Local Archery Expert Says Cupid's Job Was Easy
Friday, February 14, 2014
By: Amy Kiley

February 14, 2014 | WMFE, Orlando--For Valentine's Day, the Roman love god, Cupid, emerges in popular culture as a pudgy, weapon-wielding baby. In advance of the holiday, I visited a local archery range to investigate: how hard is it to shoot someone with a love arrow?

[Photo of Phil Graves by Amy Kiley.  To see a slideshow of the story produced by Brendan Byrne, click here or visit http://bit.ly/1b2tFRK.]

Mythology says Cupid humbled the archery god, Apollo, by shooting him with a golden arrow and making him fall in a love with a nymph.  Then Cupid shot the nymph with a lead arrow, making her … not interested. 

Cupid Had It Easy

Taking down the god of the bow might seem challenging, but Central Florida’s highest ranked archery coach says Cupid had it easy. “No, he wouldn’t have a hard job,” says Phil Graves, owner of Geneva Archery, a half hour northeast of downtown.  “And, in your scenario of Cupid, I don’t know, if you just, if you shoot in the right direction, I think you’re going to be fine.”

We sit at his outdoor range near a row of targets, riddled with arrow holes.  A shot to the outermost, white rings is worth one or two points.  Inside each center yellow circle lies the coveted bull’s eye. 

Graves runs a Junior Olympic Archery Development program.  He says, standing before these very targets, students as young as eight years-old have shot better than any love god.  That said, Graves gives Cupid some credit.  He notes, “Moving targets are more difficult because you’ve got to judge the distance and the direction and the speed – and then try to, try to estimate where you want to place it in anticipation of where they’re going to be, not where they are.”

Proving It

Graves says he can back up his claim by teaching me to shoot like Cupid in a single lesson.  

To clarify: hitting the target anywhere counts.  Cupid’s mother, Venus, fell in love with Adonis after just scratching herself with her son’s arrow.  Granted, Adonis personified male beauty.

Graves takes me to his equipment shed and finds petite arrows that suit my 5’ 1” height.  Then, he holds up his hand to test my strength.  I’m not exactly a linebacker, and Graves reaches behind the standard bows and selects one that’s easier to draw.  Despite modern depictions of Cupid as a winged infant, mythology’s love god grew into an athletic adult.  But, Graves insists an archer’s size is not a factor.

The Big Moment

Once armed and at the range, we choose a close target, and I straddle a painted line that marks its distance.  To grasp the bow, Graves asks me to hold out my right index finger and thumb.  The so-called “Archer’s Y” helps me place my hand on the bow correctly.  Once lined up for the shot, I “nock,” or load, an arrow onto the bow.  One of its feather-like “fletchings” is a different color, which helps with positioning.

I draw the bow, and then comes the big moment …

On my first shot, I hit the target!  On my sixth, I hit its yellow portion!

Graves has made his point.  Cupid’s job seems more fun than hard.  And, to make Valentine’s Day even easier, Graves recommends an amorous weapon arguably more potent than an arrow.  He says, “I think a box of chocolates will do it too.”