Eros and Psyche

The myth of Eros and Psyche is perhaps one of the best love stories in Greek mythology. Eros, son of Aphrodite, was the personification of intense erotic desire and was depicted throwing arrows at people to strike their hearts and make them fall in love. Psyche, a beautiful girl, personifies the human soul. In fact, she is the symbol of the soul that is purified from passions and misfortunes and which is ready to enjoy eternal happiness.

In the love story of Eros (Cupid in Latin) and Psyche (which means "soul" in Greek), we can see the man's perseverance when overcome by passion and the woman's attempt to overcome many obstacles in order to achieve happiness and love.

The myth of Eros and Psyche

The Legendary Beauty of Psyche

Once upon a time, there was a king who had three daughters. The youngest, Psyche, was much more beautiful than her sisters and looked like a goddess among mere mortals. The fame of her beauty had been spread throughout the kingdom and men came to the palace to admire and worship her.

In fact, when people would see Psyche, they used to say that not even Aphrodite herself could compete with her. The more people were getting to know Psyche, the less they would remember the goddess of love and beauty. The temples of Aphrodite were abandoned, her altars covered with cold ashes and the sculptors would no longer make statues for her; all the honors reserved to her were attributed to a mortal girl.

The goddess could not accept such a situation and asked her son, Eros, to help her revenge Psyche. More specifically, she told him in distress "Use your power and make this little shameless girl fall in love with the vilest and the most despicable creature who has ever walked on Earth". At first, Eros agreed to help his mother and do so, but the moment he saw Psyche, he felt his heart pierced by one of his arrows. He couldn't make that charming maiden fall in love with a horrible creature but decided to not share this with his mother.

The Horrible Prophesy

Contrary to what Aphrodite thought about her, Psyche, was not enjoying this situation. In reality, Psyche was looking for love, but she could not fall in love with anyone and, even more surprisingly, nobody seemed to really fall in love with her. Men were happy to see her and admire her beauty, and that was it all. After passing by to see her, they would marry another girl. Her two sisters, though less seductive, had held two lavish weddings, each with a king. Psyche was the most beautiful girl on Earth, but she was sad and lonely, always admired but never really loved. It seemed that no man would want her as his wife and this caused great anxiety and distress to her parents.

At some point, her father went to visit the oracle of Delphi to ask Apollo for advice on what to do with Psyche. Unfortunately, the prophecy of the god was terrible. The husband assigned to her was a winged serpent, terrible and more powerful than the gods themselves. Apollo decreed that Psyche should be brought to the summit of a mountain and stay there alone dressed in a black dress and her husband would take her from there.

The king was devastated, as were the family and friends of Psyche. However, since mortals couldn't disobey the order of a god, Psyche got prepared to go to the hill as if she were to face her death and with more cries than if they were to drive her straight to the grave. Leaving poor Psyche to her fate, they locked themselves in the palace to mourn her for the rest of their days.

The Beginning of a Fairy Tale

Psyche remained seated on the hill and waited in the dark. While she was shaking and crying in the quiet night, a slight breeze reached her. It was the Zephyr, the mildest of the winds, who elevated her over the rocky hill, to a soft meadow full of flowers. He did his best to make her forget her pain and put her to sleep.

The maiden woke up by the sound of a stream. When she opened her eyes, she faced an imposing and magnificent castle. With golden columns, silver walls and floors made of precious stones, it looked like it belonged to a god. It seemed uninhabited and Psyche approached cautiously to admire the beauty of the seemingly uninhabited building. She was suspicious when she reached the threshold, as she heard a noise but could not see anyone. However, she could clearly hear the words: "This house is for you. Come in and do not be afraid. Take a bath and we will immediately prepare you a great dinner." Never had she taken such a refreshing bath nor tasted such delicious dishes. While eating, she heard soft music around her, like a harp playing while a choir was singing, even though she still couldn't see anyone.

She was alone the whole day, accompanied only by the voices. Nevertheless, she knew that her husband would come at night. And she was right. While she relaxed in a dark bedroom, she felt a man close to her and heard his voice whispering sweetly in her ear. Her fears disappeared and, even though she didn't see him, she was certain that he was not a monster but the loving husband she had always been wishing for. Soon, Psyche gets pregnant with the mysterious man's child.

The Doubt in her Heart

The following days passed in full joy and Psyche could not remember a happier time in her life. However, as the days went by, she started feeling sad that she could not see her husband. Moreover, she was left alone all day and boredom filled her heart. Suddenly, she started missing her family; she thought they must have been mourning for her while she was alive and having the time of her life.

That night, she asked her mysterious husband to grant her a favor. She wanted her two sisters to come up to the palace and make sure that she was fine as that would be a comfort for her old parents. Her husband refused at first, but when he realized how sad Psyche was, he told her: "I will allow your sisters to come up here, but I am warning you, do not let them influence you. If they do, you will destroy our relationship and suffer a lot."

On the next day, her two sisters, carried by the wind, came up to the stunning residence. They were all thankful to see each other and cried in happiness. However, when they entered the palace, the two older sisters were amazed by all the treasures. Envy was flourishing in their heart and an irresistible curiosity to know the rich husband of Psyche. They kept asking the poor girl questions about his looks and occupation. Yet, Psyche didn't tell the truth and responded that her spouse was a young hunter.

