Cupid

Accounts vary across Greek and Roman traditions. The Roman Cupīdō is identified with the Greek Eros; in some Greek sources Eros appears as a primordial force, while in later classical and Roman accounts the love-deity is presented as a youthful or childlike figure and commonly as the son of Venus (and sometimes of Venus and Mars). The supplied sources emphasize these multiple genealogical and conceptual strands rather than a single canonical birth-story.

Depictions vary by period: Classical Greek Eros is often a slender winged youth, while Hellenistic and Roman visual tradition increasingly presents him as a chubby boy (the putto/amorino type). Common attributes include wings, a bow and arrows, and occasionally a torch; in later iconography Cupid is sometimes shown blindfolded. He may also appear in multiples (Amores/amorini) or accompanied by fertility and seasonal motifs.

Cupid's principal power is to cause erotic desire by striking targets with his arrows. Classical tradition describes two kinds of arrows or darts — one with a sharp golden point that inspires passion, and another with a blunt lead tip that induces aversion or dullness — so that being struck produces intense, often uncontrollable love or its opposite. He functions narratively as an agent who initiates or complicates human love affairs and is used allegorically to explore love's wounding and inflaming qualities.