The story of Cupid and Psyche is about a beautiful mortal woman named Psyche who is so beautiful that people begin worshipping her instead of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. In retaliation, Venus tasks her son Cupid with punishing Psyche by making her fall in love with an ugly creature. However, when Cupid sees Psyche he instead falls in love with her. They marry in secret but Psyche's sisters convince her to look upon Cupid, angering him and sending Psyche on a quest to regain his love, completing impossible tasks set by Venus along the way. After overcoming the challenges with divine help, Psyche and Cupid are finally united as immortal lovers.

1. THE STORY VERSION OF CUPID AND PSYCHE

2. Cupid and Psyche
Lucius Apuleius
A king and queen have three daughters .All three of the girls are attractive, but
one of them is absolutely gorgeous – Psyche. People come from all around just to check out
how beautiful Psyche. All this adoration of Psyche gets totally out of hand; men start
worshiping her as if she were a goddess and ignore the altars of the goddess of love and
beauty, Venus (a.k.a. Aphrodite).Men even start saying that Psyche is more beautiful than
Venus. We bet you can guess who got mad about this. Yup, that's right – Venus. The goddess of
love gets kind of hateful and orders her son, Cupid (a.k.a. Eros), to go and punish Psyche by
making her fall in love with the ugliest thing around. Cupid sneaks into Psyche's bedroom to do
his mother's bidding, but, when he sees how beautiful Psyche is, he gets all distracted and
pricks himself with his own arrow. Cupid falls instantly in love with Psyche and leaves without
doing what his mother told him to do. Psyche's life continues on as usual: everybody comes to
gawk at how hot she is. However, since Venus has it in for her, nobody ever falls in love with
Psyche. Psyche's two sisters end up getting married, but Psyche is stuck sitting alone in her
room. Getting worried that they've made some god angry, Psyche's parents decide to go
consult the oracle of Apollo about their daughter's future. The oracle tells them that Psyche is
destined to marry a monster that neither god nor mortal can resist. Psyche's parents are
instructed to leave her on a mountain to await her monstrous husband. They cry a lot about it,
but they do it anyway. So, Psyche is chilling on top of the mountain, fully expecting something
terrible to happen. Zephyr, the west wind, comes and lifts her, carrying the princess gently from
the mountaintop down to a beautiful field of flowers. Psyche comes across an amazing castle
and goes inside. The place is decked out with tons of treasure and priceless pieces of art. She
hears voices that tell her that the palace and all the amazing stuff in it is hers. She's treated to a
wonderful feast, complete with an invisible singing chorus for entertainment. Her husband-to-
be comes to her that night in the darkness of her bedroom, so she can't see what he looks like.
He tells her that she must never try to see what he looks like. She's cool with that for a while,
but eventually she gets lonely since he only comes at night and because there are no other
humans around. Psyche convinces her invisible husband to let her sisters come and visit her. He
reluctantly agrees and has Zephyr float them down. Psyche's sisters get super-jealous about her
incredibly posh lifestyle. They start interrogating her about who her husband is. At first, Psyche
lies and says he's a handsome young man who spends all day hunting in the mountains. They
don't buy it, though, and keep pumping her for information. Eventually, Psyche admits that
she's never seen him and that he only comes at night. The jealous sisters remind Psyche of the

