In
classical mythology
Classical mythology, also known as Greco-Roman mythology or Greek and Roman mythology, is the collective body and study of myths from the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans. Mythology, along with philosophy and political thought, is one of the m ...
, Cupid ( , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire,
erotic love
Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sculp ...
, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
and the god of war
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
. He is also known as Amor (Latin: ', "love"). His
Greek counterpart is
Eros
Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite.
He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...
.
[''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', ]The Book People
The Book People Ltd was a UK online bookseller founded in 1988. It went into administration in 2019 and was formally dissolved in 2022.
History
The Book People started business in 1988, initially in the Guildford, Surrey area. It expanded rap ...
, Haydock, 1995, p. 215.
Although Eros is generally portrayed as a slender winged youth in
Classical Greek art, during the
Hellenistic period
In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...
, he was increasingly portrayed as a chubby boy. During this time, his iconography acquired the
bow and arrow
The bow and arrow is a ranged weapon system consisting of an elasticity (physics), elastic launching device (bow) and long-shafted projectiles (arrows). Humans used bows and arrows for hunting and aggression long before recorded history, and the ...
that represent his source of power: a person, or even a deity, who is shot by Cupid's arrow is filled with uncontrollable desire. In myths, Cupid is a minor character who serves mostly to set the plot in motion. He is a main character only in the tale of
Cupid and Psyche
Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from ''Metamorphoses'' (also called ''The Golden Ass''), written in the 2nd century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (or Platonicus). The tale concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psy ...
, when wounded by his own weapons, he experiences the ordeal of love. Although other extended stories are not told about him, his tradition is rich in poetic themes and visual scenarios, such as "Love conquers all" and the retaliatory punishment or torture of Cupid.
In art, Cupid often appears in multiples as the Amores (in the later terminology of
art history
Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history.
Tradit ...
, Italian '), the equivalent of the Greek
Erotes. Cupids are a frequent motif of both
Roman art
The art of Ancient Rome, and the territories of its Republic and later Empire, includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-work, gem engraving, ivory carvings, and glass are sometimes considered to be m ...
and later
Western art
The art of Europe, also known as Western art, encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile Upper Paleolithic rock and cave painting and petroglyph art and was characteristic of the period bet ...
of the
classical tradition
The Western classical tradition is the reception of classical Greco-Roman antiquity by later cultures, especially the post-classical West, involving texts, imagery, objects, ideas, institutions, monuments, architecture, cultural artifacts, ritu ...
. In the 15th century, the iconography of Cupid starts to become indistinguishable from the
putto
A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University ...
.
Cupid continued to be a popular figure in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, when under Christian influence he often had a dual nature as Heavenly and Earthly love. In the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
, a renewed interest in classical philosophy endowed him with complex
allegorical
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...
meanings. In contemporary popular culture, Cupid is shown drawing his bow to inspire romantic love, often as an icon of
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...
. Cupid's powers are similar, though not identical, to
Kamadeva
Kamadeva (, ), also known as Kama, Manmatha, and Madana is the Deva (Hinduism), Hindu god of Eroticism, erotic love, carnal desire, attraction, pleasure and beauty, as well as the personification of the concept of ''kāma''. He is depicted as a ...
, the
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
god of human love.
Etymology
The name ''Cupīdō'' ('passionate desire') is a derivative of
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''cupiō'', ''cupĕre'' ('to desire'), itself from
Proto-Italic
The Proto-Italic language is the ancestor of the Italic languages, most notably Latin and its descendants, the Romance languages. It is not directly attested in writing, but has been reconstructed to some degree through the comparative method. ...
''*kup-i-'', which may reflect ''*kup-ei-'' ('to desire'; cf.
Umbrian
Umbrian is an extinct Italic language formerly spoken by the Umbri in the ancient Italian region of Umbria. Within the Italic languages it is closely related to the Oscan group and is therefore associated with it in the group of Osco-Umbr ...
''cupras'',
South Picene ''kuprí''). The latter ultimately stems from the
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
verbal stem ''*kup-(e)i-'' ('to tremble, desire'; cf.
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...
''accobor'' 'desire',
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
''prá-kupita''- 'trembling, quaking',
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic languages, South Slavic subgroup of the ...
''kypĕti'' 'to simmer, boil').
Origins and birth

The Romans
reinterpreted myths and concepts pertaining to the Greek Eros for Cupid in their own literature and art, and medieval and Renaissance mythographers
conflate the two freely. In the Greek tradition, Eros had a dual, contradictory genealogy. He was among the
primordial gods who came into existence asexually; after his generation, deities were begotten through male-female unions. In
Hesiod
Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...
