Cupid

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Dr. Goodword
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Cupid

Postby Dr. Goodword » Thu Feb 13, 2014 11:42 pm

• Cupid •

Pronunciation: kyu-pid • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. (Cupid) The Roman god of love. 2. (cupid) A representation of Cupid as a naked cherubic boy usually having wings and holding a bow and arrow, used as a symbol of romantic love.

Notes: Cupid's bow for shooting arrows curves inward in the middle and usually outward at the ends. Cupid's arrows, however, are the delicious pangs of love, and St. Valentine's Day is the day to look out for the little cherub. To learn more about St. Valentine, click here.

In Play: Cupid is first and foremost an abstraction symbolizing romantic, not platonic, love: "Marjorie has been playing Cupid again, trying to fix Ben Gay up with a girlfriend." We do occasionally use this word to refer to the Roman child-god: "In love! You say you are in love! Cupid has been playing around with your psyche just as he played around with the real one in Roman mythology!" (For clarification, read on.)

Word History: Today's Good Word, like so many others, comes to us from Latin: Cupid was the Roman god of love (Eros in Greek mythology). The name is based on cupido "desire" from the verb cupere "to desire". The noun cupidity "greed, avarice" comes from the same source. Romance, of course, is a special case of strong desire. According to Roman mythology, Cupid was the son of Mercury, the messenger god with the wings on his ankles, and Venus, the goddess of love. Venus' daughter Psyche had such a radiant beauty that it rivaled that of Venus, so Romans were deserting Venus to worship her. This angered Venus, so she asked Cupid to cast a spell on Psyche that would make her fall in love with the most loathsome creature on Earth. Cupid, however, filled with desire for Psyche himself, had her spirited away to a magnificent palace where he visited her every night.
• The Good Dr. Goodword

Philip Hudson
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Re: Cupid

Postby Philip Hudson » Sat Feb 15, 2014 11:37 pm

As the Good Doctor says, Valentine was a Roman Priest at a time when the Emperor Claudius was persecuting the Church. He was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church and is revered by many non-Catholics. The murky history of St Valentine that the Good Doctor refers to has within it at least two legends (or historical facts - take your choice).

One story is that Claudius had forbidden marriage to make the male Romans more willing to fight in wars. Saint Valentine performed marriages anyway. He believed the sacrament of marriage should precede all carnal knowledge. Claudius recommended that a man take whatever woman he could whenever the occasion presented itself. Valentine was martyred because of his actions.

Another lovely story is that Valentine was very wealthy. Poor young women had difficulty getting married without a dowry. Saint Valentine would creep up to the young woman's window and throw in a purse of gold she could use as a dowry.

Cupid, of course, is older than Valentine. The Valentine celebration is said to have been used by the Church to defuse the erotica associated with the season of the mating of the birds and the shooting of Cupid’s arrows.

My wife and I have our wedding anniversary very near to Valentine’s Day. We usually merge the celebrations. This year is our 55th.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

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call_copse
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Re: Cupid

Postby call_copse » Mon Feb 17, 2014 8:17 am

Happy anniversary, that's pretty good going.

My wedding anniversary is a little over a week before the day, we actually met on the day though.
Iain

LukeJavan8
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Re: Cupid

Postby LukeJavan8 » Mon Feb 17, 2014 2:07 pm

Yes, Congratulations, Phil.

I know angels are pure spirit, but I wonder why so much
art depicts them as female, whereas babies are definitely
male.
I believe only four are mentioned in the scriptures, by name,
Gabriel, Michael, Uriel, Raphael but referred to as male
as are those in the Talmud, etc. Of course messenger could
be either, but just a curiosity I pose to myself.

Yes I know Raphael is in Tobit which is Apocryphal, etc.etc.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----


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