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Mythographia

    Eros vs. Cupid

    What is the Roman name of Eros? The Roman name of Eros is Cupid.

    Romans identified Cupid with Eros, and both shoot gods and mortals with arrows of desire. The difference lies in where each poet starts. Hesiod's Eros is one of the first beings, older than most gods, while later Greek poets and nearly every Roman poet make the archer a son of the love goddess. The fullest surviving story of the god, his love for Psyche, comes from the Roman author Apuleius.

    By Reviewed by Mythographia Editorial Team
    Bronze engraved medallion portrait of the winged god Eros drawing a bow and arrow
    Eros
    Engraved bronze medallion of Cupid, a curly-haired winged boy in a draped tunic, beside a small bow and arrow
    Cupid

    How They Compare

    The two names describe one figure in most poems, and the Roman version is largely borrowed from Hellenistic Greek poetry. The real contrast is between Hesiod's early cosmic Eros and the later boy archer that Rome inherited, and between the roles Roman poets gave him inside the story.

    Side by Side

    Comparison of Eros and Cupid by aspect
    Aspect Eros Cupid
    Origin In Hesiod's Theogony, Eros is among the first beings to exist, with Chaos and Earth, and no parents are named. Virgil and Ovid make Cupid the son of Venus and name no father. Cicero lists three Cupids, with different fathers.
    Power Hesiod's Eros unnerves the limbs and overcomes the mind of every god and man. Cupid acts on orders: Venus tells him to disguise himself as Ascanius, or to shoot Pluto, and he does.
    Best-known scene Apollonius's Eros shoots Medea with love for Jason after Hera and Athena persuade Aphrodite to send him. Ovid's Cupid shoots Apollo with love for Daphne after Apollo mocks his bow; Virgil's Cupid works on Dido.
    Age in the poems Apollonius shows him as a boy playing dice with Ganymede, so Greek poets also picture him young. Ovid's Apollo calls him a boy, and Virgil's Cupid passes as the boy Ascanius.
    Cult and personification Hesiod's Eros is a cosmic force as well as a figure in stories. Cicero lists Cupid with Voluptas and Lubentine Venus among the qualities Romans consecrated.

    Shared between both

    • archer whose arrows cause love in gods and mortals
    • son and helper of the love goddess (Aphrodite or Venus) in the later tradition
    • a boyish figure in the poems that show him at work
    • subject of the Psyche story told by Apuleius

    How are Cupid and Eros different?

    The Romans treated them as one god, so most differences come from the author, not the name. Hesiod's Eros is one of the first beings, fairest of the deathless gods (Theogony 116-122), while Virgil's Cupid is Venus's son and takes her orders (Aeneid 1.657-668). Cicero lists three Cupids, with different fathers, which shows how loosely the Roman tradition fixed his origin (De Natura Deorum 3.60).

    Hesiod, Theogony 116-122

    Is Cupid the son of Venus or an older god?

    In the Roman poems used here he is Venus's son. Virgil has her call him her son (Aeneid 1.664-668) and Ovid does the same (Metamorphoses 1.463). The Greek Hesiod instead lists Eros among the first beings, born of no named parent (Theogony 116-122). Cicero records that the theologians count three Cupids, sons of Mercury and Diana, Mercury and Venus, and Mars and Venus (De Natura Deorum 3.60).

    Virgil, Aeneid 1.657-668

    Did Eros and Cupid shoot people with arrows in the same way?

    Broadly yes. In Apollonius, Eros strings his bow, takes an arrow and shoots Medea, and the bolt burns in her heart like a flame (Argonautica 3.275-290). In Ovid, Cupid shoots Apollo with an arrow that causes love and Daphne with one that repels it (Metamorphoses 1.452-473). Each story starts because a goddess or god wants a rival's heart changed.

    Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 3.275-290

    Is Cupid always a child, unlike Eros?

    No, the two are drawn alike. Apollonius has Eros playing dice with Ganymede like a boy (Argonautica 3.114-124), and Ovid's Apollo calls Cupid a boy (Metamorphoses 1.456). Virgil has Cupid disguised as the child Ascanius (Aeneid 1.684-688). The chubby child of later art is not something the poems checked here require.

    Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 3.114-124

    Who did Eros and Cupid love?

    Psyche, in the one full ancient telling on this site. Apuleius, a Latin author, has Venus send her son Cupid to punish Psyche, and he falls in love with her instead (Metamorphoses 4.28-31). He visits her at night and leaves when lamp oil burns him (Metamorphoses 5.22-23). Jupiter later approves their marriage (Metamorphoses 6.23-24). The story is told at Eros and Psyche.

    Apuleius, Metamorphoses 6.23-24

    Where Accounts Differ

    • who Cupid's parents are
    • The god's parentage differs by source. Hesiod names none (Theogony 116-122), Virgil and Ovid make him Venus's son (Aeneid 1.664-668; Metamorphoses 1.463), and Cicero reports three Cupids with different parents (De Natura Deorum 3.60).

    The Two Figures

    Related Terms

    Sources

    Primary sources
    • Hesiod, Theogony 116-122
    • Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 3.114-124
    • Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 3.275-290
    • Virgil, Aeneid 1.657-668
    • Virgil, Aeneid 1.684-688
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.452-473
    • Apuleius, Metamorphoses 4.28-31
    • Apuleius, Metamorphoses 5.22-23
    • Apuleius, Metamorphoses 6.23-24
    • Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.60