Aphrodite's helper, the god of love - Cupid (Eros, Eros, Cupid): photos, pictures with cupids. The Myth of Cupid's Magic Arrows

Myths and Legends * Cupid (Eros, Eros, Cupid)

Cupid (Eros, Eros, Cupid)

Cupid (Chaudet Antoine Denis)

Material from Wikipedia

Eros(Eros, other Greek. Ἔρως , also Eros, Cupid, among the Romans Cupid) is the god of love in ancient Greek mythology, the inseparable companion and assistant of Aphrodite, the personification of love attraction, which ensures 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 Acusilaus, the son of Erebus and Nikta.
* According to Orphic cosmogony, he was born from an egg laid by the Night or created by Chronos. It is called the great daimon.
* According to Ferekid, 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.
* The son of Ares and the third Aphrodite, he is Anteros.

According to Nonnu, he was born near the city of Beroi.

Main myths

Everything submits to love (Cupid)
Caravaggio, 1602 (Amor Vincit Omnia)

Eros- the world deity, connecting the gods into marriage couples, was considered a product of Chaos (dark night) and a bright day or Heaven and Earth. He dominates both external nature and the moral world of people and gods, controlling their heart and will. In relation to the phenomena of nature, he is the beneficent god of spring, fertilizing the earth and bringing new life into being. 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.
In Thespiae, every four years, a festival was held in honor of Eros - Erotidia, accompanied by gymnastic and musical competitions.

Young girl protecting 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 the statues of Eros were placed next to the images of Hermes and Hercules. Spartans and Cretans usually sacrificed to Eros before the battle. His altar stood at the entrance to the Academy.

Erostasia. 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 Anteroth (otherwise Anterot, Anteros), located in the Eleatic gymnasium: the relief with this group depicted Eros and Anterot, contesting 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 small stature.

In art

Cupid as a child
(worker Etienne Maurice Falcone, after 1757, Hermitage)

Eros served as one of the favorite subjects for philosophers, poets and artists, being for them an eternally living image of both a serious world-ruling force and a personal heartfelt feeling that enslaves gods and people. The LVIII Orphic hymn is dedicated to him. The emergence of the group of Eros and Psyche (that is, Love and the Soul captivated by it) and the well-known folk tale that developed from this representation belongs to a later time.
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 frisky, playful boy, armed with a bow and arrow. The wounds inflicted by them are not fatal, but can be painful, excruciating, although they often cause a sweet feeling or bliss of quenched passion.

Venus, Cupid and Satyr (Bronzino)

The ancient Greeks considered Eros to be a god not born, but eternal, 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 the universal gravitation of love.

But there was another version of its origin, later. According to this version, Eros is the son of Aphrodite and Hermes or Ares, or even Zeus himself. There were other assumptions about the parents of Eros. At the same time, the poets agreed on one thing: the god of love always remains a child and sends his golden smashing arrows willfully, regardless of the arguments of reason.

Hesiod wrote:

And, among all the gods, the most beautiful - Eros. Sweet-smelling - for all the gods and earthly people, he conquers the Soul in the chest and deprives everyone of reasoning.
Philosophers did not limit the area of Eros' dominion to gods, people and animals. The ancient Greek thinker Empedocles believed that in nature either Love or Enmity wins in turn, and the first brings everything into unity, defeating Enmity. Thus, Eros becomes the personification of the cosmic forces of unity, the aspiration to merge. Thanks to him, the fabric of life is not interrupted and the unity of the universe is preserved.
However, in ancient texts, Eros often acts as a force that awakens a primitive "animal" passion. According to Plato, Eros “is always poor and, contrary to popular belief, is not at all handsome and gentle, but rude, untidy, unshod and homeless; he is lying on the bare ground in the open air, at the door, on the street ... ”However, a caveat follows: it turns out that Eros is drawn to the beautiful and perfect, brave and strong; he is wise and ignorant, rich and poor.
According to Diogenes Laertes, the Stoics argued: “Lust is an unreasonable desire ... Love is a desire that is not befitting worthy people, because it is an intention to get close to someone because of conspicuous beauty.” And Epicurus clearly shared: “When we say that pleasure is the ultimate goal, we do not mean 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 ... give rise to a pleasant life, but sober reasoning, exploring the reasons for every choice ... and expelling [false] opinions that 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 form of Psyche (“psyche” - soul) to find Love. “With the help of Zephyr,” writes A.F. Losev, retelling the legend, - Amur received the royal daughter Psyche as his wife. However, Psyche broke the ban never to see the face of her mysterious husband. At night, burning with curiosity, she lights a lamp and gazes admiringly at the young god, not noticing the hot drop of oil that has fallen on Cupid's tender skin. Cupid disappears, and Psyche must get him back after going through many trials. Having overcome them and even descended into Hades for living water, Psyche, after excruciating suffering, regains Cupid, who asks Zeus for permission to marry his beloved and reconciles with Aphrodite, who viciously persecuted Psyche.