's ''Theogony'', only
Chaos
Chaos or CHAOS may refer to:
Science, technology, and astronomy
* '' Chaos: Making a New Science'', a 1987 book by James Gleick
* Chaos (company), a Bulgarian rendering and simulation software company
* ''Chaos'' (genus), a genus of amoebae
* ...
and
Gaia
In Greek mythology, Gaia (; , a poetic form of ('), meaning 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea (), is the personification of Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (S ...
(Earth) are older. Before the existence of gender dichotomy, Eros functioned by causing entities to separate from themselves that which they already contained.
At the same time, the Eros who was pictured as a boy or slim youth was regarded as the child of a divine couple, the identity of whom varied by source. The influential Renaissance mythographer
Natale Conti began his chapter on Cupid/Eros by declaring that the Greeks themselves were unsure about his parentage: Heaven and Earth,
Ares
Ares (; , ''Árēs'' ) is the List of Greek deities, Greek god of war god, war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for ...
and
Aphrodite
Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...
,
Night
Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of ...
and
Ether
In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group, a single oxygen atom bonded to two separate carbon atoms, each part of an organyl group (e.g., alkyl or aryl). They have the general formula , where R and R� ...
, or the
Rainbow
A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...
and
Zephyr
In European tradition, a zephyr is a light wind or a west wind, named after Zephyrus, the Greek god or personification of the west wind.
Zephyr may also refer to:
Arts and media Fictional characters
* Zephyr (comics), in the Marvel Comics univers ...
. The Greek travel writer
Pausanias, he notes, contradicts himself by saying at one point that Eros welcomed Aphrodite into the world, and at another that Eros was the son of Aphrodite and the youngest of the gods.
In
Latin literature
Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literatur ...
, Cupid is usually treated as the son of Venus without reference to a father.
Seneca says that
Vulcan, as the husband of Venus, is the father of Cupid.
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
, however, says that there were three Cupids, as well as three Venuses: the first Cupid was the son of
Mercury and
Diana, the second of Mercury and the second Venus, and the third of
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
and the third Venus. This last Cupid was the equivalent of
Anteros, "Counter-Love", one of the
Erotes, the gods who embody aspects of love. The multiple Cupids frolicking in art are the decorative manifestation of these proliferating loves and desires. During the
English Renaissance
The English Renaissance was a Cultural movement, cultural and Art movement, artistic movement in England during the late 15th, 16th and early 17th centuries. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginni ...
,
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe ( ; Baptism, baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the English Renaissance theatre, Eli ...
wrote of "ten thousand Cupids"; in
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...
's wedding
masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A mas ...
''
Hymenaei'', "a thousand several-coloured loves ... hop about the nuptial room".
In the later
classical tradition
The Western classical tradition is the reception of classical Greco-Roman antiquity by later cultures, especially the post-classical West, involving texts, imagery, objects, ideas, institutions, monuments, architecture, cultural artifacts, ritu ...
, Cupid is most often regarded as the son of Venus and Mars, whose love affair represented an
allegory
As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...
of Love and War.
["Cupid," ''The Classical Tradition'', p. 244.] The duality between the primordial and the sexually conceived Eros accommodated philosophical concepts of Heavenly and Earthly Love even in the Christian era.
Attributes and themes

Cupid is winged, allegedly because lovers are flighty and likely to change their minds, and boyish because love is irrational. His symbols are the arrow and torch, "because love wounds and inflames the heart". These attributes and their interpretation were established by late antiquity, as summarized by
Isidore of Seville
Isidore of Seville (; 4 April 636) was a Spania, Hispano-Roman scholar, theologian and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville, archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of the 19th-century historian Charles Forbes René de Montal ...
(d. 636 AD) in his ''
Etymologiae
(Latin for 'Etymologies'), also known as the ('Origins'), usually abbreviated ''Orig.'', is an etymological encyclopedia compiled by the influential Christian bishop Isidore of Seville () towards the end of his life. Isidore was encouraged t ...
''. Cupid is also sometimes depicted blindfolded and described as blind, not so much in the sense of sightless—since the sight of the beloved can be a spur to love—as blinkered and arbitrary. As described by
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
in ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...
'' (1590s):
In
Botticelli
Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...
