Cupid's arrows: gold and lead in the bow of the child god

The image of a winged boy shooting arrows at unsuspecting mortals is so familiar that it seems eternal. In reality the figure of Eros the archer has a precise history in the Greek and Roman world, and the motif of his arrows gathered details over time: tips of gold and lead, blindfolds, quivers full of darts. Each of these elements reflects a different way of thinking about falling in love and its power over human beings.

From cosmic power to child archer

In Hesiod's Theogony Eros is one of the first powers of the universe, appearing just after Chaos together with Gaia and Tartarus, most beautiful and able to bend the will of men and gods. In archaic and classical Greek art he appears mostly as a winged youth. In the Hellenistic age his image grows progressively younger until it becomes that of a chubby, capricious child, the son of Aphrodite, whom the Romans called Amor or Cupid.

The bow and arrows were already attributes of Eros in Greek poetry: love was described as a sudden blow, a wound hard to heal. This metaphor drawn from hunting and war conveyed well the idea of a feeling that strikes from outside, with no defence for the one who suffers it. Hellenistic poets multiplied epigrams on the archer god, now cruel, now mischievous, now punished by his mother for his whims.

Ovid's two arrows

The most famous version of the myth is in Ovid's Metamorphoses, in the episode of Apollo and Daphne. Apollo, proud of having killed the serpent Python, mocks Cupid and his little bow. The god takes revenge by shooting two different arrows: one of gold, sharp-pointed, which kindles love, and one of lead, blunt, which drives it away. Apollo, struck by the first, falls hopelessly in love with Daphne, while the nymph, wounded by the second, rejects every lover.

The chase ends with Daphne's transformation into a laurel, the plant Apollo chooses as his emblem. The tale thus explains the origin of a symbol and at the same time shows the power of Cupid, able to humble even the god of the arts. The idea of two opposite arrows became a commonplace of European love literature and was taken up by medieval and Renaissance poets to describe unrequited love.

Blind love

In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance the image of Cupid blindfolded spread widely, signifying a blind, irrational love that strikes without choosing. In antiquity this detail was not common, and the Neoplatonic thinkers of the fifteenth century debated whether love should be considered blind or, on the contrary, able to see beyond appearances. The two interpretations coexisted for a long time in art, which alternated the blindfolded boy with one of clear gaze.

In Baroque art Cupid the archer remains a protagonist. Caravaggio, in the Amor Vincit Omnia painted around 1602 and now in Berlin, portrays him smiling and triumphant above musical instruments, books, armour and symbols of power, all conquered by love. The title echoes a line from Virgil's Eclogues, “omnia vincit Amor”, love conquers all things.

Cupid's arrows gave shape to an experience that is hard to describe: falling in love as a sudden, involuntary and sometimes cruel event. From Ovid's verses to the pierced hearts of modern cards, the dart has remained the most immediate way of saying that love is not chosen, but endured. This is also why the little winged archer still appears everywhere, from Valentine's Day decorations to the signs of pastry shops.