What is the hidden meaning of this story? It can be assumed that it tells about the "blindness" of the initial love attraction, caused by unconscious emotions. The attempt of reason to understand the essence of love leads to the fact that it disappears. There are painful doubts, experiences, conflicts: this is how feelings take revenge on reason for invading their kingdom. But true love overcomes these obstacles and triumphs - already forever.

Just over two millennia ago, the Roman poet Publius Ovid Nason described Cupid's triumph as follows:

Oh, why does the bed seem so hard to me,
And my bedspread does not lie well on the sofa?
And why did I spend such a long night sleepless,
And, restlessly spinning, the body is tired, hurts?
I would feel, I think, if I were tormented by Cupid,
Or has a sly one crept up, harming with hidden art?
Yes it is. Already in the heart there are thin-sharp arrows;
Having subdued my soul, the fierce Cupid torments...
Yes, I admit, Cupid, I became your new prey,
I am defeated and I betray myself to your power.
The battle is not needed at all. Mercy, I ask for peace.
You have nothing to boast about; I, unarmed, broken...
Your fresh catch is me, having received a recent wound,
In a captive soul I will carry a load of unusual shackles
A sound mind from behind with hands in chains will lead you,
Shame, and everything that harms mighty Love...
Your companions will be Madness, Caress and Passion;
They will stubbornly follow you all 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) was 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 far from accessible to everyone: one must be worthy of it.

Series of messages " ":
Part 1 - Myths and Legends * Cupid (Eros, Eros, Cupid)

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, not loving, Suddenly the winged Cupid flew in And taking his hand, like a counselor, I was led after you ...
Love has come into the world...
Birth of the god Eros (Cupid)

Hover to see title

Just over two millennia ago, the Roman poet Publius Ovid Nason described Cupid's triumph as follows:

The cult of Eros, the god of love, existed already in ancient times among the Greeks. Eros was considered one of the oldest gods. The 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 the different sexes, but Eros is also the god of friendship between men and youths. In many Greek men's 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 from a bow, 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 all the eternal gods, the most beautiful is Eros. Sweet-smelling, he conquers the earthly soul in all gods and people in the chest 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, the son of Ares and Aphrodite.
According to Acusilaus, Eros, Ether and Metis are the children of Erebus and Nyukta, who in turn came from Chaos.

According to Orphic cosmogony, he was born from an egg laid by the Night or created by Chronos. It is called the great daimon.
Following the Orphics, the Pythagoreans believed that the soul of every person is bisexual and it has male and female halves, which are called Eros and Psyche.
According to Ferekid, “Zeus, intending to be a demiurge, turned into Eros: having created the cosmos from opposites, he brought it to harmony and love and sowed identity and unity in everything, penetrating 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. Sheremetyeva dressed as Cupid. Timing 1790

According to Euripides, the son of Zeus, or Zeus and Aphrodite.
According to Pausanias, the son of Ilithyia.
Plato has the son of Poros-wealth and Singing-poverty (“Feast” 203b, further - according to Diotima), why his dual nature destines him to be a medium, an intermediary for people in striving for the 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, and others.
According to Hebrew, 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, he is Anteros.
According to Nonnu, 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 plot for many paintings. Of these, one of the best is Lesueur'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 has always been portrayed as a boy who has barely reached adolescence. The goddess Aphrodite (Venus), seeing that her son is almost not growing, asked the goddess Thetis, what was the reason for this. Thetis replied that the child Eros would grow up when he had a companion who would love him.

Eros and Anteros

Aphrodite then gave Eros as a comrade Anterot (translated from ancient Greek - "shared, mutual love").
Anteros (Anterot, Anterot, other 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 experience feelings.

According to the beliefs of the ancient Greeks, at first there was dark Chaos, then Chronos (Kronos - Time), passionate Eros (Eros - Love) and cold-blooded, rational Anteros (Anterot - Denial of love) arose from Chaos simultaneously. 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 hatred generated by love. It was 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 (the nymph Daphne, Cassandra).