's ''
Allegory of Spring'' (1482), also known by its Italian title ''La Primavera'', Cupid is shown blindfolded while shooting his arrow, positioned above the central figure of Venus.
Particularly in ancient Roman art, cupids may also carry or be surrounded by fruits, animals, or attributes of the
Seasons
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
or the wine-god
Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...
, symbolizing the earth's generative capacity.
Having all these associations, Cupid is considered to share parallels with the Hindu god
Kama
''Kama'' (Sanskrit: काम, ) is the concept of pleasure, enjoyment and desire in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. It can also refer to "desire, wish, longing" in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh literature.Monier Williamsका� ...
.
File:Edme Bouchardon, Cupid, 1744, NGA 41708.jpg, Edme Bouchardon, Cupid, 1744, National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
File:Eros bow Musei Capitolini MC410.jpg, Classical statue of Cupid with his bow
Cupid's arrows
Cupid carries two kinds of arrows, or darts, one with a sharp golden point, and the other with a blunt tip of lead. A person wounded by the golden arrow is filled with uncontrollable desire, but the one struck by the lead feels aversion and desires only to flee. The use of these arrows is described by the
Latin poet Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
in the first book of his ''
Metamorphoses
The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...
''. When
Apollo
Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
taunts Cupid as the lesser archer, Cupid shoots him with the golden arrow, but strikes the object of his desire, the nymph
Daphne
Daphne (; ; , , ), a figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater.
There are several versions of the myth in which she appears, but t ...
, with the lead. Trapped by Apollo's unwanted advances, Daphne prays to her father, the river god
Peneus
In Greek mythology, Peneus (; Greek: Πηνειός) was a Thessalian river god, one of the three thousand Rivers, a child of Oceanus and Tethys.
Family
The nymph Creusa bore him one son, Hypseus, who was King of the Lapiths, and three ...
, who turns her into a laurel, the tree sacred to Apollo. It is the first of several unsuccessful or tragic love affairs for Apollo. This theme is somewhat mirrored in the story of
Echo and Narcissus
Echo and Narcissus is a myth from Ovid's ''Metamorphoses (poem), Metamorphoses'', a Roman literature, Roman classical mythology, mythological epic poetry, epic from the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan Age. The introduction of the ...
, as the goddess
Juno forces the nymph Echo's love upon Narcissus, who is cursed by the goddess
Nemesis
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Nemesis (; ) also called Rhamnousia (or Rhamnusia; ), was the goddess who personified retribution for the sin of hubris: arrogance before the gods.
Etymology
The name ''Nemesis'' is derived from the Greek ...
to be self absorbed and unresponsive to her desires.
A variation is found in ''
The Kingis Quair
''The Kingis Quair'' ("The King's Book") is a fifteenth-century Early Scots poem attributed to James I of Scotland. It is semi-autobiographical in nature, describing the King's capture by the English in 1406 on his way to France and his subsequ ...
'', a 15th-century poem attributed to
James I of Scotland
James I (late July 1394 – 21 February 1437) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scots from 1406 until his assassination in 1437. The youngest of three sons, he was born in Dunfermline Abbey to King Robert III of Scotland, Robert III and ...
, in which Cupid has three arrows: gold, for a gentle "smiting" that is easily cured; the more compelling silver; and steel, for a love-wound that never heals.
Cupid and the bees
In the tale of Cupid the honey thief, the child-god is stung by bees when he steals honey from their hive. He cries and runs to his mother Venus, complaining that so small a creature should not cause such painful wounds. Venus laughs, and points out the poetic justice: he too is small, and yet delivers the sting of love.
The story was first told about Eros in the
nineteenth ''Idyll'' of
Theocritus
Theocritus (; , ''Theokritos''; ; born 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily, Magna Graecia, and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry.
Life
Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from his writings ...
(3rd century BC). It was retold numerous times in both art and poetry during the Renaissance. The theme brought the ''
Amoretti'' poetry cycle (1595) of
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser (; – 13 January 1599 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the House of Tudor, Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is re ...
to a conclusion, and furnished subject matter for at least twenty works by
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder ( ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German ...
and his workshop. The German poet and classicist
Karl Philipp Conz (1762–1827) framed the tale as ''
Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude (; ; "harm-joy") is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, pain, suffering, or humiliation of another. It is a loanword from German. Schadenfreude ...
'' ("taking pleasure in someone else's pain") in a poem by the same title. In a version by
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (; ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the dev ...
, a writer of the
German Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a European intellectual and philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained through rationalism and empirici ...
