When it comes to our love life, we all know how hard it can be to attract love and to get in tune with our desires without losing our center and our trust in fate. We can often let negativity taint our new experiences in love and cause them to be underwhelming.
That’s when Eros comes to the rescue! Let’s learn more about this god, how he can help us, and how incredible his power truly is with this article.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
God Eros, in Greek mythology, is the deity of love and desire.
He is often portrayed as a young, winged god with a bow and arrows.
Eros’s arrows have the power to ignite romantic love and desire in both gods and mortals.
He is the son of Aphrodite and symbolizes the force of love and attraction.
Eros is known for matchmaking and appears in various forms of art, literature, and myths, emphasizing the universal and potent nature of love.
Who is Eros?
Originally, Eros did not represent love, but a force and an attraction.
A fundamental element of the cosmos, Eros (also known as Cupid) was generated by primitive Chaos and represents the attractive force that ensures the cohesion of the universe and the reproduction of species.
With Homer, it represents the irresistible attraction that two beings feel for each other and which can lead to depriving them of reason or even destroying them.
With Hesiod, around the eighth century BC, Eros is transformed into a god, but he is not the classic cupid who shoots arrows of love, but a primordial divinity, as ancient as Gaea herself.
He is not Aphrodite’s son, but her companion at all times.
He was in fact conceived in a double way: as a thiogenic divinity (and is variously identified by mythographers with the son of Chaos, or of Day and Night, or of Heaven and Earth, or even generated by Uranus, by Cronus, etc.), and as the deity of the amorous passion, inseparable from Aphrodite (for this reason he is commonly considered the son of her and Ares, but also of Ilitia, of Zefiro and Iris, of Zeus and finally of Poro and Penia).
He was the personification of the irresistible force that pushes human beings towards one another and was also revered as the protector of friendships among men. Armed with a bow with which he shot the infallible arrows from whose wound lovesickness was born. To personify the different forms it can take, his brothers are sometimes attributed to it.
Eros: myths and origins
As soon as he was born, it is said that Zeus only needed to look him in the eye to understand that this little boy would be a source of endless troubles. For this reason, the king of the gods tried to convince his mother to kill him, but Aphrodite, to save him, secretly abandoned him in a wood where he was fed and raised by ferocious beasts.
To underline the irreverent character of the young Eros, it is said that he learned by himself to build the ash bow and the cypress arrows and learned to use it by practicing hitting the same animals that had fed him.
And as an adult he did not scruple to shoot his own darts at the gods of Olympus, not even his own mother Aphrodite was spared, when shooting an arrow at her treacherously made her fall in love with Adonis who a jealous Ares killed. Divinity with a malicious spirit and prone to perversity.
Its power was terrible, it could cause damage that no one could have remedied, neither men nor gods. From this conception, the figure of the god was transformed into a deity of love, but it represented a danger because its power had no limits.
The most iconic myth: Eros and Psyche
The myth of Eros and Psyche tells that of a girl who, with her beauty, made Aphrodite jealous. In revenge, the goddess ordered Eros to induce Psyche to fall in love with the worst and ugliest of men, but when Eros saw her, it was he who fell in love with her.
Her sisters had already married, while she, despite her beauty, had not yet been able to find a husband. The father asked an oracle why and the answer was terrifying: he should have left his daughter on the top of a mountain, dressed in a wedding dress, where she would be courted by a character feared by the gods themselves.
He obeyed and the girl was left alone in the darkness, but soon Eros had her transported by Zephyr to a radiant valley, where a marvelous palace stood. Voices led her into a room where invisible maids dressed her for the wedding night. Eros spent every night with her, but he came to her only in the dark, and he told her never to try to look at him or to know who he was.
Instigated by her sisters, who had gone to visit her one day, Psyche feared that the mysterious lover was a monster, and one night, when Eros was sleeping, she approached him with a burning lamp and a dagger to kill him.
With the shock of finally seeing him, she dropped a drop of boiling oil on the shoulder of the sleeping god. Eros woke up scolding her and disappeared. Psyche’s first thought, abandoned because of her guilt, was that of death, and she threw herself into a river, but the merciful current brought her back to the other bank. So, she began to wander the world in vain in search of love.
Eros, on the other hand, tormented by fever from his burned shoulder, or perhaps by Psyche’s own pain, found refuge in his maternal abode. Aphrodite, when she learned that her son had dared to love a mortal, who was also his rival, attacked him.
But not being able to do anything bad to her son, she thought of taking revenge on Psyche, and with Zeus’s permission, he sent Hermes around the world to spread the news that Psyche was to be punished as an enemy of the gods and that the prize for her capture would have been seven kisses that the same goddess would have given. The news reached Psyche’s ears, who voluntarily decided to go to Olympus to ask for forgiveness. Aphrodite tore off her clothes and flogged her, stating that this was the punishment of a grieving mother-in-law for her sick child.