In Efremov's novel "Thais of Athens" there is an episode in which Thais is horrified at the sight of the altar of Anteros, considering him the god of anti-love.

When they are together, the god Eros grows, but becomes small again, as soon as Anteroth 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.

Erostasia. Aphrodite and Hermes weigh Love (Eros and Anteros)

Education of Eros

The upbringing 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 indebted to his mother, and the goddess Aphrodite more than once experiences the effect of the arrows of the god Eros.

Cupid's training

Cupid's training

Cupid's training

Eros, according to ancient mythology, is a civilizer who managed to soften the rudeness of primitive mores. 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 animal. Eros is often depicted on a chariot drawn by wild animals.

God Eros (Cupid) is terrible not only to people, but also to the gods. Zeus (Jupiter), foreseeing all the troubles that he would do just before the birth of Eros, 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 does not know pity, that Eros inflicts incurable wounds, makes people commit the most reckless acts and leads to crime.

Cupid's wing clipping time

The ancient Greek poet Anacreon has some lovely poems on this subject. Here is one of them:

“In the middle of the night, at the hour when all mortals are fast asleep, the god Eros appears and knocks on my door. “Who knocks there? I exclaim. “Who interrupts my dreams full of enchantment?” — “Open up! the 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, bow, quiver and arrows; I lead him to my hearth, warm his cold fingers in my hands, dry his wet hair. But as soon as the god Eros had time to recover a little, he took up the bow and arrows. “I want,” says Eros, “to see if the bowstring is damp.” God Eros pulls it on, pierces my heart with an arrow and says to me, bursting into ringing laughter: “My hospitable host, rejoice; my bow is perfectly healthy, but your heart is sick.”

Type and distinguishing features of the god Eros

In art, the god Eros has two completely different types: Eros is depicted either under the guise of a lovely winged child playing with his mother, or under the guise of a young man.

In the Pio-Clementine Museum there is a beautiful type of Eros the young man. 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 hetaira 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 which of his statues he considers the best. Then hetaera Phryne resorted to the following trick. Phryne told 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 were lost if the flame did not spare his two statues - Satyr and the god Eros. Getera 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 a statue of the god Eros by Praxiteles as a gift 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,” Cicero says on this occasion, “is now turned into nothing by Alexander, but the god Cupid Praxiteles has appeared in it, and there is no traveler who would not turn into this city to look at this beautiful statue.”

"Eros Stretching the Bow" Marble. Roman work of the 2nd century. n. e. after a 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 she died in a fire that destroyed most of Rome.

The famous Greek sculptor Lysippus also carved a statue of the god Eros. The statue of Eros by Lysippus 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 Roman rule, the god Eros continued to be depicted as young men, stately and graceful in form. Only in this era is the god Eros on the monuments of ancient art in the form of a winged and healthy child. The hallmarks of Eros the child are wings, a bow, and a quiver of arrows.

Attributed to Michelangelo Maestri (Italian, d. 1812) auction christies

The latest art very often depicted the god Cupid. In one of the rooms of the Vatican, Raphael painted Cupid on a chariot drawn by butterflies and swans. Almost all museums have paintings by Raphael depicting the little god of love and the goddess Venus.

Cupid steals honey. Albrecht Durer, 1514 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 the specialist artists of Cupids, charming and cheerful, but in no way resembling the ideal type of Praxiteles.

Hans Zatzka

The artist Wien painted an interesting picture, the plot of which was borrowed from an antique painting, it is called “The Cupids Merchant”.

Prudhon also left many paintings, the plots for which were the various adventures of the god Cupid. This god often at random, like a blind man who does not see the goal, shoots his arrows, and that is why poets call love blind. Correggio and Titian, wishing to personify this idea, depicted the goddess Venus putting on a blindfold for her son.

Cartoon for adults, which is based on a variant 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 human relationships a new meaning and meaning.

