ExclusiveThe god of love went from Greek slender youth Eros to Roman pudgy cherub Cupid
1K Video Views·Mar 3, 2025
Cupid is synonymous with Valentine’s Day, February, and the romantic love itself. Although we know him as a chubby baby with a bow and arrow wearing nothing but a sash and a diaper, he was not always depicted as a winged infant. The history of Cupid goes back to the earliest legends of Greek mythology. Eros, the Greek god of love, was originally considered one of the primordial gods, meaning he had no parentage. However, in later legends, he began to be considered the offspring of a god and goddess, most often Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, and Ares, god of war.
In Roman mythology, Eros became Cupid, son of Venus, Aphrodite’s Roman counterpart. Like Eros, Cupid was originally depicted as a slender, handsome, and often licentious young man. Over the centuries, he became younger and younger until his usual depiction was as a child or even an infant, often accompanying his mother. The pagan tales were painted in a more negative light as Europe became Christian, with Cupid’s coming to represent wanton lust, bare because of its shame. However, the romantic spirit of the Renaissance kept Cupid from losing his charmed role as the patron emblem of desire. In fact, the story of Cupid and Psyche, the only story which focuses on the god, inspired several famous European fairy tales.
Welcome to Epoch Insights with Tiffany. My name is Tiffany Brannan. The month of February is known
as the month of love because of Saint Valentine's Day halfway through. The symbol of this month and
this day is Cupid, the little winged cherub with his bow and arrow who shoots darts of love into
the hearts of potential sweethearts. There's an article in the Epoch Times in the Life and
ancient Greece to become the sprightly cherub we know him to be now on greeting cards.
The article called Love Through the Ages tells of the history of Cupid who began as Eros.
In ancient Greece, Eros was the god of love, pleasure, and romantic attraction. He wasn't
a baby at this time though. He was a slim, handsome, athletic, and mischievous youth.
There were different origins about this god. In the Greek mythology, there would often be
differing stories of how different gods and goddesses came into being, who their parents
were, and what their main purposes and adventures would be. Originally, Eros was one of the primordial
gods, meaning that he was born out of nature. He existed almost from the beginning of time.
In fact, only two other deities were considered older than him, Chaos and Gaia, who was Mother
Earth. Over time, as the ancient Romans took those same myths and changed the names and began to tweak
the stories, Eros became Cupid. And some writers have explained that there were three different
Cupids, each with a different origin. The most common origin is that Cupid is the son of Venus,
who is the goddess of love and beauty. And by some counterparts, Eros was the son of the Greek
version of Venus, who is Aphrodite, also the goddess of love and beauty. In some versions,
there are three different Venuses and three different Eroses, each with some kind of a
background. As this article describes, he often is depicted as the son of Venus and Hermes,
who is the messenger of the gods, also known as Mercury. But the most common of all is for
him to be the child of Venus and Mars, or Aphrodite and Ares. Mars and Ares being
different names for the god of war. And this was symbolic because love and romantic love,
as represented by Cupid and Eros, was considered in a way a union of love, such as Venus, and war
with Mars because of sayings like love conquers all and the battle of the sexes, and even going
to fight for someone's love. Now, as the different stories changed, he began being depicted younger
and younger, oftentimes just showing him as a lad or even as a little infant child with wings and
perhaps a sash, a bow and arrow, and very little clothing, most likely. Throughout the Middle Ages,
different stories were invented around him, and a more sinister view was painted in Christian society
in that he represented lust and the evils of romantic passion in that it was unchaste.
In ancient Greek and Roman mythology, there were very few stories about Eros or Cupid compared to
other gods and goddesses. But the most common, and in fact the only story which truly is about
Cupid himself, is the story of Cupid and Psyche. Psyche, of course, being the namesake of the Greek
word that would come to mean soul, and to represent the inner thought in psychological studies and
even scientific purposes. But in the story, Psyche was one of three sisters, daughters of a king, and
she was a beautiful young lady. In fact, she was so beautiful that people in her kingdom said that
she must be Venus come to Earth, or perhaps a daughter of Venus, and they started worshipping
her instead of Venus. And whenever something like that happens in ancient mythology, it makes
some goddess very angry, and in that case, Venus was furious. So she sent her son, Cupid, to go and
cast a spell on her. But when he was going to perform this duty, he accidentally pricked himself
on one of his arrows, and he himself fell madly in love with the beautiful young woman.
