Cupid – Tales of Roman God of Love

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Cupid continued to be a popular figure in nowadays. In contemporary popular culture, Cupid is shown as  a chubby boy who drawing his bow to inspire romantic love, often been used as an icon of Valentine's Day

There are a lot of information which I’m about to share in this post. ( Note : This information is which by far I would agreed and understand, the rest you can search by yourself ) Let’s see!

Cupid’s Origin

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Cupid (Latin Cupido, meaning "desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the war god Mars, and is known in Latin also as Amor ("Love").

Cupid’s Arrows

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The arrows signify desires and emotions of love, and Cupid aims those arrows at Gods and Humans, causing them to fall deeply in love.

Cupid carries two kinds of arrows, 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.

Story of Cupid

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 shouldn't cause such painful wounds. Venus laughs, and points out the poetic justice: he too is small, and yet delivers the sting of love.

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Cupid and dolphins - In both ancient and later art, Cupid is often shown riding a dolphins. Dolphins were often portrayed in antiquity as friendly to humans, and the dolphin itself could represent affection.

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Cupid riding the dolphin may convey how swiftly love moves or attend scenes depicting the wedding of Neptune and Amphitrite or the Triumph of Neptune, also known as a marine thiasos.

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Demon of fornication - Cupid might be seen as a "demon of fornication". The innovative Theodulf of Orleans, reinterpreted Cupid as a seductive but malicious figure who exploits desire to draw people into an allegorical underworld of vice. For him, 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.

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Content Resource :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupid#cite_note-Cupid-p244-13