Venus and Cupid

Myths and Legends * Cupid (Eros, Eros, Cupid)
Cupid (Eros, Eros, Cupid)

Cupid (Chaudet Antoine Denis)

Material from Wikipedia
Eros(Eros, other Greek. Ἔρως , also Eros, Cupid, among the Romans Cupid) is the god of love in ancient Greek mythology, the inseparable companion and assistant of Aphrodite, the personification of love attraction, which ensures 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 Acusilaus, the son of Erebus and Nikta.
* According to Orphic cosmogony, he was born from an egg laid by the Night or created by Chronos. It is called the great daimon.
* According to Ferekid, 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.
* The son of Ares and the third Aphrodite, he is Anteros.
According to Nonnu, he was born near the city of Beroi.
Main myths

Everything submits to love (Cupid)
Caravaggio, 1602 (Amor Vincit Omnia)

Eros- the world deity, connecting the gods into marriage couples, was considered a product of Chaos (dark night) and a bright day or Heaven and Earth. He dominates both external nature and the moral world of people and gods, controlling their heart and will. In relation to the phenomena of nature, he is the beneficent god of spring, fertilizing the earth and bringing new life into being. 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.
In Thespiae, every four years, a festival was held in honor of Eros - Erotidia, accompanied by gymnastic and musical competitions.

Young girl protecting 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 the statues of Eros were placed next to the images of Hermes and Hercules. Spartans and Cretans usually sacrificed to Eros before the battle. His altar stood at the entrance to the Academy.

Erostasia. 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 Anteroth (otherwise Anterot, Anteros), located in the Eleatic gymnasium: the relief with this group depicted Eros and Anterot, contesting 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 small stature.
In art

Cupid as a child
(worker Etienne Maurice Falcone, after 1757, Hermitage)

Eros served as one of the favorite subjects for philosophers, poets and artists, being for them an eternally living image of both a serious world-ruling force and a personal heartfelt feeling that enslaves gods and people. The LVIII Orphic hymn is dedicated to him. The emergence of the group of Eros and Psyche (that is, Love and the Soul captivated by it) and the well-known folk tale that developed from this representation belongs to a later time.
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 frisky, playful boy, armed with a bow and arrow. The wounds inflicted by them are not fatal, but can be painful, excruciating, although they often cause a sweet feeling or bliss of quenched passion.

Venus, Cupid and Satyr (Bronzino)

The ancient Greeks considered Eros to be a god not born, but eternal, 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 the universal gravitation of love.
But there was another version of its origin, later. According to this version, Eros is the son of Aphrodite and Hermes or Ares, or even Zeus himself. There were other assumptions about the parents of Eros. At the same time, the poets agreed on one thing: the god of love always remains a child and sends his golden smashing arrows willfully, regardless of the arguments of reason.
Hesiod wrote:
And, among all the gods, the most beautiful - Eros. Sweet-smelling - for all the gods and earthly people, he conquers the Soul in the chest and deprives everyone of reasoning.
Philosophers did not limit the area of Eros' dominion to gods, people and animals. The ancient Greek thinker Empedocles believed that in nature either Love or Enmity wins in turn, and the first brings everything into unity, defeating Enmity. Thus, Eros becomes the personification of the cosmic forces of unity, the aspiration to merge. Thanks to him, the fabric of life is not interrupted and the unity of the universe is preserved.
However, in ancient texts, Eros often acts as a force that awakens a primitive "animal" passion. According to Plato, Eros “is always poor and, contrary to popular belief, is not at all handsome and gentle, but rude, untidy, unshod and homeless; he is lying on the bare ground in the open air, at the door, on the street ... ”However, a caveat follows: it turns out that Eros is drawn to the beautiful and perfect, brave and strong; he is wise and ignorant, rich and poor.
According to Diogenes Laertes, the Stoics argued: “Lust is an unreasonable desire ... Love is a desire that is not befitting worthy people, because it is an intention to get close to someone because of conspicuous beauty.” And Epicurus clearly shared: “When we say that pleasure is the ultimate goal, we do not mean 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 ... give rise to a pleasant life, but sober reasoning, exploring the reasons for every choice ... and expelling [false] opinions that 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 form of Psyche (“psyche” - soul) to find Love. “With the help of Zephyr,” writes A.F. Losev, retelling the legend, - Amur received the royal daughter Psyche as his wife. However, Psyche broke the ban never to see the face of her mysterious husband. At night, burning with curiosity, she lights a lamp and gazes admiringly at the young god, not noticing the hot drop of oil that has fallen on Cupid's tender skin. Cupid disappears, and Psyche must get him back after going through many trials. Having overcome them and even descended into Hades for living water, Psyche, after excruciating suffering, regains Cupid, who asks Zeus for permission to marry his beloved and reconciles with Aphrodite, who viciously persecuted Psyche.
What is the hidden meaning of this story? It can be assumed that it tells about the "blindness" of the initial love attraction, caused by unconscious emotions. The attempt of reason to understand the essence of love leads to the fact that it disappears. There are painful doubts, experiences, conflicts: this is how feelings take revenge on reason for invading their kingdom. But true love overcomes these obstacles and triumphs - already forever.
Just over two millennia ago, the Roman poet Publius Ovid Nason described Cupid's triumph as follows:

