The Myth Of Cupid And Psyche

The myth of Cupid and Psyche is about the daughter of a king who had three daughters in total. According to the story, she was not only the most beautiful woman in Anatolia (today’s Turkey), but also the most beautiful in the world. In the story, everyone fell in love with her after seeing how beautiful she was. Because of this, Venus, the goddess of love, began to get jealous. She couldn’t handle the fact that a mortal could be more beautiful than herself.

This is because the men pondered Psyche’s beauty instead of worshiping Venus at their temple. The goddess could not take it any longer and ordered Cupid, her son to find Psyche and then shoot her with an arrow to make her fall in love with the most terrible being there was.

Cupid, who was quite obedient, did exactly what his mother told him to do. However, he accidentally poked himself with the arrow he was supposed to use for Psyche and as a result fell madly in love with her. Ironically, the God of love had no experience of love itself and did not know what to do with it. So he had no choice but to ask Apollo, the god of light and truth, for help.

A strange fate

The myth of Cupid and Psyche tells us that the god Apollo didn’t know what to do either. In his opinion, it seemed best, at least in principle, to take all of Psyche’s admirers out of the equation. Because of his power, men began to admire Psyche, but no longer fell in love with her. Therefore, everyone flattered her beauty, but no one wanted to marry her.

For example, Psyche’s two sisters were already married while she was not yet married herself. At this point her father, suffering from so much bad luck, asked for the help of the gods. Apollo knew that Cupid’s love for Psyche had to remain a secret, otherwise Venus would become angry. So he advised the king to take her to a distant mountain and leave her there.

Although her father was very sad, he obeyed Apollo’s instructions, for he was a wise God and his daughter would certainly be happy. However, the myth of Cupid and Psyche says that upon reaching the hill, the girl cried inconsolably, and then fell asleep. When she woke up, she was in a beautiful garden next to a beautiful castle. Then a voice invited her to go inside, put on the nice clothes and eat all that delicious food.

The myth of Cupid and Psyche

The same voice that led her told her that her husband would visit her at night. But the encounters would take place in the dark and under no circumstances could she see his face. If she did, the two would have to part forever. She had to trust him because if there was no trust, love was not possible.

The story goes on to say that the girl was flattered by so much attention. Then she began to fall in love with her husband more and more after hanging out with him every night. There was something, however, that still ached her; she hadn’t seen her sisters in a while and missed them both terribly.

Her husband tried to dissuade her from inviting her, but she was determined to do so. Eventually he agreed, but warned them not to talk to them about him.

As a result, the sisters visited the palace and were quite jealous of everything their sister had and the love that lit her eyes. So they began to instill suspicion in their hearts. They suggested that her husband might be a terrible monster.

The price of love

The myth of Cupid and Psyche says that the girl believed the speculations of her sisters. When she turned on the light, however, she saw a beautiful Cupid lying next to her. When she looked at him, he accidentally injured himself with the oil lamp. Then he turned away from her, visibly hurt and angry, and started looking for his mother. He vowed never to return to Psyche.

Psyche regretted her distrust, went in search of Venus and asked her to put her marriage in order. Venus then subjected them to all kinds of tough, inhuman tests. But some ants, a rose bush and an eagle helped her to overcome them. Eventually Venus asked her to go to the underworld and bring her the beauty of Persephone, the lady and master of this place.

Persephone, moved by the girl’s story, handed her part of her beauty in a chest. After many inconsistencies, Psyche finally managed to return from the underworld. Before she got there, however, she made the decision to take a piece of this beauty for herself. So she opened the chest  and fell asleep from the numbing steam that emanated from the chest. When this happened, Cupid had already forgiven her and followed her everywhere without her knowledge and woke her from the magical dream.

How the myth of Cupid and Psyche ends

Amor then asked the gods to consent to his marriage to Psyche. They did this and gave Psyche ambrosia, the food of the gods, so that she might become immortal. Faced with this new situation, Venus gave in and consented to the marriage. In the end, the two lived happily ever after.