Eros was the Greek god of love, or more precisely, passionate and physical desire. Without warning he selects his targets and forcefully strikes at their hearts, bringing confusion and irrepressible feelings or in the words of Hesiod he ‘loosens the limbs and weakens the mind’. Eros himself is a carefree and beautiful youth, crowned with flowers, especially of roses which were closely associated with the god.
According to Hesiod in his Theogony, Eros was one of the primeval gods who, along with Chaos and Gaia (Earth), were responsible for the Creation. Here he perhaps represented a universal love. In other traditions he was the winged acolyte or assistant of the goddess Aphrodite, goddess of Love and Beauty. He was also sometimes regarded as the child of Aphrodite, with Ares as his father, and his brothers were Deimos (Fear), Phobos (Panic), and Harmonia (Harmony). In some traditions Eros also had a younger brother - Anteros - who was a much darker figure and avenger of unrequited love