I once did
a piece on Cupid (the Roman name) already, which you can still read over at
Criminal Element, portraying Eros as Aphrodite’s hit man and enforcer. I stand
by this characterization as Eros is an embodiment of lust among the Erotes. The
Erotes are a group of Aphrodite’s sons with similar appearances (young, virile
men with wings and equipped with bows and a quiver of arrows). Each of the
Erotes has a specialization, and Eros is all about lust and desire.
This makes
him an extension of Aphrodite herself, and perfectly suited to making people
she’s displeased with fall in love in humorous fashion. However, there is a
deeper dimension to Eros when looking at the myth where he falls in love with a
woman called Psyche.
A detailed
analysis will come another time (like with Aphrodite) but the important point
is that jealousy is born out of Eros’s love for Psyche; the metaphorical
green-eyed monster becomes real in mythology.
What I find
most interesting is that jealousy was born by Eros, not any of his brothers who
have specific influences regarding love such as both requited and unrequited
versions, but out of the raw lust of Eros. This reinforces a powerful concept
within Greek mythology that uncontrolled passions are dangerous, especially
when it comes to these primal urges as represented by Aphrodite and the Erotes.
And it is only when Eros truly falls in love, and has that love returned by
Psyche, that jealousy can be dispelled.
The rest of
the Erotes have very little in terms of mythological hijinks, and are mostly
just identified by name and their sphere of influence, which is worth a look on
various mythology websites or Wikipedia for kicks as I won’t be going into them
here.
Up next: love
and death with Persephone.