He love It is a universal force, whose power can hardly be underestimated. The ancient Greeks did not, who gave it a prominent role in the creation of the world and made it the protagonist of numerous myths.
Inside the greek mythology, Eros He is one of the most peculiar and elusive gods. The area in which it acts, the love understood as irresistible attractiondoes not allow for too many discussions, quite the opposite of its origins and nature. The myths do not agree, which translates into a handful of very different traditions.
Eros, a primordial force
The oldest myths make Eros one of the forces that gave rise to the universe from the Primal Chaos. According to this version, the god would be one of the five primordial divinities with Tartarus (the underground abysses of the world), Nyx (the Night), Gaia (the Earth) and Erebus (the Darkness). The force of attraction of Eros was what, causing the fertilizing union of all those forces, drove Creation.
Another tradition has Eros born from an egg that Nyx laid after an encounter with Erebus. The most widespread, however, is the one that does son of the adulterous relationship that occurred between the goddess of love Aphrodite and the god of war Ares.
This version of the myth is also the one that lends Eros the aspect for which he is best known: that of a chubby boy flying from one place to another thanks to his wings and that he is armed with bow and arrows. These are of two types: those with a gold tip serve to awaken love passion; those with a lead tip, to provoke rejection.
Myths about the god Eros
Eros intervenes in a good number of myths. One of them refers to the revenge he carried out against Apollowho had laughed at his worth as an archer. Eros shot him one of his golden arrows, while at the same time he wounded the nymph Daphne with a lead one.
Blinded by loving passion, Apollo began to chase Daphnewho, clouded by a visceral rejection of the god, fled from him. Finally, when Apollo was about to catch her, the nymph implored the river Peneus for help, who, taking pity on her, transformed it into the laurel tree.
No one was safe from the arrows of Erosnot even Zeuswhose passion for the female gender was well known both on Olympus and on Earth. It wasn’t either Aphroditemuch less the poor mortals. The force of love is such that Eros himself ended up succumbing to it.
Eros, love in love
The object of Eros’ love was called Psyche.. She was a mortal princess, so extraordinarily beautiful that she aroused fear more than desire. Her parents then decided to consult an oracle to find out what to do with her, although what they heard filled their hearts with sadness: after dressing her as if she were going to get married, they had to abandon Psyche on a rock so that a monster would take her away. So they did it.
Once on the rock, Psyche was taken away by a violent force. When she woke up, she found herself in a beautiful palace, surrounded by slaves who served her, but who were invisible to her eyes. It was also a voice that introduced itself as her husband and that met with her every night.
Psyche was happy in that world, but there came a time when she wanted to see her husband’s facedespite the fact that he had warned him that, if such a thing happened, he would lose him forever. But the princess did not take that threat too seriously.
Thus, one night, when she knew that her husband had fallen asleep, she turned on a lamp that she had hidden in the room. Thanks to her, he saw that who was at his side was none other than Eros.
But Eros woke up and, full of anger, disappeared. For Psyche it was the beginning of a nightmare, because her husband’s mother, Aphrodite set out to pursue her with obvious viciousness.jealous as she was of her beauty.
The story, however, has a happy ending, because Eros, who could not tear Psyche from his heart, not only returned to her, but He begged Zeus to allow him to take her to Olympus..
Cult of the god Eros
The ancient Greeks recognized the power of Eros, but it was unusual for them to worship him. An exception occurred in the city of Thespiae, in Boeotia, where the god Eros had a sanctuary. His most valuable work was a statue of Eros, now lost, that a courtesan born there, Phryne, commissioned from the famous sculptor Praxiteles. Every four years, Thespiae also hosted the festival of the Erotids.
Another Boeotian city, Thebes, consecrated the famous Sacred Battalion to Erosa military unit made up of 150 homosexual couples who swore to fight to the death rather than surrender.