Week 4 story: Love Itself
How would it feel to fall in love with love itself but not know? The tale of Psyche and Cupid goes a so.
Psyche, a beautiful princess, was often compared to Venus. Venus you could imagine was not thrilled to be compared to such a mere mortal like Psyche herself. Out of spite, Venus ordered her son Cupid to strike Psyche with one of his bows to torture the princess. One small prick from Cupid's arrow will put a mortal like Psyche in a treacherous state of irrational unbending love. Now Cupid loved his mother with such devotion, but one look at Psyche could make even the most honorable son betray his mother's trust.
With Psyche and his mother Venus none the wiser, Cupid led the princess to safety and hid her away in a sanctuary. Cupid would love on her at night and fly away in the morning so she would never who he was. She had almost everything she could ever want: riches, servants, and a loving husband.
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Psyche still longed for her family though. She missed her parents and two sisters. Cupid tried to tell her that no good could come of seeing her family, but she was so blinded by her blood bond she wouldn't hear anything about it. She begged Cupid to let them visit her and to her delight, Cupid gave into his love.
Psyche welcomed her sisters to her home and showered them with gifts. Her sisters, ungrateful and jealous felt like Psyche didn't deserve everything she had. They quickly noticed Psyche had no idea what her husband looked like. They knew that this meant Psyche was married to a god or demi-god. Both agreed Psyche was not worthy of such love and she must be sabotaged.
The sisters convinced poor Psyche that if she couldn't see him, he must be a serpent of some sort. Psyche as the youngest sister immediately believed her older all-knowing sisters. They cooked up a plan to reveal Psyche's husband's true identity. Psyche took away the blanket of night Cupid was hiding under by lighting a lamp to truly reveal who he was. She couldn't believe her eyes, her one true love was Cupid himself.
Psyche was in so in shock of her most handsome husband, she didn't see the arrows by the edge of the bed. To get a better look at her love, she moved in closer and then suddenly went flush. Psyche had accidentally leaned into Cupid's arrows and struck herself in the heart. Psyche lost all emotions, but infatuation and lust for Cupid. She couldn't control herself, she was clawing at Cupid. He awoke from her love and was immediately disgusted.
Cupid could not stand to be near his wife who betrayed him. He told her she would forever regret giving into such shallow needs. He would leave her as punishment because a life without him is not a life worth living.
Psyche's tragedy has been told by adults and children alike to teach them a lesson. To be in love with love itself is the most dangerous love of them all.
Author's note:
I chose this story because I had never read the story of Psyche and Cupid before. Plus Valentine's day is coming up so why not get in the spirit? In the original story, the narrator was an old lady trying to keep a kidnapped victim quiet. Instead of that setup, I wanted to make the story more of a fable which is why I added the end note and a lesson from the narrator. I emphasized the lessons to be in love with love itself is quiteunfulfilling . In the original story, Psyche also picks up Cupid's arrow and nicks herself while doing it. I wanted Psyche to pierce her own heart by falling onto it. I thought this mirrored the way she fell into her sisters' plan to unveil her husband. I also wanted to shift some blame off of Psyche, I wanted to emphasize the blind faith she put on people in her life and how that affected her. In my version of the story, I didn't mention Venus as much as the original story, because I feel like my focus of this story was truly on Psyche and Cupid. If I were to focus on Venus, I think I would create a secondary focus on the sisters to take the villainous angle and pursue the theme of jealousy.
This story is now a part of my portfolio project.
This story is part of the Cupid and Psyche unit. Story source: Apuleius's Golden Ass, as translated into English by Tony Kline (2013).
Psyche, a beautiful princess, was often compared to Venus. Venus you could imagine was not thrilled to be compared to such a mere mortal like Psyche herself. Out of spite, Venus ordered her son Cupid to strike Psyche with one of his bows to torture the princess. One small prick from Cupid's arrow will put a mortal like Psyche in a treacherous state of irrational unbending love. Now Cupid loved his mother with such devotion, but one look at Psyche could make even the most honorable son betray his mother's trust.
With Psyche and his mother Venus none the wiser, Cupid led the princess to safety and hid her away in a sanctuary. Cupid would love on her at night and fly away in the morning so she would never who he was. She had almost everything she could ever want: riches, servants, and a loving husband.
Cupid used darkness to conceal his true identity.
Image info: Cupid and Psyche, by Brocky
Psyche welcomed her sisters to her home and showered them with gifts. Her sisters, ungrateful and jealous felt like Psyche didn't deserve everything she had. They quickly noticed Psyche had no idea what her husband looked like. They knew that this meant Psyche was married to a god or demi-god. Both agreed Psyche was not worthy of such love and she must be sabotaged.
The sisters convinced poor Psyche that if she couldn't see him, he must be a serpent of some sort. Psyche as the youngest sister immediately believed her older all-knowing sisters. They cooked up a plan to reveal Psyche's husband's true identity. Psyche took away the blanket of night Cupid was hiding under by lighting a lamp to truly reveal who he was. She couldn't believe her eyes, her one true love was Cupid himself.
Cupid could not stand to be near his wife who betrayed him. He told her she would forever regret giving into such shallow needs. He would leave her as punishment because a life without him is not a life worth living.
Psyche's tragedy has been told by adults and children alike to teach them a lesson. To be in love with love itself is the most dangerous love of them all.
Author's note:
I chose this story because I had never read the story of Psyche and Cupid before. Plus Valentine's day is coming up so why not get in the spirit? In the original story, the narrator was an old lady trying to keep a kidnapped victim quiet. Instead of that setup, I wanted to make the story more of a fable which is why I added the end note and a lesson from the narrator. I emphasized the lessons to be in love with love itself is quite
This story is now a part of my portfolio project.
This story is part of the Cupid and Psyche unit. Story source: Apuleius's Golden Ass, as translated into English by Tony Kline (2013).
Hey Maryellen!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for retelling this old story. I appreciate how you stayed true to the plot, while still adding in your own touch and detail. Just out of curiosity, why did you pick this myth? Personally, I always found it to be such a tragic story, but I would love to hear why you felt so compelled to retell it!
Best,
- JD
HI Maryellen,
ReplyDeleteI also wrote about this story. I like your touch at the end though. The moral at the end was nice. I personally like the version at the very end where Psyche and Cupid live happily together, but I am just that kind of idealistic person! Anyways, I like how you wrote the changes in her when she was struck by an arrow. I was imagining an animalistic version of Psyche haha! Can't wait to read more stories by you!
Hello, Maryellen!
ReplyDeleteI really like your storytelling style and appreciate the fact that you cut right to the chase! I also like the more dark ending, with Cupid being utterly disgusted at Psyche's actions and not loving her anymore. I also liked the fact that you had Psyche actually get jabbed by the arrow instead of just cutting her finger. I personally feel like your version makes more sense than the original, at least as far as Cupid's reaction goes--I would be pretty angry, too! Great job!
Hi Maryellen!
ReplyDeleteI liked your story a lot. I also read Eros and Psyche and I thought you did a really good job of cutting down the story while still giving the main gist of the tale. I thought you did a good job of making the consequences for Psyche listening to her sisters more immediate and harsh. I was sad that they didn't end up together, I guess I love a happy ending!
Hey Maryellen! You did what a lot of authors don't do nowadays -- you cut right to the chase. You having Psyche fall on the arrow was a cool twist to throw in there to spice up the original story. It definitely worked to grab the attention of the reader and leave them wondering about different outcomes.
ReplyDelete-Lance J.