, Praxiteles and Lysippos. Scopas owned a statue of Eros, located in Megara; Praxiteles sculpted Eros for the Mysian city of Paria at the Hellespont and - a masterpiece of Greek sculpture - for Thespiae, where there was also a statue of Eros by Lysippos.
The cult of Eros existed in Paria and mainly in Thespiae, where initially a rough stone served as an image of the god. In Thespiae, every four years, festivals were held in honor of Eros - Erotidia, accompanied by gymnastic and musical competitions.
In addition, Eros, as the god of love and friendship, uniting youths and men, was revered in gymnasiums, where his statues were placed next to images of Hermes and Hercules (Pausanias, IX 27, 1-3). The Spartans and Cretans usually made a sacrifice to Eros before the battle; the best Theban squad of warriors had their patron and inspirer in Eros; The Samians dedicated gymnasiums to Eros and celebrated their eleutheria in his honor. The mutual love of youth found a symbolic image in the group of Eros and Anterot, located in the Eleatic gymnasium: the relief with this group depicted Eros and Anterot challenging each other's palm of victory.
The emergence of the symbiosis of Eros and Psyche (Love and the Soul captivated by it) belongs to later times. A similar symbolic and allegorical image of Eros is given by Apuleius in his work Metamorphoses.
The original myth about Eros, not a deity, but a demon, a companion of Aphrodite, expressing the eternal desire for beauty, is given by Plato. For him, Eros is the son of Poverty and Wealth, conceived on the birthday of Aphrodite and inherited from his parents a thirst for possession, a thirst for wandering, perseverance and courage. In Roman mythology, Eros corresponds to the Roman gods Cupid and Cupid.
EROS, THE ALL-CONQUERING GOD
(Excerpt from the tragedy “Antigone” - Sophocles)
Eros, the all-conquering god,
God of love, you are above the greats
You triumph, and then,
Lulled, at rest
On the cheeks of a sleeping maiden,
Flying across the seas
You enter a miserable hut.
Not a single one in the mortal race,
Not one of the gods
The death of strangers cannot be saved,
But they suffer and go mad,
Defeated by you.
* * *
Myth EROS and PSYCHE
Somehow Aphrodite became envious of the beauty of a mortal girl named Psyche. The goddess, overcome with jealousy, ordered her son to pierce the girl's heart with a golden arrow so that she would fall in love with the most disgusting man in the world. Eros agreed to fulfill his mother’s wish, but when he saw Psyche, he himself fell in love with her.
The beautiful Psyche became the wife of the invisible and mysterious Eros, who flew to her every day, however, only at night and in the dark, while warning his beloved that she should not bring fire into the bedroom and see it without cover of night.
Psyche fell in love with Eros, despite the fact that she did not even see him. However, the jealous sisters tried in every possible way to convince the girl that she had married a terrible monster who was going to harm her. So little by little they led her to the idea of killing her husband.
One fateful night, curiosity and fear took over, and Psyche decided to hide an oil lamp in her bedroom along with a knife. When Eros fell asleep, she lit a fire in the lamp, preparing to see the monster, but instead she saw an unusually handsome young man sleeping on her bed.
At the sight of his beauty, Psyche was seized with trembling, so much so that several drops of hot oil from the lamp fell on his skin. Eros woke up in pain and noticed a knife in the hands of his beloved. Seeing such a betrayal, he immediately flew away... Psyche, in despair, went to look for her lover all over the world.
Eros returned to his mother, who healed his wounds, but completely tormented poor Psyche. After several difficult tasks, Aphrodite ordered Psyche to descend to the Lower World to take a box with a piece of her beauty from Persephone. Psyche did not even know about the intentions of the goddess, who hoped that the girl simply would not survive such a dangerous path. However, despite everything, she managed to achieve her goal, thanks to the instructions of the talking tower, from which she wanted to throw herself down to commit suicide. Having received the box from Persephone, Psyche opened it in the hope of regaining the love of Eros, but instead fell into a deep sleep similar to death.
Eros, already healed of his wounds, yearned for his beloved and began to look for her everywhere. Having found Psyche, he woke her up with a prick of his arrow and immediately flew away to Zeus to ask the Father of men and gods to take his side in a dispute with the angry Aphrodite. In the end, Aphrodite was pacified, and Zeus, blessing Psyche and Eros, turned the girl into a goddess, giving her immortality.
