Introduction

The myth of Anteros, the younger brother of Eros, seems to have crystallized in Athens in around 450 bc, at a moment when certain well-defined problems troubled the Athenians. The earliest remaining artistic expressions of the cult of Anteros date to this time, but the major extant renditions of his stories come from texts created after the Roman conquest of Greece. Today, the story of Anteros is all but forgotten. This book brings together many of these Greek and Roman fragments, and then follows their trail over centuries and into our time, recording when and how the myth of Anteros has come back to life.