Angels-EROS

Angels are predominantly considered messengers of god in the great
monotheistic faiths of the West—Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam. In contrast, among polytheistic systems, gods and
goddesses themselves often serve as message bearers. In the earlier
pantheistic religions of the Mediterranean and the Middle East there
were many gods and demigods who served as divine messengers, along
with lesser divinities who in one way or another became paradigms for
later angels.
One of these forerunners was the Greek god Eros, who was the
direct model for Cupid—the familiar child angel of romantic love.
Like Cupid, Eros sported wings and shot arrows, though the emotions
aroused by Eros’s arrows were more purely sexual than the gentler emotions associated with Cupid. Befitting his association with the
passions, Eros was portrayed in art as a young, handsome, athletic
man. Eros did not metamorphose into the childlike Cupid until the
Hellenistic period.