Last Updated on May 11, 2023
People are addicted to love and can’t get enough of it! When you fall in love, your brain releases hormones that cause euphoria and other pleasurable experiences, leaving you wanting more.
It goes without saying that the types of love you can experience include those for friends, family, and romantic partners. In fact, the term “love” has so many different meanings that it nearly doesn’t do it justice. Because there are so many different kinds of love that we frequently encounter throughout our lives, the Greeks devised eight distinct words to describe the types of love.
Related: Being In Love: The Merits and Demerits
1. Eros: Erotic, passionate love
The Greek fertility and love deity, Eros is named after him. As a result, it is frequently linked to romantic, intense, and physical love. It is a manifestation of passionate sexual desire.
Strangely enough, the Greeks were actually extremely afraid of this love. They believed that this love was so strong and would induce a loss of control because humans have an instinctive urge to multiply.
This kind of love is still connected to passionate, sexual love even if the Greeks believed it to be risky. Some people still today hold the view that while this kind of love “burns hot and bright, it burns out quickly.”
Related: Is Cuddling a Sign of Love?
2. Philia: love of friends and equals
It might be long-term love between lovers who are no longer as hot and disturbed by each other. It is often referred to as brotherly love in Philadelphia. the metropolis of sibling love. Naturally, it may be sibling love or the accepting love of a wonderful friend.
This is the kind of love that promotes wellness. the contact of a dear one. Blood pressure is lowered by the philia touch. People who feel your love get fewer doctor visits, fewer hospital stays, less suffering, and more happy feelings. All of these advantages of philia love and enduring friendships strengthen our fortitude in trying circumstances.
Also read: Is Love an Emotion or a Feeling?
3. Agape: Love of mankind
This is the affection that is modelled after both man’s and God’s love for one another in Christianity. Whether or whether the love is reciprocated, it still counts as love. It is love without regard to gain for oneself. It serves as the cornerstone of loving kindness for all people in the Buddhist faith.
This kind of love is critical to the forgiveness process. Because the inability to forgive is linked to anger and a number of unfavourable health outcomes, forgiveness is crucial for maintaining good health. The cornerstone for happiness and contentment may be love, which sets a very high bar.
Related: Is It Wise to Love Unconditionally?
4. Storge: love of parents for children
Mothers are the ones who understand love the best, but when we discuss love, we don’t often talk about this kind of love. It is a result of parents’ love for their kids. It’s referred to as the most organic of loves. It is natural in that there is no rusting. It’s emoted because we can’t help it, and it gives little thought to whether the other person is deserving of our love.
It’s frequently fleeting actions that philia love would not accept. For instance, even when their children behave in the most appalling ways, women can still love them. behaviours that they wouldn’t put up with in their wives or their girlfriends. In taking care of a baby, it seems to come naturally, and as it develops, it enables us to love our kids in spite of their misbehaviour.
5. Pragma: Enduring Love
Pragma denotes enduring affection. It’s a meaningful love that has persisted and grown through time.
This form of love frequently entails patience, tolerance, and compromise from both partners in the relationship, and the emphasis is more on maintaining the relationship than just falling in love. It is the outcome of both parties acting in the relationship in a way that prioritises the relationship and makes agreements and adheres to them.
6. Philautia: Love of the self
Although it may seem like our current concept of self-love is a relatively recent idea, the ancient Greeks had a concept similar to it.
When it comes to self-care, we can all still benefit from the wisdom of the ancient Greeks who believed that loving oneself gave one a greater capacity to love others. This concept is known as Philautia. The quote attributed to Aristotle is actually: “All friendly feelings for others are an extension of a man’s feelings for himself.”
The Greeks were aware that narcissistic self-obsession represented a toxic form of self-love. However, it is possible to love yourself wholesomely without being a narcissist!
Read: How Can Forgiveness in Love Heal and Strengthen Bonds?
7. Ludus: Playful love
The “playful love” is called Ludus. The sense of infatuation at the beginning of a romance, though, is a better way to put it. If you’ve ever been in love, you understand what I’m talking about. It is the more innocent form of romantic types of love.
It’s the giddiness you experience when your loved one walks through the door, the butterflies in your stomach, and they want to spend all of your time with them.
According to studies, people’s brains behave very similarly to those of cocaine users when they are in this kind of love. In other words, your brain is lighted up and busy, just like it would be if you were actually high. You become more energised and lively as a result.
Related: Love vs Infatuation: Similarities and Differences
8. Mania: Obsessive love
While other types of love simply have a tendency to become negative, mania is an obsession, which makes it a purely bad kind of love. It is the kind of love that can drive a person insane, jealous, or even enraged. That is because there is a serious imbalance between eros, which is sexual, and Ludus, which is playful.
Many individuals who encounter this kind of love struggle with low self-esteem. They are driven to say or do some “crazy” things in an effort to keep the object of their affection because they fear losing them. Mania, in some situations, can be quite damaging if it is not controlled.
Related: What is Love Bombing?
Conclusion
Although the Greeks created a magnificent vocabulary of love, not all forms of love are incompatible with one another. We are complete, complex beings who exhibit complex and individual forms of love.
Your romantic relationship may be dominated by Eros, but I bet Ludus, Philautia, and Philia also play a significant role. Your ability to reach that coveted Pragma will be aided by all of these taken together. Knowing ourselves well and regularly engaging in self-awareness are the first steps toward being able to love to the maximum of our abilities.
Think for a moment about the relationships in your life. Our lives are filled with several various kinds of love, from those we share with someone to those we have with our favourite vacation place.
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