ἔρως

Forms

ἔρως (érōs) m (genitive ἔρωτος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a noun from Ancient Greek ἔραμαι (éramai, “to love, desire”).^[2][1][3] Its many derivatives in -σ-, such as ἐραστής (erastḗs) and ἐραννός (erannós), point to an original s-stem, like γέλως (gélōs), later extended with -τ-.^[2] Epic and lyric poetry usually have the thematic ἔρος (éros).^[4][2] The verb has no etymology, and Beekes asks whether it is Pre-Greek.^[2][5]

Plato played with ancient etymologies of the word: in the Cratylus from its “flowing in” through the eyes, in the Phaedrus from ῥώμη (rhṓmē, “strength”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer usually says ἔρος; the form ἔρως appears in two passages of the Iliad, meaning love or desire.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

Its main sense is sexual love or passion, but from Archilochus on it is also a passionate longing for anything, for one's country, for fame, or for tyranny in Herodotus, often with an infinitive.^[3][4] In Sophocles it can mean rapturous joy.^[4][3] Personified, Eros is the god of love, from Alcman, Anacreon and Parmenides on, and the plural names the Loves who attend Aphrodite.^[3][4] In some of Plato's dialogues it becomes the love that rises from bodily beauty to the beautiful itself.^[9]

In early Christian writing Ignatius uses it of his passion for the world, now crucified.^[10] Medieval Greek made a new nominative έρωτας from the accusative, used for love and carnal desire.^[11][12] It survives as Modern Greek έρωτας (érotas), with έρως as a learned form.^[12][9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses the form ἔρως for love and desire.^[7][8]
• 7th century BC – Alcman names Eros as a god.^[3]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus speaks of a man's longing to become tyrant of Greece.^[4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato's Cratylus and Phaedrus give it fanciful etymologies.^[6]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Ignatius of Antioch writes that his love for worldly things has been crucified.^[10]
• Medieval Greek – The new form έρωτας appears.^[12][11]

Meanings

Noun

1. Love, above all sexual passion or desire.^[4][3]
2. A passionate longing or eagerness for something, or to do something.^[4][3]
3. An object of love or desire.^[4]
4. Passionate joy, rapture.^[4][3]
5. (mythology) Eros, the god of love; in the plural, the Loves who attend Aphrodite.^[4][3]
6. (astrology) A name of the lot of Aphrodite.^[4]

Word family

• ἐρωτικός (erōtikós)

Related words

• ἔραμαι (éramai)
• ἐραστής (erastḗs)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
6. ^ a b Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
10. ^ a b Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
11. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki