Love is such a complex and multifaceted feeling that the ancient greeks have named it into four different forms: Agape, Eros, Philia and Storge. When we brief those four ways to feel something for other people in a single word: love - amor -, we lose most of their meaning. So I think Ancient Greece was right to treat them as individuals.
Agape is the love of God for his/her children. This kind of love makes us feel like we have a purpose on our existance. That is what keep us interested in what is beyond our knowledge, in what happens after we're dead. Agape moves religions and also religiosity. We rely on Agape to feel peace and find comfort among the struggle.
Eros is the love we feel for a man/woman that makes us want to live beside him/her. That is the love which arouses the sexual desire. Eros is the mother of marriages and commitments. It is what turns another person into a beauty we'd like to possess.
Philia is the friendship love. Perhaps it's one of the most unstable kind of love as they say 'friends come and go'. Philia might be felt for a year, also might be felt for a whole life. It is what makes strange people resemble like brothers or sisters.
Storge is that unconditional love our parents feel for us. I think that is one of the most intriguint love of all. I felt storge from my mother since I was born. But once I don't have children I don't 'Storge' anyone. Perhaps the closest feeling I have ever felt to Storge is the love I nourish for my students. But I'm pretty sure it can't be compared to the love and care of parents.
Altought I have described all greek forms of love, I'd like to think over a single form: Eros. Eros is lull but also struggle. After years I still find myself wondering why Eros gives me peace as much as it gives me pain. Sometimes I'd like to run away, find a deep cave and hide me. Sometimes I'd like to live life alone and forget that once I've found true Eros. It is like winning a prize that gives us fortune while it tooks away our virtue. Eros push us to our limit. It brings us to the borderline of happiness and loneliness. The more I try to hide me into a shell, the more it puts me to the crowd. But the time is here that the wept of my tears have dried. I decided not to deny Eros. Agape, Philia and Storge keeps me reminding that life isn't complete whitout their fourth brother. I decided to held it tight to me. Every tear caused by it comes with two smiles and the assurance that I'm with the one I love. Life is hard with Eros, life is even harder without it.
