Love Conquers All

[sdi]

ἠδ᾽ Ἔρος, ὃς κάλλιστος ἐν ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι,
λυσιμελής, πάντων δὲ θεῶν πάντων τ᾽ ἀνθρώπων
δάμναται ἐν στήθεσσι νόον καὶ ἐπίφρονα βουλήν.

and Love, who is the most beautiful of the deathless gods,
who relaxes the limbs; of every gods' and mortals'
hearts, minds, and careful plans, he conquers.

(Hesiod, Theogony 120–2, as translated—hopefully not too badly!—by yours truly.)

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κάλλιστος is a tricky word, here; it is generally translated "most beautiful," but my dictionary seems to give the sense of "most good" in general—most good in form (hence "most beautiful"), most good in disposition ("kindliest"), most good in worthiness ("noblest"), etc. I'm not really sure in which sense it is meant, if indeed those of Hesiod's day would have distinguished them at all. Plotinus, at least, considered all superlatives (beauty, truth, etc.) to coincide in the Intellect.

I fear making sense of this is beyond my present capacities, but that doesn't make it any less worthy of a topic for meditation. Similarly, it is worth considering why Hesiod and Empedocles place Love at the top of their hierarchies, above even kingly Zeus.