Eros

Greek sources offer conflicting accounts of Eros's parentage. In Hesiod's Theogony, dating to around the 8th century BC, Eros is described as one of the primordial gods emerging from Chaos at the beginning of creation, alongside Gaia (Earth) and Tartarus. Later traditions, particularly from the Hellenistic period onward, identify him as the son of Aphrodite, goddess of love, with Ares, Hermes, or other gods cited as his father in various versions.

The story of Eros and Psyche is told in 'The Golden Ass' (Metamorphoses) by the Roman author Apuleius, written in the 2nd century AD. In the tale, Eros falls in love with the mortal princess Psyche but hides his identity from her, visiting only at night. When Psyche betrays his trust by looking at him with a lamp, he flees, and she must complete a series of impossible tasks set by Eros's mother Aphrodite to win him back, ultimately being granted immortality so they can be together.

Eros and Cupid are the Greek and Roman versions of the same love deity, with Cupid being the Roman adaptation of the Greek Eros. However, their depictions evolved differently over time: early Greek art portrayed Eros as a handsome young man, while later Hellenistic and Roman art increasingly depicted him as a winged child or infant with a bow and arrows. The familiar cherubic Cupid with arrows of love that persists in modern Valentine's Day imagery comes from this later Roman tradition.

In the earliest Greek sources, particularly Hesiod's Theogony, Eros is described as a primordial deity who existed from the beginning of creation alongside Chaos and Gaia, representing the fundamental force of attraction and reproduction in the cosmos. In later traditions, especially those influenced by the cult of Aphrodite, Eros was recast as a lesser, subordinate deity—the son of Aphrodite who served as her assistant in inspiring love and desire. This shift reflects changing cultural understandings of love from a cosmic force to a more personal, romantic one.