Mythological Background Of Love

Love is one of the feelings that makes up human nature. It has two different types, constructive and destructive. We witnessed legendary stories about love from past to present. Also, even if love sounds like a single feeling, it contains multiple emotions which make love a real feeling. In addition, love is an important part of mythology. While we admire some mythological love stories, we may be disappointed in others. As it can be understood from there, love has an interesting side as well as a dark side. Love, which is the nature of humanity, also has its own nature consisting of some main characteristics such as unlimitation, confidence and selfishness.  

One of the important main characteristics of love is that love can not be limited or imprisoned. In Cupid and Psyche, we see the hatred of mother Venus for Psyche and her demands against Psyche that she wants from Cupid. It is quite clear that he even dared to face his mother for the love he felt in his chest from the first moment. Moreover, in Pyramus and Thisbe, the couple prevented by their parents wanted to show that their love cannot be lost by rules or obstacles. In addition, in Ceyx and Alcyone, we see two devoted lovers separated by a journey but even though they separated physically, they were together emotionally. After the journey that ended with her husband's death, Alcyone sacrificed his life to prove that death is not an obstacle for them.  

Another thing is confidence that is definitely the basis of love. In Cupid and Psyche, we witness how the lack of trust affects love badly. Psyche who did not trust her husband, disappointed him and caused him to escape by looking at face of her husband who did not want her to fall in love with his appearance. Also, Psyche distrusted her own love and her own opinions and let her be tempted by her sisters. In this manner, she doubted her husband, who just wanted her to love being himself. Furthermore, in the love of Zeus and Hera, Hera turned into a jealous, insecure and suspicious person because of Zeus who knew no bounds and cheated on his wife over and over again.

The last thing to mention about love is selfishness caused by unrequited love or inability to value anyone but yourself. To begin with, in story of Pygmalion and Galatea, Pygmalion whose statues fascinated people kept his ideals ahead and did not find any woman suitable for him. He created a submissive woman based on his wishes and ideal beauty and did not realize that this was a one-sided love. What is more, in Daphne’s painful story, a self-focused woman away from marriage would die because of Apollo approaching her with insistent steps until she turned into a laurel tree. As it seems, Apollo caused such a sorrow end to get the woman he loved. Similarly, in Endymion tragic story, Selene fell in love with a man who did not even know about him and sentenced him to a sleep that prevented all his freedom. It shows that she did Endymion an injustice she loved and her disrespect for his ideas made her a weak person with a love she experienced only herself. 

 In conclusion, as can be seen from the examples in mythology, love has both constructive and destructive features in terms of being not limited, mutual trust and selfishness. It is possible to find important examples of this in mythology. Although love is experienced by some people who are completely self-centered, love requires both sides to be respectful to each other.