In Roman mythology, Cupid was the god of love. He was the son of Mercury and Venus. The Romans identified with their Cupid the Greek Eros and the legends concerning him. Cupid is usually represented as a chubby, winged boy with a bow and quiver full of arrows, with which to pierce the hearts of his willing victims. Sometimes the ancients represented him as riding on a lion or a dolphin; sometimes as breaking the thunderbolts of Jupiter, which were ways of signifying his power. Cupid is usually spoken of as blind, or blindfolded. He figures in a large number of legends. His name is of-frequent occurrence in literature, and he has always been a favorite subject with sculptors and painters. Figures of children, with or without wings, introduced into works of art for decorative purposes, are frequently called cupids without any mythological allusion.
Some Cupid kills with arrows,
Some with traps. —Shakespeare.
Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind.
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. —Shakespeare