, the incident prompts Cupid to turn himself into a bee:
Through this sting was Amor made wiser.
The untiring deceiver
concocted another battle-plan:
he lurked beneath the carnations and roses
and when a maiden came to pick them,
he flew out as a bee and stung her.
The image of Cupid as a bee is part of a complex tradition of poetic imagery involving the flower of youth, the sting of love as a deflowering, and honey as a secretion of love.
Cupid and dolphins
In both ancient and later art, Cupid is often shown riding a
dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...
. On
ancient Roman sarcophagi
In the Roman funerals and burial, burial practices of ancient Rome and Roman funerary art, marble and limestone sarcophagus, sarcophagi elaborately carved in relief were characteristic of elite inhumation burials from the 2nd to the 4th centurie ...
, the image may represent the soul's journey, originally associated with
Dionysian religion. A mosaic from late
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.
Julius Caes ...
shows a procession emerging from the mouth of the sea god
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...
, first dolphins and then sea birds, ascending to Cupid. One interpretation of this allegory is that Neptune represents the soul's origin in the matter from which life was fashioned, with Cupid triumphing as the soul's desired destiny.
In other contexts, Cupid with a dolphin recurs as a playful motif, as in garden statuary at
Pompeii
Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...
that shows a dolphin rescuing Cupid from an octopus, or Cupid holding a dolphin. The dolphin, often elaborated fantastically, might be constructed as a spout for a fountain. On a modern-era fountain in the
Palazzo Vecchio
The ( "Old Palace") is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the , which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi.
Originally called the ''Palazzo della Signoria'', a ...
,
Florence, Italy
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence was a centre of medieval European t ...
, Cupid seems to be strangling a dolphin.
Dolphins were often portrayed in antiquity as friendly to humans, and the dolphin itself could represent affection.
Pliny records a tale of a dolphin at
Puteoli
Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula.
History
Antiquity
Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia ...
carrying a boy on its back across a lake to go to school each day; when the boy died, the dolphin grieved itself to death.
In erotic scenes from mythology, Cupid riding the dolphin may convey how swiftly love moves, or the Cupid astride a sea beast may be a reassuring presence for the wild ride of love. A dolphin-riding Cupid may attend scenes depicting the wedding of Neptune and
Amphitrite
In ancient Greek mythology, Amphitrite (; ) was the goddess of the sea, the queen of the sea, and her consort is Poseidon. She was a daughter of Nereus and Doris (or Oceanus and Tethys).Roman, L., & Roman, M. (2010). Under the influence ...
or the Triumph of Neptune, also known as a marine ''
thiasos''.
Demon of fornication
To adapt myths for Christian use, medieval mythographers interpreted them morally. In this view, Cupid is seen as a "demon of
fornication
Fornication generally refers to consensual sexual intercourse between two people who are not married to each other. When a married person has consensual sexual relations with one or more partners whom they are not married to, it is called adu ...
". The innovative
Theodulf of Orleans, who wrote during the reign of
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
, reinterpreted Cupid as a seductive but malicious figure who exploits desire to draw people into an allegorical underworld of vice. To Theodulf, Cupid's quiver symbolized his depraved mind, his bow trickery, his arrows poison, and his torch burning passion. It was appropriate to portray him naked, so as not to conceal his deception and evil. This conception largely followed his attachments to lust, but would later be diluted as many Christians embraced Cupid as a symbolic representation of love.
Sleeping Cupid

Cupid sleeping became a symbol of absent or languishing love in Renaissance poetry and art, including a ''
Sleeping Cupid'' (1496) by
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...
that is now lost. The ancient type was known at the time through descriptions in classical literature, and at least one extant example had been displayed in the sculpture garden of
Lorenzo de' Medici
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (), known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (; 1 January 1449 – 9 April 1492), was an Italian statesman, the ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Lore ...
since 1488. In the 1st century AD,
Pliny had described two marble versions of a ''Cupid'' (Eros), one at
Thespiae
Thespiae ( ; ) was an ancient Greek city (''polis'') in Boeotia. It sits at the foot of Mount Helicon and near right bank of the Thespius River (modern name Kanavari River).
Thespiae was a Boeotian state sporadically involved in the military fe ...
and a nude at
Parium
Parium (or Parion; ) was a Greek city of Adrasteia in Mysia on the Hellespont. Its bishopric was a suffragan of Cyzicus, the metropolitan see of the Roman province of Hellespontus.
History
Founded in 709 B.C., the ancient city of Parion is lo ...
