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Eros
EROS
is a big topic of research for us right now. He has
been in much contact with us and his presence is diffidently known.
Enchanted By Thy Fair Aphrodite, Praised
Be Eros
By: Jennifer H. Wright
Dear sweet goddess I feel your approach,
Your sweet perfume wafting through the air - sending loving thoughts into and unto my mind and spirit.
This is my heart and my home, I am blessed you chose to stay
And that you share with us your eternity.
The gift of your love is the highest blessing.
You are always welcome to grace us with your delights.
Fueling our passions bringing us closer to the eternal light
Oh mistress of the Night possess me in the depths of ecstasy
And release me from my mortality for just a moment while I embrace the Olympic brightness of your being.
II
Praise be Eros keeper of the key, given to my lord which sets us free.
Your gift of celestial wings bestowed in humble grace,
Is the finest you could give and not one to waste..
Your vital energy a gift from above,
One which can only be forged from love.
Deliver us from our earthly pains,
Share with is your wisdoms and astral flame.
Blessed be thy name, holy art thou in your creations,
Pleasurable be your sensations as you enhance our spiritual and physical bliss.
May I be enchanted and embraced by you whom fills the void,
To bring the divine to be reborn.
Ode to Psyche
by John Keats
O GODDESS! Hear these tuneless numbers, wrung
By sweet enforcement and remembrance dear,
And pardon that thy secrets should be sung
Even into thine own soft-conched ear;
Surely I dreamt to-day, or did I see
The winged Psyche with awaken'd eyes?
I wander'd in a forest thoughtlessly,
And, on the sudden, fainting with surprise,
Saw two fair creatures, couched side by side
In deepest grass, beneath the whisp'ring roof
Of leaves and trembled blossoms, where there ran
A brooklet, scarce espied
'Mid hush'd , cool-rooted flowers, fragrant-eyed
Blue, silver-white, and budded Tyrian,
They lay calm-breathing on the bedded grass;
Their arms embraced, and their pinions too;
Their lips touch'd not, but had not bade adieu,
As if disjoined by soft-handed slumber
And ready still past kisses to outnumber
At tender eye-dawn of aurorean love;
The winged boy I knew;
But who wast though, O happy happy dove?
His Psyche true!
O latest born and loveliest vision far
Of all Olympus' faded hierarchy!
Fairer than Phoebe's sapphire-region'd star
Of Vesper, amorous glow-worm of the sky;
Fairer than these, though temple thou hast none,
Nor alter heap'd with flowers;
Nor virgin-choir to make delicious moan
Upon the midnight hours;
No voice, no lute, no pipe, no incense sweet
From chain-swung censer teeming;
No shrine, no grove, no oracle, no heat
Of pale-mouth'd prophet dreaming.
O birghtest! though too late for antique vows
Too, too late for the fond believing lyre,
When holy were the haunted forest boughs,
Holy the air, the water, and the fire;
Yet even in these days so far retir'd
From happy pieties, thy lucent fans,
Fluttering among the faint Olympians,
I see, and sing, by my own eyes inspir'd
So let me be thy choir, and make a moan
Upon the midnight hours;
Thy voice, thy lute, thy pipe, thy incense sweet
From swinged censer teeming;
Thy shrine, thy grove, thy oracle, thy heat
Of pale-mouth'd prophet dreaming.
Yes, I will be thy priest, and build a fane
In some untrodden region of my mind,
Where branched thoughts, new grown with pleasant pain,
Instead of pines shall murmur in the wind:
Far, far around shall those dark-cluster'd trees
Fledge the wild-ridged mountains steep by steep;
And there by zephyrs, streams, and birds, and bees,
The moss-lain Dryads shall be lull'd to sleep;
And in the midst of this wide quietness
A rosy sanctuary will I dress
With the wreath'd trellis of a working brain,
With buds, and bells, and stars without a name,
With all the gardener Fancy e'er could feign,
Who breeding flowers, will never breed the same:
And there shall be for thee all soft delight
That shadowy thought can win,
A bright torch, and a casement ope at night,
To let the warm Love in!
