Eros was the primordial Greek god who personified love and desire.
In early Greek cosmological traditions, Eros was one of the first divine powers to appear and helped bring order, generation, and attraction into the universe. In Hesiod’s Theogony, he is a primordial being associated with sexual attraction and the creative force that unites beings. This early Eros is distinct from the later familiar winged archer.
Over time, Greek mythology increasingly portrayed Eros as the son of Aphrodite, goddess of love, and often Ares. In this form, he became a youthful or childlike deity whose arrows caused gods and mortals to fall in love. His best-known independent story is the romance of Eros and Psyche.
Pothos represented longing, Anteros represented returned or reciprocal love, and Hymenaios was linked with marriage ceremonies. They are related love deities, but none is the standard answer for the primordial personification of love and desire. The Roman counterparts of Eros were Cupid and Amor.