Cupid is known as a chubby baby with wings, curly hair a bow and arrow, and is said to have the power to make people fall in love, but he was not always depicted this way. The original Cupid was not a cute baby at all, but rather a mischievous, powerful and even dangerous god known for making humans and even other gods fall uncontrollably in love.

Cupid was originally known as Eros: the god of sexual attraction, erotic love, affection and admiration in Greek mythology. Dawning a quilt with golden arrows with the power to make people fall in and out of love, Eros was often depicted as having different parents or even none at all. One of the earliest depictions of Eros describes Cupid as a primordial god. Having no parents and being born at the beginning of creation, along with chaos (the void) and Gaia (Earth personified), in this version, Eros represents the force of attraction, what makes life and creation happen. Other depictions give Eros different parents; the most recognized and the most accepted being the son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and Ares, the god of war, turning this version of Cupid into a mischievous winged young god.

 In Greek mythology, Eros was known for his mischievous and often dangerous lack of care. Known for not caring for consent, logic or even consequences, his powers were truly unmatched, making even other gods helpless. His arrows had the power to make humans, nymphs and other gods fall in love. His arrows were known for causing obsession, madness and self-destruction, not just romance, proving that Eros as a god is not to be reckoned with, even making powerful gods like Zeus, Apollo and even Aphrodite fall under his influence. His immense power to control the emotional fate of immortals made him feared despite his small and young stature. To the gods, love was irrational and unstoppable and Eros, being a god who controls their desire, was dangerous and terrifying to mortals and immortals.

Eros was later adopted as Cupid by the Romans, the most well-known adaptation today. Cupid derived from the word cupido, meaning desire. While his origin had already been well established by the Greeks, the Romans reinterpreted the story once more, changing him almost entirely.nce seen as a slim young adult male, he was reimagined as the chubby winged baby most people  know today. His origin also changed, now being called the son of Venus, the goddess of love, Mars , and the god of war. His parents symbolized an almost poetic combination: “love is like a battlefield.” His personality was another attribute that also changed, going from the powerful, unstoppable and almost dangerous force to a more domesticated sense of chaos, turning cupid into more of a mascot for love, showing a sweeter, sillier and inevitable interpretation of love.

While in the Roman interpretation, he is seen as a more childlike and playful person, he was still taken seriously. Known for being a serious lover, often indifferent to making people suffer. But even he had fallen in love with a mortal named Psyche, a princess with such beauty that it angered the goddess Venus, causing her to send out Cupid, asking him to make Psyche to fall in love with a monster. But while on his journey to do so, Cupid fell for Psyche, leading him to pursue her and eventually marry her. But he forbade her from seeing him during the day, only seeing her in the dark of the night. Eventually, Psyche’s curiosity got the best of her, and stole a glimpse, causing Cupid to flee in frustration and betrayal. After roaming the world in search of her lover, Psyche was eventually reunited with Cupid and granted the gift of immortality.

Cupid became the symbol of love and admiration, so when European writers started linking romance to February 14, there was no better fit than for Cupid to take the mantle as its mascot. His story of sweet and painful love became the perfect symbolism needed to establish love as fate rather than choice, and as Valentine’s Day became more and more marketable, so did Cupid. Illustrators leaned more into the chubby baby look of cupid, solidifying him as a playful and sweet baby and further disconnecting him from his original depiction of Eros. His popularity grew more and more due to the growth in marketing for Valentine’s Day, making him the face of the holiday and love for modern day romantics.