Hail Eros
By: Jennifer H. Wright
All hail Eros
Ancient lord of love -
Flying with his wings so grand
may you be so lucky he takes your hand.
Generous and giving
He loves all that is living.
Sometimes he is seen blind
but it is we who are blind to him.
Open hearts make doorways to light -
free yourself of hatred animosity and strife
Let love into your life.
Some see him as an angel
I know the first time I did I thought him just that
His hair is as light as the golden sun rising on a summers morning -
To look at his face is to gaze into perfection -
He is without flaw of any kind.
Near him one obtains clarity of mind.
His laughter is as sweet as a melodious song ;
it fills one with light and drives away all darkness.
Without his influence, dwell in madness -
although some say he sends people to and through it.
There is so much more to him than meets the eye
and if you blink you may just miss it.
Yes we know he is all love -
but he is also kindness and care
without it all this world would be dead and bare.
He brings peace wherever he roams
he sends joy and friendship so we may not feel fear or alone.
His radiance is so intense that demons can not peer at him without being
burned away.
So brilliant is his way it shines like a suns ray
sending harmony to a new day.
It is a true statement to say that no poem could truly do him justice.
Only he could write it so well
but he is modesty embodied and would never dare.
He is inspiration, in its truest form
from him all good things are born.
Without love all hope and desire is scorned.
Love is a smile returned with a wink,
it is always there even when we don't think.
Fragrance of a an equally beautiful bloom
overpowering any stench sending immediate doom.
Love cools when passions run hot
love burns when they do not.
Eros, dear Eros
How can any mortal thank you for your gifts?
I can only return your love and show to others you exist.
Your charm never easy to resist
nor would I ever want to.
You keep the sky blue even when there is rain
You send joy when I receive pain.
The soft whisper in my ear assuring all will be alright
The hand holding me guiding me safely in the dark of night.
The quiver of your arrows and its almighty sting
may it rain your love and all that it brings.
And to all those who dare to turn their backs to you
feel the blow the hardest
and may they roam the domains blinded by your radiance
to feel the heat of your rapture.
The beating of their hearts grow stead faster
else they stop dead in the face of disaster.
Where no where else to turn but towards the light of your love
or to the deep black may they be shoved.
Eros, dear Eros
Lord of light and love
I thank thee for your presence and for all that you share.
And may I be always so lucky to know you are always there burning brightly
sending goodness to all
Lest this world fall.
Eros the
male counterpart of Aphrodite shares many of the same charastics as she. He too has a dual tradition
for his birth.He may be the cosmic deity in the creation myths of Hesiod and the Orphics or he may be the son of Aphrodite,
his father being Ares according
to others or some whisper it may have been Thanatos.
At any rate he is usually closely associated with fair Aphrodite as her attendant. One version is that he became so by being begotten
on her birthday during a big celebration. His parents being poverty and Resourcefulness.
Perhaps Cupid is his son separate from himself further more as fathers pass their names on to sons in our mortal
world so would be the case here if it were at all true. Often the identities get different interpretations.It is
not unknown for mortals to mistake an identify or become confused. Cupid and Eros are very alike yet each has his
own distinctive features. Cupid can be seen as a chubby winged cherub or athlete complete with bow and arrow,As
Eros he is a man who inflicts and shares and inspires passion and sex. Or even it may be as simple that the child
cupid grows up. This would be confusing it farther however because the first myths of Eros he is far from being
born as a child or an attendant of any one. One interesting feature of the first born Eros is how he transforms
from a magnificent beast to a very highly spiritual figure representing himself as a man with long elegant wings.
According to Diotima Eros as a man lives and dies and is reborn being neither mortal or immortal..In any event
what matters more than where the god came from is that he does exist. Where ever he comes from matters not so much
as that he is.
Eros is similar to Aphrodite/Venus because they both may represent all faucets of desire and love. Sometime he is seen as the god of homosexuality, particularly the Greek classical period. He is a very handsome youthful man, the embodiment of idealism and masculine beauty. In all fairness to Aphrodite she also had been adopted by Homosexuals as well. But it should not be surprising or disturbing being how all types of love and desire exist. The results of every kind of love relationship are so varied they could not be numbered.
