Eros has two children, a daughter, Agapi, and a son, Erotas. Before we get to the stimulating conversation between the two fervent siblings; here’s a little background on the three. Eros is the God of Love from ancient Greek civilization, thought to be the child of Aphrodite. Eros was not known in mythology to have any children; but the truth is he did; and the Lover knows them as Erotas, and Agapi.
[Most English translations and usage of the word Agapi we find a spelling with an 'e' or an 'é', in the end e.g. 'agape' or 'agapé'; I find this most insufficient to grasp the word's pronunciation, which is why I have spelled it differently here: Agapi captures it more definitely in my opinion, you are welcome to challenge me.]
In more modern Greek, there are, ambiguously, two words for Love: Agapi and Erotas. In everyday use however, they have different connotations. Erotas is a modern word in Greek indicating Love from a more passionate and/or sexual connotation: bringing out the raw sexual aspect of it, sometimes even indicating sex. However, there are notable cases, such as the subject claim “I am in love”, in Greek it would be “Ime Erotevmenos”, thereby using Love [Erotas, from 'Erot'-evmenos] in a state manifesting way, as opposed to the strictly passion/sex oriented behavioural way. Agapi, which is still even more curious has no connotation of the sexual, it is strictly grounded in the spiritual; for example, indicating to the loved one: ‘my love’ in Greek is ‘Agapi muu’, but it also serves as a noun, whereby uttered in this way implies no sexual connotations; Agapi is Love (spiritual notion, excluding the sexual aspect) in Greek. Thus, the Greeks, with their fantastically complicated, albeit beautiful, language have two ways of speaking about Love. The philosophical implications of this are immense, but this is not about Philosophy, this is about the Lover. The philosophy part will be dealt with by the Philosopher, in its due time. One such implication is the idea that this could trace back to Socrates’ theory of Love in Plato: what we often call Platonic Love, in writings such as the Symposium and Phaedrus. Anyways, digression aside, back to the thema; the stage is set, enter the carriers of Love: Eros and his two children. Back to the story.
Eros had two children, a son Erotas which was the eldest, and a daughter Agapi. It was coming towards the end of Eros’ reign, he no longer served the purposes of humanity, and he had been part of the whole for long enough. Circumstances pushed him to surrender his wisdom of erlebnis and spirit, to one of his children. Wise Eros had a decision to make, one that would make the father of any child uneasy; choose between his children. He had to share his wisdom with one of them, but he knew that giving it to one, would cause penetrating rivalry in the other. Thus, aware of the sibling competition, wise Eros thought through his decision very carefully; and time was not his friend, his telos (Greek word for End) was drawing nigh, and death was but a glimmer in the twilight. He had a lot on his shoulders, he knew that humanity’s future would rest on this one decision;and he knew, that if he was to fulfill his duty, it was mandatory that he pass the torch so to speak, the torch that is salvation. The torch was in demand, and Eros thought hard; but Eros had no easy choice to make regarding who deserved to be cursed by this insidious blessing. He loved both his children equally, as any father does; to choose between them about something to grandiose is to discriminate. Eros knew love and what it meant (after all he is the God of Love), he also knew that he could not act against his Love; he was bound and split by this tight decision. The decision of choice between two absolutely equal loves; and which one would carry the wisdom of divinity that was to be man’s escape from despair and enigmatic oblivion.
