Source Verification: Eros
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
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.
Source: 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.
Source: 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.
Source: 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.
Source: 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.
Source: Hesiod, Theogony 116-122
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.
Sources
- Hesiod, Theogony 116-122
- Hesiod, Theogony 120-122
- Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.85-105
- Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.275-290
- Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth (1993)