Something else to ponder is how much Death and Love are related. Thanatos. being of darkness, Death and Pain. Eros being of Light, love and pleasure and possibly life itself but not birth . Each deity holds the power of being between our two worlds and within. Sometimes Love is pain and Death is welcomed because life has lost meaning or quality.. so who can say?
Eros's powers ascend, Thanatos. descends both are just as potent and of the most powerful magick/sorcery. Both transform a person. Within one life we die and are reborn into better or worse people or aspects of ourselves many times. Both Death and true Love are in a sense are invincible meaning you can not conquer Love or Death but each gives a promise of something "beyond". Lesser love however can be killed. What can not be denied is how these forces of Death and Life and Love all attract and repel our psyches or souls.
The Symposium of Plato gives a very comprehensive and profound analysis of the manifold nature and power of love. The gathering tells of a gathering at the house of Agathon, a dramatic poet, on the day after the customary celebration with the members of his cast in his honor of his victory with his first tragedy. The talk of the night this most famous of dinner parties is that of Love. Each guest receives a turn to speak upon the subject. The speeches of Aristophanes and Socrates, both whom were attending, are very rewarding in their universal implications.
Aristophanes' Speech in the Symposium ( Plato Symposium 14-16 [189A-193E] )
Men seem to me to have failed completely to comprehend the power of Eros, for they did not comprehend it, they would have built the greatest altars and temples and offered the greatest sacrifices, whereas he is given none of these honors, although he should have them most of all. For he s the most friendly to man of all the gods, his helper and physician in those ills, which if cured, would bring about greatest happiness for the human race. Therefor I shall try to initiate you into the nature of his power, and you will be the teachers of others.
But first you must understand the nature
of mankind and what experiences it has suffered. For our nature long ago was not the same as now but different.
In the begining mankind had three sexes, not two, male and female, as now; but there was an addition, a third,
which partook of both the others; now it has vanished and only its name survives. At that time there was a distinct
sex, the androgynous both appearance and name, partaking of the charastics of both the male and the female, but
now it does not except a name, which is retained as a term of reproach. Furthermore every human being in shape
a round entity, with back and sides forming a circle; he had four hands, and equal number of feet, with two faces
exactly alike but each looking in sets of genitals and everything else as one might imagine from this description.
He walked upright just as we do now in whichever direction (backward or forward) he wished. when they were anxious
to run, they made use of all their limbs (which were then eight in numbers) by turning cartwheels, just like acrobats,
and quickly carried themselves along by this circular movement.
The sexes were then three in number and of such a kind for three reasons; originally the male was sprung from the
sun, the female from the earth, and the third partaking of both male and female, from the moon, because the moon
partakes of both sun and earth; indeed because they were just like their parents, thier shape was spherical and
their movement circular. Their strength and might were terrifying; they had great ambitions, and they made and
attack on the gods. What Homer relates about Hephaistos and Otus and their attempt to climb up to heaven, and assail
the gods, is told also about these beings as well.
Zeus and the other gods took counsel about what they should do, and they were at a loss. They could not bring themselves
to kill them (as they had obliterated the race of the giants with blasts of thunder and lightning), for they would
deprive themselves of th honors and sacrifices which they recieved from men, nor could they allow them to continue
in their insolence. After painful deliberation Zeus declared that he had a plan. "I think that I have a way,"He
said,"whereby men may continue to exist but will cease from their insolence by being made weaker. For I shall
cut each of them in two, and they will be at the same time both weaker and more useful to us because of their greater
numbers, and they will walk upright on two legs. If they still seem to be insolent and do not wish to be quiet,
I shall split them again and they will hop about on one leg.
With these words he cut men in two, just as one splits fruit which is to be preserved or divides an egg with a
hair. As he bisected each one, he ordered Apollo to turn the face with the half of the neck attached around to
the side that was cut, so that man, by being able to see the signs of his bisection, might be better behaved; and
he ordered him to heal the marks of the cutting. Apollo turned the face around and drew together the skin like
a pouch with drawstrings on what is now called the belly and tied the middle making a single knot, which is called
the navel. He smoothed out the many wrinkles and molded the chest using a toll like that of cobblers when they
smooth out the wrinkles in the leather on their last. But he left a few of their bellies around their navels as
a reminder of their experience of long ago.
