Eros/Cupid and Psyche
The tale of Eros and Psyche first appeared in Lucius Apuleius' novel, The Golden Ass, written in the second century CE.
Apuleius' Tale
The goddess Aphrodite (in Roman mythology, Venus), jealous of the beauty of a
mortal woman named Psyche, asked her son Eros (in Roman mythology, Cupid) to use
his golden arrows to cause Psyche to fall in love with the ugliest man on earth.
Eros agreed but then fell in love with Psyche on his own, or by accidentally
pricking himself with a golden arrow.
When all continued to admire and praise Psyche's beauty but none desired her as
a wife, Psyche's parents consulted an oracle which told them to set Psyche in
mourning garments on top of a nearby peak as Psyche was destined for no mortal
lover but for a monster who held even gods in thrall. So it was done. But then
Zephyr, the west wind, carried Psyche away to a fair valley and a magnificent
palace where she was attended by invisible servants until night fell and in the
darkness of night the promised bridegroom arrived and the marriage was
consummated. Eros visited her every night in the cave and they made love; he
demanded only that she never light any lamps because he did not want her to know
who he was.
Eros even allowed Zephyrus to take Psyche back to her sisters and bring all
three down to the palace during the day, only warning that Psyche should not
listen to any argument that she should try to discover his true form. The two
jealous sisters told Psyche, then pregnant, that rumor was that she had married
a great serpent who would devour her and her unborn child when her time came.
They urged Psyche to conceal a knife and oil lamp in the bedchamber, to wait
till her husband was asleep, and then to light the lamp and slay him at once if
it was as they said. Psyche followed their advice. In the light of the lamp
Psyche recognized the fair form on the bed as the god Cupid himself, but a drop
of oil fell from Psyche's lamp and onto Eros' chest and he awoke, then fled. The
themes here are very similar to the themes in the tale, East of the Sun and West
of the Moon.
The god Pan, who was nearby, advised Psyche to seek to regain Cupid's love
through service.
Psyche returned to her old home and told her two, jealous, elder sisters what
had happened; they rejoiced secretly and each separately returned to the top of
the peak, hoping that Eros would pick them instead, but this time Zephyrus did
not bear them and they fell to their deaths at the base of the mountain.
Psyche searched far and wide for her lover, finally stumbling into a temple to
Demeter (in Roman mythology, Ceres) where all was in slovenly disarray. As
Psyche was sorting and clearing, Demeter appeared, but refused any help but
advice, saying Psyche must call directly on Aphrodite. Psyche next called on
Hera (in Roman mythology, Juno) in her temple, but Hera said the same. So Psyche
found a temple to Aphrodite and entered it. Aphrodite ordered Psyche to separate
all the grains in a large basket of mixed kinds before nightfall. An ant took
pity on Psyche and with its ant companions separated the grains for her. The
theme of a heroine's service to an intimidating female figure strongly evokes
the Russian tale of Vasilissa the Beautiful.
Aphrodite was outraged at her success and told her to go to a field where golden
sheep grazed and get some golden wool. A river-god told Psyche that the sheep
were vicious and strong and would kill her, but if she waited until noontime,
the sheep would go to the shade on the other side of the field and sleep; she
could pick the wool that stuck to the branches and bark of the trees. Aphrodite
next asked for water from the Styx and Cocytus flowing from a cleft that was
impossible for a mortal to attain and was also guarded by great serpents. This
time an eagle performed the task for Psyche. Aphrodite, outraged at Psyche's
survival, claimed that the stress of caring for her son, made depressed and ill
as a result of Psyche's unfaithfulness, had caused her to lose some of her
beauty. Psyche was to go to Hades and ask Persephone, the queen of the
underworld, for a bit of her beauty in a box that Aphrodite gave to Psyche.
Psyche decided that the quickest way to the underworld would be to throw herself
off some high place and die and so she climbed to the top of a tower. But the
tower itself spoke to her and told her the route through Tanaerum that would
allow her to enter the underworld alive and return again, as well as telling her
how to get by Cerberus by throwing him a sop and Charon by paying him an obol,
how to avoid other dangers on the way there and back, and most importantly to
eat of no food whatsoever; for otherwise she would be dwell forever in hell.
Psyche followed the orders explicitly and ate nothing while beneath the earth.
However when Psyche had got out of the underworld, she decided to open the box
and take a little bit of the beauty for herself. Inside, she could see no
beauty; instead an infernal sleep arose from the box and overcame her. Eros, who
had forgiven Psyche, flew to her, wiped the sleep from her face, put it back in
the box, and sent her back on her way. Then Eros flew to heaven and begged Zeus
to aid them. Zeus called a full and formal council of the gods (which parodies a
meeting of the Roman senate), and declared it was his will that Eros might marry
Psyche. Zeus then had Psyche fetched to heaven, and gave her a drink of ambrosia
and one thousand virgins. Aphrodite danced at the wedding of Eros and Psyche and
as her temples were once again restored for her grace, she was perfectly happy
to accept Psyche as her daughter-in-law.
Eros/Cupid
There are differing stories about his parentage. Cicero provides three different lineages: son of Mercury (Hermes) and Diana (Artemis), son of Mercury and Venus (Aphrodite), and son of Mars (Ares in Greek mythology) and Venus. Plato mentions two of these, and Hesiod's Theogony, the most ancient Greek theoography, says that Cupid was created coevally with Chaos and the earth.Throughout ancient mythological writing, there appear to be either two Cupids or two sides to the figure of Cupid. One is the son of Jupiter (Zeus) and Venus. He is a lively youth who delights in pranks and spreading love. The other is a son of Nyx and Erebus, known for riotous debauchery.
In painting and sculpture, Cupid is portrayed as a nude winged boy armed with a bow and a quiver of arrows. The traditional Christian depiction of a cherub is based on him. On gems and other surviving pieces, he is usually shown amusing himself with childhood play, sometimes driving a hoop, throwing darts, catching a butterfly, or flirting with a nymph. He is often depicted with his mother (in graphic arts, this is nearly always Venus), playing a horn. He is also shown wearing a helmet and carrying a buckler, perhaps in reference to Virgil's Omnia vincit amor or as political satire on wars for love or love as war.
Cupid figures prominently in ariel poetry, lyrics and, of course, elegiac love and metamorphic poetry. In epic poetry, he is less often invoked, but he does appear in Virgil's Aeneid changed into the shape of Ascanius inspiring Dido's love. In later literature, Cupid is frequently invoked as fickle, playful, and perverse. He is often depicted as carrying two sets of arrows: one set gold-headed, which inspire love; and the other lead-headed, which inspire hatred.
Psyche
The Greek goddess Psyche, strictly speaking, wasn't a natural-born goddess . . . she got there by "marrying up". But talk about mother-in-law problems, not to mention having a "mama's boy" for a husband! You'd be hard pressed to come up with a story that tops that of the Greek goddess Psyche's.At the beginning, Psyche was a mortal daughter of a great King. She was far more beautiful than her sisters and even enraptured men and those who visited Aphrodite's temple. Aphrodite grew angry when she realized that her temples were empty because of a mortal and called upon her son, Eros (Cupid) to help.
The myths of the Greek goddess Psyche exemplify a woman's search for authentic personal growth, a reminder that the integration of our experiences, however sad or frightening they may be, matures and transforms us, like the symbol of the butterfly emerging into the light from its dark cocoon.
Psyche is often represented by symbols associated with her brave search for truth and understanding. It is not surprising that many of our icons representing spirituality and healing are derived from the ancient goddess symbols of Psyche. Her animals specifically are the butterfly, the eagle, sheep and ram, ants and fish.
(from Alyson)