My Eros is crucified. ὁ ἐμὸς ἔρως ἐσταύρωται
— Saint Ignatius of Antioch
Indeed some of our writers on sacred matters have thought the title ‘yearning’ [eros] to be more divine than ‘love’ [agape]. The divine Ignatius writes: ‘He for whom I yearn has been crucified.’ In the introductory scriptures you will note the following said about the divine wisdom: ‘I yearned for her beauty’ (Wis of Sol 8:2). So let us not fear this title of ‘yearning’ nor be upset by what anyone has to say about these two names, for, in my opinion, the sacred writers regard ‘yearning’ and ‘love’ as having one and the same meaning. They added ‘real’ [ontos] to the use of ‘yearning’ regarding divine things because of the unseemly nature such a word has for men. The title ‘real yearning’ is praised by us and by the scriptures themselves as being appropriate to God. Others, however, tended naturally to think of a partial, physical, and divided yearning. This is not true yearning but an empty image or, rather, a lapse from real yearning.
— Dionysius the Areopagite: On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology
Eros descends from above from the intelligible sphere down to the cosmic, and turns all things toward the divine beauty.
— Proclus