Could the Four Princesses Represent the Greek Forms of Love?

[SFyr 1,982]

So, a thought occurred to me when thinking about the 'magic' of the MLP universe, and semi-relatedly it occurred to me that each of the four ascended ponies could be paragons of a different form of love, as per the Greek definitions rather than our all-encompassing 'love'. Also, I apologize if this has been tossed about--ultimately it doesn't mean much to me, but I thought it was an interesting comparison to make.

 

Let me defend this point a little before going on, going off of a basic summation paraphrased from a basic online source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Loves), and from what I've heard in general.

 

Princess Twilight, paragon of Phila

Phila is the greek word for friendship based love. Supposedly it is one of the happiest and 'most human' of loves, since it does not come out of necessity/evolutionary need. ...And well, pretty much the whole show has been about Twilight discovering the magic of friendship, and building up a relationship with her closest friends. She seems to just ooze friendship and acceptance, which goes along with the comparison.

 

Princess Cadence, paragon of Eros
Love for a partner. In Equestria she is hailed as the 'Princess of Love', and for us, love is generically thought of as closer Eros in form than any other--love between a couple. It's the driving force not only to keep two souls together through better or worse, but occasionally drive one or both parties into actions they would normally not do (suicide being the most dramatic, as per Romeo and Juliet and the like, but manipulation was kind of a theme in their episode anyways). Regardless, if memory serves, it is the love that consumes, and both Shining Armor and Cadence seem pretty much that.

 

Princess Luna, paragon of Storge

Familial love (?); personally I direct it towards her sister Celestia. It's weaknesses are said to be confliction, smothering, and most importantly, jealousy. It's also said that that which you love most is able to hurt you most, and the raw emotions of Luna's downfall seem to be not only towards her subjects, but also towards her sister in particular. Though, maybe that's more from the fandom's interpretations than the show, hard to say. Regardless, I get the feeling that her sister is the most important figure in her life, who both provides her with stability and the acceptance she needs. Maybe when she started to question that (being ignored?), and grew jealous of the sister she loved, her connection to that elemental love was lost, and she ended up betraying it entirely.

 

Princess Celestia, paragon of Agape

Unconditional love. It is often characterized as a love between a deity and their followers (either direction), or even between a mother and their children. Celestia is an unwavering, guiding presence for all of Equestria, and could pretty much be conceptualized as the mother of all her little ponies. The difficulty in that is that she must be strong and unchanging, an eternal teacher, and a source of comfort for those who depend on her, but she is nonetheless adored for it.
As a kicker, Agape is also said to be the strongest of all loves, and here she is as the immortal(?) ruler that endured ruling alone for who knows how long, and still appears to be arguably the most powerful entity pony in current existence. 

I think her connection to the elements being severed had to do with, like Luna, her betrayal of her central love. She loved her sister unconditionally, and very likely Luna also depended on Celestia some amount--yet Celestia still had to rid the world of her; I feel it's kinda like, if a mother banishes her child, even if it's necessary, you then taint your title of mother--or you taint unconditional love by acting directly against the object of that love.

 

Perhaps Twilight and Cadence were able to do what Luna and Celestia could not at a few points, because their connection has yet to be tainted.

 

 

Regardless, maybe then, the major source of strength/magic in Equestria is love in the end, maybe as a way to purify and strengthen the spirit, or some other strange thing of the like.

Thus,

...love conquers all?

Edited December 2, 2014 by SFyr

[Admiral Regulus 2,769]

That's pretty cool. I doubt it's intentional, but it's still rather interesting to think about.

[Nature's Spell 526]

That's really awesome and if it's not what the four were based on it still sounds great.

[AlbaTross 1,581]

The series does draw quite a bit from Greek mythology, so it wouldn't surprise me if it's true. If not, it's just a happy coincidence.

[Zoraxe 546]

You do know Eros means "love, mostly of the sexual passion.", right? Eros is where the word Erotic comes from.

 

Cadance being 'Princess of Erotica' would mean that Shining Armor is one lucky stallion.

