The word "Cupid" in the modern vocabulary of man has several designations: from the name of the deity to the name of the group of asteroids that have recently visited Earth's spacecraft, and this name also bears one of the most magnificent rivers in the Far East. We will consider each option in more detail to know exactly who is who.
Cupid, he's Eros
He’s Cupid - these are all the names of one deity, the eternal companion of the beautiful Aphrodite - the goddess of love. He was the fruit of an intimate relationship between this sweet-eyed goddess and Ares, the god of war, so he was often portrayed as a golden-haired baby, but with a bow in his hands.
This baby god symbolized lust for love, and Amur's arrows, released from his bow and falling into the human heart, gave rise to love in the latter. Therefore, in ancient times it was often said: "Overwhelmed by love." At the same time, Cupid was a rather playful and mischievous little boy, despite his high status. Therefore, his arrows often struck the hearts of people completely alien to each other - this caused love torment, suffering on the basis of unrequited feelings, and a whole literary genre was born on this basis. Cupid's arrows, bow, as well as angel wings and a wreath of roses - these attributes constantly accompanied Eros along with a flaming torch, symbolizing passion and languid lust.
The Amur Myth
This story begins with the fact that the god of love himself succumbed to this feeling and fell in love with the beautiful Psyche, which symbolized the breath, the soul. Aphrodite, because of jealousy for the divine beauty of the girl, was categorically against their union, but the young lovers secretly joined their relationship. But since it is unacceptable for ordinary people to see the faces of the gods, Psyche languished with curiosity. Incited by her relatives, she nevertheless resolved to sin, and at night, while Cupid was sleeping after violent love joys, she lit an oil lamp and brought her closer to Amur's face to examine it. Psyche was so struck by the beauty of God that she did not notice how the lamp shook in trembling hands, and oil from it dripped onto her husband's face. He immediately disappeared, and Psyche, in repentance, vowed to go through all the difficult trials sent by the angry gods for disobedience, in order to return Amur.
This myth clearly shows how blind love at the beginning of the path enjoys any state, but if the soul follows the mind, then everything can be lost and only true love will triumph beyond time.
In different languages
It is not in vain that the god of love was called by that name, because Cupid is the French “amour” (cupid), which means “love”, and “amoureux” - “in love” or “lover”. Moreover, the meaning of the word “amour” is consonant with the Italian “amore” (amore), Spanish “amor” (amor), that is, many West Germanic languages have words with this common root.
Great river of Eastern Siberia
Amur is a river flowing in Russia on the territory of the Amur Region and the Khabarovsk Territory, partially on the border with China and flows into the Sea of Okhotsk. Its length of 2824 kilometers, probably this fact lies at the heart of its name. Cupid is a "big river", translated from the Tunguska language. The Mongols respectfully call it Amur Hara-Muren, and the Chinese call it Amur-Heihe, both translations are almost identical: "black river."
By the area of the water basin, this water artery occupies the fourth position, among the largest rivers of Russia and the tenth position among the rivers of the world, therefore Siberians greatly respect it, considering it a nurse. Amur has a unique and diverse ichthyofauna: more than 130 species of fish, nine of which are representatives of salmonids.
The second feature of this river is that it has a fairly wide range of water level fluctuations during the year: from 6 to 15 meters, due to seasonal rains. The Amur River is a natural border between Russia, Mongolia and China, therefore, being in this zone without permits is prohibited.
Cupids in space
The second group of near-Earth asteroids is Cupids. It belongs to the Main asteroid belt, which is located between the planets Mars and Jupiter. This cluster was named after the first discovered asteroid Amur, which became known in 1932. He, in turn, was named according to the old tradition: in honor of one of the gods of the Roman pantheon. The Amur group includes 3653 asteroids, 65 of them have personal names, while the whole group is divided into four more species according to the degree of remoteness from the Sun. This group of celestial bodies rotates inside the orbit of Jupiter and does not reach the Earth’s orbit, unlike the first group of asteroids - Apollo, which rotate in their orbits between the “orange” and “blue”.
According to 2017 data, about 20,000 asteroids of all three groups belonging to the Main Asteroid Belt are known, all of them of different sizes: from cobblestones the size of a football field to a mini-planet reaching 100 kilometers in diameter. Moreover, with an orbit calculated by astronomers only 8000. Naturally, this suggests an asteroid hazard, because if the orbit is unknown, where is the guarantee that the celestial body will not collide with our planet?
Personal satellite asteroid
Asteroid Eros received this privilege as the first of all the celestial bodies of the Cupids group. It happened in 2000, when NEAR Shoemaker, an American spacecraft launched into space, approached Eros.
The Internet exploded pictures coming from there. An unidentified object of artificial origin, about 45 meters in diameter, was photographed on the surface of the asteroid. Something like a large self-propelled mechanism, an all-terrain vehicle or a small shuttle. Some researchers believe that this may be an alien precious metals mining technique, which, according to the results of samples taken by NEAR Shoemaker, has been found quite a lot.