3. prophecy that she would marry a monster, and they convince their sister that she has to see
what her husband looks like. They advise her to wait until he's asleep, then stand over him with
a lamp and a knife (in case he's a monster). That night she follows her sisters' advice and sees
that her husband is none other than Cupid. Psyche is blown away by how ridiculously
handsome her husband is. She's so distracted that she lets a drop of oil fall and burns his skin.
Cupid wakes up and sees his wife standing there with the lamp and a knife. Furious, he flies out
the window, telling Psyche that she'll never see him again. The beautiful palace disappears and
Psyche is left all alone. Totally depressed, Psyche goes back to her sisters and tells them what
happened. As if they hadn't already shown how totally awful they were, the sisters now go to
the mountaintop thinking that one of them might take Psyche's husband for themselves. They
jump off the mountain, expecting Zephyr to take them down. (No such luck.) The jealous sisters
fall to their deaths on the rocks below. Meanwhile, Psyche wanders around trying to find Cupid.
She ends up going to a temple of Ceres (a.k.a. Demeter), goddess of the harvest. The temple is
a total wreck, so Psyche cleans it up. Ceres is impressed with Psyche's devotion. Psyche asks for
some help. Ceres wishes she could give Psyche a hand, but the goddess says she can't go
against Venus. Ceres advises Psyche to go to Venus and humbly beg for forgiveness. Psyche
takes Ceres' advice and presents herself to Venus. Venus is still crazy mad and gives Psyche a
tongue lashing, telling the girl that Cupid is still trying to recover from the burn that the oil gave
him when it dripped on him. The goddess of love tells Psyche that she must prove herself
worthy to be Cupid's wife by completing a task. Psyche is taken to a storehouse full of wheat,
millet, barley, and all kinds of stuff that Venus uses to feed her pigeons. Psyche is ordered to
organize all the different kinds of grain – the wheat with the wheat, the barley with the barley,
etc. The job seems pretty much impossible, and, to make matters worse, Venus orders Psyche
to get it done by evening. Cupid intervenes, however, and inspires a colony of ants to come out
of the ground and help out Psyche. (Phew! We were worried that Rumpel stilt skin might show
up.) The ants get the job done and disappear underground. Venus returns and tells Psyche that
it doesn't count, because Psyche couldn't have done it by herself. The next day the goddess of
love gives her daughter-in-law another task. Psyche must collect golden fleece from the back of
every sheep in a herd that hangs out by a river. As she's about to cross the river, though, a river
god warns Psyche that, if she tries it when the sun is rising, the human-hating rams will kill her.
The helpful river god advises her to wait until the noontime sun makes the herd go chill out in
the shade; then the rams won't mess with her. Psyche follows the river god's advice and safely
collects the wool. Venus is still not satisfied, though, saying again that Psyche didn't do it on her
own. Next, the love goddess orders Psyche to go down to the world of the dead and see
Proserpine (a.k.a. Persephone), the queen of the underworld and wife of Pluto (a.k.a. Hades).
Venus says she wants Psyche to bring a little bit of Proserpine's beauty back in a box. Psyche
bravely heads off to find the underworld, but she's really upset this time – going to the land of
the dead is beyond dangerous. How is Psyche supposed to get to the underworld? Is she

4. supposed to kill herself? She seems to think so. Thankfully, before Psyche jumps off a cliff, she
hears a voice (Cupid) that tells her how to pull it off. The voice tells her where there's a cave
that leads down to the underworld, how to convince Charon (the ferryman) to take her there
and back, and how to avoid Cerberus, the vicious three-headed dog who guards the
underworld. Psyche makes it to Pluto and Proserpine's palace in the land of the dead and tells
Proserpine that Venus wants to borrow a little beauty. A box is given to Psyche, and she's on
her way. The voice warns Psyche not to open the box, no matter what she does, but Psyche's
just so curious and can't help herself. The girl opens the box, thinking that, if she had a little of
the beauty herself, then she'd truly be worthy of Cupid. Unfortunately, there's no beauty in the
box at all, and when Psyche takes off the lid, she's plunged into a deep sleep, collapsing in the
middle of the road. Cupid, who has finally recovered from his burn, flies to help his wife. He
wakes her up with one of his arrows, and he points out that once again her curiosity has gotten
her in trouble. Cupid tells her to take the box to Venus and to let him take care of the rest. He
flies to Jupiter (a.k.a. Zeus), and he begs the king of the gods to help him and Psyche. Jupiter
summons Venus and convinces her to chill out about the whole thing. Then he brings Psyche up
to Mt. Olympus, the home of the gods, and gives her some ambrosia, which makes the girl
immortal. At long last, Cupid and Psyche get to be together. Cupid and Psyche end up having a
daughter together, named Voluptas (a.k.a. Hedone, sometimes translated as Pleasure).

