The Eros of Love | God of Love
Erotic Love Explained | Eros
The Legends Of Eros:-
Eros (the Greek counterpart of the Roman Cupid) is well known as the boyish cherubic figure depicted in all forms of art. The myths involving Eros as the son of Aphrodite (Venus) and Ares (Mars) were formed much later than the original myth. In this older myth, Eros is one of the primeval forces that came into existence from Chaos (Nothingness). To the ancient Greeks, he was the personification of desire and sexuality, represented as a tall, athletic young man; the epitome of beauty.
His power was undisputed, as he was able to “unnerve the limbs and overcome the mind and wise counsel of all gods and all men.” (Hesiod, Theogony [116-138]) He became an assistant of Aphrodite after her birth, and later his role changed as he became her son.
The Significance Of The Name:-
Aphrodite (the goddess) got mad at Psyche, (the mortal beauty) because human males were leaving Aphrodite’s worship and following the beautiful Psyche around like helpless pups. This is loaded with meaning. Our individuality is first expressed and most powerfully felt as we decide who to fall in love with. And then that’s the next kicker. We don’t decide. We are so driven that we must consummate before we do anything else. And that’s the beauty of it all. It doesn’t bear pondering because it is so darned powerful, it makes “sweet victims” of us all. But you know, it really does bear pondering. We need to respect what this process is all about, because it affects eating, sleeping, thinking, thriving, behavior, finances, morality and whether we can stay sober, thus Eros’ itself literally means ‘desire,’ with connotations indicating the love and devotion in romantic relationships.
Legends Of Eros:-
Perhaps one of the most well-known stories about Eros is his relationship with Psyche. Psyche was the Greek word for ‘soul’, and she eventually became the immortal representation of the human soul and consciousness.
Eros met her when he was ordered to make her fall in love with the ugliest creature alive – a result of Aphrodite’s jealousy of the girl’s beauty. As he followed her, however, he was wounded by one of his own arrows, and fell in love with Psyche himself.
He summoned Zephyrus, the West Wind, to carry her to an Island, where he courted her in the darkness of light, warning that she could never see his face. Her sisters were jealous of the splendor in which Psyche was kept and cast aspersions over the identity of her lover.
They suggested that he was probably a monster, ashamed of his appearance, who would devour Psyche and the unborn child she carried. Easily deluded by her siblings, Psyche took a lamp into the room, and saw that Eros lay beside her.
A drop of oil from the lamp fell onto the God’s arm, awakening him. Distressed by her disloyalty to him, he went to his mother, who set the girl several impossible tasks, which she performed with the assistance of other beings who took pity on her.
The final task was to descend into the Underworld and obtain a beauty cream from Hecate (Persephone), Queen of the Underworld and return it to Aphrodite. She obtained the cream, despite the perils of the Underworld, but as she traveled back to Mount Olympus to give it to Aphrodite, she grew curious and opened the jar.
It contained the Sleep of Death, and she was quickly overcome. Eros saw her lying on the road, and revived her, forgiving her distrust.
Eros Ladder Of Love:-
Eros, the Greek god of Love, represents the passionate desire for all that is good, true, beautiful and meaningful. Eros, who traverses all levels of creation, is the Guide on the passage from the ‘Below’ to the ‘Above’, the Messenger between Earth and Heaven, the means to the perfection of the soul. Eros is the driving force and motivation behind all the great discoveries of science, all great art, all great social endeavors, all the magnificent efforts of the human mind, heart, and spirit.
In Plato’s Symposium, Socrates says that the mysteries of Eros begin in youth, when we find ourselves passionately attracted to one beautiful girl or boy. Eros is the love that exists between opposing genders. Opposing male & female genders of the same energy are subject to the Law of Attraction. Like energies of opposing genders attract. This attraction of opposing genders of the same energy is called Eros. Different wavelengths of energy create a different aspect of love. All wavelengths of energy have the potential to be divided by gender. A choice of gender is what gives love choice. It is a choice of gender that allows the force of sexual attraction. Without a choice of gender of energy, there is no choice to love another. It is the gender of the wavelength of the energy of another that we love. Eros allows the physical, mental & emotional experience of loving another with similar yet opposing energy.
It allows Lovers to be in harmony and at one with each other. Eros allows the experience of male & female energy to combine in a climactic, orgasmic experience.
As a result of this experience we begin to entertain beautiful new thoughts and feelings. These soon lead us to an appreciation of beauty in other forms as well, and we begin to see that the beauty of one is akin to the beauty of another, and there is something magnificent and wonderful in the essence of all of this loveliness and beauty which attracts us.
