Agape comes from the Latin agăpe, although its more distant etymological origin leads us to a Greek word that can be translated as “love” or “affection”. Specifically, we can determine that it emanates from the Greek word “agape”, which was used to refer to that love of an unconditional type in which the person in question only cares about what is the well-being of the individual he loves.
Thus, for example, in Antiquity many were the Greek philosophers who used that word to refer to the love that is professed both to the couple and to the parents or the children. Among those was Plato.
It should also be noted that “agape” was presented in contrast to another important term: “eros”, which came to refer to a love with more sexual conditioning.
The current term of agape is used to name the fraternal food, of a religious nature, that the first Christians carried out to strengthen their ties.
By extension, today it is understood as agape that banquet that is organized with the intention of celebrating an event or entertaining a guest. For example: “We are pleased to invite you and your family to participate in the agape in honor of the Most Excellent Ambassador of the Republic, Mr. Roberto López Cahito”, “The ceremony was simple and consisted of a small agape that brought together the attendees ”, “ I appreciate your proposal, but I prefer not to participate in the agape ”, “ We all enjoy the agape and dance until dawn ”.
Organizing an agape is not a simple task. It requires taking care of an important number of details in order to ensure that it is optimal and that attendees feel at ease:
• Regarding the menu, it must be borne in mind that the most delicate dishes must come first than the strongest.
• The garnish and sauce should never be repeated in various dishes.
• It is necessary to take care of the millimeter the choice of both the decoration of the place and what would be the table or tables.
In the historical and religious sense of the concept, the agape sought to promote union between Christians and foster brotherhood that destroyed social inequality. It should be noted that the first Christians lived in community and considered themselves as brothers: as the group grew, the agapes became more relevant to maintain that union.
In the same way, we cannot forget that in El Salvador there is an association that responds to the name of AGAPE. It is an entity of religious essence, created in 1978 by a Franciscan priest and its clear objective is to help, through various resources and programs, all those people who are economically deprived.
In the Greek language, agápē can be defined as agápē as universal love or love for humanity, unlike personal love.
Agape, lastly, is a genus of moths originating from the Pacific Islands and belonging to the family of night owls.
