Cupidon (French for Cupid), by Bouguereau, 1875

In Roman mythology, Cupid (Latin cupido) is the god of erotic love and beauty. He is equated with the Greek god Eros, and another one of his Latin names is Amor (cognate with Kama). In popular culture Cupid is frequently shown shooting his bow to inspire romantic love, often as an icon of Valentine's Day. Cupid is the Roman god of love. ... Image File history File links Cupidon. ... Image File history File links Cupidon. ... Cupidon, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1875 Cupidon (French for Cupid) is a painting created by artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau in 1875. ... William-Adolphe Bouguereau, self-portrait (1886). ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... A head of Minerva found in the ruins of the Roman baths in Bath Roman mythology, the mythological beliefs of the people of Ancient Rome, can be considered as having two parts. ... Eroticism is an aesthetic focused on sexual desire, especially the feelings of anticipation of sexual activity. ... For other uses, see Love (disambiguation). ... For beauty as a characteristic of a persons appearance, see Physical attractiveness. ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. ... This article is about the Greek god Eros. ... Look up Amor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Kama may refer to several things Kama, a Hindu god, the God of Love, son of Lakshmi. ... For other uses, see Valentines Day (disambiguation). ...

There are many differing stories about Cupid's parentage. Cicero provides three different lineages: son of Mercury (Hermes) and Diana (Artemis), son of Mercury and Venus (Aphrodite), and son of Mars (Ares in Greek mythology) and Venus. Plato mentions two of these, and Hesiod's Theogony, the most ancient Greek theoography, says that Cupid was created coevally with sex, Chaos and the earth. For other uses, see Cicero (disambiguation). ... A sculpture of the Roman god Mercury by 17th-century Flemish artist Artus Quellinus. ... For other uses, see Hermes (disambiguation). ... Diana was the equivalent in Roman mythology of the Greek Artemis (see Roman/Greek equivalency in mythology for more details). ... For other uses, see Artemis (disambiguation). ... Marble Venus of the Capitoline Venus type, Roman (British Museum) Venus was a major Roman goddess principally associated with love and beauty, the rough equivalent of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. ... The Birth of Venus, (detail) by Sandro Botticelli, 1485 For other uses, see Aphrodite (disambiguation). ... Mars was the Roman god of war, the son of Juno and either Jupiter or a magical flower. ... This article is about the ancient Greek god; for other uses, see Ares (disambiguation). ... Roman bronze bust, the so-called Pseudo-Seneca, now identified by some as possibly Hesiod Hesiod (Hesiodos, ) was an early Greek poet and rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BC. Hesiod and Homer, with whom Hesiod is often paired, have been considered the earliest Greek poets whose work has survived... Theogony (Greek: Θεογονία, theogonia = the birth of God(s)) is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies of the gods of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC. The title of the work comes from the Greek words for god and seed. // Hesiods Theogony is a large-scale... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Chaos. ...

Throughout ancient mythological writing, there appear to be either two Cupids or two sides to the figure of Cupid (sex) One is the son of Jupiter (Zeus) and Venus. He is a lively youth who delights in pranks and spreading love. The other is a son of Nyx and Erebus, known for riotous debauchery. For the planet see Jupiter. ... For other uses, see Zeus (disambiguation). ... In Greek mythology, Nyx (, Nox in Roman translation) was the primordial goddess of the night. ... In Greek mythology Erebus (Έρεβος Erebos, Deep blackness/darkness or shadow from Ancient Greek Έρεβος) was the son of a primordial God, Chaos, the personification of darkness and shadow, which filled in all the corners and crannies of the world. ...

Cupid's cult was closely associated with that of Venus, with Cupid being worshipped as devotedly as she. Additionally, Cupid's power was supposed to be even greater than hers over the dead in Hades, the creatures of the sea and the gods in Olympus^{[citation needed]}. Some of the cults of Cupid suggested that Cupid as son of Night and Hell mated with Chaos to produce both men and gods, making the gods love the goddesses more than anyone. Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure Apulian vase made in the 4th century BC. For other uses, see Hades (disambiguation). ... Mount Olympus (Greek: ; also transliterated as Mount Ólympos, and on modern maps, Óros Ólimbos) is the highest mountain in Greece at 2,919 meters high (9,576 feet)[1]. Since its base is located at sea level, it is one of the highest mountains in Europe, in real absolute altitude...

Sleeping Cupid by Battistello Caracciolo, c.1616

Image File history File links Battistello. ... Image File history File links Battistello. ... Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, called Battistello, 1578 - 1635, was an Italian artist and important Neapolitan follower of Caravaggio. ...

Portrayal in art and literature

Caravaggio's Amor Vincit Omnia

In painting and sculpture, Cupid is often portrayed as a nude (or sometimes diapered) winged boy or baby armed with a bow and a quiver of arrows. Download high resolution version (871x1190, 149 KB) The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Download high resolution version (871x1190, 149 KB) The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... For other uses, see Caravaggio (disambiguation). ... Amor Vincit Omnia (meaning Love Conquers All, known in English by a variety of names including Amor Victorious, Victorious Cupid, Love Triumphant, Love Victorious, or Earthly Love) is a painting by the Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), currently in the Gemäldegalerie (Berlin). ... Baby cloth diaper filled with extra cloth. ...

