Act I:
Introduction 03-08
Act II:
The honeymoon period 09-14
Act III:
Questing for Cupid 15-18
Act IV:
Conclusion 19-20
Notes and References
02
Once upon a time, as many stories begin, there was a princess of a distant land. This princess, the youngest of three, was so beautiful that thousands of people came daily to visit her and worship her ‘god-like’ beauty. Aphrodite whose place Psyche had assumed, grew quickly angered as her shrines became dusty with disuse and her offerings were given to another woman and one who was mortal. “Revenge fully the injury done to thy mother,” Aphrodite told Cupid, “make the mortal girl fall in desperate love with the most miserable creature living. The most vile being that there be none in all the world of like wretchedness.1”
03
Cupid went to do as his mother bade him to do, however, he instead found himself staying his hand; once he gazed upon Psyche he found himself unable to carry through any harmful action against her. Cupid after one glance at this princess, felt his own arrow pierce his heart as he fell in love for the first time. Meanwhile, Psyche after some contemplation, approached an Oracle seeking answers. Why had her father not been approached for her hand in marriage when so many men admired and lamented upon her features? Had she been cursed by the Gods?
Psyche garbed in dark funeral ware traveled within a solemn wedding precession up the mountain to the peak. With a tearful goodbye, Psyche’s family and wedding attendants departed the mountain, leaving a distraught and fearful Psyche alone. Psyche awaited her fate, falling asleep as time passed. Whilst unconscious, the west wind Zephyr swept her from where she lay and deposited her into a deep and vibrant valley.
The Oracle had no answers for her; at least none that she had hoped for, instead prophesying that she was “destined for the bride of no mortal lover” and her future husband was a “monster that whom neither gods nor men can resist,2” and awaited her at the peak of the mountain.
06
Once she awoke, Psyche bereft of anything else to do, chose to explore the clearing she had seemingly been placed. Surrounding the clearing was deep forest, which a bubbling river crawled through. Hidden amongst the trees, however, was a magnificent golden hall, “adorned by precious stones and inestimable treasure.3� Upon entering the palace, Psyche heard hidden voices welcoming her, asking her to not to be afraid and declaring her to be the mistress of the house. Waited upon by the voices, Psyche could ask for anything she desired. A feast? A bath? Anything she wanted was served to her and Psyche found herself henceforth, living in godly luxury.
07
On the second night of her stay within the golden palace, Psyche finally met her ‘monstrous’ husband. Shrouded in the darkness of night he joined her in bed. He was gentle and generous to her, only appearing at night, and over-time Psyche found herself developing some affection for him, swearing to never look upon his face upon his request, lest bad omens befall the both of them. Although the two of them grew close during the shadowy dark, Psyche found herself constantly wondering what her husband looked like in the light. This was a train of thought which she continued to ponder during the day for the lack of doing anything else.
With the voices her only company during the day, Psyche quickly became lonely and pleaded with her husband to allow her sisters to visit the palace. Reluctant and ill-at-ease, he agreed, warning Psyche to hold her promise to him, because she’ll “nevermore feel his embrace,4” should it become broken.
over time, she embraced the shadows
10
11
Psyche’s sisters whilst used to luxury due to their royal station, quickly became envious of Psyche’s golden palace and the riches it held within it.
Dagger in hand she crept alongside her sleeping husband, planning to kill him should he be as monstrous as she feared.
Upon reaching a brief consensus with each other, the two sisters used their combined efforts to convince Psyche that her husband was a monster. A monster that was toying with her and would soon consume her when he eventually became bored.
Lamp held aloft, illuminating the bed and its sleeping occupant, Psyche saw her husband for the first time.
Psyche despite her affection for her husband, fell prey to her sisters’ manipulations as they stimulated fears she already had herself. Psyche was conflicted, although her husband had many chances to hurt her, she found it very hard to trust him when his physical form had never been revealed to her.
What lay before her was a god. A beautiful man with milky white skin and golden hair. A man Psyche suspected was Cupid himself; confirmed after a close inspection revealed a bow and quiver tucked under his side of the bed, previously obscured by his feathered wings where they spilled off the bed and onto the floor. Captivated by Cupid’s godly form, Psyche was unaware she had tipped the oil lamp she was holding causing the oil to overflow and fall.
That night after her sisters’ departed, Psyche woke herself up and lit a small oil lamp she had hidden nearby.
Hot oil dripped onto Cupid’s bare shoulders, and Cupid awoke with a cry of pain, and tears in his eyes.
Cupid feeling betrayed as Psyche had broken the promise she had made to him, instantly leaves the golden palace. He fled so quickly that in his haste, loose feathers escaped his wings and slowly drifted to the floor.
the shatterpoint; a promise is broken
When Cupid’s feathers finally rest upon the floor, Psyche realises what she had done. She had broken her promise to Cupid and lost him forever. This revelation was devastating for her and she became quite distraught with regret and self-pity. At this point, Psyche had definitely fallen in love with Cupid. Her feelings had solidified due to a combination of factors; her affection for him during their nights shared, his unmasking as the god Cupid and a prick on the finger she received from a lust arrow during her inspection of his bow and quiver. Psyche swore as the golden palace dissolved around her, that she would continue to seek Cupid and beg his forgiveness until she became too old and weak to do so.
