Skip to content
Mythographia

    Eros

    Eros appears in two contradictory forms across Greek sources. Hesiod's Theogony lists him among the first beings to exist, born of nothing, present before Zeus or any other god. Later writers instead make him Aphrodite's son, an archer whose arrows force gods and mortals alike into love regardless of their own wishes. Apollonius's Argonautica shows this later Eros at work, shooting Medea with love for Jason at his mother's request.

    Bronze engraved medallion portrait of the winged god Eros drawing a bow and arrow.
    Illustration, not a source

    Eros, the winged god with a drawn bow

    Generated by AI from this page's own facts, not an ancient image or evidence of anything. How this site uses generated images

    By Reviewed by Mythographia Editorial Team

    Core Myth

    Hesiod's Theogony opens with a short list of what exists before any god has a name: Chaos, then wide-bosomed Earth, then Tartarus in the depths of the earth, and Eros, "fairest among the deathless gods," who loosens the limbs of gods and mortals and overpowers the good sense in their hearts. There is no parent named for him, no story attached, only a description of what he does: desire arrives with the universe itself, not after it. This version of Eros is a force rather than a character, closer to gravity than to a person with a personality, and Hesiod never returns to him once the roster of properly born gods gets underway.

    Who are Eros's parents?

    It depends entirely on which source is being read. Hesiod's Theogony gives him no parents at all, listing him among the first beings to exist alongside Chaos, Earth, and Tartarus. Nearly every later source instead makes him the son of Aphrodite, as Apollonius's Argonautica does when Aphrodite sends her own son to make Medea fall for Jason.

    Hesiod, Theogony 116-122

    What does the primordial Eros of Hesiod's Theogony actually do?

    Hesiod describes him only in terms of effect, not action: Eros "loosens the limbs" and overcomes the mind and wise counsel of both gods and men. He has no myth, no speech, and no encounter with another god in the Theogony; he is closer to a description of what desire feels like than a character who does things.

    Hesiod, Theogony 120-122

    How does Eros cause Medea to fall in love with Jason?

    At his mother Aphrodite's request, Eros finds Medea in her father's palace, hidden from sight, and shoots her with an arrow. Apollonius's Argonautica says amazement seized her heart at once, and she can think of nothing afterward but Jason, setting up her decision to help him steal the Golden Fleece.

    Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.275-290

    Why does Aphrodite send Eros after Medea in the first place?

    Hera and Athena, who both favor Jason, cannot make Medea fall in love themselves, so they ask Aphrodite for help. Aphrodite in turn sends her son Eros to do the actual work, promising him a golden toy as payment, which is the version of Eros most later readers actually know: not a primordial force but Aphrodite's errand-running child.

    Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.85-105

    Do Hesiod's primordial Eros and the later Eros, Aphrodite's son, ever get reconciled into one consistent figure?

    No. Ancient sources simply hold both versions at once without resolving them: Hesiod's Eros belongs to the moment the universe begins, while the Eros who shoots Medea is a specific, youthful god with a mother, a home, and errands to run. Later writers overwhelmingly prefer the second version, but neither Hesiod's text nor Apollonius's ever tries to explain the other away.

    Hesiod, Theogony 116-122

    Later Traditions

    Almost no writer after Hesiod keeps this primordial Eros. By the time of Apollonius's Argonautica, Eros is a child: Aphrodite's son, small enough to cheat at a game of dice with Ganymede, and dangerous only because his mother sends him to be. When Hera and Athena need Medea to fall for Jason, they go to Aphrodite, who promises her son a golden ball if he does the job. Eros finds Medea in her father's palace and shoots her, and "amazement seized her heart"; from that moment she thinks of nothing else but Jason. It is the same emotional force Hesiod described centuries earlier, but now with a name, a mother, and an arrow, doing to Medea exactly what the Theogony says desire does to everyone.

    Lineage

    See the full family tree

    1 recorded relation, each with the ancient line behind it.

    Parents

    Also Connected

    3 recorded connections, each with the ancient line behind it.

    Connected

    Where Accounts Differ

    • Eros's parentage: Hesiod's parentless primordial god versus Aphrodite's arrow-wielding son in later poets
    • Eros's parentage is one of the clearest contradictions in Greek myth: Hesiod's Theogony gives him no parents at all, listing him among the beings that exist before any god is born, while nearly every later source, Apollonius's Argonautica included, makes him the son of Aphrodite. This page presents both without treating either as the correction of the other.

    Read the full source verification →

    Mythology

    Appears In

    Related Terms

    Sources

    Primary sources
    • Hesiod, Theogony 116-122
    • Hesiod, Theogony 120-122
    • Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.85-105
    • Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.275-290
    Further reading
    • Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth (1993)