Of course, the two women didn't believe her. "How could a simple hunter be so rich? He must be a prince or even a god" they thought. They realized that, compared to Psyche, their own wealth and happiness were nothing at all. Consumed by jealousy, they came up with a plan to hurt their sister. When their time to leave comes, they dragooned Physche to reveal her husband's true identity, as, according to Apollo's oracle, her husband is a winged serpent that probably wants to devour her and her child, and that's why he takes such good care of her.

The Betrayal

From that day on, Psyche could think of nothing else but these words. "Why doesn't he come to me in the day? Why doesn't he allow me to see him? What is his secret? Why hasn't he ever told me about his life?" These thoughts were puzzling Psyche for many days. "He must be hiding something horrible and that is why he does not want to be seen in the daylight. I must find out. Tonight, when he falls into deep sleep, I will see him. If he is a snake, I will kill him" she thought. Psyche had taken her decision, completely ignoring her husband's warning.

Indeed, that night, when her husband fell asleep, she found the courage and lit an oil lamp. Walking on her toes, she approached the bed. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw, though. Instead of an ugly serpent, the most beautiful boy she had ever seen was sleeping on that bed. Ashamed by her madness and the influence of her sisters, Psyche fell down on her knees and thanked the gods. However, while he was leaning on him, a drop from the oil lamp fell on the young man. After waking up and seeing Psyche above him, he immediately got upset, looked her in the eyes and, facing her distrust, he left the room without uttering a single word.

Psyche immediately ran after her husband. It was dark and she could not see him but could hear his heartbroken voice: Love can not live without trust. Those were his last words before flying to the dark sky. Although she tried to chase him, he flew away and she stayed back, on the bank of a river. Pan, the god of the wild, was there. After they realized who each other was, the god allowed her to begin the quest of finding her lost lover. She was determined to do anything to win Eros back.

Aphrodite's Tasks

Being in despair but determined to do anything to win Eros back, Psyche goes to a temple dedicated to Demeter to ask the goddess for help. Even though Demeter felt that the girl deserved some help, she refused to avoid colliding with another goddess. The maiden receives the same handling in a temple dedicated to Hera and realizes she must serve Aphrodite herself.

Of course, Aphrodite had not overcome her jealousy for Psyche and wouldn't let her precious son be with this woman that easily. still sought revenge. The goddess delivered the girl to two of her attendants, Sorrow and Worry, to torture her, not knowing that she was bearing a child. After that, Aphrodite came up with Psyche's first task: she threw an abundance of different seeds in front of the young girl and asked her to sort them into piles by dawn. That seemed impossible but, after the goddess left, an ant feeling pity for Psyche gathered a group of ants to help her. Being their expertise and with hard work, they managed to separate the seeds by kind until the sun started to come out. When Aphrodite returned and saw the piles, she became extremely angry. "You have not finished your work" she said.

On the next morning, Aphrodite came up with a new, dangerous task: Psyche must cross a river and bring golden wool from the wild sheep of the god Helios grazing on the other side. Again, the girl had luck on her side, as a divine reed saved her by telling her to collect wool caught in some branches after the sheep had fallen asleep.

For the third task, Aphrodite gave Psyche a crystal vessel. "Do you see those black waters descending from the hill? Those are Rivers Styx and Cocytus. Fill this bottle with some black water from their wellspring" the goddess said. Upon reaching the waterfall, Psyche realized that the surrounding rocks were slippery and steep. The waters rushed through such abrupt rocks that only a winged creature could approach. And indeed, an eagle appeared and helped her; it seized the bottle from her hands with its beak, filled it with some black water and gave it back to her. The bird was actually sent by Zeus, who felt pity for the poor girl.

The last task that Aphrodite thought required Psyche to visit the Underworld and ask Persephone, the queen of the dead, to drain a little of her beauty into a box. Despaired of her fate, Psyche climbs a tower in order to fall. Suddenly, the tower started talking and advised her to travel to Sparta and find a place called Tainaron, where the entrance to the Underworld lies. She followed the tower's orders, entered the gates and took the boat to the other bank, where the dead people used to leave. She gave money to Charon to help her find her way in the dark to the palace of Persephone. Indeed, the boatman helped her and after a while, she was right in front of Persephone. When she asked her to drop a drain of her beauty in the box, Persephone was glad to serve Aphrodite. Psyche took the box and returned to the Earth. However, a curiosity to open the box overwhelmed her. Not able to resist the urge to open the box and enhance her own beauty, she opens it but finds nothing inside. Out of nowhere, she falls asleep.

The Happy Ending

Meanwhile, Eros had escaped from his mother's house and looked for Psyche. When he finds her, he gets the mysterious sleep off the girl and puts it back in the box. He then lifts Psyche into the air and takes her to give the box to Aphrodite. Eros then heads to the king of the gods, hoping that he will help the couple escape his mother's rage. Zeus accepts to help the young man and sends Hermes to call an assembly of the gods. There, Zeus orders Aphrodite to yield and makes Psyche drink ambrosia so that she and Eros can marry each other.

From that moment on, Eros and Psyche lived happily together in their lovely palace, which was always full of roses and other flowers. Even Aphrodite was happy because, now that Psyche was living in the sky with her husband, men on earth had forgotten all about her and were again worshiping the true goddess of beauty. The couple's child is Idoni (Pleasure).

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