Eros

Ink & watercolor on Egyptian papyrus

A philosopher, living as a continuous dialogue between teacher and student.

A creator. A daemon suspended between mortality and immortality.

He does not sleep in beds. He sleeps wherever he finds himself, wherever he wishes. On the earth, beneath the stars.

Inspired by Plato’s Symposium, more specifically by Socrates’ account of his conversation with the wise priestess Diotima. And by life itself.

This is the image that formed in my mind through the way the story was told by Theodoros Papakostas (archaiostoryteller). Absolutely recommend the books and podcast.

The origins of Eros, based on the myth :

When Aphrodite was born, the gods held a feast on Mount Olympus.

There, Poros (who represents cleverness and resourcefulness) drank too much and fell asleep in Zeus’s garden.

Penia, embodying poverty, arrived begging. Seeing Poros, she lay with him, and from this union Eros was conceived.

A child of poverty and ingenuity.

He seeks beauty, wisdom, and immortality because he does not possess them.

Yet he is neither ignorant nor naïve. He knows what he lacks, and he uses all his resourcefulness to pursue it.

That is what makes him creative.

Every act of creation is a fragment of eternity, and therefore, immortality.

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