Oh, why does the bed seem so hard to me,
And my bedspread does not lie well on the sofa?
And why did I spend such a long night sleepless,
And, restlessly spinning, the body is tired, hurts?
I would feel, I think, if I were tormented by Cupid,
Or has a sly one crept up, harming with hidden art?
Yes it is. Already in the heart there are thin-sharp arrows;
Having subdued my soul, the fierce Cupid torments...
Yes, I admit, Cupid, I became your new prey,
I am defeated and I betray myself to your power.
The battle is not needed at all. Mercy, I ask for peace.
You have nothing to boast about; I, unarmed, broken...
Your fresh catch is me, having received a recent wound,
In a captive soul I will carry a load of unusual shackles
A sound mind from behind with hands in chains will lead you,
Shame, and everything that harms mighty Love...
Your companions will be Madness, Caress and Passion;
They will stubbornly follow you all 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) was 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 far from accessible to everyone: one must be worthy of it.

A series of messages "Cupid and Psyche":
Part 1 - Myths and Legends * Cupid (Eros, Eros, Cupid)

Original entry and comments on

Cupid is a small winged hooligan, behind whose back is a quiver of arrows that strike in the very heart. His image is found in the paintings of various eras, and the legend of the god of love is rooted in ancient mythology.

Origin story

Cupid has several names. The divine being is also called Cupid, in the ancient Greek version - Eros. The character of ancient Roman myths, he is the patron saint of love. Born by a goddess, the baby appears in the guise of a mischievous angel, striving to pierce the heart of the first hero he meets or dislikes for a prank with an arrow of love. He is accompanied by important attributes: a quiver, a bow and arrows, with which he strikes, making him fall in love. Cupid's arrows were subject to both mere mortals and the gods.

This character is famous for a touching love story that connects him with a simple earthly girl named. Cupid's mother, the goddess Venus, ordered her son to punish the beauty she did not like. But the son was seduced by Psyche and, falling in love, became her husband. The girl did not know who became her chosen one, since mere mortals did not allow themselves to look up at the gods. The family idyll seemed delightful until the sisters provoked Psyche to spy on Cupid. Having obeyed relatives, the girl brought Cupid into anger. He left his beloved, destroying everything they lived in marriage.

Psyche was killed by her husband and, being in despair, went to the temple of Venus. Begging her mother-in-law for forgiveness, she dared to overcome the obstacles set before her in the form of difficult tasks. Venus thought to exterminate the girl and get rid of her, but Psyche overcame difficulties with the help of love.

The final test was moving to the underworld of the box. Inside it lurked the beauty of the wife of the god Pluto. An important condition of the assignment was a ban on opening the box. Psyche again could not resist the temptation. Inside the box was a dead dream that struck down the beauty. Cupid found his beloved and helped to recover. The hero forgave the girl. The gods, who saw the power of young people's love, made Psyche a goddess.

Ancient Greek mythology reveals a similar story. He became a source of inspiration for artists, so the image of Cupid, aka Cupid, aka Eros, was sung in literature, fine arts, sculpture and architecture.

The mythological character appears in the form of a fair-haired angel, personifying sublime feelings. The boy's face is decorated with a blush and a playful smile, and around it are often beautiful pastel-colored flowers. It is curious that women's lips are often compared with Cupid's weapon because of the similarity of forms.

On the Day, the image of Cupid is extremely popular, although the Roman deity, as well as the Greek god Eros, were reputed to be a product of chaos because of their freedom-loving disposition. The holiday of all lovers is accompanied by thematic paraphernalia, on which it is customary to depict little angels firing arrows towards hopeless skeptics.

Cupid in culture

The assistant in Greek culture and the son of Venus in Roman culture was not considered a key figure in mythology. But he was often sung in the Hellenistic era and during the Renaissance. His image was resorted to, using the hero as a symbol. He does not need to be an active character in order to be present on a canvas or in a sculptural ensemble. Cupid was portrayed to hint at the presence of a love leitmotif in the described plot.

The youth is often depicted in paintings describing the seduction of beautiful maidens. Cupid also appears before the public in scenes where Venus and Adonis interact. The messenger of love plays with tools and a club, evoking an association with disarming feelings.