And so when their original nature had been split in two, each longed for his other half, and when they encountered
it they threw their arms about one another and embraced in their desire to grow together again and they died through
hunger and neglect of the other necessities of life because of their wish to do nothing separated from eachother.
Whenever one of a pair died, the other searched out another mate, either the half of a whole female(which we now
call woman) or of a male. Thus they perished, and Zeus in his pity devised another plan: He transferred their genitals
to the front and thereby had them reproduce by intercourse with another, the male with the female. He did this
for two reasons: If a man united with a woman they would propagate the race and it would survive, but if a male
united with a male, they might find satisfaction and freedom to turn to their pursuits and devote themselves to
the other concerns of life. From such early times, then, love for one another has been implanted in the human race,
a love that unifies in his attempt to make one out of two and to heal and restore the basic nature of mankind.
Each of us therefor is but a broken tally, half a man, since we have been cut just like the side of a flatfish and made two instead of one. All who are a section halved from the beings of the common sex(which is called androgynous) are lovers of women, many adulterers have come from this source, including women who love men and are promisciouos.All women who are section halved from the female do not pay attention to men but rather turn to women ; lesbians come from this source. All who are a section halved from the male pursue males; and all the while they are young, since they are slices, as it were, of a male, they love men and take delight in lying by their side and embracing them; these are the best of boys and youths because they are the most manly in nature. Some say that they are without shame, but they do not tell the truth. For they behave the way they do not through shamelessness but through courage, manliness, and masculinity as they cling to what is similar to them.
Here is great proof of what I say. Only men of this sort proceed to politics when they grow up. Once they are men they love boys and do not turn to marriage and procreation naturally but are forced by law or convention; it is enough for them to spend their lives unmarried. In short, then, a man like this is a lover of men as a boy and a lover of boys as a man, always clinging to what is akin to his nature. Therefor whenever anyone of this sort and every other kind of person encounters the other half that is actually his, then they are struck in an amazing way with affection, kinship, and love, virtually unwilling to be separated from eachother for even a short time. These are the ones who spend their whole life together, although they would not be able to tell what they wish to gain from eachother. No one would imagine that it is on account of thier sexual association that the one enjoys intensely being with the other; clearly the soul of each desires something else, which it cannot describe but only hint at obscurely.
Suppose Hephaestus, his tolls in hand,
were to stand over them as they lay together and ask:" O mortals, what is it that you wish to gain from one
another?" Or when they were as a loss for an answer he were to ask again: " Is this what you desire,
to be together always as much as possible so as never to be separated from eachother night and day? If this is
what you desire, I am willing to fuse and weld you together so that the two of you may become one and the same
person and as long as you live, you may live
you may both live united in one being, and when you die, you may die together as one instead of two, united even
in the realms of Hades. Just see if this would be enough to satisfy your longing." We know that there is not
one person after hearing these words would deny their truth and say that he wanted something else, but he would
believe that he heard exactly what he had desired for a long time-namely, to be melted in unison with his beloved,
and the who of them become one.The reason is that our ancient nature was thus and we were whole. And so love is
merely the name for the desire and pursuit of the whole.
Previously, as I have said, we were one, but now because of our wickedness we have been split by the god( just
as the Arcadians have been split up by the Spartans). There is too fear that if we do not behave properly toward
the gods we may again be bisected, just as dice that are dived as tallies, and go around like figures cut in profile
on steles, split right along their noses. For this reason all men must be urged to pay reverence to the gods so
that we may avoid suffering further bisection and win what Eros has to give as our guide and leader. Let no one
act in opposition to him -- whoever does incures the enmity of the gods. For if we are reconciled and friendly
to the god of love, we shall find and win our very own beloved, an achievement few today attain.
