8 Different Types of Love: according to the Ancient Greek

Love! The most beautiful feeling in the world. Those people are fortunate who have sometimes felt this feeling.

I think Love is the only feeling that connects two people. The world is so beautiful; the main reason is Love. Love is the common thread that binds every two strangers to live together life long.

In a family with generation gaps, the difference in thoughts and habits stays together because each family member loves each other. Even you and your friends are so close, the reason is, again, Love.

So, you can imagine how Love is essential in everyone's life. Imagine the world without Love. It is scary, right. It will be like a horror movie, where everyone just hates each other, and hate is the reason for destroying everything.

Have you ever felt Love?

How was the feeling? Was it warm and fuzzy inside? Or you experience any pain and suffering due to Love. What is your opinion about Love?

Well! Love comes with multiple emotions. Love takes hardly a second too spoken out. It can take your life to be understood. Love will please you some time, and sometimes, it will take you to unbearable pain.

I have heard many times from the people in a relationship, 'Relationships are tough!' And always been unsatisfied with this experience. I don't think that relationships are hard. Instead, people make relationships hard.

I think the foundation of Love is trust and respect. If you can trust your partner, respect your partner, and your partner's choices and decisions, you would agree that relationships are not at all hard.

Relationship asks for Love, and Love demands care and understanding. When two people don't understand each other, they would surely end up with an unsuccessful relationship. And, then, people blame Love for their relationship failure.

However, many people associates love with romance and physical attraction. But it is not valid.

You can also say that Love is an addiction. Once you start to experience it, you won't be able to come out of this addiction. When you experience love, your brain releases a hormone, so you felt overwhelmed by the positive feelings and want it more and more. You can not detach the person from yourself; you are in Love with it.

I am sure you don't know that there are eight different types of Love.

However, Love is Love. You can not calculate it, you can not see it, or you can not distribute it. This feeling directly comes within you. And if the feeling is genuine, nothing can be more beautiful than this.

But, yes, there are various types of Love - love you share with your partner, love you share with your family, love you share with your friends, and so on. You can not share the same feeling with each of the people you are living with.

This is today's topic of discussion. In this batch of the sentence, I will tell you eight different types of Love, which you might unaware of. So, let's get ready to know something exciting today.

Eight Different Types of Love

Each type of Love has a different effect on us. Love is like a bouquet of multiple flowers. It gives you pleasure and calmness to our eyes, but each flower has its unique characteristics.

Ancient Greeks studied Love. And they found out the various shades of Love and named it different Greek names. Let's meet each of the types!

1) Philia- Affectionate Love

Philia is a Greek name, which means affectionate Love. This love feeling we usually share with our friends and family. You can also call it brotherly love. In this feeling, both the persons in a relationship share similar respect and value for each other.

Ancient Greeks thoughts this kind of Love much better than the eros love, as, in these feelings, two people represent themselves on the same level.

2) Eros- Romantic Love

Eros is associated with the people who see themselves in a relationship of marriage and physical connection.

Eros is the term of a Greek God of fertility and Love. Ancients were a bit fearful of this kind of Love, as, in this feeling, there is a big chance of losing control. They also believed that this kind of Love could be dangerous.

Eros includes the physical affection between two people and consists of hugging, kidding, holding hands, etc. And it is not limited here.

3) Ludus- Playful Love

What is playful Love? This kind of Love you might have shared often between very close friends or the early stages of relationships.

This kind of Love consists of playful motions, teasing, and laughter between two persons. This Love is widespread between old and new couples.

You can say this Love is infatuation. It is just like butterflies in your stomach, and the feeling of always wanting to be with the person.

4) Mania- Obsessive Love

I would say it is the most dangerous type of life, as it is obsessive. Whenever there is an obsession with something or someone, it gets more dangerous.

Mania can take someone to the feeling of jealousy, madness, and anger. And this is the primary reason for the imbalance of Eros and Ludus.

This kind of Love includes more fear. And due to worry, the person goes crazy and not in a state of understanding things. Mania should be under control always, as it can be destructive in some cases.

5) Pragma- Enduring Love

Pragma is the opposite of Eros. Pragma is an enduring love, and passion is physical Love. Eros includes passion, and pragma is a love which is matured and grown-up with an extended period.

A great example of the pragma is old married couples as they are together since teenage and still are in love and hold hands.

But, unfortunately, this kind of love is rare to find nowadays. People are more likely to Eros in the present situation.

6) Storge- Familiar Love

Storge is a Greek name, which means familiar love. I know it is strange to hear.

I would say storge is more likely to philia. In this kind of Love, the feeling shared is just like the feelings between two friends.

Storge is a profoundly emotional connection. You can say it is Love like a parent and a child shares. Unlike in Eros, there is no physical attraction, but yes, storge has a kinship, strong bond, and familiarities.

7) Philautia- Self Love

In a simple language, you can define philautia as a selfish love. The self-obsessed person or in Love with the self is prevalent now a day. But, the Greek ancients do not mean self-love negatively.

They express self-love with a positive intention. They said everyone must be in Love with the self. Everyone should be able to give and take love. You can not share things that you don't have. So, when you don't love yourself, you can not give love to anyone.

8) Agape- Unconditional Love

Unconditional Love is nothing but selfless Love. A love where you don't expect anything in place of your given Love.

I would say agape as true love. And the real definition of love is explained by unconditional love.

But, this kind of love is also rare to find nowadays. Some people would define agape as spiritual love.

Love Languages

We all know the typical two types of languages, viz., verbal and nonverbal language. But love has its own language. Your actions will speak many things about your feeling for anyone. Have a look;

1) Receiving gifts

Some people can value their gifts, and some don't even care about them. So, if you consider the love by the gifts given by your partner, then your love language is receiving gifts.

2) Quality time

If you measure your love based on how much time you and your partner have to spend together, your love language is quality time.

3) Words of affirmation

Some people are very used to listening to ‘I Love You’ or any other flattering compliment from their partners. If they don't receive it, they feel unloved.

4) Acts of service

Act of service will include cleaning someone's house, giving a back rub, or changing someone's oil, which ultimately means helping someone.

5) Physical touch

Some people measure their love with the physical contact of their partner.

Love languages speak more than you talk to your partner. So, you can say, love language plays an essential role in the relationship. If both of you can share the same love language, it can keep your relationship healthy, and, if it differs, it can be harmful to your relationship.

Instead, if you or your partner can understand the love language, it is not essential to share the same language to keep your relationship healthy.

I think, today, you have got the information about a fascinating factor. You share this feeling daily with many people in your life. So, I hope it will help you a lot.