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All Site ContentMidsummer Night's DreamAct 1Scene 1
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Mythological Reference
“Cupid’s strongest bow”
Act 1,
Scene 1
Lines 169-178

An explanation of the reference to Cupid in Act 1, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

 

Hermia

I swear to thee by Cupid's strongest bow,
By his best arrow with the golden head,
By the simplicity of Venus' doves,
By that which knitteth souls and prospers loves,
And by that fire which burned the Carthage queen
When the false Trojan under sail was seen,
By all the vows that ever men have broke –
(In number more than ever women spoke) –
In that same place thou hast appointed me
Tomorrow truly will I meet with thee.

Cupid is the son of Venus, the goddess of love. Anyone struck by one of Cupid's golden-tipped arrows immediately falls in love. In addition to being the goddess of love, his mother is also the goddess of the moon, and every night she rides across the sky in a chariot pulled by sacred doves which, because they mate for life, are considered symbols of a long and prosperous marriage.

Cupid's Arrow, Walter Crane, c. 1850