Eros
The most familiar of loves, and perhaps the most easily misunderstood for something greater, eros refers to sexual passion and desire, or lust. The god Eros, also nicknamed Cupid, attacks charmingly with a bow and arrow. Before you know it, you’ve fallen. The Greeks considered this to be a dangerous type of love, similar to madness. It’s the can’t-sleep, can’t-eat, reach-for-the-stars, over-the-fence, World Series kind of love; the kind of deep passion that drives the great stories of humanity, as well as the tragedies.
Agape
Love in its purest form, agape is the type of love the Greeks believed to be eternal. Destined to last forever, unconditional bliss sounds like a pretty good situation to be in. But to give without taking and sacrificing oneself for one’s partner is the basis for this type of love, and many people don’t innately possess that quality. In fact, while men indulge more in eros-style love, or the game-playing love of ludus, women’s natural ability to feel intense emotion makes them a victim of this selfless kind of love in almost all aspects of life.
Ludus
Life is a game and love is the prize, or at least that’s the phrase ludus lovers live by. This love measures love in quantity, not quality. Its players are just that, performers who find it as a momentary lapse of emotion. And the victims are seldom unaware that they are playing a game, and are nothing more than a conquest. These types of lovers don’t like to reveal their true thoughts and feelings, quickly recover from breakups and look for immediate replacements. Cruel intentions might make for a good film, but not for a good life.
Philia
It’s a commonly held belief that your ability to love others stems from your ability to love yourself, although self-love doesn’t have to be selfish. Out of it friendship is born, and from that a connection to another human being rises. While it might seem like the least necessary and organic of loves, philia’s survival is vital to the existence of humanity. Although it is the least natural and necessary of all loves because it’s not needed to reproduce, it’s freely chosen. Good friends, as we know, can last a lifetime.