, where it was the stained object of erotic fascination.
Michelangelo's work was important in establishing the reputation of the young artist, who was only twenty at the time. At the request of
Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, his patron, he increased its value by deliberately making it look "antique", thus creating "his most notorious fake". After the deception was acknowledged, the ''Cupid Sleeping'' was displayed as evidence of his virtuosity alongside an ancient marble, attributed to
Praxiteles, of Cupid asleep on a lion skin.
In the poetry of
Giambattista Marino
Giambattista Marino (also Giovan Battista Marini) (14 October 1569 – 26 March 1625) was a Neapolitan poet who was born in Naples. He is most famous for his epic '.
The ''Cambridge History of Italian Literature'' thought him to be "one of ...
(d. 1625), the image of Cupid or ''Amore'' sleeping represents the indolence of Love in the lap of Idleness. A
madrigal
A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th centuries) and early Baroque (1580–1650) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the ...
by his literary rival
Gaspare Murtola exhorted artists to paint the theme. A catalogue of works from antiquity collected by the
Mattei family, patrons of
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...
, included sketches of sleeping cupids based on sculpture from the
Temple of Venus Erycina in Rome. Caravaggio, whose works Murtola is known for describing, took up the challenge with his 1608 ''
Sleeping Cupid'', a disturbing depiction of an unhealthy, immobilized child with "jaundiced skin, flushed cheeks, bluish lips and ears, the emaciated chest and swollen belly, the wasted muscles and inflamed joints". The model is thought to have suffered from
juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
Juvenile may refer to:
In general
*Juvenile status, or minor (law), prior to adulthood
*Juvenile (organism)
Music
*Juvenile (rapper) (born 1975), stage name of American rapper Terius Gray
*''Juveniles'', a 2020 studio album by the band Kingswoo ...
. Caravaggio's sleeping Cupid was reconceived in
fresco
Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...
by
Giovanni da San Giovanni, and the subject recurred throughout Roman and Italian work of the period.
''Love Conquers All''

Earlier in his career, Caravaggio had challenged contemporary sensibilities with his "sexually provocative and anti-intellectual" ''Victorious Love'', also known as ''
Love Conquers All'' ''(Amor Vincit Omnia)'', in which a brazenly naked Cupid tramples on emblems of culture and erudition representing music, architecture, warfare, and scholarship.
The motto comes from the
Augustan poet
Vergil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: the ''Eclogues'' ...
, writing in the late 1st century BC. His collection of ''
Eclogues
The ''Eclogues'' (; , ), also called the ''Bucolics'', is the first of the three major works of the Latin poet Virgil.
Background
Taking as his generic model the Greek bucolic poetry of Theocritus, Virgil created a Roman version partly by o ...
'' concludes with what might be his most famous line:
''Omnia vincit Amor: et nos cedamus Amori.''
Love conquers all, and so let us surrender ourselves to Love.
The theme was also expressed as the
triumph of Cupid, as in the ''
Triumphs
''Triumphs'' ( Italian: ''I Trionfi'') is a 14th-century Italian series of poems, written by Petrarch in the Tuscan language. The poem evokes the Roman ceremony of triumph, where victorious generals and their armies were led in procession by the ...
'' of
Petrarch
Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists.
Petrarch's redis ...
.
Roman ''Cupid''

The ancient Roman ''Cupid'' was a god who embodied desire, but he had no
temples
A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
or religious practices independent of other
Roman deities
The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts, integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin literature, Roman art, and reli ...
such as Venus, whom he often accompanies as a side figure in cult statues.
A Cupid might appear among the several statuettes for private devotion in a
household shrine, but there is no clear distinction between figures for veneration and those displayed as art or decoration. This is a distinction from his Greek equivalent,
Eros
Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite.
He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...
, who was commonly worshipped alongside his mother
Aphrodite
Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...
, and was even given a sacred day upon the 4th of every month. Roman temples often served a secondary purpose as art museums, and
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
mentions a statue of "Cupid" (Eros) by
Praxiteles that was consecrated at a ''
sacrarium'' and received religious veneration jointly with
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
. An inscription from
Cártama in
Roman Spain
Hispania was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divided into two new provinces, Bae ...
records statues of Mars and Cupid among the public works of a wealthy female priest ''(
sacerdos perpetua)'', and another list of benefactions by a
procurator
Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to:
* Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency
* Procurator (Ancient Rome), the title of var ...
of
Baetica
Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces created in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula) in 27 BC. Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of ...
includes statues of Venus and Cupid.