ERyximachus is not to suppose in ridicule for my speech that I am referring only to Pausanias and Agathon, since
they perhaps happen to be of the class of those whom love males by nature. I am referring rather to all men and
women when I say that happiness of our race lies in the fulfillment of love; each must find the beloved that is
his and be restored to his original nature. If this ancient state was best, of necessity the nearest to it in our
present circumstances must be best-- namely, to to find a beloved who is of one and the same mind and nature. It
is right to praise Eros as the god responsible; he helps us most in our present life by bringing us to what is
kindred to us and offers us the greatest hopes for the future. If we pay reverence to the gods, he will restore
us to our ancient nature and with his cure make us happy and blessed.
Socrates' Speech in the Symposium
In this speech Eros's spiritual side is displayed. And how he inspires
mankind on a higher dimensional level. Socrates tells of a Woman of Mantinae called Diotima that instructed himself
in the true nature of Eros. She believes that Eros is neither good and beautiful or bad and ugly, but in nature
lies somewhere between the two.
(Symposium 23 [202D-204C] :
"What then might love be." I
said, "a mortal ? " "Not in the least ," she replied. "But what is he then?" As I
told you earlier, he is not mortal or immortal but something between." "What then, O Diotima?" "A
great spirit, O Socrates; for every spirit is intermediate between god and man." " What power does he
have?" I asked. "He interprets and conveys exchanges between gods and men, prayers and sacrifices from
men to gods, and orders and gifts in return from gods to men; being intermediate he fills in for both and serves
the bond of uniting the two worlds into a whole entity. Through him proceeds the whole art of divination and the
skill of priests in sacrifice, ritual, spells, and every kind of sorcery and magick. God does not have dealings
with man directly, but through Love all association and discourse between the two are carried on, both in the waking
hours and in time of sleep. The one who is wise in such matters as these is a spiritual man, and he who is wise
in other arts and crafts is inferior. These spirits are many and every kind of them is Eros."
"Who were his father and mother?" I asked. "Although it is a rather long story, I shall tell you,"
she replied. "When Aphrodite was born, the gods held a feast and among them was Resourcefulness (Poros), the
son of Cleverness (Metis), and while they were dancing, Poverty (Penia) came and stood about the door to beg, since
there was a party. Resourcefulness became intoxicated with nectar (for wine did not exist yet) and went into the
garden of Zeus where, overcome by his condition, he fell asleep. Then Poverty, because of her own want and lack
of resourcefulness, contrived to have a child by Resourcefulness, and lay by his side to conceive Eros.And so Eros
became the attendant and servant of Aphrodite. for he was begotten on her birthday and he is by nature a lover
of beauty and Aphrodite is beautiful.
" Since Eros then is the son of Resourcefulness
and Poverty, he is fated to have the following kind of character. First of all, he is continually poor, and far
from being soft and beautiful as many believe, he is hard and squalid, without shoes, without a home, without a
bed; he always sleeps on the ground, in doorways, and on the street. Thus he has his mother's nature, with want
as his constant companion. On the other hand, like his father, he lays his plots to catch the beautiful and the
good; being vehement and energetic, he is a dread hunter, always weaving some scheme; full of resource, he has
passion for knowledge and is a lover of wisdom during all his life, a clever wizard, sorcerer, and sophist. He
is not immortal nor is he successful, and at another he dies all in the same day, but will come back to life again
because of his nature inherited by his father - what he aquires slips away from him again so Eros is never either
poor or rich and he is in a state between wisdom and ignorance. This is the way he is. No one of the gods loves
wisdom and longs to become wise, because he is wise; and so with any other who is wise -- he does not love wisdom.
On the other hand, the ignorant do not love wisdom or long to become wise. Ignorance is a difficult thing for this
very reason, the one who is neither beautiful nor good nor wise is completely satisfied with himself. The one who
does not think he is lacking in anything certainly does not desire what he does not think he lacks."
"O Diotima," I asked, " who are those
who love wisdom if not wise or the ignorant?" "By now certainly it would be clear to even a child,"
she replied, " that they are those who are in a state between desire and wisdom, one of whom is Eros. To be
sure wisdom is among the most beautiful of things and Eros is love of beauty; and so Eros must be a lover of wisdom,
and being a lover of wisdom he lies between wisdom and ignorance. The nature of his birth is the reason for this.