14
Psyche traveled across many lands, for a long time, but had yet to find any trace of Cupid. Stopping within Demeter’s temple to rest, Psyche decides to appeal to the goddess for help. Although Ceres wants to, she cannot intervene, instead, she recommends that Psyche appeal to Aphrodite, Cupid’s mother for forgiveness and assistance. Psyche takes Demeters’ advice to heart and travels to Aphrodite’s nearest temple, and prays to her. Aphrodite is delighted to have Psyche under her control; she can finally enact revenge upon her personally. Aphrodite orders Psyche to complete three impossible tasks. Should she fail, Cupid would be lost to her forever. The first task Psyche is given, is to sort various grains into specific piles. Psyche despairing at the enormity of the situation she finds herself in begins to give up. Ants from a colony nearby sense her distress, and come to her aid, and help her complete this task.
15
Aphrodite is furious at this, believing that Psyche would fail at the first task. Her new task for Psyche is to retrieve some golden wool from violent sheep who fed on the grain beyond a fierce river. Aphrodite aims for Psyche to fail by not informing her that these sheep are God blessed and protected by Apollo. Psyche almost drowns herself in the river, and a divine reed saves her and suggests to Psyche that she should try gathering the small bits of wool the sheep left behind on nearby briar bushes. The third task Aphrodite reluctantly gives her is to fill a crystal bottle with water from a spring that is located at a junction between the rivers Styx and Cocytus. The way to the spring is blocked by steep and slippery cliffs which were guarded by dragons, and Psyche had no means to overcome either obstacle. Luckily, a passing eagle sees Psyche’s struggles and takes up her crystal bottle, flying up the cliffs and over the dragons to the spring, and filling it up for her.
Aphrodite had initially planned on Psyche attempting three impossible tasks; confident in the difficulty of them. Aphrodite previously was sure that Psyche wouldn’t be able to complete all of them.
Thoroughly fed up as she fruitlessly searched for the entrance to the Underworld, Psyche contemplated giving up completely.
Sensing Psyche’s intentions, the tower she was going to use, reached out to When Psyche returned after the her in the effort to prevent her death. conclusion of her third task, crystal bottle The tower knew that if rumours about in hand, Aphrodite was shocked and Psyche and Cupid’s relationship and further enraged. How dare this mortal her on-going quest to find him were woman best her hardest quests? true, should she die, Cupid would be devastated. Aphrodite decided to deviate from her plan and make one last quest, one The tower therefore, advised her, giving more difficult than the previous three her instructions on how to enter the combined. Psyche was to travel to the Underworld, and how to navigate it to Underworld, a box in hand, and ask the get to where Persephone resided. goddess Persephone for a piece of her Obediently following instructions, beauty to place in the box and return to Psyche soon emerges from the Aphrodite. The outcome of this quest Underworld, the box she carried filled would determine whether Psyche would with a fragment of Persephone’s beauty. be redeemed or not. Filled with elation from her successful Psyche tired from traveling and the quest, Psyche rapidly becomes reckless helplessness she felt from being ordered and succumbs to curiosity, opening the to complete increasingly difficult quests, box to see what’s inside. Within it, was felt relieved that this was the last one not a fragment of Persephone’s beauty, she had to perform; her patience was but an ‘infernal and deadly sleep5’ which wearing thin and any hope of success rapidly coaxed Psyche into a coma. she had was waning.
18
Cupid meanwhile, was sulking in his room in Aphrodite’s palace. Upon thorough self-reflection, he ultimately decides that he loved and missed Psyche too much to remain angry at her, so he leaves to find her. After a short search, Cupid identifies Psyche lying comatose outside the entrance to the Underworld. Waking her up with one of his arrows, he learns of his mother’s cruelty. Infuriated, Cupid calls upon the counsel of the Gods (who had avidly watched Psyche’s search for Cupid) to discuss the possibility of punishing his mother for her actions.
19
Zeus, the leader of the Gods, agrees with Cupid and promptly warns Aphrodite to no longer interfere with the happiness of Cupid and Psyche. Additionally, Zeus grants Psyche the right to drink godly Ambrosia, which when drunk, transformed Psyche into a goddess. Psyche, now immortal, was free to live with Cupid forever, eventually partaking in a proper god blessed wedding. The couple as a result presumably lived happily ever after.
Note:
While I’ve used Cupid’s Roman name in the title of this document (as that is the name that is more commonly used when referring to this myth) I am more familiar with the Greek names of gods/goddesses, therefore, I used their Greek names instead of their Roman counterparts within the text of this document.
References:
1. Apuleius, L. (1922). p 191. Apuleius. The Golden Ass. Being the Metamorphoses of Lucius Apuleius. (O. Jahn Trans.) London: William Heinemann. New York: G.P Putnam’s Sons. 2. Winters, R. (2015). p 1. The ancient fairy tale of Cupid and Psyche, where love endures against all odds. Retrieved from http://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-europe/ancient-fairy-tale-cupid-and-psyche-where-loveendures-against-all-odds-003393 3. Apuleius, L. (1922). p 203. Apuleius. The Golden Ass. Being the Metamorphoses of Lucius Apuleius. (O. Jahn Trans.) London: William Heinemann. New York: G.P Putnam’s Sons. 4. Apuleius, L. (1922). p 209. Apuleius. The Golden Ass. Being the Metamorphoses of Lucius Apuleius. (O. Jahn Trans.) London: William Heinemann. New York: G.P Putnam’s Sons. 5. Apuleius, L. (1922). p 279. Apuleius. The Golden Ass. Being the Metamorphoses of Lucius Apuleius. (O. Jahn Trans.) London: William Heinemann. New York: G.P Putnam’s Sons. 22