Έρως ανίκατε μάχαν

"Love is invincible"
(entry title is in greek, iso-8859-7 encoding)

I recently read a book called "The Rule of Four" by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. I will not provide a detailed review, since many can be found on the Internet and in appropriate publications. The authors appear promising but I personally dislike this whole archeological-mystery "genre". I believe that the book would have been much better without ancient mysteries and modern crime stories. Simply put, some parts of the book, especially those that deal with university life and the young people's quest for identity and meaning, are occasionally brilliant.

I selected a short quote that particularly impressed me. A truly Kundera-esque analysis of "love is invincible" appears in the text, delivered by the father to his young son, the protagonist. The interpretation of the phrase is melancholic but interesting. Popular understanding of the phrase is that "love can help us overcome all difficulties" or "we can achieve anything for the sake of love". Contrary to these beliefs, the father points to the drawing of Eros[1] (Έρως) holding a sword--instead of the usual bow and arrows--and viciously killing its/his foes. Love/Eros is strong, but is not necessarily an ally. Eros is a powerful force that we cannot resist. The original phrase, drawn from Antigone (Αντιγόνη), a tragedy by Sophocles, provides the context to which the authors are true. Love/Eros is no better than madness because it makes people defy ethics, logic and law.

For those familiar with the original tragedy text this explanation is immediately apparent, but for me this revelation caused a shift in perspective. Far too often we hear that Love/Eros is a force for good, a power that helps us. Love/Eros is a power to which we are subjected and this is--in a way--a tribute to its greatness and its inherently dangerous nature. This is perhaps the most important lesson of youth.

PKT


[1] I need to make a slight distinction between "Eros" and "Love". In Greek, "Eros" is an urge. It possesses a playful but aggressive quality, it is a strong but unreliable force, unlike "love" that is deeper and more permanent. Eros may lead to love. The sentiment between Romeo and Juliet is eros, for example.