In psychoanalytic theory, the life instinct that drives self-preservation, reproduction, and creative activities. Freud described it as the force that motivates behaviors aimed at survival and pleasure-seeking.
Named after Eros, the Greek god of love and sexual desire. Freud adopted this term in 1920 to represent the life-affirming drives that oppose destructive impulses, drawing from ancient Greek mythology where Eros represented the creative force of love.
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