Psyche became her slave, and in vain the young woman turned to Ceres and Juno to defend her from the hatred of the goddess who continued to persecute her by giving her the most thankless and difficult tasks.
She was ordered to split a pile of wheat, barley, millet, and other seeds, and sort a pile of pearls by size, but the ants helped her do most of the work. Another time the goddess ordered her to bring her the golden fleece of the wild rams, but the reeds that grew along the river told her that the rams, in the evening, were asleep exhausted by the heat of the day and therefore it was easier to approach them. Psyche was therefore also successful in this enterprise.
Aphrodite demanded a jar of frozen water from the Styx, where a dragon lived, but it was Zeus’s eagle that carried out the mission for her. Eventually, the goddess asked Psyche to bring a vase into the underworld to Proserpina, so that she would put some of her beauty in it, as the goddess of love had consumed hers in healing her son.
Psyche did not know where to go, when she saw a tower, she thought that from there she could throw herself off it to end her life.
But the tower itself spoke to her, indicating the entrance to the underworld and telling her to take two coins with her to pay for Charon so that she could ferry her to the other side of the Styx and three barley cakes mixed with wine and honey to distract the Cerberus.
Proserpina received her with courtesy, took the vase, and filled it. Psyche was thus able to return to the world of the living, but after all that she had suffered, Psyche could not resist the temptation to open the jar and take some of the contained beauty for herself. The jar, as soon as he opened it, turned out to be empty and Psyche fell to the ground in a deep sleep.
When Eros learned of what was happening, he managed to evade surveillance in his mother’s house and find Psyche. He revived her and the girl returned the vase to Aphrodite. Eros went to Zeus and asked him to help him, and he decreed that the marriage between Eros and Psyche could be celebrated.
Psyche was taken to Olympus and their wedding was celebrated in the presence of all the gods, but first Zeus made her drink ambrosia, making her immortal, and finally appeasing Aphrodite’s jealousy. From their union, a daughter was born, known by the name of Voluptas (Pleasure).
What is Eros god of?
Eros is the god of love.
How do you know that Eros is calling you?
- If you feel love energy all around you
- If you feel physically and romantically connected to someone
- If you dream of having a romantic liaison with someone special to you
- If you keep seeing couples being loving to one another all around you
- If in readings the lovers cards keep showing up over and over again even tough your questions are focused on something else
Best ways to connect with Eros
Visualize him while doing a love meditation
If you are into meditation and you want to meditate on love in general but also on attracting someone like the man or the woman of your dream, visualize Eros striking this person with his arrow.
Invoke him when casting a love spell
If you are into red magic and you cast love spells, you can invoke Eros to guide you and to let magic manifest sooner. Be kind to him and show him how much you need him to finally attract love to your life.
Create an altar dedicated to him
If love is all you want in life, but it seems like an impossible task, create an altar and dedicate it to Eros. You can bring a statue of Eros, a picture of him, together with some offerings, but also a sigil dedicated to him. Also, add anything that makes you think about love.
How do you honor Eros?
You can honor Eros in different ways:
- Perform love rituals and love spells
- Celebrate love in general
- Spend time with your partner
- Believe true love is awaiting you
- Believe in soulmates
- Go on a date
- Make love!
Related:
6 Powerful Sex Spells That Actually Work [Lust Magick]
What are Eros’s favorite offerings?
- A glass of red wine
- Feathers (as he is often displayed as a winged creature flying all over the place with his bow finding new people to let fall in love with each other)
- Bow and arrows (or a picture of them if you cannot find real ones)
- Roses (Symbols of love)
- Apples and grapes (fruits related to passion and fertility)
Prayer for Eros
“God of love, my beloved Eros,
Spread love over me
Be my guide to find ( or experience once again) true love, true passion, true magic
Ignite the spark, let passion and love take over
Might your arrow strike me and my soulmate
I am ready for you
I am ready for love
So be it”
What are Eros’s symbols?
Snake
A snake can be associated with Eros and physical love. Probably, this type of symbolism was more widespread in the past than in the present day. In fact, once upon a time, this animal was used in various sculptures and representations to symbolize lust and the male sexual organ.
Freud himself, in the context of his psychoanalysis, associates the snake with a phallic symbol that represents sexual force and masculinity.
Related:
A List of 4 Deities Associated with Snakes [With Stories]
Heart
This is the main symbol of Eros as it’s the iconic symbol of love. A red heart is a symbol of its energy and its magic.
Bow and arrow
These are the tools Eros is believed to use to strike people to let them fall in love, so this is a great symbol linked to Eros and his myth.
Red
The color red is notoriously associated with love, but also with passion, sensuality, and carnality, probably because it is also the color of blood. The color red, therefore – in addition to symbolizing tender and romantic love as a feeling – is also considered the color of Eros, therefore, of the most physical and material part of the loving feeling.
