When one mentions cupid, the first thing that comes to mind, to many of those in their early 30s, is the character Eros in the cartoon C'era una volta Pollon. The little ugly winged boy and the girl (Apollo's daughter) who wanted to become a goddess were always finding themselves in trouble.

So how did the cute little angel as he is known today come into existence?

Depending about which mythology you read, your little angel will be named either Eros or Cupid. Known as Eros in ancient Greece, he was the son of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty. In Roman literature he is called Cupid, and is the son of Venus who is the Roman counterpart of Aphrodite and is depicted in one of the world's most famous work of art The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. Some literature claims that his father was Vulcan, others say he was the son of Mercury or Jupiter.

Legends have it that Cupid used golden and lead arrows. The golden arrows were used to make people fall in love, whereas the lead arrows made people lust after each other.

It is said that Cupid fell in love with a very beautiful human being - Psyche whom he took as his wife. Being a mortal, Psyche could not look at Cupid, however her sisters convinced her to go out and look for him. Feeling that his trust was betrayed, Cupid left Psyche but they eventually reconciled.

The dictionary of Mythology: An A-Z of themes, legends and heroes by J.A. Coleman states that Psyche was then deified and accepted as Cupid's wife by other deities.