Love then leads us to discover for ourselves that the beauty of a mind is even more precious and admirable than the beauty of outward form, and we find ourselves desiring friends and lovers of character, who have beautiful souls, and together we seek to bring to birth beautiful ideas and sentiments which may improve ourselves and each other.
In our converse with beautiful minds and souls, we become conscious of the beauty which exists in living well and righteously, in observing just laws, admiring excellent institutions, and meeting our responsibilities with honor. We begin to understand that the beauty of all of this is of one family, and personal physical beauty is but a sweet and fleeting trifle.
Eros then leads us further into deeper realms of the mind, where we discover the beauty of knowledge and science and reason, and we begin to desire the splendid loveliness of wisdom. And then, being lured by Love to surpass the limitations of reason, we begin to contemplate Universal Beauty. No longer enslaved to the attractions of just one form of beauty, Eros reveals to us a vast sea of beauty, and we find ourselves creating noble and majestic thoughts and emotions.
Finally, having been tutored and disciplined by all these experiences of Love, having gradually ascended this ‘Ladder of Love’ and thoroughly experienced and contemplated all the many aspects of the Beautiful, Eros leads us forth until we suddenly behold that wondrous noetic ‘Beauty’ that is no longer subject to death or decay, but is pure, divine, and eternal. In this sacred communion, beholding Beauty with the awakened eye of the soul, no longer seeing mere images or relying on human reason, but actually knowing Reality, we become a ‘friend of God’ – having purified and perfected our own immortal Soul.
Socrates often said that he had no wisdom at all, that he knew nothing either beautiful or good. In Plato’s Symposium, however, he announces that he is an expert on Love. These two statements only appear contradictory. Love, for Socrates, meant longing, and this state of longing is what he meant by being always between ignorance and wisdom, between ugliness and beauty, always seeking and questioning and desiring. Socrates understood Eros, and lived passionately and erotically, precisely because he acknowledged that he knew nothing, but was always an adoring lover and seeker of beauty, goodness, and truth. Plato and Socrates taught the West that these longings – for passionate relationships, for wisdom, for beauty, for immortality, for God – are what make human life meaningful. Eros is the key to the development and fulfillment of our souls. Eros makes possible the hope for human warmth, the hope for a deep connection with life and eternity, the hope for an understanding of the sense and meaning of existence.
But Eros has been badly wounded, just as the ancient myth of Eros and Psyche described so long ago, and he has taken wing and flown away – perhaps never to return.
Eros Love Between Humans:-
The entire world has changed tremendously since the first man and woman made that solemn vow to be true to each other till death do them apart. That purity normally associated with love has been blemished and destroyed on the platter of greed and selfishness. The effect can be seen in the high rate of rape and divorce cases in our society today.
The world now attach so many external factors to true love and affection. These factors include money, beauty, height, color and even educational background. These external factors have eroded the principles on which God established a deep affection between two individuals. Thus the old meaning of eros love has really changed and what we have today is totally different.
In present, Eros or physical love is based on sexual attraction between the two people. This kind of love is often very superficial and therefore cannot last long as two people eventually get bored of each other. Eros love is usually the first step in a romantic relationship, and if the two people are lucky enough to be compatible on a deeper level, then this love can go on to the next stage – the Philos love.
This is human, sexual, and selfish love, or love based on erotic feelings. In this kind, one looks for some characteristic in the object of love that pleases him/her. It could be charm, charisma, beauty, wealth, talent, etc. However, if this person loses that characteristic, the love of the other party dies. This is the kind of love some men profess when their motive is to have sex with a woman. Immediately they get to sleep with the woman, the relationship ends, or as long as the woman continues to give them sex they maintain the relationship.
Eros is exhilarating, and is what a lot of people think of first, a primary working definition of love. Eros is passionate and intense and romantic; it’s the zingy, mushy, crazy chemical reaction kind of love. It’s generally emotional, and sexual. This romantic love is important in the beginning of a new relationship, and, it may not last unless it evolves into a more complex kind of love, because it focuses more on self than on the other person. We feel aroused and energized fabulously, vitally alive in Eros
Notwithstanding the personality gulf between men and women, the sex urge is sufficient to insure their coming together for the reproduction of the species. This instinct operated effectively long before humans experienced much of what was later called love, devotion, and marital loyalty.” Eros is often mistaken for love and therefore easily abused. Without phileo and storge, eros is passion, the sex urge that, when unbridled, can devastate personal lives, its effect radiating into families and society. But the sex impulse is the catalyst that eventually leads to love. Eros gets beyond the romance stage with the support of phileo, storge, and agape, which helps sustain the friendship and spirituality that long-term relationships require.