My favorite books about Eros
Holy Eros: Pathways to a Passionate God by James D. Whitehead
This book is amazing to honor and celebrate Eros and his magic. If Eros is your God and you want to dive into this worship even more, this is the book for you.
Eros Unveiled: Plato and the God of Love by Catherine Osborne
If you love ancient history and you want to have a deep dive into the myth of Eros and his correspondences with legends, history and other ancient culture, this book is a great option for you and will provide you with a different perspective on Eros.
My favorite ritual with Eros
This ritual should be performed three days after the full moon and in the evening near midnight.
Midnight has a strong esoteric value and is, yes, the opposite of the South but in reality it is the seed from which the day will originate, the darkness from which the Light will be born.
You may not respect the ‘lunar’ period in this case, but for the ritual is important that it is performed with the energy and tranquility that only the night can give.
Ingredients:
- A photo of Eros or a statue
- Two small red candles
- Four drops of patchouli oil
- Three drops of sandalwood oil
- A patchouli incense
Take some time (at least an hour) during which you must not be disturbed or distracted by anyone.
Begin, meditating, to think intensely about making love with the person you want, if you can, also reach a state of arrousal.
Mix the oils in a bowl, lighting the incense.
Grease the candles with the freshly mixed oils and finally pronounce the following prayer:
“Eros, God of passion and love, I want love in my life
Hit me with your arrow, hit my soulmate too
Let love be my only truth.”
Let the fire burn the candles completely.
There is a variant of this spell that is used to rekindle dormant relationships.
The formula in this case becomes:
“Eros, God of passion and love, I ask you to listen to my request to have (name of loved one) by my side (your name).
Eros, I ask you to make me return with my beloved and to rekindle the fire between us.”
Eros artwork
He was represented by artists perhaps more than any other god. Represented as a child or an ephebe, often winged, armed with a bow with which he shoots arrows at men, more rarely with flowers or a lyre.
To indicate that the amorous illusion does not show the defects of the loved one, he was often depicted with his eyes covered by a blindfold and a burning face flamed in one of his hands.
In the Hellenistic period, his figure became softer, more feminine, more and more infantile, until he was represented as a winged putto. The birth of the myth of Cupid and Psyche also dates back to this period.
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Dawn’s Thoughts on God Eros
Eros is the ancient Greek personification of sexual desire. He is mentioned in myth as both the son of Aphrodite and a primordial (Protogenos) God, present in the beginning according to Parmenides; emerged from Chaos with Gaia and Tartarus according to Hesiod or born, along with Gaia and Ouranos of an egg laid by Nyx according to Aristophanes, and responsible directly or indirectly for all of creation that came after.
As a primordial God, Eros is the driver of all creation, not just of desire to copulate but the desire to procreate, the driver of life, of birth. The Orphics considered him the equivalent of their primordial Phanes. As the son of Aphrodite, He is the driving force behind many mythical events, the actors spurred into action by the desire for another. This Eros, son of Aphrodite is considered the Greek counterpart to the Roman Cupid.
Eros Son of Aphrodite
The child Eros, born of Aphrodite or, according to some myths, fostered by Aphrodite is variously reported to have been fathered by Hermes, Ares or Zeus.
Zeus is often given as the father of any God of significance, Ares is a well-established lover of Aphrodite and Hermes attributes as a messenger and trickster and mischievous personality are certainly in common with those of Eros.
This Eros is depicted as a perfectly proportioned winged youth or a chubby winged infant carrying a bow and arrow. The bows from these he would shoot into the heart of his victims causing them to pine with longing to possess another. Sometimes he is described as having three different types of arrows.
Eros Protogenos
Eros, the primordial God, also known as the Elder Eros, born at the beginning, is not just a God of desire and procreation. Eros unites all opposites, male and female, dark and light, high and low, water and fire, creating something new and exciting from these unions. Although he is also described as winged, and sometimes as a beautiful youth, he is never an infant. The invocation beginning the Orphica Argonautica refers to him as two-sexed and two-faced, though some translations say two-fold.
In the Symposium Plato tells a story he attributes to Aristophanes: In the beginning, there were three sexes, Male, which were of the sun, Female, which were of the Earth and Androgynous which were of the Moon. They each had two heads and four arms and four legs and two sexual organs and they had wisdom and power that rivaled and thus threatened the Gods.
So Zeus caused them to be split in two, to each has one head, two arms and legs, and one sexual organ, so that their power be diminished, condemning them to search for their other half eternally. Those who were female searches for their female half. Those who were male searches for their male half. And those who were Androgynous search for their opposite half to make them whole again. This search, he says, is the spirit of Eros.
Related Gods; Thesis, Pysis, Phanes
Read More Online
- Eros, Greek God of Love at Theoi.com
- Myths of Greece and Rome by Janet Harrison 1928 at sacred-texts.com
- http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/theogony.htm
- http://www.hellenicgods.org/orphic-argonautica—orpheos-argonautika
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