Eros

Many folk will be thinking of the Italian Cupid today; I thought as a Londoner, that the appropriate Greek Eros of Piccadilly would be my slight variation. In one story, Apollo made fun of Eros by saying he was a poor archer, and in return Eros caused Apollo to fall in love with the nymph Daphne who was not so keen on Apollo.

The main story, though, is about Eros in the struggle between love, trust and the soul epitomised by Psyche. Eros's mum, Aphrodite gets a bit annoyed that men are finding Psyche too attractive. Eros is told to make Psyche fall in love with someone ugly. Unfortunately, Eros then falls for Psyche himself but gets betrayed by her jealous sisters and has to make a wounded escape, leaving Psyche looking for her lost love. To gain reconciliation, Psyche performs three tasks using powers of nature to eventually become immortal, gets reacquainted with Eros and eventually bears a daughter Hedone named after pleasure.

So next time Cupid fires his bow, remember it can sometimes get complicated, though its great when it ends with happiness.