Disappointed in the boy severely punished him. So did Minerva, whose images personify chastity.

The image of Cupid was sung in the Renaissance. Statues dedicated to him often became decorations for tombstones and family crypts. Cupid (or Cupid in an alternative interpretation) is the hero of the painting by the artist Lesueur. It depicts Venus surrounded by three Graces, one of which holds out the baby Cupid to the goddess.

According to legend, Eros did not grow until he had a friend who could love him. They became Anterot, in contrast to Eros, responsible for mutual love.

The poet Anacreon dedicated several poems to the popular legend that Jupiter ordered Cupid to be killed by his mother. Venus hid the child in the forest, where he was raised by wild animals. This tradition is described in the paintings of Prudhon. He also captured Cupid's love affairs on canvas.

God Eros represents lustful attraction, and Cupid represents tender romantic relationships?? and got the best answer

Answer from Anatoly roset[guru]
EROS.
Blessed are the celestials until
They are excommunicated from earthly passions,
But only Eros will pierce them with an arrow -
How mortals are forced to suffer!
Vyazemsky
Eros is the son of Aphrodite and Ares. Eros (or, if more familiar, Eros) is the god of uncontrollable love passion. Later he became the god of romantic love and from a worthless evil Skoda with a bow, which all other gods were afraid of, whom he could easily and simply deprive of the mind with one arrow, turned into a plump baby. But this happened much later.
... In ancient Rome, Eros (Cupid) received the name Cupid ("Love") and became especially popular. Apuleius created a legend that tells about the desire of the human soul in the form of Psyche (“psyche” - soul) to find Love.
Already in the heart there are thin-sharp arrows;
Having conquered my soul, the fierce Cupid torments...
Yes, I admit, Cupid, I became your new prey,
I am defeated and I betray myself to your power.
Publius Ovid Nason
Low-lying Eros is accessible to every healthy organism (and not necessarily only to humans). Sublime - overshadows the elect, like inspiration, ecstasy.
However, over the past decades, with the triumph of technical civilization, the many-sided Eros has given way to a primitive feeling that satisfies only sexual desire. The expression "make love" has become popular, not love. We have to talk about the triumph not of Cupid, but of the base Eros, connected not with Psyche, but with the satisfaction of a physiological need. So the modern consumer society is cracking down on the most ancient deity, spiritualizing the life of nature.
Source: Translated from the Latin "Cupid" - "lust".

Answer from 2 answers[guru]

Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: God Eros represents lustful attraction, and Cupid represents tender romantic relationships??

Answer from NO[guru]
Yes.

Answer from Yohallenger[guru]
Eros is the god of love and sexual desire. Traditionally (meaning the Hellenistic and Roman period), he is depicted as still a boy, blond and winged, capricious and cunning. He often serves his mother in exchange for some absolutely useless gift (but in Apollonius of Rhodes, Eros pushes Aphrodite around at all). And in general, each person will probably be able to more clearly imagine Eros if he remembers his child (or even a familiar child).
Later, Eros appears already as a young man, outwardly very similar to a cherub, with the only difference being that Eros is still armed with a golden bow and arrows that can both kindle and destroy love in the hearts of mortals and celestials.
Epithets and names: Eros / Eros ("Love"), Cupid (Roman., "Lust"), Cupid (Roman, "Love").
Attributes: a golden bow and arrows, there are images of Eros with a torch. Favorite plant - rose. There is a myth explaining the presence of thorns on the stem of a plant: once Eros plucked a flower, but a bee hid in its bud. Frightened, the insect stung Eros, and the god burst into tears and flew away to his mother. To console her son, Aphrodite took away the stingers from the bees and used them to stalks the roses.
Reverence. In Boeotia, an unworked block of marble was venerated, which was considered the incarnation of Eros and the greatest shrine. In the temple of Eros that existed here, holidays in his honor - erotidia - were celebrated every five years. The Spartans made sacrifices to Eros before the battles.
Psyche or Psyche (other - Greek Ψυχή, “soul”, “breath”) - in ancient Greek mythology, the personification of the soul, breath; was presented in the form of a butterfly or a young girl with butterfly wings. In myths, either Eros (Cupid) pursued her, then she took revenge on him for persecution, then there was tender love between them. Although ideas about the soul have been found since Homer, the myth of Psyche was first developed only by Apuleius in his novel Metamorphoses, or the Golden Ass.