Yes, Eros was depicted as a child (the chubby, winged Cupid) in later Greek and Roman art, but in older Greek myths, he was a powerful, beautiful young man or even a primordial god, with the child version becoming popular much later, evolving from mischievous poets into the familiar Valentine's figure.
In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite. He is usually presented as a handsome young man, though in some appearances he is a juvenile boy full of mischief, ever in the company of his mother.
Yes, many Greek gods had male lovers, with the norm being bisexuality, though figures like Zeus (with Ganymede), Apollo (with Hyacinthus), Hermes, Dionysus, and the hero Heracles are famous examples, often involved in pederastic relationships or deep bonds that modern interpretation calls homosexual or bisexual. While gods like Ares, Hades, and Hephaestus had fewer or no male lovers, same-sex relationships were common across the pantheon, with Zeus often cited as the prime example of a powerful god with male paramours.
Because Eros is mischievous and represents the havoc that passion and love can entail and the gods were just as susceptible to his arrows as mortals.
Eros is one of the most ancient Gods, and goes beyond time, thus his age cannot be counted in our years. Hesiod refers to Eros in “Theogony” (“The Birth of the Gods”) as one of the first 3 Gods that ever existed, along with Chaos and Nyx.
In another account, likely derived from an Orphic cosmogony, Nyx gives birth to a "wind-egg", from which Eros emerges. In later Orphic sources, she is mentioned as the mother of the Stars (by Uranus?), and, in one account, is the daughter of Eros.
In Greek and Roman figurative art, Eros or Cupid appears depicted in many different ways, each baring a specific meaning. The deity is sometimes blindfolded to remember that love is blind.
/ˈkjuː.pɪd/ the ancient Roman god of love, represented by a naked baby boy who has wings and shoots arrows at people to make them start to love each other.
Apollo and Eros have a hostile relationship that originally started as a rivalry over their archery abilities. Eros's hatred for Apollo worsens after he learns that Apollo raped his best friend Persephone.
“The dark side of eros love is that, if a relationship lacks other forms of love expanding it, it is less likely to withstand the test of time because the intensity of one's feelings will diminish anyway,” she adds. Nevertheless, this shouldn't be seen as an inescapable trait of eros love.
Apollo: The God of Bisexuality.
Many people interpret Artemis to be either lesbian or asexual and for the larger pop mythology community it's no longer interpretation. Artemis is the queer goddess.
Second, historical sources for Attica indicate that, although most men may have married, homosexual behavior was widespread among all levels of society and was considered no more opprobrious than heterosexual behavior.
They were a family of gods, the most important consisting of the first generation of Olympians, offspring of the Titans Cronus and Rhea: Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter and Hestia, along with the principal offspring of Zeus: Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes and Dionysus.
Psyche was a mortal woman of such breathtaking beauty that people compared her to Aphrodite, angering the goddess. Out of jealousy, Aphrodite commanded her son Eros to make Psyche fall in love with a hideous creature. But upon seeing her, Eros himself was struck by his own arrow and fell deeply in love.
Aphrodite: Goddess of Love Who Loved Everyone
She's the mother of Hermaphroditus, a symbol of intersex divinity, and many LGBTQ+ groups have adopted her as a patron goddess of queer love in all forms.
Homosexuality and bisexuality
Apollo, the god of sun and music, is considered the patron of same sex love, as he had many male lovers and was often invoked to bless homosexual unions. He is also called "the champion of male love" by Andrew Callimach.
Apollo is generally viewed as His favorite son, However in the Orphic tradition Dionysus is Zeus' heir therefore he's most likely candidate for favorite son. That said Dionysus was originally a god named Zagreus so you could say that he was Zeus's favorite son.
Erebus, the God of Darkness and Shadows
Greek myths also refer to this god as Erebos. The Greeks primarily worshipped the Olympian gods, such as Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. These gods were said to have taken control of the universe by overthrowing their father, Cronus, and his Titan brothers.
But seriously, the diaper is most likely just for modesty's sake and definitely makes Cupid easier to cosplay in public.
In mythology and traditional depictions, Cupids and cherubs are not inherently good or bad.
Cupid has the power to make people fall in love with each other. If he shoots someone with his arrow, they will fall in love. According to Ovid, he also has another arrow that can make people not love others.
Eros can be redeemed as it's both/and — a virtue since God created it while a vice since we corrupted it. Churches teaching gospels of sin management have difficulty with both/and. They imagine the gospel story starts in Genesis 3 (the fall). They imagine our sexual desires are completely corrupted.
As a feminist retelling of the Greek myth of Psyche and Eros, it portrays Psyche as a queer (egg) cis woman and Eros as an AFAB genderfluid/nonbinary/GNC/something-in-the-cloud-of-queerness person.
Peithò, (Persuasion Personified), leads Eros to his mother Aphrodite, terribly crossed with him, for an impending punishment. Eros used his arrows to kindle Ares's passion for another woman, and Aphrodite is unwilling to forgive such mischief.