C is for Cupid and Psyche


Cupid (also known as Eros) was the son of Aphrodite (or Venus). He was the personification of love and desire, who threw arrows at people to make them fall in love.
There was a King who had three daughters, the youngest of which, named Psyche, was so beautiful that people would worship her. Aphrodite grew jealous, as people weren't worshipping her as much as they used to, so she made Cupid agree to make Psyche fall in love with a disgusting creature as punishment. However, when he laid eyes on her and saw her beauty he was unable to do it.
No man would marry Psyche, as they were all intimidated by her beauty, so her father went to ask Apollo for advice. Apollo said that they should take Psyche to the top of a mountain to wait for her monstrous husband to appear.
Once alone there, a wind carried her to a wondrous palace, where she was waited on by invisible servants and visited by her husband only at night. She knew he was not a monster, and was happy with him until her sisters, jealous of Psyche's life, said that he must be a monster, as he wouldn't let her see him.
These words haunted Psyche, and one night she lit a candle and held it over him, to see what he looked like. She saw a beautiful man and her heart filled with relief, until she spilled candle wax on him and he awoke. He fled, betrayed by what his wife had done.
Psyche was determined to find him, and went to pray at Aphrodite's temple. The goddess was still jealous of Psyche, and so gave her three impossible tasks to perform before she could have Cupid. Psyche completed these with a little help, but Aphrodite was still unwilling to help her, so the gods intervened and told Cupid what was going on. The betrayal in his heart healed, and they got married. Zeus made Psyche immortal as a wedding gift, which made Aphrodite happy as the mortals were no longer worshipping Psyche.

Comments

  1. Outcast3 April 2013 at 10:14

    Love the story of Cupid and Psyche, such an interesting one, great post Laura.

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  2. Nick Wilford3 April 2013 at 10:27

    Sounds like the story has links to Beauty and the Beast, we place so much emphasis on appearance. Nice one.

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  3. Kellie @ Delightfully Ludicrous3 April 2013 at 11:16

    Whenever I think of Cupid, I think of naked flying baby Cupid. I always forget that some artists interpreted him like that.

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  4. Dani3 April 2013 at 11:41

    What a beautiful story. I absolutely love this picture, so much romance in it.
    Dani @ Entertaining Interests
    #warriorminion

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  5. Susan Gourley/Kelley3 April 2013 at 12:23

    A great love story but those gods sure suffered jealousy alot and tried to make humans suffer for it.

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  6. Unknown3 April 2013 at 12:48

    That Aphrodite is so insecure!

    I much prefer awesome Cupid to baby cherub Cupid.

    Jamie @ Mithril Wisdom
    www.mithrilwisdom.com

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  7. Timothy S. Brannan3 April 2013 at 13:00

    I always thought Aphrodite was a complete bitch to Psyche in this tale. I always felt bad for her. Still though I enjoy the story and I am glad it is your C posting.

    Keep up the great posts!

    --
    Tim Brannan
    The Other Side and The Witch
    Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword
    The Freedom of Nonbelief

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ghadeer3 April 2013 at 13:26

    You'd think this story should be well-known given how famous Cupid is! Thanks for sharing :)

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  9. Unknown3 April 2013 at 13:31

    Haunting tale.

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  10. Rob Z Tobor3 April 2013 at 14:00

    Those Gods are a right old bunch it is like a soap opera, but I understand the problems associated with being so beautiful that people worship you......... HAH HAH AH HAH hah ah hahahhah hah ha hah ah ahahh ahahhahah hahahahha

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  11. Anonymous3 April 2013 at 15:20

    Oh those crafty (and jealous) Greeks!!!

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  12. Loralie Hall3 April 2013 at 17:57

    Love that story - it's one that gets lost among other more popular ones too often. Thanks for the retelling ^_^
    ____
    Find me:
    Blog: http://allysonlindt.com
    email: Allyson.Lindt@gmail.com
    Twitter: @AllysonLindt

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  13. Anonymous3 April 2013 at 18:35

    Ah, love ... I've still got a few delicious bruises from Cupid's arrow.

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  14. Donna Smith3 April 2013 at 20:29

    It's a little Snow White-ish too.

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  15. Unknown3 April 2013 at 23:00

    LOVE that story. Awesome. I'd never heard that one before, but it reminded me of the story I heard about a man who is a bear. And he falls in love with a girl and saves someone in her family from dying (I forget who) but his price for him using his magic to save them is that she has to come live with him for a year.

    And every night she feels someone lie down with her in the dark and every morning whoever it was is gone, but part of the deal is that she's never allowed to look upon the face of the man lying with her at night. So, of course, she gets curious and does and, lo and behold, she sees the bear is not really a bear at all, but is a beautiful man. However, he was cursed by a witch.

    The curse would've lifted if he could get a girl to come live with him for a year, but never look upon his face at night. But now the curse is forever and the bear, heartbroken that the girl broke her promise, runs away. So the girl, who is in love with this guy by now, goes off on a huge quest to find him and somehow save him. Of course, in the end she finally does and they get to be together, but it's a long haul to get there! I forget the name of the legend, but certain aspects of this cupid story reminded me a lot of it!

    Also, have you seen the video by Ed Sheeran "Give me Love?" It's about cupid and it's amazing. You should check it out!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Bill Somogyi4 April 2013 at 00:21

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  17. Bill Somogyi4 April 2013 at 00:23

    I'm having a good time following your challenge posts.

    Images by Bil
    Paintings and Sketches of the beauty that surrounds us.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Shannon Lawrence4 April 2013 at 01:15

    Psyche's story is very interesting. I don't remember having heard the whole thing before. Or Cupid. I do love mythology!

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse

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  19. Jeff Hargett4 April 2013 at 04:24

    The pettiness of the gods rivals only the pettiness of humans. Fitting, I suppose.

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  20. Bevimus9 April 2013 at 21:19

    I've never even heard of Psyche beore- this was fascinating!

    ReplyDelete

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