Eros is the Greek personification and god of desire. Ancient sources give him more than one origin and role. In early cosmogonic poetry he can be a primordial force that enables generation. In later myth and art he is commonly the winged son or companion of Aphrodite.
A power at the beginning
Hesiod names Eros soon after Chaos, Gaia, and Tartarus, describing the force that overcomes the minds of gods and humans. Some Orphic traditions present a radiant first-born deity under names such as Protogonos or Phanes. These accounts are not the same genealogy as the familiar child of Aphrodite.
The youthful archer
Classical and Hellenistic art increasingly shows Eros as a youth or child with wings, bow, and arrows. Stories make desire an external power that can disrupt divine and mortal judgment. Groups of Erotes represent related kinds of love and longing.
Eros, Cupid, and later romance
Roman poets identified Eros with Cupid or Amor and developed stories that shaped European art. The long tale of Cupid and Psyche survives in Apuleius, a Roman author, rather than an early Greek scripture. Modern Valentine’s imagery preserves only one small part of Eros’s ancient range.