Cupid is the goddess of love. His counter part in Geek mythology was Eros the god of love. He is best known as the handsome young god who falls in love with the beautiful maiden psyche. The story is told in the Golden Ass, as a romance by the roman writer Lucius Apuleius. In other tales he appears as a mischievous boy who indiscriminately wounds both gods and humans with his arrows, thereby causing them to fall deeply in love. Cupid is most commonly represented in art as naked, winged infant, often blindfolded, carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows.



According to the myth narrated by the Roman writer Apuleius in the Golden Ass, the beautiful Psyche, who was loved by Cupid, the god of love, was given immortality bu Zeus.

Psyche in the Roman mythology, is a beautiful princess loved by Cupid, god of love. Jealous of Psyche's beauty, Venus the goddess of love, ordered her son, Cupid, to make Psyche fall in love with the ugliest man in the world. Fortunately for Psyche, Cupid instead fell in love with her and carried her off to a secluded palace where he visited her only by night, unseen and unrecognized by her. Although Cupid had forbidden her to look upon his face, one night Psyche lit a lamp and looked upon him while he slept. Because he had disobeyed him, Cupid abandoned her, and Psyche was left to wander desolately throughout the world in search for him. Finally after many trials was reunited with Cupid and was made immortal by Jupiter, the king of gods.

Cupid, Roman God of Love and perhaps the most famous of all Valentine symbols, has always played a role in the celebration of romance. As the son of Venus, he is often depicted as a mischievous, winged child whose arrows pierce the hearts of his victims, causing them to fall in love. Cupid is derived from the Latin word cupido, which means "desire." His Greek counterpart is Eros (from whom comes the word "erotic"), young son of Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty, and Ares, God of War. In Greek mythology, Eros has a brother named Anteros, sometimes represented as the Avenger of Slighted Love and sometimes depicted as the symbol of Reciprocal Affection.

According to legend, Cupid's arrows come in two varieties: the Golden Arrow, which generally signifies true love, and the Leaden Arrow, which represents wanton and sensual passion. He is also known to sometimes carry a torch with which to inflame desire between men and women. Cupid is not always successful in his endeavors, however. Sometimes his arrows turn people away from those who fall in love with them. In some mythological tales, Venus was scratched by one of Cupid's arrows while playing with her son, the result being that the Goddess fell instantly in love with Adonis...the first man she saw after receiving the wound.

According to some sources, Cupid (as Eros) arose out of Chaos, along with Tartarus and Earth (making him one of the oldest Gods), only later becoming associated with Aphrodite as her winged son. The mingling of Eros (who, in this instance, was considered to have no parents) with Chaos is said to have created the race of birds. In certain mythological tales, it is stated that there was no race of immortals before Eros caused all things to mingle. Other legends maintain that Eros hatched from an egg laid by Nyx, also known as Night. Cherubs are also believed to be descendants of Cupid. Depicted as lovable little winged creatures devoid of either arrows or quivers, cherubs are typically not mischievous, as is their infamous alleged ancestor.