Welcome to one of the components of The Stories of Love and Adventure entitled Cupid and Psyche!
In this topic, we will learn about the romance between a former mortal named Psyche and the god of love and desire, Cupid. The various tasks imposed by the goddess of love and beauty, Venus, to Psyche will also be discussed. The myth, Cupid and Psyche, had been retold countless of times; but here, we will focus on the version of Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis, a latin writer of the second century A.D.
Who knows? Before you realize it, Cupid has already hit you with one of his arrows and fall in love with this myth like I did. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get started!
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs):
- Identify the characters involved in the Myth, Cupid and Psyche
- Identify everyday things, events and phenomena related to this myth.
Characters:
Major:
- Cupid – (or Eros in Greek) is the god of love and desire. He is also one of the offsprings of Venus and Mars.
- Psyche – the wife of Cupid; and later on, she became the goddess of soul
- Venus – the goddess of love and beauty; as well as the mother of Cupid.
Minor:
- Proserpine – queen of the underworld and wife of Pluto
- Zeus – ruler of the Olympians; god of sky and thunder
- Zephyr – the west wind
- King and father of Psyche
- Sisters of Psyche
- Oracle of Apollo
Synopsis:
Once, there was a king who had three daughters. One of them was named Psyche, whose extraordinary beauty was greatly adored by everyone. Some even said that she may even surpass Venus, the goddess of beauty herself.
Soon, Venus found her temples and altars deserted. All the worships and admiration were transferred to Psyche, a mere mortal. This made the goddess furious; and she turned to her son, Cupid, for help. “Use your power,” she said, “and make the hussy fall madly in love with the vilest and most despicable creature there is in the whole world.”
Cupid went to do as told; but upon gazing at Psyche, he shot his own heart with one of his arrows. Of course, he did not tell his mother what had happened and that left Venus thinking that Psyche’s fall would soon come. Apparently, Psyche did not fall in love at all; nor did anyone fall for her as well. Even her sisters who were inferior to her were married off to kings, whereas, it seemed that no man wanted her.
Her father then consulted the oracle of Apollo, who told him that a fearful winged serpent will marry Psyche. He also told them that they must leave her on a summit of a rocky hill, where her husband will take her and make her his wife. Her family did as told; and Psyche, alone, waited on the high hilltop until Zephyr, the west wind, brought her to a mansion with pillars of gold, walls of silver and floors of precious stones. Inside the mansion, she could not see anyone else but she could hear voices– it seemed that all were invisible.
Later that night, Psyche finally felt her husband. She could not see him, of course, but she knew that he was no monster, rather, he was the lover she had been longing for. Then one day, her husband warned her that her sisters will visit the place where she disappeared and will mourn for her. He also said that she must not let them see her; but Psyche was persistent which left Cupid with no choice but to say “Do what you will, but you are seeking your own destruction.”
Her sisters, brought by Zephyr, came the following day. The happy reunion was cut short after the two got jealous of Psyche’s current life. Their fortune and wealth seemed nothing compared to Psyche’s. Their envy, which turned to anger, provoked them to plot Psyche’s ruin.
Cupid pleaded Psyche not to let her sisters come again, but she argued that she wanted to see them. Soon, her wicked sisters arrived. First, they asked her what her husband looked like, which of course, Psyche was not able to answer as she had not yet seen Cupid. Then they told her that he was in fact a fearful serpent that will someday devour her. They even advised Psyche that she should hide a knife and a lamp under her bed; and later when he’s asleep, she should use the lamp to see what he looks like and later plunge the knife into him.
After a battle with her thoughts, Psyche came to a decision of doing what she’s told. While he slept, she lit the lamp and held it high above her. What lay before her surprised her that she dropped the knife. Her husband was no serpent, but the fairest man she has ever seen. A hot oil fell from the lamp and onto his shoulder which woke him up. Angered by Psyche’s faithlessness, he fled.
Miserable and desperate, Psyche went on a journey to search for him. Cupid, on the other hand, had stopped by his mother’s where he was supposed to get his wound treated. The goddess, however, ignored him after he told what had happened between him and Psyche. Venus decided to avenge for her son and make the poor girl pay.
When Psyche came to Venus to look for him, the goddess laughed scornfully at her and refused to let her see her son. That is until she came up with a plan to see the girl suffer. She presented tasks to Psyche, one after another.
The trials were as follows:
- The first is that, Psyche must separate a great quantity of the smallest seeds (wheat, poppy and millet) by nightfall. Psyche successfully accomplished this with the help of ants who took pity on her and did the job for her.
- The second one is for Psyche to fetch Venus a shining wool from sheep with fleeces of gold. This time, a green reed helped her. It told her not to throw herself into the stream, but wait until the sheep comes out from the bushes and rest beside the river by evening. During that time, she could enter the thicket and find plenty of the golden wool hanging on sharp briars.
- On the third task, Psyche must fill a flask with water from the river Styx. Psyche found this the hardest as only a winged creature could reach the waterfall. Abruptly, an eagle came to her rescue. It took the flask from her with its beak and later brought it back to her full of the black water Venus asked.
- Venus gave Psyche a box which she must bring to Proserpine for her to fill with her beauty which the latter was happy to grant.
Before Psyche could bring the box back to Venus, her curiosity and desperation to look as beautiful for Cupid caused her to peek into the box and use a little of it for herself. The box was empty, much to her disappointment. However, a deadly languor took over her and she fell into a deep sleep.
Once healed from the wound, Cupid escaped from where his mother had locked him in and went to look for his wife. After seeing her, he immediately flew to her; and wiped the sleep from her eyes and put it back into the box. He woke her up with his arrow and scolded her for being curious. Cupid then told her to bring Proserpine’s box back to Venus, and rest assured that he will handle the rest.
After she left to fulfill the last trial, Cupid went straight to Jupiter, the king of gods and men, and asked for his help. Jupiter did not refuse the god of love and arranged an assembly where he announced Cupid and Psyche’s formal marriage. Jupiter even proposed that Psyche be bestowed with immortality; and he, himself, gave her ambrosia which turned her immortal.
Venus could not object. She realized that Psyche being in Heaven with a husband and children, was better than her being on Earth where she will be worshipped by men for her beauty.
And the two lovers lived happily ever after.
Do you now see where the concept “Love at first sight” started?
So, that concludes the myth of Cupid and Psyche. I hope you enjoyed reading it until the end.
Lesson:
As Cupid had mentioned in Apuleius’ work, “Love cannot grow where there is no trust.”