ヘシオドスの『神統記』(紀元前700年頃)によると、エロース(愛の神)は、カオス、ガイア(大地)、タルタロス(深淵)に続く4番目の神として登場した<ref>Hesiod, ''Theogony'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+116 116–122].</ref>。
ホメロスはエロースについて言及していない。ホメロスはエロースについて言及していない。しかし、ソクラテス以前の哲学者の一人であるパルメニデス(紀元前400年頃)は、エロースをすべての神の中で最初に誕生した神としている<ref>"First of all the gods she devised Erōs." (Parmenides, fragment 13.) (The identity of the "she" is unclear, as Parmenides' work has survived only in fragments.</ref>。
[[Homer]] does not mention Eros. However, [[Parmenides]] (c. 400 BC), one of the [[pre-socratic|pre-Socratic]] philosophers, makes Eros the first of all the gods to come into existence.<ref>"First of all the gods she devised Erōs." (Parmenides, fragment 13.) (The identity of the "she" is unclear, as Parmenides' work has survived only in fragments.</ref>
The [[Orphic Mysteries|Orphic]] and [[Eleusinian Mysteries]] featured Eros as a very original god, but not quite primordial, since he was the child of Night ([[Nyx]]).<ref name = Theoi>See the article [http://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Eros.html Eros] at the Theoi Project.</ref> [[Aristophanes]] (c. 400 BC), influenced by [[Orphism (religion)|Orphism]], relates the birth of Eros: