Eros's Arrows

Eros's golden arrows are said to make anyone struck by them fall in love with the first person or thing they see. However, he also has arrows of disgust or revulsion, which he uses to create unrequited love.

Psyche was once so beautiful that mortals began to compare her beauty to that of the goddess of beauty herself, Aphrodite. Scorned, she sent her son Eros to make Psyche fall in love with a pig. So late at night, Eros tried to climb into Psyche's bedroom while juggling a pig, his bows, and his arrows. Right at the window ledge, the pig wriggled from his grip and went running around Psyche's room. As Eros tumbled to the floor, he pricked himself with one of his own arrows. Psyche sat up in bed, stunned awake by the sound of a squealing pig, and Eros darted his gaze up towards the sound of her piercing scream, making her the first person he laid eyes on after pricking himself upon his own arrow. And just like when you were in high school between classes, and you saw the boy you had a major crush on, and you weren't paying attention and ran into someone's open locker door, and your books went sprawling all over the place- that was how Eros felt at that moment when he saw her. He was on the floor, arrows scattered around and a screaming pig hauling balls around the room. So, embarrassed, he scooped up all his arrows and zipped from the window on golden wings before his crush could see how much of a klutz he was. He, of course, left the pig.

There is another notable myth of Eros's. He and Apollo had beef. Apollo really thought he was a better archer than Eros, and Eros, well, he thought that was just plain funny. So, one day out of spite or boredom, Eros struck Apollo with a golden love arrow right as he had been gazing upon a beautiful Nymph named Daphne. Apollo was quite fond of chasing Nymphs, but Daphne was something truly special now that Apollo had been struck. However, Eros had shot Daphne with an arrow of disgust. She ran from Apollo, who pursued her with deeply cringe intent. She begged her father, the river god Peneus, to save her from Apollo. So Peneus, in all of his brilliance, turned his daughter into a tree, a tree that we now call the Laurel tree. But now, even though Apollo could not have her, she could no longer run from him. He made her his own tree, which is why in the Olympics the victors would be crowned with a Laurel wreath.