greek fact of the day: the word ἐρως, where we get “erotic,” is usually used in reference to either the god of romantic love or the loving itself. in a more general sense, though, it just means “longing” or “need.”
“As the son of Poros and Penia, [Eros’s] lot in life is set to be like theirs. In the first place, he is always poor, and he’s far from being delicate and beautiful (as ordinary people think he is); instead, he is tough and shriveled and shoeless and homeless, always lying on the dirt without a bed, sleeping at people’s doorsteps and in roadsides under the sky, having his mother’s nature, always living with Need. But on his father’s side he is a schemer after the beautiful and the good; he is brave, impetuous, and intense, an awesome hunter, always weaving snares, resourceful in his pursuit of intelligence, a philosopher through all his life, a genius with enchantments, potions, and clever pleadings.”
- Plato, Symposium 203c-d