Would he give it to Erotas, whom was the eldest, and he named after himself; who carried with him the courage, power and androgenous demeanour present in any leader of masses? Or, would he give it to his beautiful, younger daughter Agapi; who possessed the compassion, fervour and maternal exposition present in all creatures of delightful care. Each one, he thought, had their strengths and their own approach of disclosing the wisdom to people: Erotas would lead people into salvation by strength and aggression, whereas, Agapi would cater them into it by her tender touch and intoxicating manner. However, he delved deeper in his thoughts, and inferred that: Erotas would get carried away and his strength could prove his weakness, leading the mortals into their own destruction through being too much like him; goal-oriented, power consuming and mechanistic — and then he (Eros) would be blamed for his actions; for his uncharacteristic and rash decisions on such a delicate matter. He worried; because even Agapi would prove to be incapable of teaching this wisdom, her weakness would lead the humans astray too; her over-caring personality and timid approach to salvation could prove costly in hard times; she can mesmerize with ease, and influence with elegance, but her decisions lack the leadership required for times of difficulty. She can lead the mortals into illusion and let their heads roam up in the clouds with beauty, but when the human bubble bursts, as it always does, she would have no way of coping with the debris from the painful and anxiety-inducing burst.
Eros thought, and he thought severely. For three years he postponed his end in hope that he would save the world from its own inevitable (under the current circumstances) destruction. He thought of his children, then of the wisdom; back and forth he toyed with them, mixed and matched them, arranged and rearranged them in his head. Then he realised; as if by a sudden flash, an epiphany descended on him. He realised why: what purpose he is to serve, and what plan he is to orchestrate so that he may save the world from itself, and from his own children. This is how the story unfolded from here on:
Eros approaches his daughter, the lovely Agapi; and informs her of his end. Agapi fully aware of the situation, and dilemma at hand, that one of the two would be chosen to take over for their father, listened intently.
Eros: My dear Agapi, sweet, wonderful, beautiful, Agapi. Your birth was truly a blessing, and is a blessing for any, and all, fathers.
Agapi: Father, please don’t speak to me like that, you know of my weakness and attachment to you. My love for you is truly a gift and a drug to me. You are my everything father, your death would by my own; I love you!
Eros: My sweet, you’ve always been like this, and I’ve loved you for it from the moment you opened your eyes to me. I will not go my dear, I will always remain in your heart, and through you I will live on, through you we will be together forever. However, this is a step that must be made in our involvement, a necessary step for us and the mortals that we live for.
Agapi: Father, you are more important to me than any mortal, I could never compare my love for you with anything or anyone, let alone a mortal. I do not care who takes over your wisdom and leads the mortals father, I want you to stay, please don’t go.
[At this moment, Agapi, sobbing at the thought of losing her father, enters Erotas.]
Erotas: What is going on?
Eros: Son, I told you to wait, I must speak with Agapi; please give us a few minutes, when I am ready I will call you in, and we will converse.
Erotas: My apologies father, I just heard sobbing and was worried: I will leave.
Eros: Agapi. Now, I implore you to listen to me, for I have not got long.
Agapi: (Sobbing) Alright father, I am listening.
Eros: I have reached a decision about whom I will pass on the wisdom to, and that person is you.
Agapi: (Stunned)….
Eros: Agapi. I have chosen to place this burden on you, you will lead the mortals to salvation. You will show them the road to themselves and back again.
Agapi: Father, are you sure? I don’t know think I can do it without you. Why not Erotas, surely he is more able and more of a leader than I can ever be? How can I lead the humans when I know not how to lead?
Eros: You must trust me on this; it must be you. Erotas can not lead the mortals to themselves; he can only lead them to their destruction, and to pain. His strength is his weakness in matters of Love. Love needs the tender touch that you so humbly possess, and your spiritual savvy will prove a gift for the humans. You will depict for them a road of comfort, of beautiful illusion and fantasy - they will speak of you when they speak of a certain word, a word that will touch many. This road they will never want to escape from; you will teach them the importance of trust in another human being — the importance of surrender. This is what the humans lack, and what you possess. It is your gift, and they are awaiting you to offer it to them. The Wisdom is this my dear, the road of the spiritual; and this is what your role shall be, to teach the road of Love from the spiritual side. You are to show the humans a way out of the temporal, out of the pains and sufferings of the erlebnis, of the experienced world. Show them a passage to the transcendent, to the divine. You’re approach shall be smooth, tender, and unconditional ; just the way you are, the way you were born to be. You must never forget this.
