Let’s start by looking at the etymology of the word eroticism.
If we breakdown the word eroticism, it is made of “erotic” and the suffix “ism”.
Erotic stems from ancient Greek “eros” meaning sexual love. This is a direct association with the God Eros in Greek mythology who represented love, desire and fertility. Eros is the representation of human lust, desire and sexual power as he could make or break bonds in relationships of gods and mortals by the touch of his arrow.
The word “eros” evolved in Greek to become “erotikos”, and later became “erotique” in French language. The word “erotic” appears in the English language around the middle of the 17th century.
The word “erotic” is used to signal arousal or satisfying sexual desire.
The suffix -ism is added at the end of words to define an act, a practice or a process of doing something.
Combining “erotic” and “ism” means the act, practice, or process of arousal or satisfying sexual desire.
Interestingly, the God Eros has been described as young and playful, and as one of the first Gods to emerge at the creation of the Universe. Chaos was the Greek God who created the Universe and all the beings in it. As his son, Eros is seen as a driving force behind the creation of the Universe, and his absence left destruction behind him. Fast forward to early 20th century, Sigmund Freud associated Eros and his destructive side with the concept of Libido, which represents a combination of sexual drive and energy.
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