Philotes
{{Short description|Greek goddess of affection, friendship, and sex}}
{{other uses}}
{{Greek myth (personified)}}
In Greek mythology, Philotes ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|ɪ|l|ə|t|iː|z}}; Ancient Greek: {{lang|grc|Φιλότης}}) was a minor goddess or spirit (daimones) personifying affection, friendship, and sexual intercourse.
File:Tiziano - Amor Sacro y Amor Profano (Galería Borghese, Roma, 1514).jpg
Family
In Hesiod's Theogony, Philotes is described as one of the children of Nyx (Night).Hesiod, Theogony 244 In later genealogies given by Roman authors, she is the offspring of Erebus (Darkness) and Nox (the Roman name for Nyx).Hyginus, Fabulae [https://topostext.org/work/206#0.2 Preface]; Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.17 Her siblings are said to be, among others, Apate (Deceit), Nemesis (Indignation), and Eris (Strife)
Mythology
According to Hesiod's Theogony, she represented sexual and social intercourse. Her siblings are said to be, among others, Apate (Deceit) and Nemesis (Indignation).{{cite book|author=Stephen Scully|date=2015|title=Hesiod's Theogony: from Near Eastern Creation Myths to Paradise Lost|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2qVBCgAAQBAJ|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-025396-7|pages=44}} She was described by Empedocles as one of the driving forces behind creation, being paired together with Eris (Feuds); Philotes being the force behind good things and Eris being the force of bad things.{{cite book|author=Stephen Scully|date=2015|title=Hesiod's Theogony: from Near Eastern Creation Myths to Paradise Lost|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2qVBCgAAQBAJ|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-025396-7|pages=96}} He also identifies her with Kypris (Aphrodite){{cite book|author=Felix M. Cleve|date=2013|title=The giants of pre-sophistic Greek philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_77wCAAAQBAJ|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-94-017-5665-5|page=354}} and mentions that Philotes feels hurt and offended by life-destroying offerings and demands the abstention from animal sacrifices.{{cite book|author=Felix M. Cleve|date=2013|title=The giants of pre-sophistic Greek philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_77wCAAAQBAJ|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-94-017-5665-5|page=390}}
References
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Further reading
- Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
- Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0129 Greek text available from the same website].
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, Nature of the Gods from the Treatises of M.T. Cicero translated by Charles Duke Yonge (1812–1891), Bohn edition of 1878. [https://topostext.org/work/137 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Natura Deorum. O. Plasberg. Leipzig. Teubner. 1917. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2007.01.0037 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
{{Greek religion}}
{{Greek mythology (deities)|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:Greek love and lust goddesses