ἔρως

See also: έρως, Έρως, and Ἔρως

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ἔρος (éros) — Epic, Lyric

Etymology

From ἔραμαι (éramai), ἐράω (eráō, “I love”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /é.rɔːs/ → /ˈe.ros/ → /ˈe.ros/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /é.rɔːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈe.ros/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈe.ros/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈe.ros/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈe.ros/

Noun

ἔρως • (érōs) m (genitive ἔρωτος); third declension

1. love, desire (usually of a romantic/sexual nature) (often personified)
   • Sophocles, Antigone 781

     Ἔρως ἀνίκατε μάχαν

     Érōs aníkate mákhan

     O Love unconquered in battle

2. (Can we clean up⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (phys. or non-phys.) attraction, (sexual) desire
   • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Coniugalia praecepta §138f:

     ...οὕτω τὸν ἀπὸ σώματος καὶ ὥρας ὀξὺν ἔρωτα τῶν νεογάμων ἀναφλεγόμενον δεῖ μὴ διαρκῆ μηδὲ βέβαιον νομίζειν, ἂν μὴ περὶ τὸ ἦθος ἰδρυθεὶς καὶ τοῦ φρονοῦντος ἁψάμενος ἔμψυχον λάβῃ διάθεσιν.
     (trans. Babbitt) "...so the keen love between newly married people that blazes up fiercely as the result of physical attractiveness must not be regarded as enduring or constant, unless, by being centred about character and by gaining a hold upon the rational faculties, it attains a state of vitality."

     ...hoútō tòn apò sṓmatos kaì hṓras oxùn érōta tôn neogámōn anaphlegómenon deî mḕ diarkê mēdè bébaion nomízein, àn mḕ perì tò êthos idrutheìs kaì toû phronoûntos hapsámenos émpsukhon lábēi diáthesin.
     (trans. Babbitt) "...so the keen love between newly married people that blazes up fiercely as the result of physical attractiveness must not be regarded as enduring or constant, unless, by being centred about character and by gaining a hold upon the rational faculties, it attains a state of vitality."

3. the object of such love/desire
4. passionate joy
5. a funeral wreath at Nicaea

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ ἔρως; τοῦ ἔρωτος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ἔρως ho érōs	τὼ ἔρωτε tṑ érōte	οἱ ἔρωτες hoi érōtes
Genitive	τοῦ ἔρωτος toû érōtos	τοῖν ἐρώτοιν toîn erṓtoin	τῶν ἐρώτων tôn erṓtōn
Dative	τῷ ἔρωτῐ tôi érōti	τοῖν ἐρώτοιν toîn erṓtoin	τοῖς ἔρωσῐ / ἔρωσῐν toîs érōsi(n)
Accusative	τὸν ἔρωτᾰ tòn érōta	τὼ ἔρωτε tṑ érōte	τοὺς ἔρωτᾰς toùs érōtas
Vocative	ἔρως érōs	ἔρωτε érōte	ἔρωτες érōtes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ts.

Descendants

• Greek: έρως (éros), έρωτας (érotas)

Further reading

• “ἔρως”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἔρως”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἔρως”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἔρως in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἔρως in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ἔρως”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • adoration idem, page 13.
  • affection idem, page 16.
  • amorousness idem, page 28.
  • attachment idem, page 49.
  • craving idem, page 182.
  • cupid idem, page 189.
  • desire idem, page 215.
  • devotion idem, page 221.
  • eros idem, page 281.
  • fire idem, page 322.
  • fondness idem, page 333.
  • glow idem, page 363.
  • hunger idem, page 410.
  • love idem, page 502.
  • lust idem, page 505.
  • passion idem, page 597.
  • romance idem, page 720.
  • worship idem, page 990.