Mythos: The Greek Myths Reimagined (Stephen Fry's Great Mythology, #1)

by Stephen Fry

The Greeks untangled love’s complexity by naming each separate strand and providing divinities to represent them. Aphrodite, the supreme goddess of love and of beauty, was attended by a retinue of winged and naked godlings called Erotes. Like many deities (Hades and his underworld cohorts, for example) the Erotes suddenly found themselves with much to do once humanity established itself and began to flourish. Each of the Erotes had a special kind of amatory passion to promulgate and promote. ANTEROS—the youthful patron of selfless unconditional love.96 EROS—the leader of the Erotes, god of physical love and sexual desire. HEDYLOGOS—the spirit of the language of love and terms of endearment, who now, one assumes, looks over Valentine cards, love letters, and romantic fiction. HERMAPHRODITUS—the protector of effeminate males, mannish females, and those of what we would now call a more fluid gender. HIMEROS—the embodiment of desperate, impetuous love, love that is impatient to be fulfilled and ready to burst. HYMENAIOS—the guardian of the bridal chamber and wedding music. POTHOS—the personification of languorous longing, of love for the absent and the departed.