Agapi: I understand, father, I will not.
Eros: Before I let you go, you must promise me one thing. After my leave, you and Erotas are to not speak again; you are to split from each other. I want you to not tell Erotas what has been said today, unless absolutely necessary. You are to keep it a secret, from him and everyone. It is your burden to bare. You must promise me.
Agapi: What? Why? I don’t understand! No, I can’t do that, I love my brother! Never! Why?
Eros: Trust me, and promise me.
Agapi: But…
Eros: Promise me.
Agapi: … alright, I promise. I love you too much to deny you: I trust you.
Eros: Good, now go, and teach the mortals humility. I shall speak with Erotas, and he shall not be in your way.
*Agapi Leaves*
Eros: Erotas, come in.
Erotas: Father.
Eros: Son, I will make this short, for I have not got long. You know full well why I have summoned you, and about my painful decision. Well, I have made that decision, son. I have cursed you with the gift of the wisdom, it is you who will pass on the torch. You will teach and lead the humans to their salvation; to themselves. Love needs awareness and it needs people to be sane and awake in order to grasp it, they will not do this from the fairytale approach. Burst their bubble son.
Erotas: Father, I am honoured, I know exactly what to do. I shall not let you down.
Eros: The humans need to stop living in the clouds my son, they need to be brought back down to Earth. They need a leader, a being of strength that will turn the lethargy that is their illusive Love, to the powerful and concrete dimension of the temporal. Bring them down to Earth son, don’t let them sleep into their own oblivion. Teach the importance of themselves, of efficiency, work, prestige, activity and the pleasures of sense. It is in this world that they will find what they are looking for, not in the other. Teach them pride son. Your approach shall be strong, disciplined and conditional. All this you must never forget.
Erotas: I shall not forget father. But father, what about Agapi, what’s her role in this?
Eros: Agapi is not a leader my son, she cannot help the humans. She will delude them, cause them to be lost in the clouds, unaware of their impeding end; she will lead them to insanity. She can only offer them a fantasy, a passing fancy, and then be on her way, leaving them hurt and disappointed when they land, when their bubble bursts.
Erotas: I understand.
Eros: Non-the-less, before I send you on your way, you must promise me one thing. That after I depart, you will not engage in conversation with Agapi. You and her are not to speak, unless absolutely necessary. Promise me this, or I cannot let you use this wisdom.
Erotas: I don’t understand father, she may be able to help me.
Eros: She won’t. Trust me and promise me.
Erotas: Alright father, I promise.
Eros: Good, my son. You may leave, the world awaits your leadership. Agapi, I have spoke with already, she will not be in your way, she understands.
*Erotas Leaves*
After Eros’ departure, the world took a splitting turn. His children went off on their own ways, and didn’t speak to each other, like they promised. They influenced many different people, organizations, countries, continents, movements and many many more. Erotas helped bring out science, economy, government, war and many such directions. While Agapi influenced spirituality, faith, art, music, and all such transcendent directions. Eventually the world split in two, a perfect split between the West and the East; one influenced by Agapi, the other by Erotas. Yet, for many many years, they did not meet, they did not converse just like they promised. Their power, as any leader’s power, lied in the people, the follower. Agapi could only influence those seeking her, those who desired something more than what was already there. Erotas likewise, could only get through to mortals who were tired of politeness, tired of being a nothing, in need of striving and who desired strength and abundance. This lead to the global split, East and West became the polarized extremes that were Agapi and Erotas. Neither of them understood their limit however, and worked twice as hard in order to help more people out of oblivion. Agapi felt that those in the West were not going to be saved, after all it was her that Eros chose to help them; those poor sods suffering needlessly in the West. Erotas thought the same, he too felt like a failure, like he was letting his father down by not saving those dreaming and repressed on the East. unaware of their father’s double deception, they continued to work harder and harder, to exhaust themselves intensely. They began to enter each other’s territory. The West was being contaminated by Agapi, the East by Erotas. It was all becoming a big mess.
