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Eros and The Modern World Essay

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In the ancient world there were two different images that could be presented of the god Eros. The first was that of a young man with wings and rings in his hands, illustrated by a statue that was created around 400 BCE by the sculptor Praxiteles (Fig.1). Second is the depiction of a mischievous baby by an unknown sculptor from the first century BCE (Fig.2). This second depiction also had wings but once again the bow was missing. If the god Eros is depicted as a child he is generally with Aphrodite his mother. Of these two depictions the most common in the modern world is the baby depiction. Even though the baby depiction is the most common, in some instances whoever is working with the depiction will choose to use the young man. …show more content…

Each depiction of Eros has its similarities and differences from what tradition says Eros looked like. But by addressing each depiction in turn I hope to prove that Cupid is most important in the twentieth and twenty first centuries. To begin this discussion I will look at the image titled the Abduction of Psyche. Next will be the depiction of Eros in the television series Charmed. After that will be the depiction of Eros in a clip from the 1940 Fantasia. The final depiction will be from the Disney television series Hercules.

To start, I will talk about the image depicting Psyche and Eros. This image depicts one of the myths associated with Eros. In this myth Eros falls in love with Psyche, a mortal. William-Adolphe Bougereau painted this beautiful piece in 1895 (see fig.3). It depicts the abduction of Psyche by Eros. The image shows Eros with Psyche in his arms on the way to his home where he will live with her. Eros is a winged man who is almost nude and Psyche is a woman with moth wings. Psyche seems to be at peace in the arms of Eros.

In this image Eros is a strong young man who seems to have a purpose. It seems logical for a man to be used to depict this mythological scene because it is not very logical for a baby to be carrying the weight of a young woman. If this image was one of Eros as a baby, an

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