Now by this point, her two sisters were married, but she was not married yet, and she hadn't fallen
in love. Her father received word from an oracle that rather than a mortal son-in-law, his third
daughter betrothed or intended would be a creature who looked like a dragon or a serpent and who
could conquer everyone. He was quite dismayed by that, but then he performed a ritual on a hilltop,
which was both a funeral and marriage ceremony to the unknown bridegroom, and then she was carried
away on the winds of Zephyr, which was one of the winds. That wind brought her to a beautiful palace
in the middle of the woods, and it seemed enchanted. It was full of different objects that
seemed to play by themselves, lyres and tables which were full of food, and before long she
realized that this was the palace of some unknown suitor who her secret betrothed, and he would come
to her each evening, but in the dark, so she never could see him. But she came to enjoy his visits as
her secret husband. But one day, her two sisters came and visited her. They were very jealous of
this beautiful palace which she had, so they decided to make her discontent. They reminded
her of the oracle's warning, and they said that this husband of hers must be this dragon beast.
So she was terrified at the oracle's prediction that the dragon would kill her and the child she
was to bear. So at her sister's suggestion, she got a dagger and a lamp so that she could see her
visitor. As Cupid was asleep, she looked upon him and was startled to see the most beautiful creature
she had ever beheld. Scraping herself on one of his arrows that was in his discarded quiver,
she fell madly in love with him, but then she dropped some oil on him from the lamp,
making him flee in pain and fear. Then she was forced to roam the earth, doing duties for
different gods and goddesses, and eventually making her way to Venus's household, because she knew
that she must serve Venus, for that was the only way that she would ever mend the rift.
After completing four very difficult and torturous trials given by Venus, Cupid finally was healed
enough to rescue Psyche from her latest endeavor, her quest, which had brought her to the underworld,
and awakening her with either an arrow or a kiss, in different versions of the story, they were
reunited and he gained permission of Zeus, or Jupiter, the king of the gods, to wed her. And as they
were wed, all the gods and goddesses had a feast, which was one of the most popular subjects of
paintings or statues, in depicting all the gods and goddesses at the joyous feast of Cupid and
Psyche. And Cupid then put aside his roving, licentious ways to be a faithful, loving husband,
for he himself had finally, truly fallen in love. This story is a very interesting one, and one which
inspired many other tales. It has been adapted into orchestral works, masks, as far back as the
17th or even 16th centuries, performances on the stage that involve the playing of music, while
different actors would almost be living statues. They would go to different poses with giant frames
around them, and just stand there, and then subtly shift. There also were many operas based on this
story, and even a ballet in the 1930s, by Sadler's Wells, which would later become the Royal
Ballet. Frederick Ashton choreographed this. There are many famous, beautiful statues and paintings
depicting their love, but many people don't know that some of the most famous fairy tales from
Europe were inspired by the story of Cupid and Psyche, most notably Beauty and the Beast. Especially
if you have read the original book, or heard about it, as opposed to the 1990s Disney film, the way a
beautiful young lady comes into this mysterious palace, and instruments play themselves. The table
seems to set itself with its own food, and she thinks that her secret lover is perhaps a hideous
beast, as well as the idea of a woman who falls in love with a man without realizing what his external
appearance is, inspiring these stories such as Beauty and the Beast, Phantom of the Opera, the Hunchback
of Notre Dame. Sadly though, in all those cases I just mentioned, the gentleman involved really is
something of a monster or a beast. Of course, in the case of the Beast, he is restored to being a handsome
prince, just as Cupid is revealed to be a divinely handsome god. It can be very entertaining, amusing,
and even humorous to read the old Greek legends and myths, but although it holds little religious
significance to many people nowadays, these stories have great cultural significance, and great
philosophical significance as well. There are important messages in all old stories, and it's
fascinating to see how they changed over the years, how different poets wrote about them, how different
sages and bards and philosophers were inspired by these ideas and came up with them more themselves,
and how the great workers of old in arts, such as traditional classical European art, in sculpture,
painting, and music, were inspired. For instance, 20-year-old Michelangelo got his start with making
a sculpture of Cupid. Thank you for spending this time with me talking about the history of Eros,
the Greek god of love, Cupid, his Roman counterpart, the story of Cupid and Psyche, and how it has
inspired some of the most classic European fairy tales. If you enjoyed this video, I hope you'll
like it, subscribe to the channel, share it with your friends, and leave a comment letting me know
what you think about ancient mythology. Thank you for watching!