5. LUCIUS APULEIUS
Lucius Apuleius was born about 124 in northern Africa and was educated in Carthage
and Athens. The account of Cupid and Psyche is presented in his novel The Golden Ass (also
titled The Metamorphoses) as an "old wive's tale" told by an old woman to comfort a young
woman who has been abducted by a band of robbers and is being held for ransome. His father
was a prominent politician, Apulieus did not follow suit. Instead, he seems to have been an
itinerant student for much of his life, often defending himself against charges of witchcraft and
being a careerist who married for money. The Metapmorphoses, also called The Golden Ass or
cupid and psyche is one of the few surviving Latin novels. It combines reality and fantasy,
providing a template for a world in flux. For Apuleius in his time, this was the breakdown of
Graeco-Roman civilization as it looked forward to reconstruction in the Constantinean State,
with its acceptance of Christianity as the official religion.
The love affair between Cupid and Psyche is one of the best known classical myths, recounted
in the Latin novel The Golden Ass by Apuleius. Many Neoclassical paintings and sculptures
derived inspiration from the story. Cupid, lover of the mortal Psyche, forbids her to cast eyes
upon him and visits her only at night. Disobeying him, Psyche holds a light over his sleeping
body, for which she is punished by Aphrodite. The scene conveyed by this modello is of Psyche
being rescued in Cupid's embrace.
The original Cupid and Psyche, commissioned in 1787 by Scottish patron John Campbell while
on his Grand Tour, was completed in 1793 and is presently at the Louvre. This modello was
prepared for Canova's slightly different second version (showing Psyche with butterfly wings)
made for Prince Nicolas Youssoupov and now in the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. It
was inherited by Canova's assistant, Adamo Tadolini (1788–1868), who used it to prepare
additional versions. The metal pins distributed over the surface were inserted to assist the
sculptor in transferring the complex group's precise form from plaster to the marble block out
of which the final sculpture would be carved, by means of the pointing system.

6. Commentary about cupid and psyche
The tale of Cupid and Psyche first appeared in Lucius Apuleius' Metamorphoses or
The Golden Ass in the middle of the 2nd century A.D., and is usually considered
allegorical. The Greek word for Psyche means butterfly, and also means soul. The
transformation of the dull fuzzy caterpillar into the colorful beautiful butterfly is
indeed a miracle. Psyche then symbolizes the human soul, which is purified by
misfortunes and sufferings in the temporal world, until she summons the courage
within to accomplish the impossible tasks. Only then is she rewarded with the
true blessedness and joy of eternity.
It has just occurred to me that the tasks which Venus imposed on Psyche may be
related to the four elements of the Greeks. The separation of the grains
corresponds to the element of earth since seeds need soil to incubate themselves
and grow. It is important to establish roots, and planting oneself in mother earth
is taking the first step on the spiritual path. Getting the golden fleece from the
rams corresponds to the element of fire. The rams are fierce under the noonday
sun because fire burns so Psyche had to wait till sunset to gather the fleece of
gold (nourishing symbol of fire). The cascading stream on the mountain peak
corresponds to the element of water, although the eagle who got it for Psyche is
more associated with air. Psyche's descent into the underworld suggests the
image of earth, but Proserpina's beauty potion which arose out of the box was a
heavy mist corresponding to the element of air. Completing the four tasks of
Venus represents the integration of the four elements— earth, fire, water, and air
into the soul. Only then was Psyche rewarded by Jupiter with ambrosia
corresponding to the fifth element— ether or the elixir of immortality.

7. CHARACTERS OF CUPID AND PSYCHE
Cupid (Eros) in Cupid and Psyche
Usually, when Cupid, god of love and desire, pops up in a story, he wreaks havoc by
making other people fall in love. The mischievous little god is famous for causing tons of
trouble with his magic passion-inducing arrows. In the tale of "Cupid and Psyche,"
however, we see the tables turned. It's Cupid's life that is turned upside down when his
own arrow stings him, causing him to fall in love with the stunningly beautiful mortal girl,
Psyche. He's even so smitten with Psyche that he goes against the wishes of his
mommy dearest (Venus), which is pretty much unheard of in most other stories. In the
end, it all works out, though, and Psyche becomes Cupid's wife for all eternity.
Psyche in Cupid and Psyche
The fantastically beautiful Psyche is the Greco-Roman goddess of the soul. She is often
shown as having butterfly wings, which makes a lot of sense, since her name not only
means "soul" in Greek, but also "butterfly." We're guessing her butterfly wings were
probably totally necessary to keep up with her famous winged husband, Cupid (a.k.a.
Eros), god of love and desire. Together, this high-flying couple were said to have
parented a daughter named Voluptas (Hedone), the goddess of pleasure.
Venus (Aphrodite) in Cupid and Psyche
Venus (called Aphrodite by the Greeks) may be the goddess of beauty and love, but in
the story of "Cupid and Psyche," she gets downright ugly and hateful. When men start
worshiping the beautiful mortal princess, Psyche, the jealous Venus sends her son
Cupid to punish the girl. The tables are turned on Venus, however, when Cupid himself
falls in love with the Psyche. The last thing Venus wants is a gorgeous daughter-in-
law.Later on, Venus forces Psyche to complete lots of nearly impossible tasks. In the
end, it takes the intervention of the king of the gods, Jupiter (a.k.a. Zeus), to calm this
jealous lady down. The story of "Cupid and Psyche" shows us that love and beauty
aren't always nice.