What is Love?

What is love? A loss of words is not uncommon, especially when expressing emotions as deep and complex as love. Shakespeare’s use of metaphors and similes to describe what Romeo and Juliet feel for each other exemplifies a sea of emotions that are hard to just express with the word “love”. According to Dr. Steven Pinker, the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, and author of The Language Instinct, language thankfully does not hinder what we feel. 

In the Greek language, there are many words for “love”. This is because Greek literature, philosophy, religion, and mythology are deeply rooted in the expression of human values, relationships, and emotions. Greek thus developed with a rich and diverse vocabulary for love. 

For example, in Greek, unconditional love is termed, agape (ἀγάπη), which we use for a religious deity.

Eros, the word used to express romantic love, is the name of the son of the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. The legendary Greek story, Eros and Psyche is a classic in romantic mythology. He is best known nowadays as Cupid, the god of passionate desire.

Philia, (Greek root- philos) is typically used to express brotherly love, which roughly translates to how we use “affection” in the English language. 

In my mind-map, Philia correlates to Filial Piety, the central ideology of Confucianism, one of the most prevalent belief systems in the history of China. Filial piety revolves around exhibiting love and respect towards elders, parents, and ancestors. Closely related is Philic, a suffix used to signify affinity or liking, often used in scientific terms. 

The Greek word mania (μανία), expressing a love that is obsessive or possessive, is also used in psychology to describe various personality and behavioral disorders. 

In the same vein, Eskimos have many words for snow, as their world and activity heavily revolve around snow. The Hindi language has many words for uncle, emphasizing the importance of maternal versus paternal relationships and older versus younger uncles. 

To conclude, the development of language emphasizes concepts relevant to contexts spanning people’s existential, social, cultural, and political to name a few. The word roots from which these languages originate and expand are expressed across the globe as an intercultural and inter-continental relationship.