Love in Mythology

Paper Summary:

This paper contends that, within almost every literary genre, there are myths about love that fuel ideals that are rarely, if ever, realized. There is no place where this is more true than in the stories of mythology. The perpetual love myths that exist in classical mythology demonstrate ideals confronted even today by individuals searching for love. The ideals of love explored in this paper include love at first sight, the myth of 'one true love,' and the human phenomenon of overly idealizing unobtainable love.

From the Paper:

"Of course, in today's secular world most rational people would discredit a flying boy and his arrows because it's just not possible, but they find other ways to believe in the existence of the power he was said to possess. Instead we choose to interpret Cupid's powers as acts of fate. Another description of love at first sight is "the blissful melting of souls that would somehow make their existence meaningful" (White 45). The relationships that are results of the acts of fate that create the ideals of love at first sight follow that, the idea of a love connection, when its destined happens instantaneously. There are countless modern examples of the perpetuation of the phenomena of love at first sight, movies, books even television programs that feed this idea. The myths of love at first sight often leave normal every day people with feelings of having been left behind or forgotten by fate, possibly feeling as if they don't deserve to have "That sort of love". Furthermore, considering Cupids' roe in this love myth, to be literally struck by an arrow is painful, but being struck by Cupid's love arrow does not hurt, after all it is the legendary reason for love a first sight."

More papers on Love in Mythology:

• Analytical Essay # 106085 : "Mythology"
• Book Review # 94794 : "The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock"
• Analytical Essay # 61227 : "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: