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Author Topic: Eros, the trickster  (Read 6610 times)

SkySamuelle

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Eros, the trickster
« on: September 15, 2011, 08:51:06 am »
Eros, son of Aphrodite and Ares, more famous in modern age as a bow-armed cherubin than as that more adult, if still youthful, first image of him, is probably last deity I would have expected to see ever mentioned as a trickster.

Yet it seems like this is exactly how his followers see Him... or at least a consistent part of them does.

So my question is: how do you see Eros? have you ever encountered Him? And if you did, how was your experience with Him?
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Fier

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Re: Eros, the trickster
« Reply #1 on: September 16, 2011, 08:39:53 pm »
Quote from: SkySamuelle;20210

Yet it seems like this is exactly how his followers see Him... or at least a consistent part of them does.


My apologies if I am way off base here, I have never worked with Eros. Are you maybe confusing Eros and Eris?

Mata

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Re: Eros, the trickster
« Reply #2 on: September 16, 2011, 10:55:34 pm »
Quote from: SkySamuelle;20210
Eros, son of Aphrodite and Ares, more famous in modern age as a bow-armed cherubin than as that more adult, if still youthful, first image of him, is probably last deity I would have expected to see ever mentioned as a trickster.

Yet it seems like this is exactly how his followers see Him... or at least a consistent part of them does.

So my question is: how do you see Eros? have you ever encountered Him? And if you did, how was your experience with Him?

I wouldn't say I have had any personal experiences with him, beyond, well, y'know being in love :p But I think that part of him being seen as a trickster like figure is due to the fickle nature of affection and love. It can envelop us and make us do some very silly things; only to vanish a time afterward when we cease being in the 'omaigawdursocyoote' phase of love that happens to a lot of people.

I can't recall any particular myths at the moment, but I do know that in many myths (especially under the name of Cupid, I think in some of Ovid's work?) he's shown as making a fool out of everyone, both gods and men with his arrows.
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Asch

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Re: Eros, the trickster
« Reply #3 on: September 16, 2011, 10:57:34 pm »
Quote from: Mata;20540
I wouldn't say I have had any personal experiences with him, beyond, well, y'know being in love :p But I think that part of him being seen as a trickster like figure is due to the fickle nature of affection and love. It can envelop us and make us do some very silly things; only to vanish a time afterward when we cease being in the 'omaigawdursocyoote' phase of love that happens to a lot of people.

I can't recall any particular myths at the moment, but I do know that in many myths (especially under the name of Cupid, I think in some of Ovid's work?) he's shown as making a fool out of everyone, both gods and men with his arrows.


Heh that description reminds me of Puck and his mischief :)

SkySamuelle

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Re: Eros, the trickster
« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2011, 06:51:50 am »
Quote from: FierFlye;20526
My apologies if I am way off base here, I have never worked with Eros. Are you maybe confusing Eros and Eris?

 
Nope.:ange:

I opened this thread after reading this article by an Eros worshipper:
http://ofthespiae.hellenistai.com/2010/11/09/30-day-paganism-meme-day-10-patrons-%e2%80%93-eros/

In particular, this section:

Quote


But with this façade of eternal youth is an aura most ancient. With His kindness and playfulness is a side that inspired ancient Hellenic depictions of Him boiling Psykhe in oil, or even Her flailing Him with a whip. Indeed, the depictions of Eros I find most intriguing are those that evoke a submissive side to Eros &mdash the most famous being Canova’s statue Love and Psyche Forgiven and the Caravaggian-styled panting Cupid Chastised (most likely by Manfredi, but its controversial authorship goes back-and-forth between he and Caravaggio).  The painting depicts Ares [Mars] whipping the adolescent Eros for sparking the ware-god’s affair with Aphrodite [Venus], exposing Ares to the derision and contempt of the other Olympians — a thought often overlooked in popular versions of Hellenic mythology, perhaps even lost, but one which cements Eros’ place as a Trickster.

His marriage to Psykhe is very much about His connection to the Moirai. I know at least five Moirai, because Pindar names Tykhe as Their leader, and Psykhe has always seemed as one of Them to me; She is Their youngest, She is the weaver of Their great tapestry.


(This is technically not Unverified Personal Gnosis [UPG], this is Shared Gnosis, as I’ve seen at least two other people on e-mail lists share similar in the last four years.) It makes perfect sense that Love & Creation would share a bond with Soul, The Weaver of Fate





 I thought it was an interesting angle to see this god and I wanted to expand on that.
« Last Edit: September 17, 2011, 07:00:02 am by SkySamuelle »
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Fier

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Re: Eros, the trickster
« Reply #5 on: September 17, 2011, 09:26:25 am »
Quote from: SkySamuelle;20578
Nope.

 
Well it does seem, that if one had a bow and arrows that made people fall in love, that one might be tempted to use that power to cause a bit of trouble. :D:

Mata

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Re: Eros, the trickster
« Reply #6 on: September 17, 2011, 12:14:55 pm »
Quote from: FierFlye;20593
Well it does seem, that if one had a bow and arrows that made people fall in love, that one might be tempted to use that power to cause a bit of trouble. :D:

 
i know I would. I mean who could possible resist? :whis:
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SkySamuelle

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Re: Eros, the trickster
« Reply #7 on: September 17, 2011, 01:22:28 pm »
Quote from: FierFlye;20593
Well it does seem, that if one had a bow and arrows that made people fall in love, that one might be tempted to use that power to cause a bit of trouble. :D:

 
Indeed.

