By Jeffery Keys ‘21, Feature Writer

When I sat down to watch Super Bowl LIV, I knew I was about to witness two guarantees: a hard-fought battle between electric 2018 MVP Patrick Mahomes and the stout defense hailing from San Francisco, and a slew of commercials as odd as they were entertaining. These, of course, were the expectations of almost every viewer tuning in the night of February 2nd. The former criterion, as expected, was upheld in spectacular fashion towards the end of the match.  But amongst a giant Snickers bar being dropped into the core of the earth and the funeral of iconic food mascot Mr. Peanut followed immediately by his revival as “Baby Nut,” there was a particularly interesting commercial that left an impression on me larger than that left on the 53rd Lombardi Trophy by Gronk’s batting skills. It was a minute-long ad run by the insurance company New York Life that delved into the nature of the Four Loves, a concept popularized by author C.S. Lewis in his aptly named The Four Loves.  Intrigued by these definitions, I decided to pry a bit further and present a deeper look into these four Greek notions.

In modern-day America, we “love” many things. We “love” our family and our partners, yes, but we also “love” pieces of media, articles of clothing, skilled artists, or whatever plate of food currently sitting in front of us. The word “love” presents itself seemingly everywhere, yet we use it with vastly different intentions. The use of “love,” as it stands, is more situational, to be regarded with context. Do I truly “love” my dog as much as I do a pair of shoes I saw online?  Do I love my grandmother as much as I do a celebrity who has no idea of my existence? When we step back and look at the plethora of instances in which we use “love,” it is almost as if we should use different words entirely. Looking back in time, the Greeks did, in fact, have different words for “love,” embodying the different complexities and nuances associated with humanity’s most intense emotion.

As narrator Tessa Thompson first describes, “philia” embodies a bond between peers, an affection often translated as “friendship.” You might recognize “philia” from words that bear a similar prefix or suffix: a “hydrophilic” molecules rush to be surrounded by water; an “Anglophile” has an affinity for England; “Philadelphia,” the city of brotherly love, was created originally as a safe haven for all religions, a place that strove to maintain a good relationship with surrounding Native Americans. In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, he emphasizes the importance of friendship to happiness. In Book IX, Aristotle notes that a human is a “political creature” and could never thrive in isolation, even going as far as to say that “the happy man needs friends.”  Perfect friendship is an appreciation of the friendship itself, not for its utility or as a means to an end. True friendship serves as a great equalizer — discrepancies in status, wealth, power, or otherwise are disregarded by philia.

The next love mentioned in the Super Bowl ad is “storge,” which Thompson notes as “the kind you have for a grandparent or a brother.” Storge is built off familiarity, a natural bond developed instinctually. It is often described as “familial love,” what you might feel between yourself and your parents, or what your pet might feel between itself and you.  Lewis hails storge as the most organic of these loves, a wave of comfort enveloping one like the heat emitted from a fireplace.

Turn on the radio to any given channel and what you’ll hear in the words uttered in falsetto is “eros.” Instagram stories posted on February 14, brilliant white dresses sauntering down the aisle, the inspiration of poets across time and space, all emanate from eros. This is passion, romance, perhaps the most famous “love” we know of today. Eros was a prominent figure in Greek mythology, but you might more readily recognize his Roman counterpart: Cupid. Son of Aphrodite, this god of love toted a bow and arrow that could make his targets fall in love. While eros is often regarded as a great feeling, Lewis hastily points out that as high as the peaks born from eros are, it could potentially lead to devastating valleys and abysses. Perhaps Lewis has a point — another flip of the radio channel might entail a song describing the woes of a breakup.

The last kind of love in the commercial is “agape,” detailed as “love as an action.” Agape is said to be the greatest of all loves. It is unrelated to familiarity unlike storge, nor does it include the downfall of eros, but simply an unconditional, self-sufficient drive to spread joy. Although agape is widely used in a Christian context, said to embody the relationship between God and man, it simply means the helping of others. Many people say that helping others makes themselves happy — it is that altruistic mentality that encapsulates agape love.

So next time you find yourself using the word “love,” try to think deeper about what Greek subcategory it would fall under. Maybe when you greet your friend, say “I have a great sense of philia for you.” Or when you feed your pet, think of how much storge they must be feeling for you… Or perhaps saying “love” is just fine after all.