Then, as irony would have it, they were to meet, after centuries apart. It took one person; one who desired both Agapi and Erotas to bring them together, and uncover each other’s plots and roles. It took one mortal, a man, to bring them close once again. Accident served them like the mother serves the child, unconditionally and effortlessly. The man desired both the temporal and the transcendent, and so they both approached him, both offering their wisdom. In the approach they collided, they were shocked by the appearance of one to the other. Stunned, they didn’t know what to do, their father reassured them that the other will not impede in their duties. Both simultaneously realised why the world has been the way it is, why the split has occurred at such a fast rate, and why their efforts seemed hopeless. Erotas thought: ‘as I tried to save the West, she was all along going behind my back and influencing the East in her favour, double-crossing me, and our father; ignoring her place and her duty’. Agapi thought: ‘it was him all along that made it difficult for me, that arrogant bastard, he deceived me and father, his determination turned to dark ambition and now he wants the wisdom and my job’. The silence and heaviness of their thoughts infected the atmosphere, a battle raged in the man’s head, between his Love for Agapi, and his Love for Erotas. He knew not what to do, which to chose, he felt in disarray. Then they spoke.
Erotas: Agapi, what are you doing here? Father, told you to stay away from me.
Agapi: I could say the same thing, he told me that you would let me do my duty.
Erotas: I don’t understand, father left the wisdom to me, he said that you understood. That you would leave me and let me continue his work.
Agapi: What? No way! That is a lie! How dare you, after so many centuries, you initiate our conversation with a manifest lie!
Erotas: I may vow for ambition and efficiency, but one thing I do not, is lie to myself, and to lie to you is to lie to myself.
Agapi: Father left the wisdom to me.
Erotas: I assure you that he left it to me. He said that people need to move away from fantasy and illusion, and back down to the world of the physical, the temporal, back to reality. He said that you are much to weak and you will only harm people with your illusions.
Agapi: That is absurd! He would never say that! He said to me that you would destroy humans, you would send them into their own destruction. You would lead them astray with your strength; lose them into the futile. He said your strength would be your weakness. Told me that Love needs more than just physicality, more than just the temporal, it needs beauty, wonder and fantasy.
Erotas: Liar!
Agapi: How dare you accuse me!
The Man’s head was beginning to spin. His thoughts tearing him from left to right. He could not take it no more, and screamed up into the sky for silence. He relished repose; he craved peace. The siblings obliged. After half an hour of silence, it was broken by Erotas.
Erotas: Eros! Father! You are one smart son of a bitch! I understand father, thank you! Forgive me! Forgive my weakness father! Forgive my incompetence. All along I thought I was strong and knew what to do and when to do it; now I realize that I know nothing of the sort. I am blind. Thank you for your guidance father. You are kind, loving, and a father to be proud of. I love you!
Agapi: What are you talking about?
Erotas: Don’t you get it? He did this on purpose. He knew all along this would happen; and so he orchestrated it.
Agapi: What? I don’t understand.
Erotas: Father knew we would listen to him and not talk to each other, but he said to me that I was to talk to you, if and only if, it was absolutely necessary.
Agapi: Yeah, he said the same to me; so what?
Erotas: He made this whole thing happen, so that we would meet and then fight, so that we would confront each other. Speak of each other’s stories, of our incompetence, of our wrongful approaches. That is why he made it easy on us, he basically said to me: ’son, go out there and be yourself, and you have your wisdom’. I am willing to guess he said that he said the same to you. Now I realise that he did it on purpose, so that I would realise by an epiphany that I was wrong all along; my way is not the way.
Agapi: Yeah, he did… oh, I see now! All along I have been failing, and didn’t realise why. Then I saw you and decided to blame you for interfering, and causing this malady that had been growing in the West and now contaminating my East. I was the incompetent one, the one who had it wrong.
