Source Verification: Cupid
Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.
What the Sources Attest
Are Cupid and Eros the same?
Romans treated them as one god under two names, but the sources differ. Hesiod counts Eros among the first beings, fairest of the deathless gods (Theogony 116-122). Roman poets almost always make Cupid Venus's son, as in Virgil's Aeneid (1.664-668) and Ovid's Metamorphoses (1.463). Cicero even lists three separate Cupids (De Natura Deorum 3.60). The two are compared in Eros vs Cupid.
Source: Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.60
Who are Cupid's parents?
Venus is his mother in every Roman poet cited here: Virgil has her call him her son (Aeneid 1.664-668), and Ovid calls him her son (Metamorphoses 1.463). No poet named here gives him a father. Cicero lists three Cupids and names their fathers as Mercury for the first two and Mars for the third (De Natura Deorum 3.60), so the answer depends on which Cupid is meant.
Source: Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.60
Why did Cupid shoot Apollo?
Ovid says it was revenge for an insult. Apollo, proud of killing the Python, mocked Cupid's small bow and told him to keep to the flames of his torch (Metamorphoses 1.454-462). Cupid replied that his arrow would strike Apollo, then shot him with love for Daphne and Daphne with a shaft that made her flee (Metamorphoses 1.463-473).
Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.452-473
Did Cupid make Dido fall in love with Aeneas?
In Virgil's Aeneid, yes. Venus asks Cupid to take the shape of Ascanius so that Dido will love Aeneas, and he does (Aeneid 1.657-688). Dido holds the disguised god in her lap without knowing him, and Cupid begins to erase her old love for Sychaeus (Aeneid 1.717-722). Juno's opposition is the reason Venus acts.
Source: Virgil, Aeneid 1.657-722
Who did Cupid fall in love with?
Psyche, in Apuleius. Venus sends Cupid to make the mortal Psyche love a low man, but he falls for her himself (Metamorphoses 4.28-31). He visits her at night, flees when a drop of lamp oil burns him (Metamorphoses 5.22-23), and after her trials Jupiter approves their marriage (Metamorphoses 6.23-24). The Greek form of the story appears on the Eros and Psyche page.
Source: Apuleius, Metamorphoses 6.23-24
Where Accounts Differ
- who Cupid's parents are
- whether Cupid is one god or several
- Cupid's parentage is not settled. Virgil and Ovid make him Venus's son and name no father (Aeneid 1.664-668; Metamorphoses 1.463). Cicero, reporting older Greek and Roman lists, gives three Cupids: a son of Mercury and the first Diana, a son of Mercury and a Venus, and a son of Mars and a Venus called Anteros (De Natura Deorum 3.60).
- Cupid's role differs by author. Ovid makes him a vengeful archer who punishes Apollo (Metamorphoses 1.452-473) and the agent of the abduction of Proserpina (Metamorphoses 5.363-384). Virgil uses him in disguise (Aeneid 1.657-688), and Apuleius makes him a lover who suffers a wound himself (Metamorphoses 5.22-23).
Sources
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.452-473
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.363-384
- Virgil, Aeneid 1.657-722
- Apuleius, Metamorphoses 4.28-31
- Apuleius, Metamorphoses 5.22-23
- Apuleius, Metamorphoses 6.23-24
- Cicero, De Natura Deorum 2.61
- Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.60
- Hesiod, Theogony 116-122