Cupid became more common in
Roman art
The art of Ancient Rome, and the territories of its Republic and later Empire, includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-work, gem engraving, ivory carvings, and glass are sometimes considered to be m ...
from the time of
Augustus
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
, the first
Roman emperor. After the
Battle of Actium
The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between Octavian's maritime fleet, led by Marcus Agrippa, and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former R ...
, when
Antony and
Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...
were defeated, Cupid transferring the weapons of Mars to his mother Venus became a motif of Augustan imagery. In the ''
Aeneid
The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...
'', the national epic of Rome by the poet
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
, Cupid disguises himself as
Iulus
Ascanius (; Ancient Greek: Ἀσκάνιος) was a legendary king of Alba Longa (traditional reign: 1176 BC to 1138 BC) and the son of the Trojan hero Aeneas and of Creusa, daughter of Priam. He is a significant figure in Roman mythology b ...
, the son of
Aeneas
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy ...
who was in turn the son of Venus herself, and in this form he beguiles
Queen Dido of Carthage to fall in love with the hero. She gives safe harbor to Aeneas and his band of refugees from
Troy
Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
, only to be abandoned by him as he fulfills his destiny to
found Rome. Iulus (also known as
Ascanius
Ascanius (; Ancient Greek: Ἀσκάνιος) was a Kings of Alba Longa , legendary king of Alba Longa (traditional reign: 1176 BC to 1138 BC) and the son of the Troy, Trojan hero Aeneas and of Creusa of Troy, Creusa, daughter of Priam. He is a ...
) becomes the mythical founder of the
Julian family from which
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
came. Augustus, Caesar's heir, commemorated a beloved great-grandson who died as a child by having him portrayed as Cupid, dedicating one such statue at the Temple of Venus on the
Capitoline Hill
The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; ; ), between the Roman Forum, Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome.
The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn (mythology), Saturn. The wo ...
, and keeping one in his bedroom where he kissed it at night. A brother of this child became the emperor
Claudius
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...
, whose mother
Antonia appears in a surviving portrait-sculpture as Venus, with Cupid on her shoulder. The ''
Augustus of Prima Porta
The Augustus of Prima Porta () is a full-length Roman portraiture, portrait statue of Augustus, the first Roman emperor.
The statue was discovered on April 20, 1863, during archaeological excavations directed by Giuseppe Gagliardi at the Villa of ...
'' is accompanied by a
Cupid riding a dolphin. Cupids in multiples appeared on the
frieze
In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...
s of the
Temple of Venus Genetrix (Venus as "Begetting Mother"), and influenced scenes of
relief sculpture on other works such as
sarcophagi
A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek σάρξ ' meaning "flesh", and φ� ...
, particularly those of children.

As a winged figure, ''Cupido'' shared some characteristics with the
goddess ''Victoria''. On coinage issued by
Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...
the
dictator
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...
, Cupid bears the
palm branch
The palm branch, or palm frond, is a symbol of victory, triumph, peace, and eternal life originating in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. The palm ''(Phoenix (plant), Phoenix)'' was sacred in Mesopotamian religions, and in ancient E ...
, the most common attribute of Victory. "Desire" in Roman culture was often attached to power as well as to erotic attraction.
Roman historians criticize ''cupido gloriae'', "desire for glory", and ''cupido
imperii'', "desire for ruling power". In Latin philosophical discourse, ''cupido'' is the equivalent of Greek ''
pothos'', a focus of reflections on the meaning and burden of desire. In depicting the "pious love" ''(amor pius)'' of
Nisus and Euryalus in the ''Aeneid,'' Vergil has Nisus wonder:
Is it the gods who put passion in men's mind, Euryalus, or does each person's fierce desire ''(cupido)'' become his own God?
In
Lucretius' physics of sex, ''cupido'' can represent human lust and an animal instinct to mate, but also the impulse of atoms to bond and form matter. An association of sex and violence is found in the erotic fascination for
gladiator
A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...
s, who often had sexualized names such as ''Cupido''.
Cupid was the enemy of
chastity
Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains from sexual activity that is considered immoral or from any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for exampl ...
, and the poet
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
opposes him to
Diana, the virgin goddess of the hunt who likewise carries a bow but who hates Cupid's passion-provoking arrows. Cupid is also at odds with
Apollo
Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
, the archer-brother of Diana and patron of poetic inspiration whose love affairs almost always end disastrously. Ovid jokingly blames Cupid for causing him to write love poetry instead of the more respectable epic.