The Hindu Kama also has a very similar description. The traditional Christian depiction of a cherub is based on him^{[citation needed]}. On gems and other surviving pieces, he is usually shown amusing himself with childhood play, sometimes driving a hoop, throwing darts, catching a butterfly, or flirting with a nymph. He is often depicted with his mother (in graphic arts, this is nearly always Venus), playing a horn. He is also shown wearing a helmet and carrying a buckler, perhaps in reference to Virgil's Omnia vincit amor or as political satire on wars for love or love as war. Kama may refer to several things Kama, a Hindu god, the God of Love, son of Lakshmi. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... CHERUB is a series of childrens books written by the author Robert Muchamore about a group of children who are trained to be agents working for the British Government in the top secret organisation known as CHERUB. It is similar to the British security service MI5, and is based... In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of female nature entities, either bound to a particular location or landform or joining the retinue of a god or goddess. ... For other uses, see Virgil (disambiguation). ... Political satire is a subgenre of general satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics, politicians and public affairs. ...

Cupid figures prominently in ariel poetry, lyrics and, of course, elegiac love and metamorphic poetry. In epic poetry, he is less often invoked, but he does appear in Virgil's Aeneid changed into the shape of Ascanius inspiring Dido's love. In later literature, Cupid is frequently invoked as fickle, playful, and perverse. He is often depicted as carrying two sets of arrows: one set gold-headed, which inspire love; and the other lead-headed, which inspire hatred. Elegiac refers either to those compositions that are like elegies or to a specific poetic meter used in Classical elegies. ... For other uses, see Virgil (disambiguation). ... Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598 Galleria Borghese, Rome The Aeneid (IPA English pronunciation: ; in Latin Aeneis, pronounced — the title is Greek in form: genitive case Aeneidos) is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC (between 29 and 19 BC) that tells the legendary story... Ascanius Hunting the Stag of Silvia, by Claude Lorrain (1682). ...

The best-known story involving Cupid is the tale of Cupid and Psyche. Psyche was one of three sisters, princesses in a Grecian kingdom. ...

In the Artemis Fowl book series, the character Holly Short's great-great grandfather is Cupid. The term Artemis Fowl may refer to several things. ... Holly Short is a fictional character, a LEPrecon officer in the Artemis Fowl childrens book series. ...

Holiday character

This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2007)

Cupid is a holiday character and symbol usually representing Valentines Day and the emotion of love. Cupid is based on the god of Roman mythology of the same name but has undergone many changes. Cupid is the Roman version of the Greek deity Eros. Image File history File links Emblem-important. ... For other uses, see Holiday (disambiguation). ... Valentines Day postcard, c. ... For other uses, see Emotion (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Love (disambiguation). ... Look up eros, Eros, EROS in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The most common representations of Cupid include a baby with wings and a bow and arrow. Sometimes the arrow has a heart for its tip. Cupid is most often seen nude or diapered. Cupid is sometimes blindfolded, symbolizing the figure of speech "love is blind." The word nude may refer to: The state of nudity. ... Baby cloth diaper filled with extra cloth. ... A figure of speech, sometimes termed a rhetoric, or locution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. ...

Reinterpretation of the Cupid character may leave off any or all of the traditional details of the character, so long as the character's main purpose is to make or help people fall in love (or possibly become physically intimate). In music, especially Schenkerian analysis, an elision, overlap, or rather reinterpretation (Umdeutung), is the perception, after the fact, of a metrically weak final chord (of a chord progression) as being in a strong position as the initial chord of the next progression. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Humorous interpretations may feature an obviously grown man but keeping the other traditional elements including the diaper.

It is said that if Cupid's arrow hits you, you will fall hopelessly and madly in love with the next person you meet. Limerence is a state of mind sometimes referred to as being in love (as distinct from loving someone) and sometimes called infatuation. ...

See also

• Aphrodite
• Apollo and Daphne
• Cherub
• Eros (love)
• Eros (mythology)
• Kama, the god of love in Hinduism.
• Love at first sight
• Putto
• Roman mythology

The Birth of Venus, (detail) by Sandro Botticelli, 1485 For other uses, see Aphrodite (disambiguation). ... Apollo and Daphne is a story from ancient Greek mythology, retold by Hellenistic and Roman authors in the form of an amorous vignette; Thomas Bulfinch drew on those late sources in the following manner: Daphne was Apollo’s first love. ... CHERUB is a series of childrens books written by the author Robert Muchamore about a group of children who are trained to be agents working for the British Government in the top secret organisation known as CHERUB. It is similar to the British security service MI5, and is based... Eros ( érōs) is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. ... This article is about the Greek god Eros. ... pela pali is must humanbenigs part Kāmadeva (Sanskrit: कामदेव) is the Hindu god of love. ... Hinduism is a religious tradition[1] that originated in the Indian subcontinent. ... This is an article about a song. ... sculpted putto The putto is a figure of a pudgy baby, almost always male, often naked and having wings, found especially in Italian Renaissance art. ... A head of Minerva found in the ruins of the Roman baths in Bath Roman mythology, the mythological beliefs of the people of Ancient Rome, can be considered as having two parts. ...

References

This article does not cite any references or sources. (February 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.