God Eros - the beautiful celestial of Greece

God Eros, or Eros, is one of the most beloved characters in Greek mythology. Unfortunately, today its appearance is badly distorted by the influence of Roman culture, because of which many people represent it in the form of a small boy. However, the real Eros differs from this image both externally and internally.

The first mention of the great god

The Greek god Eros personifies love and fertility, and he is considered one of the first celestials. So, according to legend, it appeared due to the merging of the eternal darkness of Erebus and the goddess of the night of Nekta. Because of this, it is often called the creation that caught the original Chaos. It was he who later forced Uranus (heaven) and Gaia (earth) to be weaved together.

However, over time, the Greeks came up with a different story of the birth of Eros. So, the parents of the god of love were Aphrodite and Ares - the two strongest inhabitants of Olympus. It is rumored that Zeus, seeing the threat in their child, ordered to kill him as an infant. But the goddess of love and beauty could not reconcile with such an order of her father - she sent her child to the sacred forest. There, two fierce lionesses looked after him, guarding and feeding him.

The image of Eros

The Greek god of love Eros is a handsome young man with an athletic build. The Greeks believed that he had the most beautiful face on the planet, since his mother was Aphrodite. In addition, Eros's integral attribute was white wings, capable of delivering the god to any place.

In particular, the image of Eros served as a prototype for the Roman god of love of the Amur, later he became more known as Cupid. What is true, under the influence of Roman mythology, the image of the Greek godfather changed a lot. So, from a strong and muscular young man, he turned into a plump, playful little girl with little wings.

Eros - the god of love, armed with onions

God Eros possessed the sacred bow of love. The Greeks believed that it was made of pure gold, and its brilliance was able to blind everyone who dared to look at it. But much more powerful had the arrows of Eros. By the way, in the quiver there were two types of arrows: gold with pigeon plumage and leaden with owl edging. The first gave people love, and the second caused indifference.

In addition, the god Eros could hit the soul of any being, be it a person or a god. Therefore, Aphrodite always kept her son near him, in order to use his power at the right time. It is rumored that in this way it has ruined the hearts of many people who dared contemptuously say about it.

God Eros and Psyche

For a long time no one could compare in beauty with Aphrodite. However, one day the goddess heard that in a small village there lives a pretty girl named Psyche. And, worst of all, many men are sure that even the goddess of beauty can envy her face .

Naturally, such rumors infuriated Aphrodite. In a fit of anger she asks her son to shoot her in the heart of an arrow so that she makes her fall in love with the ugliest man. God Eros obediently listened to his mother's words and went to the house where Psyche lived. But, seeing a beautiful woman, she unconditionally loved her.

The trouble was that the laws of Olympus forbade mortals to see Eros. Therefore, he began to come to Psyche only under the cover of night, so that she did not see his face. But the girl still fell in love with the young God with all her heart. Soon they were married, but even after that, Eros came to his wife only on dark nights.

And all would be nothing, if not for the envious sisters of Psyche. After the wedding, they began to talk about Eros, convincing the young wife that her chosen one was a real monster. Alas, the poor Psyche believed their words and decided to break the vow given to her husband. She carried a candle and a knife to the bedroom in order to see the true face of Eros, and if necessary, kill him.

However, she was not a monster, but a beautiful young man. From this her hands trembled and droplets of wax flew straight to the body of her lover. Opening his eyes, Eros saw his wife holding a knife in her hand, and, shocked by such betrayal, flew away from her.

The final of the story

God Eros was very offended by the girl and for a long time did not appear before her. Parting broke Psyche's heart to pieces, so she decided to find her lover herself. And then Aphrodite entered the game. Led by a thirst for revenge, she deceived the girl into the Underworld and found Persephone's box there.

Psyche coped with all the tasks of Aphrodite, but, opening the ill-fated box, fell asleep a dead dream. The blessing about this was learned by Eros and saved her, pricking her with an arrow. After that, he turned to Zeus for help. The supreme god was in a good mood and agreed to reconcile the mother with the daughter-in-law. Subsequently, he endowed Psyche with his blessing and made one of the immortal goddesses of Olympus.