A symbol of love and, in fact, of Valentine's Day, the figure of Cupid is plastered everywhere for the lovers' celebration. Represented as a toddler in a diaper, he is nonetheless a mythological figure.
The myth of Cupid
Young son of Venus , goddess of beauty and Mars , god of war, Cupid arouses the anger of Jupiter from birth by his beauty and the troubles that the latter would cause. To escape the wrath of Jupiter, Venus hides Cupid in the woods .
If the attributes of the deity of love are quivers, bows, wings and flowers, it is not for nothing. In the woods where he was hidden, he learned to handle the bow and the quiver and made arrows of gold and lead , the former creating passion in the hearts of those touched while the latter chased away this passion .
Cupid's power affects both mortals and deities . When an arrow hits its target, it dissolves into blood , leaving no trace or wound. In addition to this power, he also has the ability to force a person to confess their feelings as well as a power of invisibility that, however, no longer manifests itself when he sleeps.
Cupid and the god Eros
In Greek mythology , Cupid is assimilated to the God Eros , the primordial deity of love. According to Hesiod's theogony , he would have come from Chaos and would constitute one of the five primordial deities . He is the only one who does not engender, but nevertheless allows Ouranos and Gaia to do so.
According to this time, the theogony of the Rhapsodies , Eros would be at the origin of creation . He would have been born from the cosmic egg resulting from the union of Ether and Chaos and would be both male and female , engendering the divinity Nyx .
Several other myths concerning the birth of the deity exist, notably due to the fact that there are several Eroses . Most Greek authors agree that he is the son of Aphrodite and Ares and has a twin brother, Anteros , god of mutual love , who allows him to grow when he is at his side.
Cupid and Psyche
The daughter of a king, Psyche is distinguished by her beauty so disconcerting that no man had the courage to ask for her hand. Stealing the spotlight from Venus , the goddess of beauty, the latter flew into a rage and sought to get rid of her. She then asked her son to make the young girl fall in love with the ugliest mortal possible . Stinging Psyche with his arrows, Cupid accidentally wounded himself with one of them and fell in love with the young woman and charged Zephyr , the god of wind, to take her to his palace .
Cupid only joined her in the evening, forbidding her to see his face . However, bored in this palace where no living being lived, she obtained permission to bring her sisters who convinced her to defy the ban . Thus one night, she lit the lamp and was troubled by the beauty of the young man , waking him up who immediately abandoned her to return to his mother.
Psyche tried in vain to find her lover and ended up addressing Venus herself , who took the opportunity to subject her to multiple tests , the last of which was to go down to the Underworld to seek a beauty ointment held by Persephone . Successfully completing all the tests but piqued by her curiosity , she opened the ointment and fell into a deep sleep . Cupid, finding her thus, revived the young woman and took her before Zeus in order to publicly announce their marriage and offer her immortality .
A beautiful myth that has inspired many poets and artists.