… Minutes of silence and thought overwhelmed all three of them, the siblings looking back over their centuries with their thinking; while the mortal shocked into torpor by what was going on in his head.
Agapi:I still don’t see why he didn’t tell us this from the beginning?
Erotas: We were much too young then, we wouldn’t understand. If he truly chose one and told him or her the wisdom, our rivalry would interfere and cause us to lose sight of our purpose: the humans’ salvation. If he told us both at the same time what we were to do together as team, the same outcome would prevail: one of us would think that his way is better thought our youthful arrogance and lack of experience, we would risk what should never be risked. Thus, he took an even bigger risk to avoid us making this risk. Instead he decided to tell us both what we wanted to hear, and let us both believe that we were right and ready for the job as we were. After the many years in human service I realise that I am not, Agapi. I have lead people to suffering, purposelessness and inner-deadness. My people take drugs, kill each other and hate each other. I am a disgrace, I was sent to teach Love, but I am teaching the exact opposite. You are my answer, Agapi. Dad wanted us to realise this by ourselves, not by him telling us. What better way to know you’re wrong than by failing?
Agapi: You are right, and you are my answer Erotas. Even though I knew not why my people were seduced by the temporal world, they would always succumb to their baser instincts. They still journeyed to war, hated each other, killed, sinned. I never understood why. Why the humans would go back into their concreteness, why they would fall from their perfections. Then I realised that I was not curing them, I wasn’t leading them into salvation, I wasn’t teaching them love; instead I was teaching them control and repression. This did nothing for them, but seek revenge on me, and renunciation from my grasp. They began to not believe in my kind of Love, they shunned it. I realise now that all along I was missing you; your approach. I still don’t understand why father didn’t tell us this at the beginning; why he didn’t just tell us all of this?
Erotas: I think he knew that we wouldn’t understand. If I am completely honest with myself, I would have ignored him. My youthful pride and drive would have deceived me and lead me into what I went into anyway. If he gave it to one of us, I think the other’s jealousy and rivalry would have sought revenge and to conquer the other.
Agapi: I think you are right. So, instead he left it into the hands of our failure, and of this puny mortal man whose head must be steaming by now, after listening in on our conversation. He can be our messenger of salvation, after all we owe him a boon. Our father was truly astute, and he took a big risk, he defied himself and he teachings. He deceived us, he went against his nature just to save us.
Erotas: From now on let’s work together. Let’s use what we’ve learned and find a middle way. He wouldn’t have lied to us about ourselves. I believe that the way is the mixture of both our ways, that is why he told us to do what were doing. To realise that what we are doing is not wrong, just incomplete. The wisdom, is us two combined. Our mutuality, our togetherness is the way to Love and the salvation of mortality.
Agapi: You are right brother; we shall become one.
The mortal man was confused; witnessing a conversation of God’s in his own head. In our modern era such a phenomenon would fall under the category of schizophrenia (much thanks to Erotas). He worried for his health, but then the voices disappeared, all that was left was a look of blankness mixed with wonder. He felt touched by something serene and yet awfully disturbing. What was going on? He decided to sleep on it, his dreams seemed to last forever and as clear as day. All his dreams pointed to a road, a path that he felt an urge to walk on, but his legs would fail to respond. He woke up the next morning, with an excellent and clear mind; he felt like he had slept for much longer than overnight. Feeling like he had slept for thousands of years and had just suddenly woken up. He recalled the conversation between the sibling Gods; it was clear as crystal before him. Smiling he sat down with his head on his hands and tears of joy running down his arms and past his elbows to his legs. He closed his eyes and took a plunge back onto his bed; extended his arms to the ceiling, and uttered with a smile full of tears, “I surrender”. He was chosen, he was to be the knight of Love, he was to ride alongside Erotas and Agapi; loyal to neither, but obedient to both. Their experiment; their way to finding each other. Their way to teaching humanity salvation from itself, their first mortal and mutual student. They called him the Lover.
incognitio
