Reading Notes: Cupid and Psyche, Part A

Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche 

(Found on Google Images, the marriage of Cupid and Psyche)

The story starts out with the description of just how beautiful Psyche is. As a young woman, her beauty captivated the eyes and hearts of many, including Venus. Because her beauty was so widely recognized by others, Venus became jealous and sent her son Cupid to wreak havoc in her life. Cupid was known for destroying marriages and love lives, so he had no problem fulfilling his mother's wish. 

Venus requested Cupid to betroth Psyche to the ugliest, most wretched person he could find. Accomplishing this, Psyche's family was distraught but sent her on her way to marry this mystery man. After the wedding day, Psyche had still yet to see her now husband, but they continued to do all the things married couples do; just when the sun was down and she could not see him. He gave her wealth and pleasure that she had never experienced before, and she wanted to share her new life with her sisters so that they would know she was okay. However, this backfired and her two already jealous sisters started to question the legitimacy of her marriage and her new husband.

Becoming even more jealous of the new riches that Psyche was experiencing, her sisters started to plot her downfall and how they could ruin her new life. They were convinced she was trapped or possessed, and couldn't fathom the idea of her being married to someone she had never seen before. Now pregnant, Psyche had her sisters visit once more, bringing them gifts and jewelry as a means to distract them from their evil scheme. Yet, this didn't work, and the sisters convinced Psyche that her husband had to be some sort of creature that had impregnated her with a monster.

Psyche became overcome with negative emotion at this information, and started to turn on her husband. She admitted that she had never seen him and started to believe all the things her sisters had tried to convince her of her husband. At once, her sisters told her she had to kill him, and they came up with a plan to accomplish this. It was decided that she would kill him that night in an effort to escape.

Night fell and it was time for Psyche to complete her mission. However, shining a lamp light on her husband, she found him not to be some monster or creature; it was Cupid himself. He had turned away from his mother's desires and fulfilled his own to marry Psyche. While she observed him, she accidentally pricked her finger on one of his arrows, falling deep in love with him. Cupid awoke and realized what happened, feeling foolish for his own mistakes. He flew away, knowing that he had done something undoable and dangerous.

Psyche traveled to tell her sisters what she had discovered, and their jealousy only continued to grow. Not being able to handle the information being shared with them, both sisters jumped off a cliff to their death, not being content with their marriages or able to accept what had happened to Psyche. Death was no fulfillment though, as they still hadn't accomplished their ultimate life goal of true love.