Eros

Family: Olympian gods · Role: god · First appears: Book 1 · Chapter 30

In Book 1, Charmus was the first Athenian to offer votive offerings to Eros. In Book 5, at Olympia, Eros received Aphrodite as she rose from the sea, while Persuasion crowned her. In Book 6, Anteros tried to take the palm branch Eros held.

In Book 9, accounts differed about Eros’s parentage: most people considered him the son of Aphrodite, while Olen said in a hymn to Ilithyia that she was his mother. Hesiod’s Theogony placed Eros among the first beings, and Pamphus and Orpheus wrote verses about him for the Lycomidae to sing at mysteries. Sappho also sang about Eros in ways that did not agree with one another. Artists made statues of him: Praxiteles made one in Pentelican marble, and Lysippus later made a bronze one for the Thespians.

The statue was taken from Thespia by Gaius, restored there by Claudius, and removed to Rome again by Nero, where it was destroyed by fire. In the account’s own day, the statue of Eros at Thespia was by Menodorus, who had made an imitation of Praxiteles’s work.

Relationship record

Life events

Eros received Aphrodite rising from the sea, and Persuasion crowned her.(Book 5 · Chapter 11 · 📍 Olympia)
- With: Aphrodite Persuasion
- “Eros receiving Aphrodite just rising from the sea, who is being crowned by Persuasion.”
Gaius removed the statue of Eros from Thespia.(Book 9 · Chapter 27)
- With: Gaius
- “This statue of Eros was removed first by the Roman Emperor Gaius”
Claudius restored the statue of Eros to Thespia.(Book 9 · Chapter 27 · 📍 Thespia)
- With: Claudius
- “though it was restored by Claudius to Thespia”
Nero removed the statue of Eros to Rome again.(Book 9 · Chapter 27 · 📍 Rome)
- With: Nero
- “Nero removed it to Rome once more.”
The statue of Eros was destroyed by fire in Rome.(Book 9 · Chapter 27 · 📍 Rome)
- “And there it was burnt by fire.”

Book 1 · Chapter 30

with Charmus (Charmus offered votive offerings to Eros.) “Charmus was the first of the Athenians to offer votive offerings to Eros”

Book 5 · Chapter 11

with Aphrodite (Eros receives Aphrodite.) “Eros receiving Aphrodite just rising from the sea,”

Book 6 · Chapter 23

with Anteros (Anteros attempts to take Eros's palm branch.) “Eros has a branch of palm which Anteros is trying to take away”

Book 9 · Chapter 27

parent: Aphrodite “Most men think Eros the latest of the gods, and the son of Aphrodite.”
parent: Ilithyia “says in his Hymn to Ilithyia that she was the mother of Eros.”
with Pamphus (interaction) “And after Olen Pamphus and Orpheus wrote verses to Eros for the Lycomidæ to sing at the mysteries”
with Orpheus (interaction) “And after Olen Pamphus and Orpheus wrote verses to Eros for the Lycomidæ to sing at the mysteries”
with Hesiod (Hesiod is credited with placing Eros in the Theogony's account of origins.) “And Hesiod, (or whoever wrote the Theogony and foisted it on Hesiod), wrote I know that Chaos came first, and then Earth, and Tartarus, and Eros.”
with Sappho (interaction) “And the Lesbian Sappho has sung many things about Eros which do not harmonize with one another.”
with Lysippus (interaction) “Lysippus afterwards made a brazen statue of Eros for the Thespians”
with Praxiteles (interaction) “and still earlier Praxiteles made one in Pentelican marble.”
with Gaius (interaction) “This statue of Eros was removed first by the Roman Emperor Gaius”
with Claudius (interaction) “though it was restored by Claudius to Thespia”
with Nero (interaction) “Nero removed it to Rome once more.”
with Menodorus (interaction) “The statue of Eros in Thespia in our day is by the Athenian Menodorus, who made an imitation of the statue of Praxiteles.”
with Olen (Olen wrote a hymn concerning Eros's parentage.) “The Lycian Olen, who wrote the most ancient Hymns of the Greeks, says in his Hymn to Ilithyia that she was the mother of Eros.”

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Extracted from the original text of Pausanias' Description of Greece. Made with Rho MD.