Cupid and Psyche
The story of Cupid and Psyche appears in
Greek art as early as the 4th century BC, but the most extended literary source of the tale is the Latin novel ''Metamorphoses'', also known as ''
The Golden Ass
The ''Metamorphoses'' of Apuleius, which Augustine of Hippo referred to as ''The Golden Ass'' (Latin: ''Asinus aureus''), is the only ancient Roman novel in Latin to survive in its entirety.
The protagonist of the novel is Lucius. At the end of ...
'', by
Apuleius
Apuleius ( ), also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (c. 124 – after 170), was a Numidians, Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He was born in the Roman Empire, Roman Numidia (Roman province), province ...
(2nd century AD). It concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psyche ("Soul" or "Breath of Life") and Cupid, and their ultimate union in marriage.
The fame of Psyche's beauty threatens to eclipse that of Venus herself, and the love goddess sends Cupid to work her revenge. Cupid, however, becomes enamored of Psyche, and arranges for her to be taken to his palace. He visits her by night, warning her not to try to look upon him. Psyche's envious sisters convince her that her lover must be a hideous monster, and she finally introduces a lamp into their chamber to see him. Startled by his beauty, she drips hot oil from the lamp and wakes him. He abandons her. She wanders the earth looking for him, and finally submits to the service of Venus, who tortures her. The goddess then sends Psyche on a series of quests. Each time she despairs, and each time she is given divine aid. On her final task, she is to retrieve a dose of
Proserpina
Proserpina ( ; ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whos ...
's beauty from the underworld. She succeeds, but on the way back can not resist opening the box in the hope of benefitting from it herself, whereupon she falls into a torpid sleep. Cupid finds her in this state, and revives her by returning the sleep to the box. Cupid grants her immortality so the couple can be wed as equals.
The story's
Neoplatonic
Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common id ...
elements and allusions to
mystery religions
Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries (), were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates ''(mystai)''. The main characteristic of these religious schools was th ...
accommodate multiple interpretations, and it has been analyzed as an
allegory
As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...
and in light of
folktale,
Märchen or
fairy tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...
, and
myth
Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
. Often presented as an allegory of love overcoming death, the story was a frequent source of imagery for
Roman sarcophagi and other extant art of antiquity. Since the rediscovery of Apuleius's novel in the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
, the
reception of ''Cupid and Psyche'' in the
classical tradition
The Western classical tradition is the reception of classical Greco-Roman antiquity by later cultures, especially the post-classical West, involving texts, imagery, objects, ideas, institutions, monuments, architecture, cultural artifacts, ritu ...
has been extensive. The story has been retold in poetry, drama, and opera, and depicted widely in painting, sculpture, and various media. It has also played a role in popular culture as an example for "true love", and is commonly used in relation to the holiday
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...
.
"La Belle et la Bête" ("The Beauty and the Beast") was written by
Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, and then abridged by
Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1740; in 1991 it inspired the Disney movie ''
Beauty and the Beast
"Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales'').
Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
''. It has been said that Gabrielle was inspired by the tale ''
Cupid and Psyche
Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from ''Metamorphoses'' (also called ''The Golden Ass''), written in the 2nd century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (or Platonicus). The tale concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psy ...
''.
Depictions
On gems and other surviving pieces, Cupid is usually shown amusing himself with adult play, sometimes driving a hoop, throwing darts, catching a butterfly, or flirting with a
nymph
A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...
. He is often depicted with his mother (in graphic arts, this is nearly always Venus), playing a horn. In other images, his mother is depicted scolding or even spanking him due to his mischievous nature. He is also shown wearing a helmet and carrying a buckler, perhaps in reference to
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
's ''Omnia vincit amor'' or as
political satire
Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned.
Political satir ...
on wars for love, or love as war. Traditionally, Cupid was portrayed nude in the style of Classical art, but more modern depictions show him wearing a diaper, sash, and/or wings.
File:Ascoli Satriano Painter - Red-Figure Plate with Eros - Walters 482765.jpg, A red-figure
Red-figure pottery () is a style of Pottery of ancient Greece, ancient Greek pottery in which the background of the pottery is painted black while the figures and details are left in the natural red or orange color of the clay.
It developed in A ...
plate with Eros as a youth making an offering (c. 340–320 BC). Walters Art Museum
The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially ...
, Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
File:Lucas Cranach the Elder - Venus with Cupid Stealing Honey - Google Art Project.jpg, Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder ( ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German ...
