The statue of Eros - god of romantic love and sexuality - graces London's Piccadilly Circus, but he has proved an ambiguous and ambivalent deity. He is actually supposed to be Anteros - Eros's brother - and was set up as a memorial to Lord Shaftsbury, an evangelical Christian who campaigned against child labour and Britain's involvement in the opium trade. Anteros, unlike his lustful sibling, represents divine love for our fellow creatures. Shaftsbury would probably disapprove, however, of much of what has gone on under Anteros's gaze, with prostitution and the sex trade in that part of London rife. Also, the Boots chemist at Piccadilly Circus was for years the place where the majority of Britain's opioid addicts picked up their prescriptions of medical-grade heroin. My article: davidcastleton.net/eros-piccad… #history #mythology #folklore #drugs #London #psychogeography