Edited December 4, 2014 by Zoraxe

[SFyr 1,982]

You do know Eros means "love, mostly of the sexual passion.", right? Eros is where the word Erotic comes from.

 

Cadance being 'Princess of Erotica' would mean that Shining Armor is one lucky stallion.

Well she 'does' have the body of Equestrian supermodel Fleur Dis Lee, so there's that, haha... But I dunno, I think it's largely about intimacy and devotion too. 

 

 

The series does draw quite a bit from Greek mythology, so it wouldn't surprise me if it's true. If not, it's just a happy coincidence.

Yeah, you have a point there~ And I honestly doubt it was the original idea, but it's still an interesting comparison to make. 

[Buck Testa 5,503]

So, a thought occurred to me when thinking about the 'magic' of the MLP universe, and semi-relatedly it occurred to me that each of the four ascended ponies could be paragons of a different form of love, as per the Greek definitions rather than our all-encompassing 'love'. Also, I apologize if this has been tossed about--ultimately it doesn't mean much to me, but I thought it was an interesting comparison to make.

 

Let me defend this point a little before going on, going off of a basic summation paraphrased from a basic online source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Loves), and from what I've heard in general.

 

Princess Twilight, paragon of Phila

Phila is the greek word for friendship based love. Supposedly it is one of the happiest and 'most human' of loves, since it does not come out of necessity/evolutionary need. ...And well, pretty much the whole show has been about Twilight discovering the magic of friendship, and building up a relationship with her closest friends. She seems to just ooze friendship and acceptance, which goes along with the comparison.

 

Princess Cadence, paragon of Eros

Love for a partner. In Equestria she is hailed as the 'Princess of Love', and for us, love is generically thought of as closer Eros in form than any other--love between a couple. It's the driving force not only to keep two souls together through better or worse, but occasionally drive one or both parties into actions they would normally not do (suicide being the most dramatic, as per Romeo and Juliet and the like, but manipulation was kind of a theme in their episode anyways). Regardless, if memory serves, it is the love that consumes, and both Shining Armor and Cadence seem pretty much that.

 

Princess Luna, paragon of Storge

Familial love (?); personally I direct it towards her sister Celestia. It's weaknesses are said to be confliction, smothering, and most importantly, jealousy. It's also said that that which you love most is able to hurt you most, and the raw emotions of Luna's downfall seem to be not only towards her subjects, but also towards her sister in particular. Though, maybe that's more from the fandom's interpretations than the show, hard to say. Regardless, I get the feeling that her sister is the most important figure in her life, who both provides her with stability and the acceptance she needs. Maybe when she started to question that (being ignored?), and grew jealous of the sister she loved, her connection to that elemental love was lost, and she ended up betraying it entirely.

 

Princess Celestia, paragon of Agape

Unconditional love. It is often characterized as a love between a deity and their followers (either direction), or even between a mother and their children. Celestia is an unwavering, guiding presence for all of Equestria, and could pretty much be conceptualized as the mother of all her little ponies. The difficulty in that is that she must be strong and unchanging, an eternal teacher, and a source of comfort for those who depend on her, but she is nonetheless adored for it.

As a kicker, Agape is also said to be the strongest of all loves, and here she is as the immortal(?) ruler that endured ruling alone for who knows how long, and still appears to be arguably the most powerful entity pony in current existence.

I think her connection to the elements being severed had to do with, like Luna, her betrayal of her central love. She loved her sister unconditionally, and very likely Luna also depended on Celestia some amount--yet Celestia still had to rid the world of her; I feel it's kinda like, if a mother banishes her child, even if it's necessary, you then taint your title of mother--or you taint unconditional love by acting directly against the object of that love.

 

Perhaps Twilight and Cadence were able to do what Luna and Celestia could not at a few points, because their connection has yet to be tainted.

 

 

Regardless, maybe then, the major source of strength/magic in Equestria is love in the end, maybe as a way to purify and strengthen the spirit, or some other strange thing of the like.

Thus,

...love conquers all?

Head canon accepted! This was really well thought out and makes a whole ton of sense considering the the greek like themes of the show. Bravo!