Philotes Explained

Type:	Greek
Philotes
God Of:	Personification of Friendship
Parents:	Erebus^[1] and Nyx^[2]
Roman Equivalent:	Amicitia, Gratia

In Greek mythology, Philotes (; Ancient Greek: Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Φιλότης) was a minor goddess or spirit (daimones) personifying affection, friendship, and sexual intercourse.

Family

Philotes was a daughter of the primordial deities Erebus (Darkness)^[3] and Nyx (Night).^[4]

Mythology

According to Hesiod's Theogony, she represented sexual and social intercourse. Her siblings are said to be, among others, Apate (Deceit) and Nemesis (Indignation).^[5] She was described by Empedocles as one of the driving forces behind creation, being paired together with Neikea (Feuds); Philotes being the force behind good things and Neikea being the force of bad things.^[6] He also identifies her with Kypris^[7] and mentions that Philotes feels hurt and offended by life-destroying offerings and demands the abstention from animal sacrifices.^[8]

Further reading

• Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Marcus Tullius Cicero, Nature of the Gods from the Treatises of M.T. Cicero translated by Charles Duke Yonge (1812–1891), Bohn edition of 1878. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Natura Deorum. O. Plasberg. Leipzig. Teubner. 1917. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

Notes and References

1. [Hyginus]
2. [Hesiod]
3. Hesiod, Theogony 244
4. Hyginus, Fabulae Preface; Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.17
5. Book: Stephen Scully. 2015. Hesiod's Theogony: from Near Eastern Creation Myths to Paradise Lost. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-025396-7. 44.
6. Book: Stephen Scully. 2015. Hesiod's Theogony: from Near Eastern Creation Myths to Paradise Lost. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-025396-7. 96.
7. Book: Felix M. Cleve. 2013. The giants of pre-sophistic Greek philosophy. Springer. 978-94-017-5665-5. 354.
8. Book: Felix M. Cleve. 2013. The giants of pre-sophistic Greek philosophy. Springer. 978-94-017-5665-5. 390.