Everyone has a need for love and communication with a person of the opposite sex. Love helps prevent conflict and unites people. Only in union with a loved one can people gain absolute integrity. The nature of love can be very different: from passion and sexual desire to spiritual and platonic love. In ancient times there were neither dating sites, nor psychotherapists and consultants, nor divorce proceedings. Instead, myths, legends, and beliefs were invented in which the goddesses and gods of love corresponded to the many forms of this bright feeling.
Each nation had its own myths, its gods and goddesses. The most famous of them is the Greek god of love, Eros. It was he who became a popular symbol of Valentine's Day and other love romance. In the ancient Roman Empire, Cupid and Cupid became its analogue. In ancient times, the gods of love were depicted in the form of beautiful youths who held in their hands a bow and arrow. In the modern interpretation, this is a cunning little prankster, still holding a bow with magic arrows, which, when hit in the heart of the target, cause ardent feelings. Incidentally, the ancient god himself fell a victim of love.
According to legend, a girl of unprecedented beauty lived a long time ago in the world. And her name was Psyche. She was so beautiful that the
goddess of beauty Aphrodite envied her. She could not endure that the mortal was compared with her beauty, and sent her son Eros to punish her. He should have shot an arrow in her heart with
unrequited love. But when Eros saw the beauty, he fell in love with her without a memory and made her his wife. Psyche also fell in love with Eros. But there was one “but”: the wife did not have the right to see her husband. People were forbidden to look at the gods. Once the sisters of Psyche persuaded her to secretly look at their beloved. Curiosity prevailed, and she could not resist. Eros was angry. He decided to punish his wife, who violated the prohibition of the gods, and left her forever. Psyche loved her husband so much that she could not accept his loss. She went to the temple of the goddess Aphrodite for help. But the cunning goddess was still angry at the beauty. She decided to test her. Psyche steadfastly withstood all the tasks and instructions of Aphrodite. The last task was to take the box to the kingdom of Morpheus. According to Aphrodite, the beauty of the wife of the
god of Death was stored there
. However, the cunning goddess put a dead dream there. Opening the box, Psyche fell dead. Eros found his beloved Psyche and woke her with a kiss. He forgave his wife and gave her immortality as a reward for her courage, love and loyalty.
By the way, in ancient myths, the gods of love are often depicted along with white doves surrounding them. Therefore, today pigeons are also a symbol of love between a man and a woman. And the white dove is a symbol of female fidelity. In addition, from time immemorial, pigeons have been considered the connecting thread between lovers who are separated.
In ancient Russia also had their gods of love. For example, the well-known goddess of love, spring and beauty Lada. This is an analogue of the Greek Aphrodite and Roman Venus. Her beautiful daughter Lelia. But the main god of love among the Slavs is the god Yarilo. It symbolized love, passion and fertility. He was portrayed as a young red-haired rider on a white horse. Every year, the Slavs celebrated spring and the revival of life. At the festival, they chose a bride for Yarila, tied her to a tree and led round dances around her. It was believed that in the week of Yaryl, all kinds of love plots, fortunetelling and decoctions had special power.