He springs from a wise and resourceful father and a mother who is not wise and without resources. This then, my
dear Socrates, is the nature of his spirit. The conception you had of Eros is not surprising. You believed, to
infer from what you said, that Love was the beloved (the one who is loved) and not the lover (the one who loves).
For this reason, I think Love appeared to you to be all beautiful and delicate, perfect and most happy, but that
which loves another character, of the kind that I have described.
Diotima continues to explain further the powers of Eros in the lives
of mankind and his functions and purpose. Love and the lover both desire what they do not possess. Kind of like
the philosophy about males having excess of something and females lacking something when they connect they not
only become one they also achieve balance and proportion. Procreation is the closet way in which we can attain
perpetuity and immortality; love is immortal and always beautiful and good.
Diotima concludes by telling of the final stages of initiation and revelation, sustaining the vocabulary of the mysteries (28 [201A -C]
It is necessary for the one proceeding
in the right way toward his goal to begin, when he is young, with physical beauty; and first of all, if his guide
directs him properly, to love one person, and his company to beget beautiful ideas and then to observe that the
beauty in one person is related to another. If he must pursue physical beauty, he would be very foolish not to
realize that the beauty in all persons is one and the same. When he has come to this conclusion, he will become
the lover of all beautiful bodies and will relax with the intensity of his love for one and think the less of it
as something of little account. Next he will realize that beauty in the soul is more precious than that in the
body, so that if he meets with a person who is beautiful in his soul, even if he has little of the physical bloom
of his beauty, this will be enough and he will love and cherish him and beget beautiful ideas that make young men
better, so that he will in turn be forced to see the beauty in morals and laws and that the beauty in them all
is related.
This poem was inspired by Eros :
How Do I Love My Husband?
By: Jennifer H. Wright
How should I begin to describe the way you make me feel?
How could I explain a love so real?
I know not how to word the many emotions I contain,
nor could I keep my passions for you tame.
It all began with a night not so long ago
when all that mattered was meeting you and seeing what might grow.
If I had known that it would come to this
I would not have been able to comprehend such bliss.
Ah a soft unexpected kiss, and yet a shy one at that
but not so shy when the pale full moon shone upon us.
The night driving our passions in a chariot drawn by doves
for the first time ever I had dwelled in love.
Selfish was I for desiring no other
for it was then I wished you would feel the same.
It is something however that I do not say in vain.
Any other would have put you to shame -
you being my only true lover!
You had said the eyes are the windows to ones soul,
little did I know that peering into yours it lead straight to my own heart.
Since that moment never could I have parted ways from you without regret.
Even now several years later when ever we are separated -
I long for your nearness like an addict needs a dose.
I feel not myself and only feel real when I am with you most.
You touch me and move me in a realm of soft embrace,
you take me away from here with just a smile on your face.
When holding my body close to yours I am not in this place,
rather a warm bright burning space that I hunger to taste.
Your loving words whispered softly into my ear always any bad thought is erased.
Dressing my body with your tongue making me feel rich like pearls and lace.
Teasing me wild like a hunter on a chase,
I am game and a player in our ecstasy
Enter my gaze and you shall never be free.
Oh yes you catch me staring at you when you wish to be alone,
and reprimand me in that please do not bother me tone
I can not say I am sorry but when I am thinking of you I can not resist.
I find delight watching you in your everyday tasks,
when you are yourself without a "social" mask.
When we are together none else could ever know
just how happy we are and how much we glow.
For they only see the outside the shells that are our jests.
When underneath we are loving eachother best.
True it can be said we all are many things to different people
but even friends do not know how deep our love is chasmed -
How much I am bedazzled by him,
or how much I would never question his every whim.
He often indulges my every fancy -
especially when he knows I would never dare
this only one example of how I love how he cares.
We are subject to many stares
by those who do not understand
Some even loathe us wanting our love for their own
Others just do not believe
for they feel it is just something used to deceive
May in their own misery they grieve.
Whilst my husband and I fly the skies
through the mists of love and time
always and forever I am his and he is mine.
Eternally we melt and cool entwined
as we grow as one we bind.
Coming soon:
The story of Cupid and Psyche
