Crossword Dictionary

Eros was the Greek god of love, or more precisely, passionate and physical desire. Without warning he selects his targets and forcefully strikes at their hearts, bringing confusion and irrepressible feelings or, in the words of Hesiod, he 'loosens the limbs and weakens the mind'. Eros is most often represented in Greek art as a carefree and beautiful youth, crowned with flowers, especially of roses which were closely associated with the god.

According to Hesiod in his Theogony, Eros was one of the primaeval gods who, along with Chaos and Gaia (Earth), was responsible for the Creation. Here he perhaps represented a universal love. In other traditions, such as the Orphic cosmogonies, Eros is born a hermaphrodite from an egg which was put by the Titan Chronos (who represents Time) into the womb of Chaos. The Greek comic playwright Aristophanes (c. 460 - c. 380 BCE) uses the same idea but has Eros hatch out from a silver egg laid by Nyx (Night) and Aither (Wind). Yet more alternatives for the mother of this highly desirable love child are Eilithyia (who protected childbirth), Penia (Poverty), and Iris (the messenger goddess and West Wind).