Week 3 Story: The Tragedy of Cupid and Psyche

Author's Note:

Cupid and Psyche is a love story based upon Cupid, Venus's son, the arrow wielding god of love, and Psyche a mere mortal with beauty that rivaled even Venus's fair form. When the towns and villages begin worshiping Psyche instead of Venus, Venus is enraged and orders her son to make her fall in love with someone awful. Little does she know, that when Psyche's parents leaves her on a cliff to surely die in matrimony, Cupid brings her to live with him, though, he only comes to her in the dark of night. One night, Psyche saw her love and hurt him with hot wax (accidentally).When Venus heard of this, she was enraged and put Psyche through a series of tasks to hopefully kill her. When she didn't die, Cupid swooped her up, bid her to finish her last task, and made everything right by marrying her in front of all the gods. Everything worked out for the hero and heroine. But what would have happened if Psyche had been scythed in the river Styx, if Cupid had been so ill that he never got up to save his love, or if Venus would have never given her the tasks, but immediately carried out her sentence? Read on.

Caption on the Picture

Link: http://obvil.paris-sorbonne.fr/corpus/mythographie/bulfinch_age-of-fable_1855_images/bulfinch_age-of-fable_1855_122.png

"Finally, you have come into my presence to face the fate you wove in your bosom," Venus explained vehemently, "To me you prostrate yourself, to your mother-in-law by the most illegitimate of natures. Did you think I would welcome you at the thought of your bravery? No. Yet, now you are here, I will make an example out of you yet. Take these many beans which I am mixing, and sort them before nightfall. If not, you will be at the mercy of my hand."

Psyche tried and tried to sort the heap. Hour after hour passed, and still she had half the stack left. Time was closing in on her! She went faster and faster, still no progress had been made by the time Venus waltzed through the door with her wedding feast gown after a night of fanfare. Psyche did not speak. Perhaps if she stayed so still, the lady would go to sleep and bother her no more for the night. Alas, it could not be so for our star-crossed fair friend. "Ah," Venus said with an edge in her eyes, "I see that you did not take me as serious as I'd thought. Pain will be your companion tonight. You, my unfortunate slave!" With this, a tingle started down Psyche's back, rushing towards her toes. In an instant her body was inflamed with spikes of fire. "Help! Help oh Venus, stop the pain! If only I could have done what you asked, but try and try I could not! Please!" But her cries were unheard. And Venus slumbered, pleased with herself for her triumph.

When the morning came, Psyche's pain ceased. She rested for what seemed like minutes, when in reality it actually was just minutes. Venus came storming in, ready to give Psyche the next impossible task. "Psyche, today before the sun sets, you are to gather the gold from the wool of the sheep by the water. Remember your night, lest you come back empty handed." So Psyche went to the waters edge, but Venus neglected to tell her the nature of the beasts. They were angry in the sun, and the sun was shining full. She approached the smallest she could find, and wham it prodded her with its sharp horn. She leaped back, favoring her thigh, for that is where the creature hit. She came back empty handed and the second night with Venus was the same. A number of days, Venus gave Psyche these tasks, yet no one would help her, and the number of nights she spent in agonizing pain.

Caption: The gold wool Psyche wishes she could have gotten.

Link: http://www.colourstreams.com.au/store/merino-wool-tops-new-gold-823.html

Through all this, Cupid longed for Psyche, but he was too weak to move to her. The injury to his shoulder was not healing, and ambrosia had been stayed from him by his mother. She did not want him to heal and so be let to go to his love. Had Venus seen his condition and his pain, surely she would have relented. Yet her anger towards Psyche has taken her eyes from Cupid. In his last breath, he wished for a servant of Venus to write this letter to his wife:

Dear Psyche,

My love, I am no more. You will doubtless be subject to my mother's wrath, and I can only believe it is my fault. Should you have married an old mortal man with no love, that life should have favored you more. Yet, since it is not so, I give you this arrow. Perhaps, if you should take it and prick my mother with its tip, she may grow less in anger with you and let you to the mortal world again. Try my love. You were the best of all the women.

Cupid

The servant brought this letter in secret to Psyche on the worst of the nights. Exhausted, Psyche took the letter and read it aloud. She was heartbroken and struck that her husband lay dying all this time and she was never able to touch him, to be with him. She took the arrow with a newfound strength and attempted to thrust it into Venus's heart, yet Venus caught her at the last moment, plunging it into Psyche's heart. Psyche was no more. And thus, both lovers were for naught, and there was no happy ending to be found.

"Cupid and Psyche" by Apuleius and retold by Tony Kline : Link