Eros Love
Eros, the god of love, is persistently called upon to assist mortals in their quest for love. He embodies love and his figure is often depicted off of a person’s feelings towards love. Both poems address the relationship between Eros and humans; however, the two have opposing underlying beliefs on love. The two poems both use anatomic detail to relate the mortality and place of humans in their relationship with Eros. The first poem describes love as the “Tyrant of the Human heart”. The heart is the lifeblood of the entire body. It represents life, love and emotion. To be the tyrant of the heart imposes an all-powerful, dominate figure. Describing an emotion such as love as tyrannical demonstrates extreme power and significance. Love being
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The first poem is written with formal, academic diction. It refers to Eros as a king and a god, emphasizing the human’s respect and revere towards the god. His high value of respect symbolizes Eros’ importance and value. Love is valued, important, widely accepted. In this poem, Eros stands above the mortal and is treated as such. The word choice also adds on to the formality and reverence in the poem. Eros is described as the “idol” of the human race. An idol has the positive connotation of a person who we look up to. Someone who we value highly or look to for guidance. Being the idol of the human race, displays his significance in the first poem, being looked up to and respected. On the other hand, the second poem is very informal in the humans address towards Eros. He is referred to as a “bully boy”, and referred to by his name rather than as the god of love. This lack of respect and reverence discredits Eros’ status by acting as if he is simply mortal. Bringing the god down to a mortal’s level breaks the respect and value in love that is expressed in the first poem. It is seen as insignificant. He also depicts himself as a “slave” to the demands of humans. Slave has a very negative connotation that represent someone who is looked down upon, despised, unappreciated. Eros being treated as a slave proves humans lack of respect towards the
The first poem is written with formal, academic diction. It refers to Eros as a king and a god, emphasizing the human’s respect and revere towards the god. His high value of respect symbolizes Eros’ importance and value. Love is valued, important, widely accepted. In this poem, Eros stands above the mortal and is treated as such. The word choice also adds on to the formality and reverence in the poem. Eros is described as the “idol” of the human race. An idol has the positive connotation of a person who we look up to. Someone who we value highly or look to for guidance. Being the idol of the human race, displays his significance in the first poem, being looked up to and respected. On the other hand, the second poem is very informal in the humans address towards Eros. He is referred to as a “bully boy”, and referred to by his name rather than as the god of love. This lack of respect and reverence discredits Eros’ status by acting as if he is simply mortal. Bringing the god down to a mortal’s level breaks the respect and value in love that is expressed in the first poem. It is seen as insignificant. He also depicts himself as a “slave” to the demands of humans. Slave has a very negative connotation that represent someone who is looked down upon, despised, unappreciated. Eros being treated as a slave proves humans lack of respect towards the