Eros
In Greek mythology , Eros (in Greek / is the god of love. The word erotic comes from Eros.
Summary |
Mythology
In the Theogony of Hesiod ( eighth century BC. ) Eros, along with Chaos , Nyx , Gaia and Erebus one of the five primordial deities . Eros (Love) and Himros (Desire) accompany Aphrodite since birth .
In the Theogony of Rhapsodies, which is theology Orphic , Eros is the source of creation. It arises from the cosmic egg from the union of Ether and Chaos. Both male and female, it has many heads of animals. It generates Nyx (Night) and the monster Echidna. He was appointed Phanes but Protogonos , rikpaios and Metis . In Orphism, Phan is equated with Dionysus Zagreus- Zeus and eats and becomes the sovereign God.
In the comedy The Birds of Aristophanes ( 450 - 385 BC. ) Eros was born of the egg from the black-winged Night. He has two gold wings and causes, with Chaos "winged and dark," the race of birds, even before that of the immortals.
In The Banquet of Plato ( 427 - 348 BC. ) Eros is presented differently depending on the characters of the dialogue. For Phaedra , Eros is a primordial god, "he who does the most good men," it inspires audacity, "" is the oldest, the most noble and most able to make men virtuous and happy during his lifetime and after his death. " Pausanias distinguishes between two loves. As there are two Aphrodite, Aphrodite celestial eldest born of Ouranos , and Aphrodite born of the male and female, Zeus and Dione , younger and called Aphrodite trivial or popular there are two Eros, a Eros popular, "it is love that prevails among the common people. They like free choice, not least the women and young people, rather than the body the soul, "they aspire only to the enjoyment, provided they succeed, they do not care by what means, and a true Eros, which "only looking for young people," who does the male, "naturally stronger and smarter." Follows a eulogy of the virtuous love, loyal, unattached to the body. By talking Eryximachus Plato endorsed the distinction made by both Eros and complete Pausanias: Eros is not only the soul but also in beauty, "in the bodies of all animals in the productions of the earth In a word, in all beings. " The legitimate and heavenly Eros is the muse Urania. "But for those of Polyhymnia , Eros is vulgar, we should promote it with great caution, so that it provides authorization can never make up to licentiousness. "
Aristophanes speaks of the power of Eros and the myth of the androgyne (there are three original sexes: male, produced by the sun, the earth feminine and androgynous, that is composed of two others, the moon). Eros is the force that pushes the halves toward each other after their separation by the Gods. This man who marries a woman becomes fertile half, one that marries a half man never deliver as much of the spirit. "Men who come from the separation of the primitive men seeking men" so that the sympathy, friendship and love and understand each other, and how not to form a single be with him, "happiness that can now only very few people." Agathon presents him as the finest and youngest of the gods, no offense to Hesiod and Parmenides. God is a delicate "works and rests on the softer things" and "moving away from hard-hearted." It consists of a subtle essence - that the grace that distinguishes it - can not get any offense, is the largest temperance. This is the strongest of the gods, stronger that Ares himself. He is very clever because it makes the poet who inspired him.
For Socrates , Eros is love of something that is love of beauty. Like all demons, is an intermediary between men and gods, between the mortal condition and the immortal. He brings "to heaven the prayers and sacrifices of men" and refers to "men and gods' orders compensation for the sacrifices they offered them."
- It comes from the union of Poros (Plenty), son of Metis (Prudence) and Penia (Poverty) at the time of the feast of the birth of Aphrodite, that is to say that design coincides with the birth of the goddess. As the son of Penia, he is "always poor, and far from being beautiful and delicate, as is commonly believed, he is skinny, dirty, shoeless, homeless, with no other bed than the ground without a blanket, sleeping the stars near the doors and on the streets. " As the son of Poros, it "is always on the track that is beautiful and good, he is male, bold, persistent, skillful hunter, always machine a few fireworks, desiring to know and learn with ease, philosophizing incessantly, enchanting, magician, sophist ... "Eros is a lover of wisdom.
In more recent traditions (from the sixth century BC. ), he goes to the fatherless son of the goddess of Births Ilithyia , or by most authors to that of Aphrodite by Mars, or, more rarely, of Aphrodite by Zeus, Hermes , Hephaestus , or even by Ouranos . As the son of Aphrodite and Ares, its younger brother or sister Anteros , the god of mutual love, and sister Harmony.
Worship
It is especially honored in ancient Greece as the god of pederasty. The Spartans and Cretans him sacrifice before a battle, the Sacred Band of Thebes is devoted to him, and Athens honors him as the god of liberating the city in honor of Harmodius and Aristogeiton , the Tyrannoktones. Its main sanctuary is located Thespiae.
Artistic representations
Originally, Eros is represented as a being androgynous. The winged figure of the young man appears at the end of the sixth century BC. BC on Attic red-figure vases. Then it is only rarely associated with Aphrodite and often appears in multiple instances, and sometimes one is called Love Himros or Pothos (Desire).
His representation is very popular from 490 BC. AD We see then on vases, the lyre or a hare - pederastic gift par excellence - by hand, or pursuing a boy. Subsequently, it is more often associated with Aphrodite and the world of women, especially on vases as wedding Lebet gamikoi, or even the loutrophoros Lkana. Besides, it uses the white to represent, as well as women's bodies. The bow and quiver are typical attributes from the fourth century BC. AD The most famous example is probably the statue of Eros bending his bow, type assigned to the sculptor Lysippos.
From the Hellenistic period , the type of Eros-child appears concurrently with that of Eros, Adonis. By this time Eros loses its religious significance to become ornamental. From the Renaissance , its representation is equated to that of angels to achieve the kind of putto.
His avatar Roman , Cupid is often depicted as a mischievous toddler, chubby, with two small wings on his back and carrying a bow, which he uses to shoot arrows of love.
You can see a statue of him on the spot Piccadilly Circus in London.
Sources
- Hesiod , Theogony Notes
- Theogony 116-123
- Jean-Pierre Vernant, The individual, death, love. Oneself and the other in ancient Greece, Paris, Gallimard, 1989
- Theogony 201-202
- Alain Verjat, Eros is staggering. Heuristic values on the mythical figure of Eros Eros in voluble - The changing face of love in the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, edited by D. Abramovici, J.-C. Jimenez, Ed. Desjonqures, 2000, See also
Related articles
External Links
Olympian godsCanon Olympian
(Dodekatheon)Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Demeter Dionysus Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Poseidon Zeus Deified mortals Ganymede Hercules Semele / Thyon Other Olympians Asclepius Astrea Charities Eros and Anteros Hebe Hours Himros Hymen Ilithyia Iris Leto Mnemosyne Fates Muse Pothos Themis
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5, rated)
Loading ...