Eros & Psyche

This is a story of two unexpected lovers cursed with loving each other. 

Psyche was the most beautiful girl on Earth. Suitors, both mortal and divine, came to seek out Psyche from all corners of Greece. Worshippers and sculptors abandoned Aphrodite’s temples and offered their gifts and talents instead to this simple mortal girl, blessed by divine beauty. Though, that blessing soon revealed itself to be a curse. Seeing this, Aphrodite’s pride throbbed. If a mortal could be the epitome of beauty, then what did that make of the goddess of love and beauty? Jealous, she vowed revenge. Aphrodite sent out her son Eros, the god of erotic love, to hit Psyche with one of his arrows and make her fall in love with the vilest, most despicable creature to walk the earth. However, when Eros saw Psyche, he felt as if one of his own arrows had struck him through the heart. He couldn’t bear to curse Psyche to fall in love with something so horrible, so he turned and left, never telling his mother the truth.

Psyche’s case was quite confusing, even for Aphrodite. Despite her insane looks, no suitor could really fall in love with her, nor could she find herself in love with someone else. All the men that came to see her ended up marrying someone else. Psyche’s 2 sisters, though less attractive, married kings. Still, Psyche was all alone. Her father eventually visited the Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle prophesied that the Psyche’s husband would be a vile winged serpent, more terrifying than the gods themselves. The Oracle then instructed Psyche to cover herself head to toe in black, walk to the top of the summit alone, and wait there until her husband came to retrieve her. Psyche was devastated, but she couldn’t defy the orders of a god. As she waited to meet her fated husband, she couldn’t help but cry. Zephyr, the god of the west wind, felt sorry for her and used his soft gusts to bring her over the rocky hill and to a flowery meadow, where he then put her to sleep.

When Psyche woke up to the sound of a stream, she was standing in front of a magnificent castle. The walls of the castle were lined with silver and gold and its floor was studded with jewels. Despite its extravagance, no one seemed to live inside of it. Then, a booming voice invited her in.

Every night, her husband would come visit Psyche in the dark. The two of them could never see each other’s faces, but as he whispered sweet words into her ear, Psyche became fully convinced that her husband was not some vile monster like the prophecy had said but a real, loving husband. During the day, Psyche lived like a queen. The voices in the castle kept her company, bathed her, and treated her to full meals. She did not think that she could be any happier. Eventually, Psyche became pregnant with her husband’s child.

Missing her family, Psyche begged her husband to let her 2 sisters visit. Begrudgingly, he agreed. But, he said, do not let them influence you. Otherwise, you will destroy our relationship and suffer. The next day, Psyche’s sisters arrived. Their jaws dropped at the overwhelming magnificence of their sister’s castle. Seeing the bedazzled walls and floors, their own fortune seemed like nothing at all, and jealousy quickly seeped in. Their curiosity for Psyche’s mysterious husband became insatiable. How did he become so rich? they asked. He must be doing something underhanded. In fact, he must be a winged serpent, as Apollo’s oracle said, who wants to devour Psyche and her child all for himself. At first, Psyche ignored their words, but doubt set in. Why hasn’t he ever shown me his face? What is the secret that he is hiding? If he is a snake, I will kill him. she thought. 

That night, her husband came in the dark as usual. Psyche pretended to fall asleep. Once his breathing turned steady, she grabbed a lamp and shone it on his face, bracing herself for an ugly sight. Yet, the light revealed an ethereal man. It was Eros—for love was the vilest, most despicable creature of all. 

He woke up and saw his wife standing over him, staring at his godly face. Ashamed, Psyche immediately dropped to her knees and begged for forgiveness, but Eros’s heart had already broken. He left uttering the words: Love cannot live without trust.

Psyche had no choice but to seek out her archnemesis, Aphrodite. Aphrodite, who was still holding onto the grudge, threw at Psyche 4 impossible tasks, hoping that she would fail. First, she threw a pile of thousands of seeds on the ground. Sort these seeds by dawn, she said, or else you must leave and never come back. Psyche wasn’t blind to Aphrodite’s plan. She realized at once that she could never finish sorting the seeds by herself, and silently cried in despair. A passing ant took pity on her and gathered a whole community of ants. They managed to finish sorting all the seeds by the time that Aphrodite came to check on Psyche’s progress the next morning. Stunned and confused at how Psyche managed this, Aphrodite sent her on an even more dangerous quest: to bring wool from the golden sheep of Helios. Helios was known to be extremely overprotective of his herd, smiting anyone that dared to touch them. Luckily for Psyche, a divine reed saved her by instructing her to take the wool caught in the pasture’s trees after the sheep had gone to sleep. Next, she had to fill up a bottle with water from the River Styx and Cocytus, but the rivers were so steep and dangerous that only a winged creature could reach them. Taking pity on Psyche, Zeus himself sent an eagle to help her retrieve the water. Aphrodite’s anger continued to boil. For her final task, Aphrodite asked Psyche to visit Queen Persephone in the Underworld and to drain some of her beauty into a box. Psyche had no idea how to do this. Out of despair, she plans to throw herself off the top of Aphrodite’s tower, but the tower magically starts talking to her. The tower tells her to find the entrance to the Underworld in Tainaron. Psyche follows its guidance and finds the cave leading to the Underworld. She sails across the Underworld with Charon until she reaches Persephone, who gladly puts a drop of her beauty into Aphrodite’s box. 

With the last task done, Psyche headed back to Aphrodite, but her curiosity about the source of the goddess’s divine beauty took over. She opened the box but finds nothing inside. Out of nowhere, she fell asleep, unable to complete her journey. Witnessing this, the gods on Olympus send Hermes to find Eros, who had been confined inside of Aphrodite’s house this whole time. Hermes told Eros of Psyche’s trials. Moved by her efforts, Eros escaped and found her lying in the woods. He carefully took off the mysterious sleep and put it back into the box, then carried her to Zeus. Zeus offered Psyche a piece of ambrosia to turn her into a god. She gladly accepted and was finally reunited with Eros. Aphrodite’s rage also quelled once Psyche ascended, knowing that the mortals would forget her and once again start worshipping the true goddess of beauty.