Eros
Ἔρως · Roman 쿠피도 (Cupid)
The force that pulls beings toward each other.
In Hesiod, Eros is a primordial power appearing right after Chaos — the principle of joining, needed before anyone yet existed.
In later tradition he becomes the mischievous boy-son of Aphrodite. Rome's Cupid is this version.
His golden arrows make you fall in love; his lead arrows make you recoil. The tragedy of Apollo and Daphne came from these two arrows.
SourcesHesiod, Theogony; Apuleius, The Golden Ass
Commonly confused
The chubby baby Cupid is an image fixed after the Hellenistic age, above all in Renaissance painting. Early Eros was depicted as a full-grown youth.