Hi. I see that there are many words for love in Greek, but how many are there? How many specifically are there in regards to the Bible?
#There's been an update:
>>Edit: Guess who was wrong on the internet.
>>As many others have pointed out this post is mostly inaccurate.
>>After some googling it turns out that what /u/Dovahkiin419 is talking about is a theory called Color wheel theory of love which was invented by a Canadian psychologist in the 70's. It defines three primary types of love: Eros, Ludus and Storge; and three secondary types: Mania, Agape and Pragma.
>>I'd never heard about Pragma and Ludus in this context before (ludus is latin for play or game and has nothing to do with love) but reading the wiki article it seems that the user simply heard of this theory and incorrectly ascribed it to "the ancient greeks".
>>In my slight defense, here's the wikipedia article I got some of them off of but yeah, it seems that the last two I mentioned were bunk.
>>This is why you do your research kids.
#Original Post
Theres a comment from the /insanepeoplefacebook subreddit that's also making it's rounds on /bestof by /u/Dovahkiin419 which I think provides clarity when discussing the love we feel for others in our lives, and how we express it.
Below is the comment in full and a link at the bottom for the conversation that followed. The short context is that a parent found their asexual daughter crying because JK Rowling wrote that the loveless should be pitied.
>> Hell the ancient Greeks had multiple words for love, each pertaining to radically different concepts.
>> Eros is for the sexual and red hot passion of a new couple, the irrational fiery kind that makes people go crazy for each other
>> Philia is the love of deep platonic friendship, between people who care about each other without any sort of romantic attraction. You feel eros, and pragma for your spouse at your weding, but you feel philia towards your best man and brides maid.
>> Storge is the love between parent and child
>>Ludus is the playful love between two people flirting or between kids who just met yet are running around the playground like madmen anyway. A fun dance that neither party is deeply invested in like Eros, but which has its charms nonetheless
>> You have agape, the love of our fellow human which, through shenanigans was the etymological root of the word charity. The kind of caring that makes you go pi
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Like say a baby
Agรกpe, รros, Philia, Storge, Philautia, Xenia. They all mean โloveโ, but different kinds. Godly love is agรกpe, xenia is hospitality or โguest-friendshipโ, etc. Implying that there is only one kind of love, like the English language seems to, is hurtful and confusing. If people understood that there are many types of love, I feel as if there would be more love.
I think the word "love" gets thrown around too much and sometimes is misinterpreted or misused. It would make more sense to have different words to represent different types of love. For example the way I "love" my favorite sports team is not the same way I "love" my parents, which is not the same type of "love" that I have for a friend, which again is not the same as the love for a significant other.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_words_for_love
No wonder they are called the Pirates of the Carob Bean.
Hell the ancient Greeks had multiple words for love, each pertaining to radically different concepts.
Eros is for the sexual and red hot passion of a new couple, the irrational fiery kind that makes people go crazy for each other
Philia is the love of deep platonic friendship, between people who care about each other without any sort of romantic attraction. You feel eros, and pragma for your spouse at your weding, but you feel philia towards your best man and brides maid.
Storge is the love between parent and child
Ludus is the playful love between two people flirting or between kids who just met yet are running around the playground like madmen anyway. A fun dance that neither party is deeply invested in like Eros, but which has its charms nonetheless
You have agape, the love of our fellow human which, through shenanigans was the etymological root of the word charity. The kind of caring that makes you go pick a stranger up after they fall or give directions to another stranger while in a hurry, or of course the impulse towards charity
The pragma, for the long lasting love between old couples, long after Ludus and Eros have calmed and faded, they are replaced by pragma. When people no longer feel the same fire, but nonetheless feel deeply connected in a way that the Greeks valued far more than the liar of Eros
And finally the love of self, philautia. This is different from narcissismโs obsession with oneself to the detriment of your ability to care for others (the word narcissism did come from a character in a Greek myth after all) but instead a feeling of security in who one is and because of it being better able to care for others.
And while we don't use the words that describe these things, we still feel them. I still feel a lot of them.
So while I am also asexual and aromantic to boot, and also havenโt read the Harry Potter books, I cannot imagine that the love dumbledore is talking about is specifically Eros. Usually when fiction talks about love in this way, they mean the lot of it. All the ideas in all the forms.
And also when you are someone like me, you get used to societyโs occasionally unhealthy obsession with Eros. Which makes sense, itโs a big thing in peopleโs emotional lives, and of course would be discussed thoroughly in art.
but man you fuckers are horny as hell, like fuck me running you lot are kinda obsessed in the most bizarre ways, like Valentineโs Day... just yeah. Anyway thatโs my two cents
Edit: Philia, not Philip.
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