| Anteros | |
|---|---|
God ofrequited love, avenger ofunrequited love | |
| Member of theErotes | |
 | |
| Abode | Mount Olympus |
| Symbol | golden club with arrows of lead |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | Ares andAphrodite orPoseidon andNerites |
| Siblings | Eros,Phobos,Deimos,Harmonia,several paternal half-siblings andseveral maternal half-siblings |
InGreek mythology,Anteros (/ˈæntərɒs/;[1]Ancient Greek:Ἀντέρως,romanized: Antérōs) is the god of requited love (literally "love returned" or "counter-love") and also the punisher of those who scorn love and the advances of others, or the avenger ofunrequited love.[2] He is one of theErotes.
Anteros was the son ofAres andAphrodite in Greek mythology, given as a playmate to his brotherEros, who was lonely – the rationale being that love must be answered if it is to prosper. Alternatively, he was said to have arisen from the mutual love betweenPoseidon andNerites.[3] Physically, he is depicted as similar to Eros in every way, but with long hair andplumed butterfly wings. He has been described also as armed with either a golden club or arrows of lead.
Anteros, with Eros, was one of a host of winged love gods calledErotes, the ever-youthful winged gods of love, usually depicted as winged boys in the company of Aphrodite or her attendant goddesses. According toPorphyrius, Aphrodite once complained toThemis that Eros remained a perpetual child, so Themis advised her to give him a brother. Aphrodite then gave birth to Anteros, and whenever he was near Eros, Eros grew. But if Anteros was away, Eros shrank back to his previous, smaller size.[4]
An altar to Anteros was put up by themetics inAthens in commemoration of the spurned love of the meticTimagoras [Wikidata], who was rejected by the Athenian Meles. Upon hearing Timagoras' declaration of love for him, the young man mockingly ordered him to throw himself down from the top of a tall rock. Seeing Timagoras dead, Meles repented and threw himself down from the same rock.[5]
Describing the nature of the emotion,Plato asserts that it is the result of the great love for another person. The lover, inspired by beauty, is filled with divine love and "filling the soul of the loved one with love in return." As a result, the loved one falls in love with the lover, though the love is only spoken of asfriendship. They experience pain when the two are apart, and relief when they are together, the mirror image of the lover's feelings, is anteros, or "counter-love".[6]
Anteros is the subject of theShaftesbury Memorial Fountain inPiccadilly Circus, London, where he symbolises the selfless philanthropic love of theEarl of Shaftesbury for the poor. The memorial is sometimes given the name The Angel ofChristian Charity and is popularly mistaken for Eros.[7]
Because of the bow and the nudity... everybody assumed it was Eros, the Greek god of love.
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