Cupid Eros Mythology
CUPID - The Most Famous of Valentine Symbols Cupid has always played a role in the celebrations of love and lovers. He is known as a mischievous, winged child, whose arrows who would pierce the hearts of his victims causing them to fall deeply in love. In ancient Greece he was known as Eros the young son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. To the Roman's he was Cupid, and his mother Venus One legend tells the story of Cupid and the mortal maiden, Psyche. Venus was jealous of the beauty of Psyche, and ordered Cupid to punish the mortal. But instead, Cupid fell deeply in love with her. He took her as his wife, but as a mortal she was forbidden to look at him. Psyche was happy until her sisters convinced her to look at Cupid. Cupid punished her by departing. Their lovely castle and gardens vanished with him and Psyche found herself alone in an open field As she wandered to find her love, she came upon the temple of Venus. Wishing to destroy her, the goddess of love gave Psyche a series of tasks, each harder and dangerous than the last. For her last task Psyche was given a little box and told to take it to the underworld. She was told to get some of the beauty of Proserpine, the wife of Pluto, and put it in the box. During her trip she was given tips on avoiding the dangers of the realm of the dead. And also warned not to open the box. Temptation would overcome Psyche and she opened the box. But instead of finding beauty, she found deadly slumber Cupid found her lifeless on the ground. He gathered the sleep from her body and put it back in the box. Cupid forgave her, as did Venus. The gods, moved by Psyche's love for Cupid made her a goddess.
Cupid Carving his Bow, 1532-34, oil on panel,
Art History Museum, Vienna.
Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, Italian, 1503-1540)
The Birth of Cupid, oil on wood,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Young Girl Defending Herself From Eros
(1880) Adolphe-William Bouguereau (1825-1905)
CUPID - Valentine Symbols cupidon.jpg Cupidon 1875 (30 Kb); Bridgeman Art Library at London Adolphe-William Bouguereau (1825-1905) ``One has to seek Beauty and Truth, Sir! As I always say to my pupils, you have to work to the finish. There's only one kind of painting. It is the painting that presents the eye with perfection, the kind of beautiful and impeccable enamel you find in Veronese and Titian.'' -- Adolphe-William Bouguereau, 1895 The tenderness with which he portrayed children and domestic scenes, his technical skill and passion for the classics, and his love of rich color are hallmarks of Bouguereau's exquisite paintings.
Valentine's Day as may have started from the ancient belief that lovebirds began to mate on February 14th. February 14th was to honor Saint Valentine who was beheaded by the Roman Emperor Claudius II Gothicus for continuing to marry young couples even though Claudius forbade it. Claudius thought that married soldiers weren't as good as single soldiers. That is how St Valentine got involved. (I am just the messenger) Also in ancient Rome, February the 15th was the fertility festival (Lupercalia) in honor of the pastoral god Lupercus. Fertility is nature's way of making more from few and is necessary for the species. We suspend out belief and buy into Saint Valentine's Day dedicated to lovers, sentimental greeting cards, and mushy words of never-ending adoration just because it is fun.
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