Eros

Eros (Ancient Greek Ἔρως) occupies a unique theological position in ancient Greek religion and intellectual history, bridging the cosmic divide between an elemental cosmogonic power and an anthropomorphic winged god of irresistible psychological passion. In Hesiod's Theogony (c. 8th century BCE), Eros appears at the dawn of creation immediately following primordial Chaos and Gaia (Earth), lauded as the fairest among immortal deities, whose overwhelming potency loosens limbs and overpowers the rational mind and counsels of both gods and mortals. As the cosmic principle of generative attraction, he provides the metaphysical catalyst that rescues the primeval universe from barren stillness and sparks the generational unfolding of the cosmos. Alongside this archaic cosmogonic aspect, venerated in the Boeotian city of Thespiae under the aniconic form of an unworked sacred stone (argos lithos), archaic lyric poetry and classical drama transformed Eros into the winged son and constant companion of Aphrodite, accompanied by Himeros (Desire) and the Graces. In Plato's Symposium, through the renowned speech of Diotima of Mantinea, Eros is reimagined not as an Olympian enjoying self-sufficient perfection, but as a great mediating daimon — conceived by Poros (Resource) and Penia (Poverty) —, representing the restless human condition striving continually from material longing toward supreme metaphysical beauty and philosophical truth. During the Hellenistic and Roman eras, he became popularly known as Cupid or Amor, the mischievous winged archer armed with golden arrows that ignite devotion and leaden shafts that repel it, immortalized in Apuleius's mystical romance of Cupid and Psyche.

9 min read · Reviewed on September 30, 2026 · How we research

Bow and arrow, wings, torch and the blindfold

Primary sources

• Hesíodo de Áscra, Theogony (lines 116–122: the origin of Eros). translation: Portuguese-language version by Christian Werner, São Paulo: Editora Hedra (2013).
• Plato of Athens, The Symposium (Symposion, 201d–212c). translation: Translation and introduction by Donaldo Schüler, Porto Alegre: L&PM Editores.
• Pausanias the Periegete, Description of Greece (Book Nine, Boeotia). translation: Translation with archaeological notes by Maria Helena da Rocha Pereira, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.
• Lucius Apuleius, The Golden Ass (Metamorphoses, the tale of Cupid and Psyche). translation: Classic translation by Ruth Guimarães, São Paulo: Editora Cultrix.

Studies

• Claude Calame, The Poetics of Eros in Ancient Greece. Princeton University Press, 1999.
• G. R. F. Ferrari, Listening to the Cicadas: A Study of Plato's Phaedrus and Symposium. Cambridge University Press, 1987.
• Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993.
• Bruce S. Thornton, Eros: The Myth of Ancient Greek Sexuality. Westview Press, 1997.