The Bitter Sweet Irony of the Bow and that of the Arrow

I was not clear on the identity of Eros and as a result I googled and found my way to a web article written by Ron Leadbetter. Leadbetter explains that Eros, the Greek god of love and sexual desire, is often portrayed with wings and armed with a bow and arrow. In addition, Eros has been deemed the sheer source of one’s rise to desire. Leadbetter makes reference to a poet by the name of Sappho, who describes Eros as “being bitter sweet, and cruel to his victims, yet he was also charming and very beautiful. Being unscrupulous, and a danger to those around him, Eros would make as much mischief as he possibly could by wounding the hearts of all.” This made me instantly reflect on Maurice’s relationship with Clive, or lack there of, and the dinner discussion from Symposium. It appears that Eros has released his arrow, in regards to Maurice. Specifically, Eros has embodied Maurice and as a result Maurice is motivated by his sexual desire; the splendor and the shame. Maurice is so taken back by the rejection of his beloved that we find him contemplating suicide, more than once during the second half of the novel. At this time, I realized that Maurice was a dark soul, seeking the light of day, the light of beauty, the light of love. However, all that Maurice is bestowed with is darkness which leads to isolation from his family and the object of his Eros- Clive. So, is it better to love and risk the danger and mischief of Eros than to not love at all? Is it worth the sacrifice of our self worth, is it worth the agony of loss, and is it worth the scar that the arrow leaves? More importantly, the scar forever reminds you of the time that you allowed Eros to drive your inner most thoughts to rise to the surface and risk it all. Each man in the Symposium shared their thoughts of how Eros drove men and women to such lengths that nothing seemed important than that of their desire and seeking fulfillment of that desire. Lovers, those beloved, men and women- regardless to that of our preference, we all find ourselves prey to Eros. “It was destiny, I was not looking for anyone- s/he just found me, I have no idea how this happened, I just felt that something over came me, and I could not control myself,” etc. At times we find ourselves seeking Eros and at others times, not so much, yet Eros always finds it’s way to us- this is the bitter sweet irony of the bow and that of the arrow.