Besides, if you consider Eros as the burning force behind our sexual passions ... there are really very few things that are as chaotic.

To say it figuratively, there's at least one moment :dwink: when even the most controlled and selfaware person is completely out of control and vulnarable.
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Monique

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Re: Eros, the trickster
« Reply #8 on: September 17, 2011, 06:02:50 pm »
Quote from: SkySamuelle;20210
Eros, son of Aphrodite and Ares, more famous in modern age as a bow-armed cherubin than as that more adult, if still youthful, first image of him, is probably last deity I would have expected to see ever mentioned as a trickster.

Yet it seems like this is exactly how his followers see Him... or at least a consistent part of them does.

So my question is: how do you see Eros? have you ever encountered Him? And if you did, how was your experience with Him?


Eros is actually one of my favorite gods to work with. He's actually shown me how to care more about the people around me, even if I don't know them much.

OfThespiae

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Re: Eros, the trickster
« Reply #9 on: September 23, 2011, 03:19:09 pm »
Quote from: FierFlye;20526
My apologies if I am way off base here, I have never worked with Eros. Are you maybe confusing Eros and Eris?

 
Nope, but I've previously noted some parallels between the two.
http://ofthespiae.hellenistai.com/2009/09/05/eros-eris/

SkySamuelle

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Re: Eros, the trickster
« Reply #10 on: September 23, 2011, 05:26:34 pm »
Quote from: youngsoulrebel;21851
Nope, but I've previously noted some parallels between the two.
http://ofthespiae.hellenistai.com/2009/09/05/eros-eris/

 
that was very good fodder for thought, thank you for sharig it! And since you are semingly our one hands-on Eros expert, would you like to expand more on the Psykhe- Eros-Moirai connection?

You can probably tell that my interest was very much piqued by that- i would also appreciate you pointing out useful resources if you feel like it!
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Fier

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Re: Eros, the trickster
« Reply #11 on: September 24, 2011, 08:34:32 am »
Quote from: youngsoulrebel;21851
Nope, but I've previously noted some parallels between the two.
http://ofthespiae.hellenistai.com/2009/09/05/eros-eris/

 
You're in Lansing too!? Welcome to TC!

OfThespiae

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Re: Eros, the trickster
« Reply #12 on: June 27, 2013, 07:02:49 am »
Quote from: SkySamuelle;21866
that was very good fodder for thought, thank you for sharig it! And since you are semingly our one hands-on Eros expert, would you like to expand more on the Psykhe- Eros-Moirai connection?

You can probably tell that my interest was very much piqued by that- i would also appreciate you pointing out useful resources if you feel like it!

Sorry I forgot about answering this, but it's kind of difficult for me to elaborate on.  It just seems obvious, that of the Protogonoi, Eros is among the most personal, one of a very few who are actively interested in humans; that's not all He's interested in, but He does maintain an active and genuine interest in people.  Psykhe, by the classic version relayed by Ovid (which was likely based on a rural Hellenic story that just somehow managed to escape older records) symbolises this human interest, not merely by apotheosis, but for the simple fact that She's the goddess of the human soul; if working from the notion that She is Moirai, it makes sense that Her lot is to guide the human life by the soul.  The Moirai aren't exactly interested in human beings, They just keep track of life, all life, and by several ancient accounts, even the Olympians are subject to the prophecies of the Moirai.  They're impersonal and impartial, and this plays really easily into the fact that Eros' extended domain includes "desire" of all sort; while some people can retain excellent personal control over seizing their desires, ultimately, as they say, "the soul wants what it wants" -- we don't always get what we desire, in love or in life in general, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse.

Which also reminds me again of the Eros and Eris symbiosis.  

Because of the lack of control that we as mortals have in these areas, no matter how much control we may tell ourselves that we have, it just makes perfect sense to me that these deities are all in cahoots, and work much more closely together than may seem immediately obvious.  As per Hesiod (who I'm in agreement with on this detail), they're all the Children of Nyx, too, so I never had any doubt that they're very close.

ETA:
This might also be of interest to some of the people in this thread
http://ofthespiae.hellenistai.com/2013/04/13/in-progress-brother-love-and-sister-strife-2/
[/shameless plug]
« Last Edit: June 27, 2013, 07:04:19 am by OfThespiae »

Tana

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Re: Eros, the trickster
« Reply #13 on: June 27, 2013, 07:45:08 am »
Quote from: FierFlye;20526



Totally off-topic.
But whenever Mata posts under you? I always think you've just blown out your avatar-match. :D:
\'You had to repay, good or bad. There was more than one type of obligation.
That’s what people never really understood.….Things had to balance.
You couldn’t set out to be a good witch or a bad witch. It never worked out for long.
All you could try to be was a witch, as hard as you could.\'
Terry Pratchett \'Lords and Ladies\'

Confuzzled and proud. :p

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