He is usually presented as a handsome young man, though in some appearances he is a juvenile boy full of mischief, ever in the company of his mother.

In both cases, he is winged and carries his signature bow and arrows, which he uses to make both mortals and immortal gods fall in love, often under the guidance of Aphrodite.

[6] The Greek ἔρως, éros meaning 'desire' (whence eroticism) comes from the verb ἔραμαι, éramai and in infinitive form ἐρᾶσθαι, erãsthai 'to desire, love',[7] itself of uncertain etymology.

In later sources, however, Eros is represented as the son of Aphrodite, whose mischievous interventions in the affairs of gods and mortals cause bonds of love to form, often illicitly.

Ultimately, in the later satirical poets, he is represented as a blindfolded child, the precursor to the chubby Renaissance Cupid, whereas in early Greek poetry and art, Eros was depicted as a young adult male who embodies sexual power, and a profound artist.

[10] Eros was one of the Erotes, along with other figures such as Himeros and Pothos, who are sometimes considered patrons of homosexual love between males.

[11] Eros is also part of a triad of gods that played roles in homoerotic relationships, along with Heracles and Hermes, who bestowed qualities of beauty (and loyalty), strength, and eloquence, respectively, onto male lovers.

[23][verification needed] The story of Eros and Psyche has a longstanding tradition as a folktale of the ancient Greco-Roman world long before it was committed to literature in Apuleius' Latin novel, The Golden Ass.

Aphrodite was jealous of the beauty of mortal princess Psyche, as men were leaving her altars barren to worship a mere mortal woman instead, and so she commanded her son Eros, the god of love, to cause Psyche to fall in love with the ugliest creature on earth.

Wounded both emotionally and physically, Eros leaves his wife, and Psyche wanders the Earth, looking for her lost love.

After a near death experience, Zeus turns Psyche into an immortal to live amongst the gods with her husband Eros.

The Greek word psyche literally means "soul, spirit, breath, life, or animating force".

In the Gnostic narrative found in On the Origin of the World, Eros, during the universe's creation, is scattered in all the creatures of Chaos, existing between the midpoint of light and darkness as well as the angels and people.

In the first, Eros made Hymnus, a young shepherd, to fall in love with the beautiful Naiad Nicaea.

Eros was in the lead thanks to his swift wings, but then a nymph named Peristera ("dove") gathered some flowers herself and handed them over to Aphrodite, making her victorious.

In the same fashion he struck Daphne with a lead arrow, which had the opposite effect, and made the nymph be repulsed by Apollo and his ardent wooing.

[36] Eros is imagined as a beautiful youth who carries bow and powerful arrows which he uses to make anyone fall madly in love.

The second kind are made of lead instead, and have the opposite effect; they make people averse to love, and fill their hearts with hatred.

[37] In an Anacreon fragment, preserved by Athenaeus, the author laments how Eros struck him with a purple ball, making him fall in love with a woman who is attracted to other women, and shuns him over his white hair.

The story is first found in the Anacreontea, attributed to sixth century BC author Anacreon, and goes that Eros once went to his mother Aphrodite crying about being stung by a bee, and compared the small creature to a snake with wings.

Pontianus of Nicomedia, a character in Deipnosophistae by Athenaeus, asserts that Zeno of Citium thought that Eros was the god of friendship and liberty.