“For Venus did but boast a son,
The rosy Cupid was that boasted one.
He, uncontrolled thro’ heaven extends his sway,
And gods and goddesses by turns obey.”
--_Eusden._
Cupid was the beautiful but mischievous son of Venus. He was never
without his bow and quiver of arrows, and whoever was hit by one of his
magic darts straightway fell in love. The wound was at once a pain and
a delight. Some traditions say that he shot blindfold, his aim seemed
so often at random.
“With bandaged eyes he never sees
Around, below, above.
His blinding light
He flingeth white
On God’s and Satan’s brood,
And reconciles
By mystic wiles
The evil and the good.”
--_Emerson._
Although nursed with tender solicitude, he did not grow as other
children, but remained a small, rosy, chubby child with gauzy wings and
dimpled face. Alarmed for his health, Venus consulted Themis (Law), who
oracularly replied, “He is solitary; if he had a brother he would grow
apace.” In vain the goddess strove to catch the subtile significance
of the answer. When Anteros, god of passion, was born, the secret was
revealed. When with his brother, Cupid grew until he became a graceful,
slender youth, but when away from him he always resumed his childlike
form and bewildering pranks.