Every person needs love and communication with a person of the opposite sex. Love helps prevent conflict and brings people together. Only in union with a loved one can people find absolute integrity. The nature of love can be very different: from passion and sexual attraction to spiritual and platonic love. In ancient times, there were no dating sites, no psychotherapists and counselors, no divorce proceedings. Instead, myths, legends and beliefs were invented, in which the goddesses and gods of love corresponded to the numerous forms of this bright feeling.
Each people had their own myths, their 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 as beautiful young men who held bows and arrows in their hands. 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, evoke passionate feelings. By the way, the ancient god himself fell victim to love.
According to legend, a long time ago there lived a girl of unprecedented beauty. And her name was Psyche. She was so beautiful that the goddess of beauty Aphrodite envied her. She could not bear that a mortal could match her beauty, and sent her son Eros to punish her. He had to shoot an arrow through her heart with unrequited love. But when Eros saw the beauty, he fell in love with her without memory and made her his wife. Psyche also fell in love with Eros. But there was one “but”: the wife had no right to see her husband. People were forbidden to look at the gods. Once the sisters of Psyche persuaded her to secretly look at her beloved. Curiosity got the better of her and she couldn't resist. Eros was angry. He decided to punish his wife, who violated the prohibition of the gods, and left her forever. Psyche, on the other hand, loved her husband so much that she could not come to terms with his loss. She went to the temple of the goddess Aphrodite for help. But the cunning goddess was still angry with the beauty. She decided to test it. 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 kept there. However, the cunning goddess put a dead dream there. Opening the box, Psyche fell dead. Eros found his beloved Psyche and awakened her with a kiss. He forgave his wife and gave her immortality as a reward for her courage, love and loy alty.
By the way, in ancient myths, the gods of love are often depicted with white doves surrounding them. Sotoday doves are also a symbol of love between a man and a woman. A white dove is a symbol of female fidelity. In addition, from time immemorial, doves have been considered a connecting thread between lovers who are apart.
In Ancient Russia there were also gods of love. For example, the well-known goddess of love, spring and beauty Lada. This is an analogue of the Greek Aphrodite and the Roman Venus. Her beautiful daughter Lelya. 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 rebirth of life. At the holiday, they chose a bride for Yarila, tied her to a tree and danced around her. It was believed that during the week of Yarila, all kinds of love spells, fortune-telling and decoctions had special power.
