Eros, the young god, is desire with wings. Eros, the degree of love named after this god, infuses those mystics who speak of seeing God in woman. It is also the true meaning of platonic love,c which begins with appreciation of a beautiful body, and then discovers the idea that formed that body, and then pure beauty itself. Thus the path of eros has a contemplative aspect; but eros is also the son of penia, “lack” in Greek. It is thus always a love imbued with lack, a continual thirst for the water of life, a vase that forever seeks to be filled.
