The Story of Cupid and Psyche is the inspiration behind paintings, sculptures, and even an David Beckham tattoo. Some of the more serious themes, such as jealousy and curiosity or love lost and found are sometimes overlooked.
Teaching this myth to students will help to understand how true affection can overcome even the most formidable hurdles. This myth can encourage students to listen to their heart.
“Psyche’s Envy
The past was when girls were forced to marry young. Both of the older sisters of Psyche’s were stunning, however they got married the kings of their time and then left home. The parents of Psyche were devastated and turned to Apollo’s oracle in Delphi for guidance. The oracle’s message was dark. The oracle stated “Despair King. Your daughter’s marriage will be with a monster that even the gods dread.” However the oracle didn’t specify what the creature was.
In spite of the warning, Psyche fell in love even though she was warned, Psyche fell in love with Cupid and lived happily his. But one night, a drop of oil fell off the candle she was lighting and fell on his lips awakening him. He was ashamed and begged she not to gaze at him. Her words were broken and she stared him down. In the next date, Cupid left.
Cupid was unable to stay away from Psyche and began visiting her at night. Soon, he became so attracted to her that He forgot his obligations. Click here! enraged Psyche and she requested to take on the duties of a wife. That included looking after her sister.
Her efforts went in vain. It was still commonplace to compare Psyche’s looks with their own and thought that Psyche could have a monster as the partner.
Psyche also felt disappointed because she didn’t get to see her husband in the daylight. She began to feel depressed and longed for the evening, in which her husband would come to visit. Her feelings began to change and she realized that her palace was no other than a magnificent prison.
She eventually gave into her anger and demanded to meet with her sisters. The thought was that they might be in mourning because of her loss.
Prosperine is the goddess of spring, performed Psyche the impossible task upon her return back to Venus. The goddess gave her a box that was full of the gorgeous beauty of her daughter, a wife of Pluto’s, however, she was told not to take it open. Incredulous, Psyche tried opening it. But instead of seeing beauty, she discovered a fatal sleep. She placed it into a box, and gave it to Venus.
The Psyche’s Wanderings
Psyche is always looking for her beloved husband. She travels across all of the earth to find him. Then, she spots one of the temples at the top of a mountain and believes that this is where her husband lives. She climbs the mountain with her heart firm, despite having achy feet. She offers herself to her husband at the shrine. Yet, he is oblivious to her.
In this particular version of the tale, Psyche was regarded as more beautiful than Aphrodite. This was seen as an insult and irritated the Goddess of Love. She decided to punish Psyche for this slight.
Cupid was told by his mother that she advised him to stay at home. But he ended up falling in affection with Psyche and refused to listen. He sneaked up on her and held her in his arms as they were flying in tandem. Cupid was so deeply upset at this, the moment he was devastated, he fell to an uneasy night of sleep.
After waking in the morning, he felt so embarrassed of his conduct that he tried to conceal the truth from Psyche. The sisters had been listening to him and discovered his secrets. They began to plot against his plans.
The jealous daughters of Psyche have convinced her to believe her husband is an evil monster. They claimed she heard sexy sounds during sleep and that they killed their victims while asleep. She became so terrified of the beast that she decided to hide in a tower. In the tower, she had her knife and a torch near her mattress. She was prepared to kill him if he proved to be a killer.
After some time, Psyche was able to take a breather. She was no longer afraid that she would be one of the wives of a demon. Yet, she was haunted by the oracle’s claim that it was the case that he was a monster. In the night, she woke awake and saw the image of her husband reflected in the shadows. She began to scream and beat her chest. The parents of her, who made arrangements for the funeral rather than being married, were there to support her. They found her lying on the eminence of a mountain dressed in funerary attire. Cupid did not manage to wake her.
Psyche’s Wedding
The mother of Psyche’s, Venus (or Aphrodite in Latin) is an egotistic goddess that had difficulty dealing with ladies whose beauty was comparable to her own. Her plan was to bribe the Trojan Prince Paris for the purpose of winning the beauty contest over Helen who was Helen, the Greek beauty. The problem was that it was late. Helen had been married off to Menelaus the King of Sparta and the Trojan War began. The goddess also worshiped Cupid rather than Aphrodite due to her jealousy. In the end, her daughters were raised to be beautiful but na vain and insecure. As her three sisters managed to get married successfully, Psyche was left alone and was admired, but not truly liked.
As time went by, Psyche began to miss her family. She became so depressed that she sought the advice of an oracle. She was told that her future husband would not be a mortal but a monstrous beast. Psyche is still in love with her beloved, but she needed to perform a number of hard tasks in order to demonstrate her devotion. This included sorting through enormous piles of mixed grain, retrieving gold wool, and removing water from the dangerous river.
A drop of oil burning out of her lamp fell upon Cupid’s shoulder as she was working, and woke him. He left without saying a word, and left her alone in her grove to rest.
In her sleep in bed, she would think focused on her loved ones. The dream she had of him came true and dawned in the morning with the urge to see him. When she woke up middle night to find that he was standing in front of her. He did not say any words, and she just took to his gestures. The woman was devastated that she ran out of her home and into the forest, where she saw Cupid’s injured body.
Cupid was not to be ever seen again for a long time However, Psyche always longed for him. Ceres was the goddess of agriculture that helped her rekindle spirit. Against her mother’s wishes, she carried Cupid back to her health and helped him recover from the injury.
Psyche’s Return
Cupid is in love with the mortal princess, and is so in his love and neglects his obligations. This angers Venus, who jealously sends the son of her Cupid to get Psyche back to her. He had intended to fire an arrow to hit her however, he accidentally scratched himself. The woman falls into a deep slumber due to the injuries. Psyche awakes only to find her husband gone, however she’s unable to be moved. She feels more and more depressed as her beauty diminishes. She is not used to being without her lovers And she doesn’t know why no one loves her. Two of her sisters have had lavish weddings and their spouses aren’t in love with them.
Psyche doesn’t want to believe her sisters are lying to her, but eventually she begins to believe that her husband could be the ultimate monster. Her sisters are not in love with her devotion to Cupid however they believe that it’s unjust to a god get a wife from a mortal. She isn’t willing to hear whenever they complain about her stupidity.
However, the pain of being alone eventually make Psyche desire to visit the new husbands of her sister. She pleads with Aphrodite to give her a second chance. Aphrodite agrees, however there are conditions. Psyche must sort through a huge pile of grains. She tries to do this job quickly but tired from her long stroll. Then she is able to get the aid of ants. The ants work quickly and efficiently, transporting one grain after the next into their own parcels.
However, Psyche is distracted by the desire to view Gods in a beautiful way, and cannot resist the urge to crack open the container. When she removes the cover, all that’s left inside it is darkness. Eros comes to her, as she slumbers.
The tale has been taken up by many writers as a metaphor for the conflict between man God and love for the divine. This story is often interpreted as symbolizing female equality even in the present. The story is also considered to be a landmark in feminist literary. The tale was the inspiration for Sylvia Townsend’s The True Heart, published in 1929. Eudora Worldly’s Till We Have Faces (1929), is a version. The story was adapted into drama, poetry and opera, and depicted in painting, sculpture, as well as wallpaper.