Chapter 9: Aphrodite and Eros

Graces (Charites)

goddesses of Greek mythology who embody beauty and grace

Horae

daughters of Zeus and Themis, clearer identity as the Seasons, group of two, three, or four

Pygmalion

legendary sculptor and king of Cyprus who fell in love with an ivory statue he carved of his ideal woman

Eros

male counterpart to Aphrodite, had a dual tradition for his birth, represents all facets of love and desire, god of male homosexuality, depicted as a handsome young man, embodiment of masculine beauty

Aristophanes

 defines love as the fundamental human desire to be reunited with our “lost” other soulmate

Socrates

establishes the true nature of the human being, instructed in the true nature of Eros by a woman of Mantinea called Diotima. Eros is neither good and beautiful nor bad and ugly, thereore he is not a god.