Prologue, Chapters 1-6, Bittersweet, Gone, Ruse, Tactics, The Reach, Finding the Edge Summary and Analysis

Eros: The Bittersweet concerns the "delight we take in metaphor" and focuses on the function of meaning, the relationship between the normal and the conventions of communication. It also concerns why people love to fall in love, why beauty moves the mind. The lover suppresses the irrelevant.

Chapter 1, Bittersweet, notes that in Greek mythology, Sappho first called Eros, romantic love, "bittersweet." Experiencing Eros combines pleasure and pain but the pain is less obvious. Eros creeps up on individuals from outside, and nothing can stop it from approaching. It brings with it hate, and so the paradox in the "love-hate" relationship is born. This combination of love and hate is an enemy. Carson illustrates this theme with Greek poetry. Love...