Philotes

For other uses, see Philotes (disambiguation).

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

Philotes
Personification of Friendship
Parents	Erebus[1] and Nyx[2]
Equivalents
Roman	Amicitia, Gratia

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]

References

1. Hyginus, Fabulae Preface
2. Hesiod, Theogony 224
3. Hesiod, Theogony 244
4. Hyginus, Fabulae Preface; Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.17
5. Stephen Scully (2015). Hesiod's Theogony: from Near Eastern Creation Myths to Paradise Lost. Oxford University Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-19-025396-7.
6. Stephen Scully (2015). Hesiod's Theogony: from Near Eastern Creation Myths to Paradise Lost. Oxford University Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-19-025396-7.
7. Felix M. Cleve (2013). The giants of pre-sophistic Greek philosophy. Springer. p. 354. ISBN 978-94-017-5665-5.
8. Felix M. Cleve (2013). The giants of pre-sophistic Greek philosophy. Springer. p. 390. ISBN 978-94-017-5665-5.

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.