Eros
（
Ἔρως). The god of love among the Greeks. His name does
not occur in Homer; but in Hesiod (
Theog. 120 foll.) he is the fairest of the
deities, who subdues the hearts of both gods and men. He is born from Chaos at the same time
as the Earth and Tartarus, and is the comrade of Aphrodité from
the moment of her birth. Hesiod conceives Eros not merely as the god of sensual love, but as a
power which forms the world by inner union of the separated elements—an idea very
prevalent in antiquity, especially among the philosophers. According to the later and commoner
notion, Eros was the youngest of the gods, generally the son of Aphrodité by Ares
or Hermes, always a child, thoughtless and capricious. He is as irresistible as fair, and has
no pity even for his own mother. Zeus, the father of gods and men, arms him with golden wings,
and with bow and unerring arrows, or burning torches. Anteros, the god of mutual love, is his
brother, and his companions are Pothos and Himeros, the personifications of longing and
desire, with Peitho (Persuasion), the Muses, and the Graces. In later times he is surrounded
by a crowd of similar beings, Erotes or Loves. (For the later legend of Eros and
Psyché, see
Psyché.)
One of the chief and oldest seats of his worship was Thespiae in Boeotia. Here was his most
ancient image, a rough, unhewn stone. His festival, the Erotia or Erotidia, continued till the
time of the Roman Empire to be celebrated every fifth year with much ceremony, accompanied by
gymnastic and musical contests. Besides this he received special honour and worship in the
gymnasia, where his statue generally stood near those of
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Eros. (Rome, Capitoline Museum.)
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Hermes and Heracles. In the gymnasia, Eros was the personification of devoted
friendship and love between youths and men; the friendship which proved itself active and
helpful in battle and bold adventure. This was the reason why the Spartans and Cretans
sacrificed to Eros before a battle, and the sacred band of youths at Thebes was dedicated to
him; why a festival of freedom (
Ἐλευθέρια) was held at
Samos in his honour, as the god who bound men and youths together in the struggle for honour
and freedom; and why at Athens he was worshipped as the liberator of the city, in memory
of Harmodius and
Aristogiton (q.v.).
In works of art Eros was usually represented as a beautiful boy, close upon the age of
youth. In later times he also appears as a child with the attributes of a bow and arrows, or
burning torches, and in a great variety of situations. The most celebrated statues of this god
were by Lysippus, Scopas, and Praxiteles whose Eros at Thespiae was regarded as a masterpiece,
and unsurpassable. The famous torso in the Vatican, in which the god wears a dreamy, lovelorn
air, is popularly, but probably erroneously, traced to an original by Praxiteles. The Eros
trying his bow, in the Capitoline Museum at Rome, is supposed to be the copy of a work by
Lysippus (see illustration). The Roman god Amor or Cupido was a mere adaptation of the Greek
Eros, and was never held in great esteem.
Antĕros was the brother of Eros and punished those who did not requite the
love of others (Ovid,
Met. xiii. 750).
