Cupid was the enemy of chastity, and the poet Ovid opposes him to Diana, the virgin goddess of the hunt who likewise carries a bow but who hates Cupid's passion-provoking arrows.
Like many Roman gods and goddesses, Cupid is a counterpart to a Greek god, that god being Eros. Looks wise Eros is the complete opposite of Cupid.
Eros's hatred for Apollo worsens after he learns that Apollo raped his best friend Persephone. While Eros has promised Persephone not to reveal what Apollo has done, he has trouble controlling his rage whenever he is around him.
When the Roman Empire converted to Christianity, Greek and Roman deities were often portrayed as demons, and Cupid is no exception. He was referred to as a demon of fornication.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.470-74. Cupid = Eros = Kama.
They named him Cupid, a synonym for Eros that also translates to “desire.” (His mother was likewise Venus, the Roman version of the Greek Aphrodite.) For the Romans, the character of Cupid was always a cherubic little boy who followed his mother's wishes to make people fall in love. Venus and Cupid, circa 18th century.
Cupid, the boy god who makes people fall in love by shooting them with his golden arrows, is often portrayed as being either blind or blindfolded because the targets of his arrows seem selected at random. This notion gave rise to our expression "love is blind."
Cupid is, quite literally, the child of the goddess of love, Venus. In Greek mythology, he is known as Eros, and, depending on the source, was thought to be a primordial god who came into the world either asexually, from an egg, or the son of Aphrodite (Venus' Hellenistic counterpart).
At the worst he was considered mischievous in his matchmaking, this mischief often directed by his mother, Venus. In one tale, her machinations backfired when she used Cupid in revenge on the mortal Psyche, only to have Cupid fall in love and succeed in making Psyche his immortal wife.
Psyche Betrays Eros
Scorched and in pain, Eros awoke. Above him, he saw Psyche wielding a razor and fire, so he fled. Psyche catches onto Eros as he begins to fly, apologizing for her mistrust, but he rejects. For her betrayal, Eros vows that she will never see him again.
Where Eros serves as the superhero Starfox, he is opposed by his mad brother Thanos, much like the rest of the universe. He has the power to psychically control other people's emotions. He was a member of the Avengers and Dark Guardians.
Created by Jim Starlin and first appearing in 1973's Invincible Iron Man #55, Eros is Thanos' younger brother. With good looks and the power to influence other people's emotions, Eros is both the superhero called Starfox and a massive fuckboi.
In Roman culture, Cupid was the child of the goddess Venus, popularly known today as the goddess of love, and Mars, the god of war.
In Roman mythology, Voluptas or Volupta is the daughter born from the union of Cupid and Psyche, according to Apuleius. The Latin word voluptas means 'pleasure' or 'delight'; Voluptas is known as the goddess of "sensual pleasures".
A blindfolded Eros usually stands for lust. Alternately, when he slumbers, it means suppressed sensuality. Two putti fighting each other could represent Eros and his opposite, Anteros, requited love. Eros with a torch held downward is a symbol of death.
In the later classical tradition, Cupid is most often regarded as the son of Venus and Mars, whose love affair represented an allegory of Love and War.
The Story Psyche is so beautiful that the jealous goddess Venus commands her son Cupid to make her fall in love with an unworthy man. However, Cupid falls in love with Psyche himself.
Isidore sees Cupid as a demon of fornication, who represents foolish and irrational love (Etym VIII. xi. 80). Petrus Berchorius says that Cupid, son of Venus Voluptaria, is the god of carnality; he is painted winged because love flies away suddenly, and he is also blind (De formis figurisque deorum, fol.
Cupid and Psyche
In another allegory, Cupid's mother, Venus (Aphrodite), became so jealous of the beautiful mortal Psyche that she told her son to induce Psyche to fall in love with a monster. Instead, Cupid became so enamored with Psyche that he married her—with the condition that she could never see his face.
Historians see Cupid wings as symbolic. And they're not unique to Cupid. Eros, too, is depicted as a winged creature in Greek mythology. “It was probably ideas about love being fleeting or capricious that are behind the representation of Eros with wings, which [goes] back to ancient times,” says Connors.
Cupid, meaning “passionate desire,” is the god of erotic love, desire, attraction, and affection. He was the son of the beautiful love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is the Greek counterpart of the god of love and sex, Eros.
According to Cicero and Pausanias, Cupid had a brother, born after him to the same parents: Venus and Mars. Anteros is sometimes viewed as Cupid's enemy, representing spiritual rather than carnal love, and featured contending for victory by struggling over a palm.
PSYKHE (Psyche) was the goddess of the soul and the wife of Eros (Roman Cupid) god of love. She was once a mortal princess whose extraordinary beauty earned the ire of Aphrodite (Roman Venus) when men began turning their worship away from the goddess towards the girl.