Mythology Summary and Analysis of Cupid and Psyche
A stunningly beautiful girl, Psyche, is born after two older sisters. People throughout the land worship her beauty so deeply that they forget about the goddess Venus. Venus becomes angry that her temples are falling to ruin, so she plots to ruin Psyche. She instructs her son, Cupid, to pierce the girl with an arrow and make her fall in love with the most vile, hideous man alive. But when Cupid sees Psyche in her radiant glory, he shoots himself with the arrow instead.
Meanwhile, Psyche and her family become worried that she will never find a husband, for although men admire her beauty, they always seem content to marry someone else. Psyche's father prays to Apollo for help, and Apollo instructs her to go to the top of a hill, where she will marry not a man but a serpent. Psyche bravely follows the instructions and falls asleep on the hill. When she wakes up, she discovers a stunning mansion. Going inside, she relaxes and enjoys fine food and luxurious treatment. At night, in the dark, she meets and falls in love with her husband.
She lives happily with him, never seeing him, until one day he tells her that her sisters have been crying for her. She begs to see them, but her husband replies that it would not be wise to do so. Psyche insists that they visit, and when they do, they become extremely jealous of Psyche's beautiful mansion and lush quarters. They deduce that Psyche has never seen her husband, and they convince her that she must sneak a look. Confused and conflicted, Psyche turns on a lamp one night as her husband lies next to her.
When she sees the beautiful Cupid asleep on her bed, she weeps for her lack of faith. Cupid awakens and deserts her because Love cannot live where there is no trust. Cupid returns to his mother, Venus, who again decides to enact revenge on the beautiful girl.
Psyche, meanwhile, journeys all over the land to find Cupid. She decides to go to Venus herself in a plea for love and forgiveness, and when she finally sees Venus, the great goddess laughs aloud. Venus shows her a heap of seeds and tells her that she must sort them all in one night's time if she wants to see Cupid again. This task is impossible for one person alone, but ants pity Psyche and sort the seeds for her. Shocked, Venus then orders Psyche to sleep on the cold ground and eat only a piece of bread for dinner. But Psyche survives the night easily. Finally, Venus commands her to retrieve a golden fleece from the river. She almost drowns herself in the river because of her sorrow, but a reed speaks to her and suggests that she collect the golden pieces of fleece from the thorny briar that catches it. Psyche follows these instructions and returns a sizable quantity to Venus. The amazed goddess, still at it, now orders Psyche to fill a flask from the mouth of the River Styx. When Psyche reaches the head of the river, she realizes that this task seems impossible because the rocks are so dangerous. This time, an eagle helps her and fills the flask. Venus still does not give in. She challenges Psyche to go into the underworld and have Persephone put some of her beauty in a box. Miraculously, Psyche succeeds.
On her way toward giving the box to Venus, she becomes curious, opens the box, and instantly falls asleep. Meanwhile, Cupid looks for Psyche and finds her sleeping. He awakens her, puts the sleeping spell back in the box, and takes her to Zeus to request her immortality. Zeus grants the request and makes Psyche an immortal goddess. She and Cupid are married. Venus now supports the marriage because her son has married a goddess—and because Psyche will no longer distract the men on earth from Venus.
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Psyche, the prettiest mortal girl, is the daughter of a king and queen with two older sisters. Her looks are so enticing that all men and women come to see her beauty. Some even claim that she is prettier than the Greek Goddess of love. However, all the attention that Psyche receives does not fulfill her desire to fall in love and find a hand in marriage. Aphrodite notices that she is being outshone by a mere mortal and she becomes jealous thus ordering her son, Cupid, to shoot Psyche with his arrow so she falls in love with an ugly monster. Cupid agrees to do so and visits Psyche at night. The moment he shines his light upon the sleeping mortal, he becomes so startled by her beauty that he shoots himself with his own arrow and instantly falls in love with her.
Meanwhile, being unfavored by Aphrodite, Psyche becomes distanced from finding her true love. Her parents notice this and become worried that she will never marry as their intentions. They visit with the God of Truth, Apollo, and he tells how she is destined to marry a monster on the top of a mountain. Filled with aggravation, her parents tell her and she agrees to deal with her given destiny. So Psyche ascends the mountain and awaits her husband to be. Upon that mountain she is catered to her every need and practically lives the life of luxury. With her new life, she can only meet with her husband at night in the dark and he remains unseen. What she does not know is that Cupid is actually the one who visits her every night as he is entranced by her. But Psyche is to believe that she is meeting with the monster who lives upon the mountain. Cupid asks her to not to doubt their love simply because she cannot see his face and she agrees.
As time progresses she begins to miss her family and requests that her two sisters come up and visit her. Zephyr brings them up to the mountain and they plant doubt into Psyche’s mind saying that her husband is an ugly monster who waits to feast on her. Psyche first doubted them but her curiosity overpowered her and she could not resist. So one night as Cupid visited her, she shone a light onto his face and was startled that he was such a beautiful sight. Cupid, feeling betrayed from their trust tells her he shall no longer see her and flies away leaving her with feelings of guilt and remorse.
Psyche turns to Aphrodite asking for forgiveness and she assigns her tasks to do in order to prove herself worthy. Once she completed her punishment, Psyche receives a box filled with beauty but is warned not to open it. Her desire for beauty takes hold of her and she opens the box and finds nothing but a Stygian sleep. She lays in the middle of a road fast asleep and remains there. Meanwhile, Cupid recovers from his internal wounds and can no longer bear being separated from his beloved Psyche. He goes to where she sleeps and pricks her with one of his arrows. Then he goes to Zeus and asks him to negotiate with Aphrodite causing her to allow consent. He then sends Mercury to retrieve Psyche into the heavens and presents her with a cup that makes her immortal. She awakes and sees Cupid and they fall in love, later creating a daughter named Pleasure.