Cupid
Also known as: son of Venus / wanton boy · Family: Olympian · Role: god of love · First appears: Fable 12
Cupid, the Olympian god of love, also known as the son of Venus and the wanton boy, first appears at Parnassus as a rival of Apollo. He wounded Apollo with desire while giving Daphne aversion to love, and answered Apollo: “Let thy bow shoot all things, Phœbus; my bow {shall shoot} thee”. His vengeful anger was assigned to Apollo.
In fable 50, Venus embraced her winged son and directed him to shoot Pluto and unite him with Ceres’s daughter; Cupid struck Pluto in the breast with a barbed arrow. Venus also said that he subdues the gods above, including Jupiter, and asked him to join the goddess to her uncle for their joint sway. Later, Cupid’s power draws Medea against her will, gives Scylla strength to follow the ships, and is described by Byblis as a ruthless weapon from which she struggled to escape. In fable 90, Cupid denies that his arrows injured Myrrha, while in fable 91 he strikes Atalanta for the first time, causing her to fall in love with Hippomenes without knowing that she is in love.
Relationship record
Life events
- Cupid wounds Apollo with desire and Daphne with aversion to love.(Fable12 · 📍 Parnassus)
- Venus directs Cupid to shoot Pluto and unite him with Ceres’s daughter.(Fable50)
- With: Venus
- “But do thou join the Goddess to her uncle, if I have any interest with thee in favor of our joint sway.”
- Cupid shoots Pluto in the breast with a sharp, unerring arrow.(Fable50)
- With: Pluto
- “And he bent the flexible horn, by pressing his knee against it, and struck Pluto in the breast with the barbed arrow.”
- Atalanta falls in love with Hippomenes after Cupid strikes her for the first time.(Fable91)
- With: Atalanta Hippomenes
- “Thus she said; and as one inexperienced, and smitten by Cupid for the first time, not knowing what she is doing, she is in love, and {yet} does not know that she is in love.”
Fable 12
- with Apollo (Cupid causes Apollo to fall in love with Daphne.) “the vengeful anger of Cupid assigned to him”
- rivals with Apollo “To him the son of Venus replies, ‘Let thy bow shoot all things, Phœbus; my bow {shall shoot} thee; and as much as all animals fall short of thee, so much is thy glory less than mine.’”
- with Daphne (Cupid shoots Daphne with the arrow that repels love.) “This one the God fixed in the Nymph, the daughter of Peneus, but with the other he wounded the {very} marrow of Apollo, through his bones pierced {by the arrow}.”
Fable 50
- parent: Venus “Erycina,[44] sitting down upon her mountain, saw him wandering; and, embracing her winged son, she said, Cupid, my son, my arms, my hands, and my might, take up those darts by which thou conquerest all, and direct the swift arrows against the breast of the God, to whom fell the last lot of the triple kingdom.[45]”
- with Pluto (Cupid shoots Pluto with an arrow.) “And he bent the flexible horn, by pressing his knee against it, and struck Pluto in the breast with the barbed arrow.”
- with Jupiter (Cupid is said to subdue Jupiter.) “Thou subduest the Gods above, and Jupiter himself;”
- with Venus (Venus directs Cupid to arrange a union involving Pluto.) “But do thou join the Goddess to her uncle, if I have any interest with thee in favor of our joint sway.”
Fable 62
- with Medea (Cupid influences Medea's love.) “But a new power draws me on, against my will; and Cupid persuades one thing, reason another.”
Fable 70
- with Scylla (daughter of Nisus) (Cupid gives Scylla strength to follow Minos's ships.) “Scarce has she said {this, when} she leaps into the waves, and follows the ships, Cupid giving her strength, and she hangs, an unwelcome companion, to the Gnossian ship.”
Fable 81
- with Byblis (Cupid is identified as the force associated with Byblis's passion.) “long, in my wretchedness, have I struggled to escape the ruthless weapon of Cupid”
Fable 90
- with Myrrha (interaction) “Cupid himself denies, Myrrha, that it was his arrows that injured thee; and he defends his torches from that imputation”
Fable 91
- parent: Venus “For, while the boy that wears the quiver is giving kisses to his mother, he unconsciously grazes her breast with a protruding arrow.”
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Extracted from the original text of The Metamorphoses of Ovid. Made with Rho MD.