With Valentines Day right around the corner, I've been thinking a lot about love and romance. Love was probably first expressed by the caveman, although I'm sure he didn't express it with flowers and candy. The caveman probably gave his girlfriend a huge slab of meat to show his love for her. I know she appreciated it too, because food would have meant more to her than a handful of colorful weeds!
Love had such a high standing in Greek society that they attributed it to Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of Love. Aphrodite is the name attributed to two different goddesses, the first being the goddess of spiritual love and the second, more widely known, being the goddess of physical attraction.
Both were beautiful, but the second was described not only as a beauty, but full of life and as a result, irresistible to the gods and men alike. Her myth begins with her father, Zeus, being worried about her so he arranged a marriage to a sturdy man, Hephaestus, the Smith God. Aphrodite wasn't satisfied with this droll life and proceeded to encourage other male suitors. She is named as the lover of Adonis and mother to four of his sons. Resulting from her irresistible attraction and these many dalliances, we still today speak of using an aphrodisiac to entice the opposite sex.
The Romans adopted Aphrodite as their love goddess, renaming her as Venus. She was revered as the goddess of fertility, encompassing fertility in both man and nature. Venus continued her wicked ways under this new name, taking several lovers despite her married status. She was the inspiration behind many famous works of art to include statues, paintings and of course a slew of poems and stories.
Today we mention Cupid when thinking of love, which is also fitting as he was revered as the Roman God of erotic love. His lineage is questionable, but he is often depicted is as the son of Venus. His counterpart in Greek mythology is Eros, also the God of erotic love and some say he is the offspring of Aphrodite. This relationship makes sense to me as romantic love often leads to erotic love.
Regardless of the generation, love is never perfect nor is it easy. There are always struggles to overcome and distances to breach. Invoking a goddess of love doesn't seem to make things easier, but at least you would have someone to commiserate with... unless she stole your partner! I hope your love life is filled with happiness and perhaps even inspiration for the next generation.
Sonia Fischer is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers.
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