Storge

Common card · No. 237594

Storge ( STOR-ghee; from Ancient Greek στοργή (storgḗ) 'love, affection'), refers to natural or instinctual affection, such as the love between parents and their children. In Ancient Greece, storge was also used to describe a pet's feelings towards its owner. Only rarely, storge (and the verb stérgō) was used in Ancient Greek contexts referring to sexual love, for a certain effect. For example, Marcus Argentarius once wrote "This is not erôs [...]; but when one has seen an ill-favored girl [...] and cherishes [stergei] her, aflame from within his mad breast."—evoking a more homely feeling towards the unattractive girl than eros, but then insinuating that such a feeling would be insanity. The term storge was revived in English by the modern author C. S. Lewis, who refers to it in his 1960 book The Four Loves as equivalent to his concept of affection.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Berthe Morisot, Public domain