Series
Words of Love
An eight-part series exploring the Greek words for love and the circle of love in Orthodox thought.
Greek gives four words where English gives one. Each marks a different point on the same circle — from the sacrificial love that is its cornerstone, through the first love we are given, to the love that mimics eternity. The series maps that geography one word at a time.
Written by
Ignatius Gardner
Ignatius Gardner is a teacher, writer, and doctoral candidate at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is currently writing his dissertation about St Gregory the Theologian.
Essays in this series
Oldest first
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Words of Love: Introduction
“Words of Love” seeks to explore the many multifaceted aspects of love by mapping out its geography with the help of the Greek language.
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Agape: The Cornerstone of Love
In part one of Words of Love, we will look at Agape and explore how Christ and His unconditional, sacrificial agape is the cornerstone upon which the entire…
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Storge: Our First Love
In Part Two of our series Words of Love, we will explore our first love, the love we first experience in life: storge (stor-yí in Modern Greek).
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Storge: The Mother of the Word
On this stop on the journey around the circle of love, we explore the most celebrated and iconic depiction of storge in the history of Byzantine and Western…
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Philia: The Luminous Line of Friendship
Friendship is a voluntary association based on a set of shared goals, interests, feelings, and memories. It is preserved by a strong bond of mutual trust.
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Words of Love: Divine Philia
Exploring the greatest possible form of friendship: friendship between God Himself and man.
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Eros: the Love that Mimics Eternity
According to the Ancient Greeks, the whole cosmos was animated by Eros. Aristotle writes in his Metaphysics that God, the Unmoved Mover, “moves” the whole universe “by being…
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Eros Part II: the Sun Comes Forth
On the final stop on our journey around the circle of love, we arrive at Eros.
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