"Gods of Love" by Christine Graves via Leonardo AI
and NightCafe Studio
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. Okay, technically it's the day AFTER Valentine's Day, but what's a day when it comes to love?
One of the most common symbols of Valentine's Day is Cupid. The cute little cherub that flits around on his little wings and shoots arrows into the hearts of lovers who then fall in love and live happily ever after. But here's the thing. That's a more modern conception.
I've always been a fan of ancient history and knew that Cupid was the Roman god of love. The child of the Goddess of Love, Venus and the God of War, Mars. But that's not where this god originated. In fact, the Greeks had dibs on the God of Love long before Rome was a thing.
In the earliest depictions, Eros was one of the primordial gods, coming forth from Chaos itself. He was the embodiment of passion and sexual love, hence the term "erotic". Over time, he became an associate of--then the child of--Aphrodite, Goddess of Love.
Eros was usually depicted as a winged youth, but not a child. Though he was known to shoot his arrows into the hearts of humans and gods alike, he was usually shown with a lyre or symbols of fertility. One of his most famous stories was in the myth of Apollo and Daphne.
After Apollo had mocked the young god on his archery skills, Eros decided to get his revenge by shooting one of his love arrows into the Olympic god's heart. Apollo fell passionately in love with a nymph named Daphne and began to pursue her relentlessly.
Daphne had no intention of allowing Apollo to ravage her, so she prayed to her father, a minor river god, for help. The river god transformed his daughter into the Laurel Tree, which would become sacred to Apollo.
It was said that no one was immune to Eros' arrows. Not even himself. In the story of Eros and Psyche, the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, had become angered that a mortal woman (Psyche) was attracting more attention than herself. She sent Eros to force the woman to fall in love with the most vile human alive. However, when he saw the girl, he fell hopelessly in love. Some stories say it was because he'd accidentally pierced himself with one of his arrows, others say it was simply because of her beauty.
Once Rome hit the scene, they shamelessly took over most of the Greek deities, including Eros. However, in Rome, he was called Cupid and was portrayed as the mischievous son of the Roman gods of Love and War, Venus and Mars (or Vulcan, depending on the myth).
Cupid was a very minor deity in the Roman pantheon and was seen as just a naughty little boy. However, there was still a myth about him and Psyche, which is odd since he was seen as not much more than a baby.
It wasn't until nearly a thousand years after the Romans had left the British Isles that he came into his own. Artists such as Michaelangelo added depictions of Cupid to their works, giving him a more Christian angelic feel. Which, again, is odd in that he was originally the god of physical love.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Cupid became a symbol for the Valentine's Day holiday. It was around this time that lovers began sending each other cards declaring their love for each other. As a way to cash in on the trend, cardmakers used the symbol of the little winged baby with bow and arrow as their messenger. And it stuck.
Today, most people don't think of him as a Roman deity or a Greek god. He's just a silly little boy who goes around shooting lovers in the heart with his passion-dipped arrows. Because nothing says I love you like getting shot in the chest.
Stupid Cupid by Connie Francis--
Until next time,
Christine Graves--AKA--The Librarian
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Christine Graves has been writing for more than 30 years. She runs several blogs including Priestess of Words, Collected Keepsakes, and Mystic Realms, all of which are part of her company, Graves Publications. She also writes for a platform called Medium.com, in which she runs a few publications.
Christine is also an avid crafter and multi-media artist. She runs two online stores. Prairied Treasures is where she showcases her handmade greeting cards and other multi-media art, and Pathways through the Past is where she sells her AI art creations on a wide variety of products.
If you'd like to stay up to date with everything she's got going on, you can sign up for her Graves Publications newsletter.
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