Jewellery was used as a symbol of power in Ancient Greece, an outward way to express great wealth. Jewellery also served apotropaic and religious purposes. After the arrival of metallurgy, the Greeks began to create increasingly complex designs to reflect and represent the wealth and power of Greek nobility. Jewellery was enriched by precious stones and modelled in the shape of goddesses and gods, as seen on this incredible example. In Ancient Greek culture and mythology Eros was the deity upon erotic and passionate love, known in Greek as ἔρως. He was the son of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty, and was usually portrayed carrying a bow and some arrows, with which he would have touched the heart of people and made them feel desire for each other. Moreover, Eros was often represented with wings outstretched with which he could gain height to aim his arrows, but which also represented the instability of desire, which could easily fly away.