Cupid

/kyooh"pid/, n.

1. Also called Amor. the ancient Roman god of love and the son of either Mars or Mercury and Venus, identified with Eros and commonly represented as a winged, naked, infant boy with a bow and arrows.

2. (l.c.) a similar winged being, or a representation of one, esp. as symbolic of love.

[ < L Cupido Cupid, the personification of cupido desire, love, equiv. to cup(ere) to long for, desire + -ido n. suffix (cf. LIBIDO)]

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Ancient Roman god of love in all its varieties, identified with the Greek Eros.

Cupid was the son of Mercury and Venus. He was usually represented as a winged infant who carried a bow and quiver of arrows, which he shot at humans to inflict wounds that inspired love or passion. He was also sometimes depicted as a beautiful youth. Though generally considered beneficent, he could be mischievous in matchmaking, often at his mother's behest.

Cupid, classical statue; in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples

Alinari

Art Resource/EB Inc.

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▪ Roman god

 ancient Roman god of love in all its varieties, the counterpart of the Greek god Eros and the equivalent of Amor in Latin poetry. According to myth, Cupid was the son of Mercury, the winged messenger of the gods, and Venus, the goddess of love; he usually appeared as a winged infant carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows, whose wounds inspired love or passion in his every victim. He was sometimes portrayed wearing armour like that of Mars, the god of war, perhaps to suggest ironic parallels between warfare and romance or to symbolize the invincibility of love.

      Although some literature portrayed Cupid as callous and careless, he was generally viewed as beneficent, on account of the happiness he imparted to couples both mortal and immortal. At the worst he was considered mischievous in his matchmaking, this mischief often directed by his mother, Venus. In one tale, her machinations backfired when she used Cupid in revenge on the mortal Psyche, only to have Cupid fall in love and succeed in making Psyche his immortal wife.

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