PRESENTATION OUTLINE
>God of sexual desire and attraction (love)
>Eros was the Greek god of love, son of Aphrodite and either Ares or Hermes. In some myths, he was considered a primordial god, a child of Chaos, who blessed the union of Gaia and Uranus after which the universe came into existence.
Eros’s mother, Aphrodite was jealous of the beauty of a young Mortal, Psyche, as she was being worshiped for her great beauty. Many mortals were saying she was more beautiful then Aphrodite herself. In her jealous state Aphrodite asked Eros to shoot his arrow into Psyche’s heart to make her fall in love with the most ugliest man on earth. Eros agreed to carry out his mothers wishes, but on seeing her beauty Eros fell deeply in love with Psyche. Eros would only visit Psyche at night and made himself invisible by ordering her not to light the room. Psyche fell in love with Eros even though she had never seen him. After a visit from Psyche’s two jealous sisters curiosity overcame her. One night she concealed a lamp and while Eros was sleeping she lit it revealing the identity of the young beautiful God.
Eros was depicted as a blindfolded male, who, carrying his bow and arrow, could target any human being and make them fall in love with the first person they would see.
Eros uses the bow and arrow to shoot darts of love and desire into the bosoms or hearts of Gods and Mortals. There are two different arrows Eros uses to capture the desire of Gods and Mortals. One being a golden colour with dove feathers that caused instant love the other leaden with owl feathers that caused indifference. As it says in Hesiod’s Theogony, no one divine or Mortal could resist his spell of enchantment. The power of the arrows subdues the mind and sensible thought of anyone it approaches.
Looks and appearances in art:
In Greek art Eros was portrayed as a handsome white winged teenager, displaying a sense of beauty and charm to those around him. Eros always had his bow and arrows at hand targeting innocent Gods and mortals. In art he is occasionally blind or blind folded to symbolise the blindness of love. Eros has developed a very youthful innocent character over the centuries with mid length blond tousled hair, an unclothed body and a short stature. He has youthful facial features and a slight pudginess to his young teenage figure.
Eros was an important God worshiped for his power of love and sexual desire. He was a potent irresistible God. Eros could break the will of the wisest God or the strongest Mortal when scratched by one of his arrows. He inspired desire in countless Greek Gods, Goddesses, Heroes and Heroines. The power wielded by Eros is made clear in this passage “no one divine or mortal could resist his spell of enchantment”, written in Hesiod's Theogony. He represented immortal love. An example of Eros’s power of love, is the myth of how the Trojan War began. Helen, the daughter of Zeus, was smitten by Eros’ arrow deeply in love she abandoned her husband and sailed off to Troy with her lover Alexandros.
