Ancient Greek Words for Love

Agape - Selfless, Unconditional Love

Agape, arguably the highest type of love, is a universal and unconditional type of love that cares about others over the self. This includes love for God, love for humankind, love for animals and other beings.

Eros - Passionate, Sexual Love

Eros is the type of love between romantic partners.

Ludus - Playful, Youthful Love

Flirting, having a crush, all of this would be ludus. This is a sweet and youthful type of love.

Mania

Obsessive, controlling, and tyrannical love.

Philautia - Self Love

Love yourself first. Everything else flows from there. A healthy self love can lead to loving feelings and actions toward others, while overindulging in self love can lead to self-centeredness, narcissism, and mistreatment of others. Philautia is so important for this reason.

Philia - Friendship

Philia is the loyalty and support of friendship. It is the root word of Philadelphia, the city of "brotherly or sisterly love." This is friendship, knowledge of each other, and of affection between members of the community.