– ''Venus with Cupid Stealing Honey''
File:Herculaneum - Lyre and Cupids.jpg, Cupids playing with a lyre
The lyre () (from Greek λύρα and Latin ''lyra)'' is a string instrument, stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the History of lute-family instruments, lute family of instruments. In organology, a ...
, Roman fresco from Herculaneum
Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Like the nearby city of ...
File:Målning. Venus. Frans Floris - Hallwylska museet - 86707.tif, ''Venus and Amor'' by Frans Floris, Hallwyl Museum
Hallwyl Museum () is a Swedish national museum housed in the historical Hallwyl House in central Stockholm located on 4, Hamngatan facing Berzelii Park. The house once belonged to the Count and Countess von Hallwyl, but was donated to the Swedi ...
File:Albrecht Dürer - Cupid the Honey Thief - WGA07372.jpg, ''Cupid the Honey Thief'' (1514) by Dürer
File:Joachim Wtewael - Venus, Mars en Cupido - oil paint on copper - around 1610.jpg, ''Venus, Mars and Cupido'' by Joachim Wtewael, around 1610
File:Guercino - cena mitologica (venus, marte, cupido e o tempo), c.1624-27.jpg, ''Allegory with Venus, Mars, Cupid and Time'' (ca. 1625): in the unique interpretation of Guercino
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as (il) Guercino (), was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vigorous n ...
, winged Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
points an accusing finger at baby Cupid, held in a net that evokes the snare in which Venus and Mars were caught by her betrayed husband Vulcan.[Edward Morris, ''Public Art Collections in North-West England: A History and Guide'' (Liverpool University Press), 2001, p. 19]
File:Nicolas Poussin Apoll und Daphne.jpg, Cupid draws his bow as the river god Peneus
In Greek mythology, Peneus (; Greek: Πηνειός) was a Thessalian river god, one of the three thousand Rivers, a child of Oceanus and Tethys.
Family
The nymph Creusa bore him one son, Hypseus, who was King of the Lapiths, and three ...
averts his gaze in ''Apollo and Daphne'' (1625) by Poussin
Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the Classicism, classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and ...
.
File:Master of the Incredulity of Saint Thomas or Jean Ducamps - Amor breaking his bow.jpg, ''Cupid breaking his bow'' (c. 1635) by Jean Ducamps
File:Jean-Jacque-François le Barbier - Cupid in a Tree - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Cupid in a Tree'' (1795/1805) by Jean-Jacques-François Le Barbier
File:Benjamin west omnia vincit amor 1809.jpg, ''Omnia Vincit Amor'' (1809) by Benjamin West
Benjamin West (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as ''The Death of Nelson (West painting), The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the ''Treaty of Paris ( ...
File:Bouguereau, William Adolphe - Putto sur un monstre marin.png, ''Cupid on a sea monster
Sea monsters are beings from folklore believed to dwell in the sea and are often imagined to be of immense size. Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or tentacled beasts. They can be slimy and scaly and are of ...
'' (c. 1857) by William Adolphe Bouguereau
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female ...
File:Antique Valentine 1909 01.jpg, A Valentine greeting card (1909)
File:Jeanne-Elisabeth Chaudet - L’Amour qui vient de dérober une rose.jpg, ''Love who has just stolen a rose'', circa 1796, by Jeanne-Elisabeth Chaudet
See also
*
Apollo and Daphne
*
Putto
A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University ...
, often conflated with a
Cherub
A cherub (; : cherubim; ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'') is one type of supernatural being in the Abrahamic religions. The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles, such as protecting the entrance of the Garden of ...
*
Cupid's bow
The Cupid's bow is a facial feature where the double curve of a human upper lip is said to resemble a recurve bow of the sort used in ancient Greece or Rome. The name is taken from Cupid, the bow-wielding Roman god of erotic love equivalent to ...
*
Love dart
A love dart (also known as a gypsobelum, shooting darts, or just as darts) is a sharp, calcium carbonate, calcareous or chitinous Dart (missile), dart which some hermaphroditic land snails and slugs create. Love darts are both formed and stor ...
References
Bibliography
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* Fabio Silva Vallejo, Mitos y leyendas del mundo (Spanish), 2004 Panamericana Editorial.
External links
The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (ca 2,400 images of Cupid)
{{Authority control
Sexuality in ancient Rome
Love and lust gods
Roman gods
Deities in the Aeneid
Holiday characters
Metamorphoses characters
Eros
Avian humanoids
Mythological archers